Christopher McNeil

Summary
Christopher McNeil is a Martian native on his first assignment out of the academy. He has been assigned as a Tactical officer aboard the USS Lammergeier, one of the few foci of his training where he stood out in an otherwise unremarkable academy experience.

Fresh out of the academy, he's eager to test his tactical, analytical mind in the relatively unknown territory of the Shackleton Expanse. With a history of difficulties connecting with his classmates on an emotional level, he faces an uphill struggle opening up to a fresh set of faces aboard the Lammergeier.

History
Born on Mars, Chris was raised in a household that, while not abusive, wasn't particularly emotionally nurturing. The latest in a long line of Martian natives, his family was very pragmatic in most aspects of their life, leading to a lot of independent initiative rather than family bonding exercises. Chris finished his pre-academy education with a focus on survival and tactical training on Andoria. They taught him a lot about predator-prey relationships, the tactics that each call upon to survive, and the evolutionary arms race of offensive and defensive features, something he carried to his studies of military history and combat technology in the academy.

During his second year at Starfleet Academy, the Breen attacked Earth as part of the Dominion War. He saw the way the calculating Breen initially overwhelmed the fleet, even if they were eventually driven off. As he looked at the tactical data after the attack, he saw Federation captains making choices that, in his mind, were critical errors that allowed the Breen advantage. Seeing the civilian cost of the invasion, he wondered at captains who had shown restraint or come to another ship's aid, opening holes in the defensive lines. He knew those decisions to have been made on an emotional level, but couldn't understand the calculations that had led them there. In his subsequent command exercises, he didn't just make sacrifices to fulfill the objectives, but seemed almost eager to throw his mock crews at a problem unnecessarily, if it meant getting a greater or faster result. It took an intervention by an instructor, as well as being openly judged on his dedication to his crew, to get him to rethink his priorities. Once he started showing that he valued them, his fellow students eventually let their animosity go, and even started to reach out to him as friends. As he opened himself up emotionally to his classmates, he started to see them as more than resources at his disposal as commanding officer. While his focus was still on completing missions, he command style shifted, slowly, to one that minimized casualties, even if the results were less than optimal. By the time he graduated, he understood that, while a ship's focus must be on the mission, a CO's focus has to be on keeping the ship as safe as possible. At the very least so it would be able to continue to serve.

2379 -
The USS Lammergeier is his first official posting after the academy. Eager to prove himself, he was proud to be given the opportunity of joining Task Force 11.

Appearance
A tall, broad shouldered individual, Chris is heavily built for a Mars native. His exercise routines keep his muscles dense and well-defined. While not particularly agile, his hand-to-hand techniques have always relied more on reflexes and application of force, rather than the brute strength approach his appearance may indicate.

He keeps himself well-groomed, clean-shaven but his hair is moderately long, hanging down to his neck and framing his head like the smooth lines of a willow or waterfall. His eyes are more expressive than he intends, going from cold and calculating to jovial and filled with mirth in a moment.

Motivation
A natural tactician, Chris over-analyzes almost every experience in his life and finds great pleasure in finding solutions to seemingly unwinnable scenarios. All the same, he's not much of a showoff and works well in groups, adapting to make the most of the behaviors of those he's working with. One of the greatest weaknesses of his academy days was a habit of treating his class-/team-mates as resources, and had to learn how to open up and connect on an emotional level.

That drive to challenge himself to adapt and grow is a natural fit in Task Force 11, where the relative unknown of the nebula, and the mystery of the previous fleet's disappearance will likely provide him with plenty of new scenarios.

Episode 01

 * Day 01 | 0000 hrs. | Thread Title with Character 01, Character 02