Raven’nik
Male

Place of Origin: Geuraan II

Height: 6’5″ (1.99m)
Weight: 270lbs. (122.5kg)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green

Raven is stunningly beautiful, once one gets past her size. Her hair is wavy and brown, and is often tied in a ponytail. Her eyes are green and her skin is dark and tanned. There are two very large tattoos on her arms, starting from the shoulder and nearly reaching the elbows. On her right shoulder/arm is a huge coiled dragon and on her left is a large Celtic style pattern that rings the arm. The most striking thing about Raven though is her size. At 6’5″ tall and 270lbs she is massive, but also quite agile and light on her feet for someone so heavy. This is due to moving in nearly 1/3 the gravity she is used to. Often Raven has difficulty with Starfleet uniform protocols, finding the uniforms cumbersome when trying to do maintenance. More than one commanding officer has found her wearing duty pants but no tunic, just a t-shirt, often with something amusing written on it.

Strengths:
+ Unstoppable work ethic
+ Brave and loyal to her crewmates and to the Federation/Starfleet
+ Easy going and friendly, would much rather ‘have a beer with the guys’
+ Extremely skilled engineer
+ Physically powerful

Weaknesses:
– Can be emotionally hurt, she is strangely naive in the area of relationships. She has a big heart and as a result she can get hurt very easily
– Sometimes has difficulty with Starfleet protocols, particularly uniform protocols
– Can be stubborn if she feels she’s right or if she is defending someone else.
– Will speak her mind. Always.
– Occasionally has bouts of self-doubt concerning her transfer from the Marines to Starfleet

Ambitions:
Raven’s ambition is to be an Engineer. She is proud of her Marine background, but feels as if she has taken that as far as she can go. She is quite happy where she is.

Hobbies & Interests:
Judo (4th degree black belt), other martial arts (casual), ‘Jhombou’ (Geuraani equivalent to Terran skydiving), most individual sports, college wrestling, gardening, chess, painting, drumming

Personality:
Raven is a woman of odd habits. She has a nearly symbiotic relationship with machines, conducting diagnostics and repairs as much by ‘feel’ as by procedure. She talks to the equipment, naming auxiliary craft so as to attain a ‘rapport’ with them. A peaceful person by nature, she does have a temper, though not a violent one. Her Marine training has given her tremendous self-control. She has made no real attempts at relationships, and has shown little interest in them. Men often feel intimidated by her size and skills. She is not intimidated by rank or position, and as such carries a ‘one of the guys’ attitude everywhere she goes. Raven treats nearly everyone the same way, believing that all deserve the same level of respect. Those who have shown great skill or bravery however earn a special level of respect from Raven. She admires strength of character much more than physical strength.

Her changeover from the Marines to Starfleet has been a difficult one. She has friends among the SFMC who now won’t speak to her because they believe she has ‘deserted’ them. This has hurt her greatly and it is very much a sore spot in her psyche, partly because part of her believes she did run away from the Marines after the horrors of the Dominion War. She has considered seeing a Counselor on the subject, but has yet to do so.

Special Notes:
Raven is huge by any standard. This is mostly due to her upbringing on a heavy gravity world. Geuraan II has a gravity of just under 3 g`s at the surface, so the inhabitants have evolved extremely dense bodies over the generations. Raven`s body is approximately 2.5 times denser than a human`s, and her skin is tough enough to absorb blows that would break open most other humanoid`s skin. A light stun setting from a standard Starfleet phaser has little to no effect on her, but a heavy stun will bring her down.

Biography:
Raven`nik was born on Geuraan II in the summer of 2342. The first of four children, young Raven (as she has become known to her human friends) showed mechanical aptitude very early on, constantly dismantling and rebuilding anything she could get her hands on. Her natural ability was noticed by her father, who owned a small craft maintenance shop at the local spaceport. When Raven reached 18, (the age of majority on Geuraan II) when a young person is able to make their own life choices) she went to work in her father`s shop. It was there that the young woman had her first encounter with the Starfleet Marine Corps.

Her father`s shop had been awarded a contract for the maintenance of several Marine Hoppers, and Raven all but begged her father to allow her to work on the advanced craft. After much cajoling, he finally acquiesced to her pleas, and the young woman happily went to work on the vehicles impressing both her father and the local Marine representative who was overseeing the repairs. He approached Raven shortly afterward about the possibility of joining the Marine Corps.

At first Raven wasn`t fond of the idea. Her only love had been for machines, and she didn`t want to do anything that would take her away from her precious small craft. When it was explained that she could specialize in Auxiliary Craft Maintenance however, the young woman began to rethink the decision. Approximately a week after the initial offer was given to her, Raven went to the Marine rep with her decision. She enlisted shortly afterward.

For the next three years Raven studied and trained at the Geuraan II Marine Basic Training Centre. Having always been an active child and interested in all manner of sports, the young woman excelled in the physical areas of her training, increasing her already impressive strength and agility. Upon graduation, she was given her first assignment: Marine Base Helios in the Helios system. It was the young woman`s first time off world and she was extremely excited. The excitement was short lived however, as the first week of her trip was plagued with extreme nausea. The doctors assured her it was simply her body attempting to get used to a gravity level nearly 1/3 of what she was accustomed to. It was at least two weeks before she was entirely comfortable with the gravity level, and the fact that everything now seemed to weigh a third of what it once did. Once that hurdle was passed however, the woman found she enjoyed her time there, making lifelong friends among the Marines and station personnel.

After nearly three years on the base, Raven was transferred along with much of her team to the USS Guardian`s Sabre Company, where she worked as the Auxiliary Craft Mechanic for the team. Her time on the Guardian was eventful but not without its tragedies. During a routine escort mission several of her comrades were killed when the craft they were piloting was attacked in a ambush by enemy forces. When the Executive Officer of the ship refused to consider a reprisal strike, Raven became enraged and struck the man, breaking his jaw. At the resulting Court Martial, Raven was demoted one rank grade and taken off active duty for a month. Approximately three months later she requested transfer to the Agamemnon and was approved.

The Agamemnon was involved in some of the largest front line battles of the Dominion War, and during this time Raven distinguished herself as a top level Combat Engineer. She was decorated twice during the war, both for bravery under fire, and her support team, “The Grease Monkeys”, went on to be recognized for their bravery as well. The war, while a terrible thing in and of itself, also holds some of Raven`s proudest moments.

With the conclusion of the war, Raven came to a decision she had been considering for some time. She realized that as an Engineer, she had gone as far as she could with the Marines. During her time on the Agamemnon, the young woman had made many friends among the Engineering crew, and the Odyssey`s Chief Engineer, Sam Bishop, suggested she try Starfleet Academy as an Engineer. With her field experience she would have an advantage going in. While the idea of leaving the Marines left her torn, Raven could not deny that she relished the challenge. After speaking to the Odyssey`s Commanding Officer and her Marine Commanding Officer, Raven`nik was granted leave to attend Starfleet Academy. This decision did have its cost. Several of her comrades among the Marines believed she was “deserting” them and told her so. This still hurts the young woman to this day.

Despite the turmoil, Raven applied herself to her studies and graduated four years later as an Petty Officer. Her Marine status is listed as “Gunnery Sergeant – Inactive”. Upon graduation Petty Officer Raven was assigned to the USS Thunderchild, a ship where the young woman would spend the next five years, moving up from Engineer to Assistant Chief Engineer. Her tour of duty on the Thunderchild was rewarding, but not without difficulty. In one case, she had to step in between an altercation between several Starfleet and Marine enlisted personnel. Her solution was unorthodox but effective, and she received a commendation on her record from Captain Rossi.

In 2384 the young woman was reassigned to the USS Eisenhower (or the “Ike” as the crew called it). The two years spent aboard the Sovereign class vessel were some of her most rewarding, as she was reunited with her friend and mentor, Sam “Bish” Bishop. From him, Raven learned the true intricacies of Starship Engineering. His passion and simple, down to earth style appealed to the young woman, and the pair made a formidable team.

In 2389 Raven got word that she was being reassigned to the USS Excalibur as her Chief Engineer. The young woman was troubled because she didn’t want to leave the Ike, but when she approached Bish about it, he simply smiled crookedly and said, “Yeah I know, I recommended you for it.” At her shocked expression, he hastened to explain. “Kid, you’re good. A hell of a lot better than me in fact. It’s time you had your own team, your own ship. Take the Excalibur Raven. Make her yours. Listen to her sing; hear what she says. You’re ready for this and you know it. Now get outta here ya big brute!” he barked with a sad smile.