Commander Scarlet Blake
Name Scarlet Blake
Position Commanding Officer
Second Position N/A
Rank Commander
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Human | |
| Place of Birth | USS Squall | |
| Age | 33 | |
| Date of Birth | 2359 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'11'' | |
| Weight | 130 Ibs | |
| Hair Color | Brown, almost black | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | On the taller side, she is slender and athletic in build due to exercise and training that she continues to keep up. She has naturally pale skin that burns easily under the sun, but is contrasted with near black hair, her natural colouring. |
Family
| Spouse | None | |
| Children | Daughter, Lily Blake, 7 years old. | |
| Mother | Annabelle Blake, Starfleet Pilot, defected to Maquis, *deceased* | |
| Father | Nathan Blake, Starfleet Commander, defected to Maquis, *deceased* | |
| Siblings | None | |
| Other Family | None |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Scarlet is a steady and considered woman. She thinks before she speaks and sometimes prefers to simply remain silent than offer a reply at all. She is often quiet and soft spoken, but she is a naturally curious person who always has several questions stacked up, but she picks her timing for them sensitively and carefully. She has a remarkable ability to keep a cool and calm expression on her features regardless of what she's feeling, often making her unreadable. She has an impatient streak and a fierce temper when provoked enough, but her cool mask enables her to keep it to herself more often than not. She listens and observes, takes in everything around her, but is often controlled in her own reactions to people and events. She is a highly private woman, and it takes a friendship to coax things out of her. She is by no means truly cold though. In fact, she is a naturally warm person, easy to chat and interact with others, but simply considered in what she shares with them about herself. She loves her daughter dearly, even if being a single parent and working full time is tiring, and fully intends to continue supporting her through working with Starfleet. |
|
| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: Highly analytical, quick mind, observant, natural instinct that has been improved with training for understanding people/personalities/emotion/behaviour, capable hand to hand combatant, advanced ability with rifles and hand phasers/hand held ballistic weapons, specialised as a sniper in the marines, high stamina. Weaknesses: Not physically strong for either manual work or in a fight so has to rely on speed and tactics, has virtually no real engineering/mechanical experience and limited understanding in that area, seems to have a knack for messing up computers or files, has a dislike of blades that verges on a fear. |
|
| Ambitions | To continue her career with Starfleet and eventually have a more senior role. |
|
| Hobbies & Interests | Running, sailing, swimming, sparring, target practice, camping/hiking, reading fiction (particularly historical), plays the piano. |
|
| Languages Spoken | English, Bajoran, Cardassian |
| Background | Scarlet’s life has been chequered to say the least. She was born to two Starfleet Officers, Nathan and Annabelle Blake, who had known each other on the colony they had both been born and raised on before marrying whilst in service for Starfleet. Scarlet was their only child, born and raised on a starship until she was nine years old. She was a serious child, although warm, and she seemed to enjoy studying and watching people. Life would become more difficult when she was nine, and her parents’ colony was left to the mercy of the Cardassians in the DMZ. After finding out that the colony had fallen under the oppression of the Cardassians, and later that the inhabitants were left either scattered or dead after an attack that the Cardassians claimed was started after a violent uprising from the colonists, Scarlet’s parents left Starfleet who appeared to make no effort to stop such atrocities. They joined the fledging group of the Maquis in 2369, taking their daughter with them to live in the band of vigilantes. It wasn’t an easy time for Scarlet. She had patchy self schooling from whatever she could get hold of to read. She was amongst, essentially, strangers, coming and going around her, many of which weren’t the most trusty and stable of people. She learnt to try and be invisible around the place, preferring it to being noticed by any of them. There were more people she disliked than liked, and an undercurrent of anger and even hatred and violence that seemed to run through the place and many of the people. She had to live in those conditions as she was growing up, until she was 14 and both looked and acted older than her age, having had to look after herself most of the time, her parents never around and too involved with training, planning and missions. They even frequently left her behind by herself amongst the other rabble at the base with little regard for her safety to go out on a supply run, meetings, raids or fights. Strangely, all the aggression, training and talk of fighting didn’t inspire her to want to pick up arms herself...on the contrary, to the disappointment of her parents, it seemed to do the opposite and turn her off from it entirely. When Scarlet was 14, the Cardassians had gained force with the Dominion and carried out their final, crushing blow on the Maquis. Their base was blitzed in a heavy attack, first by bombing and then by armed Cardassian soldiers. Towards the end of the hopeless battle, when Cardassians were sweeping the place to make sure everyone was either dead or captured, a lone Cardassian came across an injured Scarlet trying to hide from the battle. He could see her youth and fear and asked for her name and age. Contrary to common perception of Cardassian behaviour, in a moment of compassion at having come across a near child in the battle, he got her onto a Starfleet shuttle that had clearly been stolen by the Maquis and programmed it to take her to the nearest Starfleet facility, leaving it to fly out on its own as he went back to his duties. The shuttle was successfully recovered by Starfleet and the girl was treated for injuries. However, she refused to talk to anyone, remaining silent as they treated her and decided what should be done with her. She was sent to an orphanage on Earth, even if it was the first time she had ever been to the planet. Scarlet remained mute for a good two years, throughout the education she was enrolled into. She was naturally academic and analytical, allowing her to cope with catching up on her lessons despite her patchy educational history. She went on to college to study further when she was 16, enjoying it immensely, so much so that she started to speak to others again, naturally, and without any reference to the fact she hadn’t before. By the time she was 17, she had resolved to become a Marine Officer, to the surprise of those around her. She felt the need to fight and protect others, but in a good way...in the right way. She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of joining the regular fleet though, unsure of their reaction to her heritage. She applied to join the Marines, still at the age of 17, but her application was rejected, and she was told very honestly that it was a combination of her age, her physical strength not being as high as others, and the worries over her parents’ affiliation with the Maquis. Rather than be despondent, she smiled to the honest Colonel and told him that she’d ‘address his concerns’. Over the next year, she completed her higher level exams, trained in fitness a little everyday and volunteered to help in the local Starfleet aid centre. When she applied again at the age of 18, the Colonel was amused to see her again, but also impressed with her dedication and the extra notes on her record. Her strength still wasn’t as high as the others, but her stamina and athletic fitness was, and in her interview she assured them that she wished to make a career as a Marine Officer, that her parents past had, if anything, only strengthened her affiliation with the Federation. They gave her a chance and she was put into training. Scarlet trained for four years to be a Starfleet Marine Officer. Bootcamp was a struggle, but she got herself through it a day at a time. She was at the bottom of the group when it came to strength centred tasks or training, but in fitness and running she was towards the top. Her dedicated concentration on study and learning meant she picked up how to use energy and ballistic weapons very quickly and with a high level of achievement and accuracy, but she didn’t like using a knife, ever. When it came time to decide on any specialist training she wanted to pursue, she was torn. Her accuracy with weapons made her want to concentrate on being a general officer with extra sniper and weapons training. Her Instructors, however, were more enamoured with her natural instinct with people, the way they thought and why they behaved as they did, coupled with the high psychology scores she had attained in her advanced exams before joining up. They persuaded her to train as a Psych Officer instead. Still an officer in her own right and with the same combat training as any other marines and marine officers, she would be a psychology and psychiatry expert, offering advice where needed in situations where enemy psychology would be useful, carrying out therapy and check ups on the other marines, but also ready to be called into the field of battle when another rifle was needed. She did well in the training, naturally gifted in understanding people and how they worked. The theory study only cemented it for her and she graduated straight into a marine detachment. She served for a solid three years, moving across three detachments during that time and achieving the rank of Captain. Shortly after, she was captured during an unsuccessful mission. She remained in captivity for seven months before she was finally rescued with one other; the rest of the team were already dead. After debriefing and being sent for PTSD therapy she tried to get back into work but found it difficult. A month later, she tried to resign her commission. When her Colonel pushed as to why, saying that she could have more time to readjust to life after captivity if that’s what she needed, she told him calmly and matter of factly that it wasn’t just that, but that she was pregnant and needed a steadier and safer life to raise a child. He made a proposition to her, suggesting that if she retrained to become a counsellor in regular Starfleet, her previous training and experience would allow for a fast track course and for a safer position to raise her child, but also a solid occupation for her to support herself and the child. Not having considered that, Scarlet agreed it was an excellent prospect, and although sad and pained to leave the Marine Corps, she transferred over to a two year fast track course to become a regular Starfleet Counsellor. Scarlet was the mother to a little girl called Lily by the time she started the course, and although it was difficult to balance being a single mother with her studies, the fleet supported her as much as they were able. She passed through the course easily enough with her previous experience and studies and she was placed on a starbase with her child for her first position. Working across another ship and another base for almost two years, she was then posted to the Galileo, and being a Science specialist ship it was considered a safer position for a mother with a child in tow than many other positions available. During her time on the Galileo, Scarlet found herself in many challenging scenarios. The phrase 'never a dull moment' was apt. She found herself kept busy as a counsellor, then Chief Counsellor. With it came a promotion to 2XO, but it wasn't long after that she had to take command of the ship during a catastrophic borg cube attack. Once she'd handed back the centre seat, she led an away team to carry out first contact with an extremely reclusive race that had been partly controlling the borg. Blake had no choice but to endure a highly intrusive, invasive and violating experience in order to allow them to learn about Starfleet and earn their trust. It wasn't long after that she was made the First Officer of the Galileo, under the new Captain, Jonathan Holliday, a man she would become unexpectedly close to. It was during this time she led an away team to investigate a series of deaths in a network of mines. They made an horrific discovery of undead Cardassians and were forced to flee for their lives, barely escaping in one piece. The string of dangerous missions took their toll on Blake, who was often in command of the teams on the front lines of the action. After receiving multiple head injuries during these missions, she collapsed from a stroke. Luckily, her daughter, although still young, was able to contact Sickbay for help, and Dr. Wylde performed life saving surgery. Not long after recovery, she took command of one of the ships involved in a series of wargames, but she was given an emergency transfer to serve as a short term XO on a patrol ship that saw a healthy amount of aggression. While it suited her background, it didn't suit her situation with Lily. She was assured it was only temporary while the new First Officer was being extracted and transferred over. Temporary became a few months however, and when she was asked if she would instruct at the Academy for the rest of the year, she took it eagerly for Lily's sake. Scarlet found that she enjoyed being an Academy Instructor more than she had expected. She gained a reputation as a tough person to please with a no nonsense attitude with cadets, but she found it satisfying to help cadets find their path. However, the pull of a starship soon came back to both Scarlet and Lily, and when she was offered the centre seat on the USS Fenrir, she didn't need to think twice. |
|
| Service Record | 2378-2382 – Starfleet Marine Officer training; specialism Psychology/Psychiatry 2382-2383 – USS Halo, Marine Detachment, Officer/Psych Officer, 1st Lieutenant 2383-2384 – USS India, Marine Detachment, Officer/Psych Officer, 2nd Lieutenant 2384 – SFMC Base Tyraellan, Officer/Psych Officer, Captain 2384 – MIA 2385 – Debriefed, short medical LOA 2385 – USS Highway, Marine Detachment, Officer/Psych Officer, Captain 2385-2387 – Fast Track Retraining: Regular Starfleet Counsellor 2387-2388 – Starbase 121, Counsellor, Ensign 2388 – USS Thorn, Counsellor, Ensign 2388-2389 – Starbase 114, Counsellor, Ensign 2389 – USS Galileo, Counsellor, Ensign - Lieutenant 2390 - USS Galileo, Chief Counsellor/2XO, Lt. Commander 2390 - USS Galileo, First Officer, Commander 2390 - USS Nautilus, Acting Commanding Officer, Commander 2390 - USS Harbringer, Acting First Officer, Commander 2390-2391 - Starfleet Academy, Instructor, Commander 2391 - USS Fenrir, Commanding Officer, Commander Note: Despite her history, and some who might suspect a sympathy toward the former Maquis and/or similar organisations because of her parents’ affiliation with them, she remains mostly silent on the subject. In fact, the few comments she has made about the Maquis, (mostly in her application interviews for training), indicate that, if anything, she sees the Maquis as having been selfish, foolish and misguided terrorists. |
|
| Medical History | At the age of 14, upon her return to Starfleet records, she was treated for numerous serious injuries after being discovered alone on a shuttle. Ages 14-16, she was referred to therapy sessions by the orphanage she lived in due to being mute without physical reason. These were not productive. College life brought her naturally out of the condition when she was 16. Various minor injuries and conditions during training and service with Starfleet Marines. 2385: Treated for several injuries and conditions after being held captive for seven months. 2385: Referred to therapy for PTSD after being held captive for seven months. By her own request the course of treatment was cut short. 2385: Gave birth to a healthy baby girl with no complications. 2390: Successfully treated for a haemorrhage on the brain. |