Ensign Darius Shane

[dinghead]

Character's Name: Ensign Darius Shane
Position: U.S.S. Arabella, Security

Stats

Age: 35
Place Of Birth: Cargo ship "Distant Horizon"
Gender: Male
Species Of Origin: Human
Hair:  Reddish brown
Eyes:  Hazel
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 220 lbs.
Skin Tone: Pale from constant residence aboard starships.
Telepathic and Empathic Status: While not possessing such traits, Darius HAS been trained in probe detection and defense. (see history)
Body: Muscular, but lean. Darius is in the upper 3% of species-appropriate fitness
Face :  Nondescript (no distinguishing marks)
Marital Stats: Single
Children: None
Habits:  Darius Shane is only as respectful of people as the chain of command dictates, until you have earned his respect.
Quarters: Sparse. Used to traveling light, Darius tends to think of his quarters as a bunk and duffel bag.
Likes: Spicy food, Darius tends to cook for himself whenever possible. He also enjoys ONE cold beer a day. (NOTE: This means BEER, not synthahol).
Dislikes: Synthahol, replicator-prepared food (regardless of the dish), enclosed spaces and pirates (see history)
Ambitions and Goals: "If a man is not the best, he's one of the rest." Darius is extremely driven and competitive. While he has no firm long-range goals (you don't make those in his line of work), he's always trying to better himself either through training or study.
Temperament:  Darius Shane is a very complex man.  He respects the chain of command, but not necessarily those in it. A former C.O. remarked "Darius is the sort of man I would want at my back in a fight. He may be an arrogant, combative and downright sarcastic snot at times, but he's never failed to be the first in and last out when the time comes."
Hobbies: Cooking, studying starship schematics and a near-obsession with physical exercise and keeping his skills sharp. Only recently, he has discovered the joys of poker... but he tends to lose more often than not.

Family
Mother:  Cassandra Shane (deceased)
Father:  Louis Shane (deceased)
Siblings:  Arabella Shane (elder sister, whereabouts unknown)

Character History

Born aboard his family's cargo ship, the "Distant Horizon", Darius did not have what one would call a 'normal' childhood. He and his sister, Arabella, were drug through the galaxy on one long cargo run after another. Darius knew more ways to coax performance from broken down components than any kid has a right to know.

This lasted until the age of sixteen, when their ship was hit by pirates. Darius and his sister hid in a maintenance space barely big enough for one person, let alone two. It is from this incident that Darius' loathing of enclosed spaces arises. He isn't claustrophobic in the normal sense. He doesn't get scared, he gets angry.  During the raid, Darius' mother was killed by the Pirates, and his father was injured.

The loss of the cargo, the injuries, and the damage to the Distant Horizon was the end of his family's business. Their ship was impounded and sold for unpaid debts and shortly after that, Darius' father passed away.  His sister once remarked "it was like being planet-bound was too much for him, his heart just gave out."

Arabella managed to find jobs and once he was of age, Darius entered Starfleet, figuring that even if he couldn't swing the Academy proper, he could probably make it as an engineering mate or some such. It became clear, however, that his aptitude was not in the engine room, but in the field.

Starfleet may be an organization built around exploration and understanding, but it is also both the police and military force of the Federation. Darius displayed a gift for battlefield tactics and small-scale operations, he was quickly assigned to a special-operations task force within Starfleet Security. There, he was given specialized training in anti-piracy and small-unit tactics under the watchful eye of a Bajoran instructor, Chief Andu. Andu's slogan of "if a man is not the best, he's one of the rest" quickly became cadet Shane's credo as well. A veritable sponge for knowledge, Darius was always trying to learn as much as he could during any free time he had during training. He became a certified field medic during his initial training cycle, and while not not officially qualified, he learned to handle every small craft in the Federation fleet before his final cycle was complete. Upon graduation, Darius was assigned to several short-term postings in numerous small conflicts and was responsible for the disruption and arrest of no less than three pirate or smuggling rings. From there, he entered longterm assignment under Admiral Raner, but that period of his service record is classified. During this time, Darius' performance evaluations began to decline slowly.  It was decided that a quieter, regular posting to a Starship that was in for some down-time itself might help return him to previous levels, sort of a working vacation, as it were.