Junior Officers of the Artemis

Introducing your illustrious crew of NPCs!

From left to right: Ensign Roc Ingersol (security), Ensign Cally Henderson (engineering), Ensign Gene Ericsson (science), Ensign Matthew "Beamly" Pike (engineering), Nurse Jen Ericsson (medical), Ensign Lisa Park (engineering), Ensign Lola Beck (security)

I plan on posting information on each individual character later on, so keep an eye on this thread.

Matthew "Beamly" Pike
Engineering

Matthew Pike is the son of two Starfleet Officers, Christopher Pike and Helen Christianson-Pike. His parents had married shortly after his father Christopher Pike had briefly resigned his commission as a Starfleet Lieutenant Commander, but then divorced only seven months later when he had decided to return to active duty in Starfleet. Shortly after the divorce was finalized, his parents learned that Helen was pregnant. His mother served as a JAG officer and was stationed at various starbases throughout the Federation during Matthew's early life. He moved from starbase to starbase with his mother, never staying in one place long enough to form any lasting friendships.

Matthew's father was largely absent for most of his childhood. He would receive semi-regular messages and subspace communiques from his father, but he rarely saw the man whose legend as a starship captain was growing larger with each passing year. His mother's friends and colleagues and even complete strangers seemed to know more about his father's adventures than he did and would often beam at him, telling him what an amazing man his father is. He hated those moments and grew to resent his father for it.

Seeking to escape his father's shadow, Matthew left home at the age of seventeen to sign on with a freighter crew against his mother's wishes. The crew had no love for Starfleet, so he believed he could finally get away from hearing about the legendary Captain Pike and not feel like he's being constantly measured against him and coming up short. However, the next several months showed him just how naive he was. The freighter crew was unruly and undisciplined, a sharp contrast to his clean-cut and disciplined Starfleet upbringing that he was not prepared for. In addition to that, even here he couldn't get away from his father's reputation. Instead of praising his accolades, the freighter crew jeered and mocked Captain Pike and used him as a target for ridicule about everything they hated about Starfleet. Much of this ridicule was indirectly aimed at Matthew as well, alienating him further from the crew.

Matthew's stint as a freighter crewman was cut short when the captain decided to take a shortcut through a restricted area of space. Matthew knew the region was hazardous and contained a hidden gravitic minefield left standing after the Earth-Romulan war. The captain ignored Matthew's warnings, believing them to be nothing more than a Starfleet ploy to force ships like his to take longer routes. The freighter struck a gravitic mine and was severely damaged. Several crew members were injured and a few, including the captain, were killed in the explosion. While the rest of the crew panicked, Matthew remained calm and focused on repairing the smashed communications array so he could send a distress signal.

The freighter's distress signal was picked up by none other than Mr. Spock, science officer aboard the USS Enterprise under the command of Matthew's father. Matthew and the rest of the freighter crew were rescued by Captain Pike and brought on board the Enterprise. During the next few weeks en route to the starbase on which Matthew's mother was currently stationed, Matthew made himself useful by helping out the engineering crew whenever he could. The work helped keep his mind off the several heated arguments he and his father had been having ever since he was brought on board. Eventually though, he and his father managed to reach an understanding. Captain Pike even admitted he was proud of how Matthew handled himself during that crisis. He still didn't like the man, but by the time he left the Enterprise Matthew had begun to grudgingly respect him.

Shortly after returning home, Matthew applied to Starfleet Academy's engineering program. He had learned a great deal from the Enterprise's engineers, and his time with them convinced him that he may be able to make a name for himself in Starfleet beyond simply being Captain Pike's son. His instructors at the academy gave him no special treatment because of his parentage, which was very refreshing for him. He excelled in his engineering courses and had a particular aptitude for transporter technology. His classmates jokingly started calling him "Beamly" because of his reputation for being able to beam virtually anything from anywhere to anywhere no matter what problems the transporter simulations threw at him. He wasn't fond of the nickname, but it was far better than being called "Captain Pike's kid" so he accepted it.

After graduating the academy as a newly commissioned Ensign, Matthew was assigned to the recently constructed USS Artemis for its two-year shakedown cruise to help work out the bugs and test out various improvements and enhancements in the Archer-class scout vessel design. However, the Artemis was recalled only six months into the shakedown to be given a whole new crew and reassigned to patrol duty along the Romulan border. He and Ensign Park remained on board with the new Artemis crew as part of the Engineering staff.

Gene and Jen Ericsson
Science / Medical

Gene and Jen are twins. Their father is a classical musician and their mother is an exobiologist. As children, Gene had a high aptitude for science and Jen had always been drawn to medicine. They both saw Starfleet service as the perfect opportunity to pursue their goals in these fields. Before joining Starfleet, neither of them had ever left Earth. Gene was top of his planetary sciences and space sciences classes at the academy, and Jen excelled in her medical coursework. However, neither of them did very well with their zero-G training, and they both had problems with space-sickness on their first orbital facility and starship assignments. By the time they graduated, however, they had both adjusted relatively well to working and living in space. They both applied to all of the same postings, all planet-bound Starfleet installations, but Starfleet Command decided to send them both on a long-term border patrol mission instead.