Ensign Kate Wood

[Kate Wood]

Basics

Name: Katherine ‘Kate’ Suzanna Wood

Age/Date of Birth: 25, 24/12/2359

Race: ¾ Human, ¼ Romulan

Gender: Female

Department: Tactical

Appearance

Skin Complexion: Has naturally tanned skin, a product of her Romulan heritage, which freckles in natural sunlight across her nose and cheekbones.

Hair: A dark chocolate brown usually with highlights.

Eyes: Honey brown

Weight: 120lbs

Height: 5’5

Distinctive features: Small clues such as the softened point of her ears and the slight ridge across her brow give away her mixed heritage to an observant person.

Personality: An emotionally shielded person, she comes across as cold and uncaring because she finds displays of affection and weakness very uncomfortable. She hates showing signs of weakness within herself and thus avoids being open. She is very direct and focussed, almost to a fault because she rarely takes the needs of others into consideration.

Nicknamed ‘bulldozer’ by her father, she likes to get things done and is almost addicted to achieving and is known for acting before thinking it through in her eagerness to complete it. As a child she was often covered in bruises where she’d go straight in fearlessly. This also means she has her mother’s knack of getting into trouble.

History/Background

Parents:
• Commander Claudia Nevala, 48, serving onboard the USS Janeway.
• Rear Admiral Alexander Wood, 49, working at Starfleet Headquarters specialising in fleet operations.

Siblings:
• Brother: Matthew Alexander Wood, 24, Starfleet medical student.
• Half brother (on mother’s side): Ashok Nevala, 13, onboard ship.
• Half sister (on father’s side): Olivia Wood, 6
• Half sister (on father’s side): Carina Wood, 3

Marital Status: Single, never married.

Personal History: Kate was born on the eve of the ancient holiday of Christmas in New Delhi hospital, India. Her earliest years were spent between Starfleet Academy where her mother was finishing off her studies and India where her grandparents often cared for her. They saw very little of her father, Alex Wood, during these early years as he was away on assignments.

Upon graduation, Kate’s mother worked at Utopia Planetia in orbit around Mars. Being so close to Earth meant that once again Kate, and now her younger brother Matthew who is eighteen months younger her junior, were often in the care of their grandparents. Without her father in easy reach, Kate became very close to her Romulan grandfather and this relationship would instil a lifelong passion for everything Romulan. She was fluent in the language by the age of five and is sought out today as an expert and advisor. Her mother, who had had more trouble coming to terms with her heritage, couldn’t discourage the closeness between the two but she did however try to inspire a greater respect for everything human and Federation. This didn’t dampen the girl’s fascination in the Empire one ounce.

The two children followed their mother to her new posting onboard the USS Galaxy when Kate was six and this is where’d they stay for the next five or so years. Her years on the Galaxy were happy and secure, she saw her father more often for the two ships were in the same sector and frequently coincided and thus the children would stay with him for a couple of weeks at a time. Toward the end of their stay on the Galaxy the signs of her parent’s deteriorating marriage weren’t lost upon the girl who was almost a teenager and old enough to have an idea about what was happening. She vividly remembers overhearing arguments over subspace when Claudia thought she was sleeping and this began her act of pretending she knew nothing and everything was just fine.

2371 was a year Kate would never forget and has shaped the woman she is today. Her mother was selected to command an undercover mission into Romulan space and so she and Matthew were sent to India. She was gone for over a month and during this time, once again she would overhear her grandparents talk while she sat at the top of the stairs, at first it was about a capture, then a rescue mission and lastly of Claudia recovering in a sickbay. Once again she was left out of the loop and came to her own conclusions, which were generally correct. She became an expert actress, pretending she was blissfully unaware of the events which were rocking her family while trying to keep her brother happy. This has chiselled a personality which can seem cold and unforgiving because she cannot bare emotional displays, seeing them as a weakness and would rather put on her front because that made less hassle than she breaking down as well.

The mother who returned from this mission wasn’t the same as the one who left. For the first few weeks she saw her only a handful of times with the explanation of “your mother isn’t well” to satisfy her curiosity. Claudia was withdrawn, pale, tired looking and thinner and Kate acted like nothing was wrong. She would tell her mother about her day in a chirpy tone and then go home and cry herself to sleep in the darkness of her bedroom.

Her mother did however recover in time. The divorce of her parents came as a blow but wasn’t a surprise, what was shocking was that her mother was expecting a child. She wouldn’t learn of the true circumstances of the new baby until she was much older but was excited nonetheless. They stayed in India and the following year her younger brother Ashok was born.

Around the same time they were in India, her father finished off his brief tour as a starship captain and took a position at Command. The strained relationship between the two was smoothed and she and Matthew would often spend time at Command which stoked her desire to become an officer. Since a young child she knew she wanted to be part of the mighty force which was Starfleet. Her father completely encouraged this, coming from a Starfleet family himself and a long line of high achieving Admirals. Matthew on the other hand, only saw his father when encouraged to, preferring to stay in India. The boy, who was very close to his mother, would always be very angry toward the man who he saw as disinterested and lazy toward his wife and children. The siblings always got along as they were often in each other’s company but were fundamentally chalk and cheese. While Kate veiled her feelings under an impenetrable mantel of self assurance and often barred herself against other’s emotional states, Matthew was the very opposite. Very sensitive and quiet, he’s a thinker who has a very strong sense of right and wrong. He often makes her uncomfortable with his openness.

When Kate was fifteen, her mother made the decision to re-enter Starfleet to the delight of her children, especially to Kate who couldn’t believe their luck – her mother had been assigned to the brand new Sovereign-class ship, USS Aeon. The next few years were dominated by the teenager’s eagerness to enter the Academy. She worked incredibly hard and at eighteen got in first time.

With the intention of pursuing a tactical career, Kate’s social life was a dead as the dodo for her studies took up all the time she had. Her father had just made Admiral at only forty-one and commanded fleet operations over several sectors. Away from her studies however Kate found a solace in running as a way to de-stress and won the Academy marathon during her third year. Being the daughter of an influential Admiral had its uses of course, instructors always jumped to help her and she often received her first choice in projects she wanted. With mother light years away on assignments, she became very close to her father and his daughters from his second marriage to a civilian chef, Jennifer, while seeing her grandparents regularly.

Kate graduated second in her class at twenty-two with high honours and had specialised in intergalactic politics concentrating on the Romulan Empire. Kate’s career began at Starfleet Command but after six months she requested reassignment after the desire to go back into space became too much. She spent the next two years as a tactical officer onboard a Starbase which would eventually host the USS Janeway and thus an opportunity for exploration.

Hobbies: Kate is a keen runner who enjoys marathons and likes playing velocity. Has an interest in Romulan culture, especially its language and literature.

Career Highlights/Medals:

Out of Character

Player Name: Gemma

Instant Messenger addresses: farscape_mad@hotmail.com

Play-by Avatar: Natalie Portman

[Andrew Stone]

Excellent bio, welcome to the site.