Bravo Fleet
Summary
Lt. (j.g.) David Lance Martel is currently having to leave his posting as a junior tactical officer on the U.S.S. Vincennes (NCC-64549) due to his promotion. His current superior Chief Tactical Officer Orir Th’zhelron has found Lt (j.g.). Martel’s service excellent with solid, disciplined service. While most of this time was relatively quiet, the scattering of encounters with pirates that the Vincennes did have, showed Martel to be a highly competent tactical officer. Currently Martel is waiting for his order’s to come through. The rumor mill has Martel headed towards Starbase 528, U.S.S. Mobile Bay or the U.S.S. Valkyrie.
Appearance
A bit on the short side but heavily muscled, earning him the nickname “Badger” in the Academy. Blonde hair due to his father’s Scandinavian heritage as well as olive skin that, while the French portion of his father helped a little, was mostly inherited from his mother who’s family is of Dominican and Cuban heritage. Green eyes and with a natural grim expression that is at odds with his wry, comedic nature.
Untitled Artwork
Personality
Martel’s childhood as a “Starfleet brat” has given him a very outgoing personality, as he decided early that the best way to make friends at a new assignment was to be outgoing and friendly. Martel is the epitome of the old saying, “That person has never met a stranger”. This has also instilled into him a sense of duty
Considers himself something of a amateur philosopher and historian and has a habit of finding parallels between historical events and the current situation. Believes that every role in Starfleet has a place in the machine and his as a tactical officer is to protect the other roles so they can do thier important work. Tends to joke during stressful situations which, while clearly a coping mechanism, has mixed receptions from his collegues and superiors.
Protective to those he feels can’t protect themselves, this can sometimes be somewhat overdone to the point of overprotectiveness. Also can be somewhat hot tempered. He has improved this particular flaw greatly, but it can still show it’s presence from time to time. He is however highly disciplined and professional, occasional bad joke not withstanding. Sometimes looks solely at a tactical situation and not underlying issues with said situation, causing him to fixate more on symptoms rather than causes.
David also found romance at the Academy in a fellow student, Nikkira Delann. This romance was very heartfelt and intense and the inevitable farewell at graduation was very painful for him and so he is very cautious about any romantic entanglements as a Starfleet officer.
History
Early Life (2377-2395)
David Lance Martel was born on Starbase 59 on February 21st, 2377 to a pair of Starfleet Intelligence officers, Lieutenant Talon Roman Martel and Lieutenant Simone Martel-Rodriguez. His childhood was typical of a child in a Starfleet family, growing up on several Starbases both planetside and orbital as well as a Galaxy-class Starship, the U.S.S. Astalon. This exposed David to many different cultures and species early which gave a David a strong fascination for learning about the myriad of cultures in the galaxy, especially their history of warfare.
Another fascination was with Starfleet itself as David grew to take comfort in the organized and disciplined routines. While this never entirely left him, when his parents got stationed at a Starfleet facility on Luna, he discovered he enjoyed doing wild stunts and pranks, though admittedly any rush from these was secondary to the laughs and attention. This caused no end to stress to his parents as they dealt with several occasions of seeing their son being brought home by local security. Compounded with complaints of fighting at school, Simone and Talon clamped down immediately and both restricted his time from the home and also worked to find out what had caused this change in David.
They soon found out David’s fights usually revolved around protecting someone from someone using their bigger size to bully others. With this knowledge, Simone and Talon worked to teach David to fight as a last resort and try harder to deescalate a situation, a standard David strives to to this day. As he worked on this, David calmed and his grades improved enough for him to be able to take and pass the Starfleet Academy entrance exam.
Starfleet Academy (2395-2399)
David’s time at Starfleet was generally uneventful with him gaining a minor celebrity status as the person who would take ancient tactics and convert them to modern battles. His use of the ancient Mongol Horde’s “Feigned Retreat” tactic was actually very well recieved by his instructors in particular.
As well as maintaining good grades, David also involved himself in several extracurricular activities, most notably rugby and tactical simulation clubs. David’s outgoing and social nature allowed him to shine and he was generally well liked, though some of the more serious minded students found him a bit loud and boisterous.
He did receive one black mark on his record for fighting a fellow student. While ultimately not expelled due to the circumstances of the fight, he does have a reprimand on his official record.
U.S.S. Vincennes (NCC-64549) (2399-2401)
Served with distinction while on anti-piracy and border patrol duties. Despite there being only scattered moments of excitement, David enjoyed the mentorship of the Vinceene’s Tactical Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Orir Th’zhelron. It was Lt. Cmdr. Th’zhelron who recommended David’s promotion to Lt. (j.g.), though this had the effect of having Starfleet putting David up for transfer. He is currently awaiting his orders to be cut.
Service Record
| Date | Position | Posting | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2395 - 2396 | Tactical Cadet | Starfleet Academy |
 Cadet Freshman Grade |
| 2396 - 2397 | Tactical Cadet | Starfleet Academy |
 Cadet Sophomore Grade |
| 2397 - 2398 | Tactical Cadet | Starfleet Academy |
 Cadet Junior Grade |
| 2398 - 2399 | Tactical Cadet | Starfleet Academy |
 Cadet Senior Grade |
| 2399 - 2401 | Tactical Officer - Junior | U.S.S. Vincennes (NCC 64549) |
 Ensign |