James Thomas Reed
From FEInfobase
| James Reed | |
| |
| Species: | |
| Homeworld: | |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Born: |
20 July 2377 |
| Eyes: |
Green |
| Hair: |
Brown |
| Height: |
1.91 meters |
| Weight: |
88 kilograms |
| Affiliation: | |
| Assignment: | |
| Position: |
Executive Officer |
| Rank: |
Lt. Commander |
| Insignia: |
|
| Status: |
Active |
| [ Source ] | |
Contents |
Introduction
James Thomas Reed was the Executive Officer aboard Deep Space Five. His duties included commanding the USS Valiant during away missions. He is a distant relative to Malcolm Reed, who served with Captain Archer on the USS Enterprise NX-01 in the 22nd century.
Personal Info
Appearance
James keeps a relatively unkempt appearance, even though one would not consider it sloppy. He prefers to keep his hair longer than his peers along with an ever present beard that he has kept since his days at the Academy during the Borg War. People consider his rugged, even though he grew up on Mars and not in any kind of backwater wilderness. His green eyes are soft and gentle, not what most would consider to be command material.
Personality
In keeping with his appearance, James is fairly loose in personality. He's not a stickler for regulations and prefers to just get things done and get them done right. A fairly clean record, only minor blemishes are found mainly dealing with fraternization with both superiors and subordinates and a few for getting into shouting matches with superior officers.
He will stick to himself unless he feels strongly about a subject and is loyal almost to a fault. Has an eye for women, but does not try to take advantage of anyone.
History
Early Life (2377 - 2382)
Born on Mars, James spent his early years there as his parents, Norah and Edward, were administrative members of the local government at this time. He lived with his two siblings, Dylan (2379) and Stewart (2381), in a modest apartment in peace and quiet ... or as much peace and quiet as you can have with three young boys running around the place.
He attended preschool while still on Mars, but it was not long until the Borg War starts.
The Borg War (2382 - 2398)
The long and terrible Borg War was nothing more than a curiosity to a young boy who spent most of his time on Mars while his parents continued to serve on Mars. As news began to grow worse and worse, tensions were rising on Mars and the Reed family picked up and headed to Spacedock One in 2385 where his father was tasked with heading the civilian population on the station.
There, as a young boy, James got to see the true terror of the war as it unfolded. He was only eight years old when they moved, but he spent most of his time around the station's officers, hearing stories of what was happening and seeing the survivors of the battles with the Borg come in.
Here he attended primary and secondary school and upon graduation at the age of 16 (2393), enlisted at Starfleet Academy as part of an early enrollment initiative to get new officers into the ranks as quickly as possible. This was against the wishes of his father, who was still the administrator on Spacedock One.
At the Academy, James quickly proved himself to be the equal to his peers, even at his young age. It did not take long for him to settle in and excel at the Academy like many others, and while he did not distinguish himself in academics, he was very well liked and at ease when commanding others. He was recommended to complete command school, and did so in record time, and was assigned as an Asst Chief Tactical Officer on the USS Tarawa, an Intrepid Class vessel.
They were quickly sent to Alpha Centauri to mount a defense of that planet. She was tasked with protecting the flagship from during the defense and did so admirably. At one point, the Chief Tactical Officer, Lt. Zelan, was injured and taken to sickbay and James was forced to man her station during the rest of the conflict. While attacking the Borg was his primary concern, he was also tasked with clearing debris in the area as well from destroyed vessels as to try and keep as many ships intact as possible. Though the defense was ultimately successful, the Tarawa was one of only a handful of vessels to make it back to Earth.
Even though the damage was extensive, the Tarawa was not put on the priority repair list because she could enact repairs herself. During this time James spent a lot of time with the engineering crew trying to gain every little bit of efficiency out of the Tarawa's aging tactical systems. While not world-shattering advances in technology, his persistence would pay off in the end.
While all was relatively quiet as 2397 came to a close, 2398 would bring the Battle of Sol and massive changes to James' life. The Tarawa was specifically held back in reserve at Stardock One as part of the last line of defense for Sol. As the crew watched report after report flood in from the system on the Borg advance, the crew prepared for battle again. Hardened, they were ready for anything, but James could not be prepared for what happened.
The Tarawa was this time attached to Stardock One as one of its many support vessels and was to be coordinated by the staff there. The initial defense was a success, but ultimately they were able to destroy Stardock One while the Tarawa flew by, unable to do anything for the crew onboard.
While the defense was ultimately successful, James did not know that his father had stayed behind on Stardock One even through the mandatory evacuation order to help the crew there to keep the place together. He had stood at his post, helping the wounded who were coming into the massive medical facility, up until the very end of the station. While James' mother and brothers were on the planet surface, both Dylan and Stewart were currently serving as civil engineers like their parents, his father died a hero.
James did not know this and instead "celebrated" (if that is what you can call it) the victory of that day.
Aftermath (2398 - Present)
It was not until almost a month later, when he was able to finally visit his mother on Sol, that he was to find out the news. During that month, the Tarawa had been tasked with searching for any survivors and also salvage operations around Sol. The unspeakable horrors of that day did not diminish James' light-hearted nature, but it did harden him against the atrocities of war.
When he did find out about his father, he did not ask for any leave to mourn but did visit the memorial put up in honor of those who served it he battle. Quickly returning to the Tarawa, he mired himself in his work and slowly cut himself off from the rest of the crew. During 2399, the Tarawa was kept close to home and mainly used as a search and rescue vessel along with occasional skirmishes with fragments of Borg ships which would come online and attack any nearby vessels.
It allowed James to stew by himself for a good long while.
This was the norm for the Tarawa and her crew for the next few years while the Federation licked it wounds and tried to piece itself back together. While larger, more prestigious vessels were sent out to try and make contact with anyone and everyone, the Tarawa was kept back to act as an escort for any supply ships and incoming refugees that would dare to traverse space and make it near Sol.
When not acting as an escort, the Tarawa was on constant patrol of The Field, and along with the rest of the Earth Defense Force, tried to catalog as much of the expansive field as possible. She was one of the first vessels to respond to the hails from the USS Annapolis as that ship was pulled into the field when the field emitters died. During this time, James was on the bridge as they all watched the Annapolis get pulled into the debris field ... and no one really knows what happened after that.
Slowly James came out of his depression and was rewarded for his service in 2402 with promotion to full Lieutenant along with a promotion to Chief Tactical Officer. It was a post he would serve for the next eight years until called to serve on Deep Space 5.
Deep Space 5 (2410 - Present)
Joining Deep Space 5 in early 2410, James was unprepared for the sheer number and severity of emergencies that would ensue. Not simply dealing with the local problems of piracy and diplomacy, the USS Valiant was attacked and its acting commander is now missing. Upon returning to Deep Space 5, the station was brought to its knees when the main computer failed, its CO incapacitated, Voyager in a state of flux, and its prior CO murdered.
Not exactly a great start.
Now the acting CO of the station, Lt. Commander Reed is trying to figure out what is going on ... and keep the Algedi system from pulling out of the Federation completely.
Service Record
- 2397 - 2402 | USS Tarawa - Lieutenant Junior Grade - Asst Chief Tactical Officer
- 2402 - 2406 | USS Tarawa - Lieutenant - Chief Tactical Officer
- 2406 - 2410 | USS Tarawa - Lieutenant Commander - Second Officer / Chief Tactical Officer
- 2410 - Present | Deep Space 5 - Lieutenant Commander - Executive Officer