Peter Harrigan

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Revision as of 16:44, 4 November 2011

Captain Peter Harrigan is a Starfleet officer and the commander of the USS Endeavour. A captain of some experience, he is rather more renowned for his talents as a weapons designer and developer, and for being one of the sharpest minds in Starfleet. His reputation across Starfleet is mixed - some hail him as man of intellect, culture, and with an in-depth knowledge of the Core Worlds, while others would describe him as a whimsical egotist incapable of long-term dedication.

Personal Details

Family

Father: Doctor George Harrigan (70)

Mother: Amanda Laney (Deceased)

Brother: Samuel Harrigan (Deceased)

Sister: Pamela Harrigan (Deceased)

Physical Appearance

Harrigan does not appear quite as tall as he is, due to the stoop in his posture which comes from his reliance upon a cane to walk. He still has a certain presence which can draw attention when he steps, or even hobbles into a room. In presentation he varies between the extremes - either he is the picture of suave neatness, all spit and polish in uniforms and civilian clothing. Otherwise, usually if engrossed in some obsessive project, he's a mess of dishevelled hair, rumpled clothing, a forgetful relationship with shaving, and slightly wild eyes. His voice is one of brisk, educated tones, though it, and his oft-seen smirks, hold a ring of arrogance about them.

Medical Details

In evacuating the USS Cromwell in the Battle of Sol, Harrigan's escape pod was struck by debris of the exploding ship. The impact caused the fracturing of his left leg in four places, which did not receive medical attention until his pod was recovered several days later. The delay in this care led to prolongued troubles in his recovery. Harrigan rejected the offers of his leg being amputated, and spent six months learning how to walk again. Since then he has relied upon a cane to walk on an everyday basis to support his weight. On occasion he has been known to make use of a hover chair for convenience.

Starfleet Record

Service History

• 2383 - 2387: Starfleet Academy; Officer Candidate (Cadet)
• 2387 - 2391: Starfleet Academy; Extended Engineering Courses (Ensign)
• 2391 - 2394: USS Cromwell; Chief Engineer (Lieutenant Junior Grade)
• 2394 - 2397: USS Cromwell; Chief Engineer (Lieutenant)
• 2397 - 2398: USS Cromwell; Executive Officer/Chief Engineer (Lieutenant Commander)
• 2398 - 2399: Medical Leave
• 2399 - 2403: Utopia Planitia Shipyards; R&D Project Leader (Lieutenant Commander)
• 2403 - 2405: USS Templar; Executive Officer (Commander)
• 2405 - 2407: USS Templar; Commanding Officer (Commander)
• 2407 - Present: USS Templar; Commanding Officer (Captain)

Decorations and Commendations

• Montgomery Scott Award for Engineering Excellence (2393)
• Battle of Sol Medal (2398)
• Bronze Star (2398)

History

Childhood

Peter Harrigan was born on Aldebaran, the middle of three children. At an early point in his education, his intellect became apparent to his teachers, and to his father. A medical researcher, George Harrigan set about driving his son to excel in his studies and hone his mind with a vigour which would inspire young Peter, but also birth a tension between them. Peter was a youth with a broad interest in a range of subjects, both academically and in his personal interests, whilst George would brook nothing he conceived as a distraction.

Despite his tensions with his father, he was close to his family and had a happy childhood - most especially when his father was absent because of his work. He remained a well-read young man, refusing to limit himself in his curiosity, but also with a fondness for sports, playing rugby for his school. But come further specialisation of his education he discovered a love for astrophysics and space-flight engineering.

Against his father's wishes, he applied for Starfleet Academy. George Harrigan made broad efforts to try to discourage his son from joining Starfleet, and as the Borg War broke out, just as George became more insistent it was a poor notion, Peter remained determined it was the right thing to do. The two parted on poor terms.

The Academy

Harrigan would excel at the Academy. His first year would prove difficult for, perhaps, over-stimulation, as he took on a broad number of courses and still tried to engross himself in Academy life on a social and even sporting level. Eventually settling down, he found himself being petitioned by both the Science and the Engineering Departments to hone his study with them. Despite his love for astrophysics, he was ultimately won over by a trip with the Engineering Department to Utopia Planitia Shipyards and the Research & Development workshop there.

He nevertheless took on more courses than the average student, and it was here that he began his broadening of his experiences, otherwise being little more than a bright boy from a colony world. He learned the languages of multiple Federation member worlds, and went out of his way to learn Klingon and Romulan when the species also became members. In addition he made a point of learning and understanding the cultures of the Federation, unusual at a time when war was the priority.

Graduating at the top of his class, Harrigan opted for continued courses, professing an interest in Starship Weapons Design and Development. Although he was pushed to go into service as soon as possible, he obtained sponsorship from Utopia Planitia for his continued study, as they intended to head-hunt him for an R&D Project upon his qualifications.

It was during his extended training that Aldebaran III was assimilated by the Borg. With Starfleet infamously withdrawing before evacuation was complete, Harrigan's family were amongst those who failed to make it off the planet, his father the only survivor by being off-world on a medical conference. This would be one of the first blows in whittling away the contended confidence born of Harrigan's happy-enough youth, especially as communication with his father in the aftermath became even more tense and fleeting.

Chief Engineer of the Cromwell

Harrigan almost left the course immediately to take on a starship assignment, but persevered. But his attitude was such that when Starfleet overruled Utopia Planitia R&D and insisted more officers were needed on starships than in laboratories, he did not contest the decision. He was shipped to the USS Cromwell, his training granting him the posting of Chief Engineer directly out of the Academy.

Although an undeniably brilliant officer, the crew of the Cromwell sometimes found Harrigan's drive difficult to deal with. He pushed his engineering team hard, and none harder than himself, pulling late and extended shifts regularly. He remained in communication with the Weapons Development R&D Project on Utopia Planitia, submitting theories and offering feedback from the front lines. On occasion he would even tweak the systems of the Cromwell with developments and technology from the R&D Team that had not been formally approved.

As the war continued, Harrigan became something of a hoarder. He would collect artwork and items of cultural significance from most planets the Cromwell visited, especially ones that had, or were likely to be, attacked by the Borg. As the planets fell, one by one, his collection became incalculably more valuable, and often Harrigan would ship belongings back to Earth to be preserved.

It took six years of service, when the Cromwell suffered a surprise attack by Borg, before Harrigan's unauthorised upgrades to the ship's systems became known of by even her captain. Admitting what he had been doing, Harrigan asked for permission to finalise one of the weapons modifications he had been making, a hyper-charged pulse-modulation of the phaser array which would allow one single shot he gambled would break through the Sphere's defences.

Out of options, the Cromwell's captain concurred. The ship fired - and all power was lost in the aftermath. As engineers fought desperately to restore life support, emergency forcefields, and other essential systems they slowly realised the Borg had not moved in for the kill. By the time sensors were restored, they realised the shot had been successful - the Sphere had been destroyed.

The Captain dragged Harrigan onto the bridge by the collar of his uniform. He had been irresponsible, he said, having compromised the ship's safety with unknown and untested technology. Harrigan was too abashed to point out he had used less volatile technology for the past six years, which on several occasions had allowed the Cromwell to survive where other ships had perished. Ultimately, such a defence would have proven pointless - he was berated for a full ten minutes, before the Captain snatched up a set of pips and promoted Harrigan on the spot to Lieutenant Commander, assigning him as the Cromwell's new Executive Officer, replacing the commander who had died in the battle.

First Officer, and the Battle of Sol

Harrigan insisted he be allowed to keep on the responsibilities of the Chief Engineer, and was granted it. With newfound authority he set about formalising the changes to the ship's systems he had pioneered and pushed for, remaining openly in contact with Utopia Planitia. The Cromwell became a quasi-unofficial testbed for anti-Borg weapons that had yet to be fully implemented.

These upgrades would allow the ship to be as devastating as she was in the Battle of Sol, and the Cromwell enjoyed more enemy kills per hour of battle than almost any other starship in the fight. This would, however, be cut short as such success brought about enemy fire. Attacked on all sides, she stood sturdy until a heavy blow threatened a warp core breach.

The evacuation order was given, and Harrigan ignored it to fight his way down to engineering. The breach was liable to come about sooner, far sooner than he liked, without enough time for the crew to make it to escape pods. Determined to keep his ship, his crew intact, Harrigan sealed himself inside Engineering on what most, including himself, expected to be a one-way decision. Desperately, he fought to contain and delay the warp core breach, successful for some full ten minutes.

In that time, everyone on board the Cromwell either died in their efforts to flee, or made it off the ship. Realising he was the last man standing, Harrigan made a desperate charge for the escape pod. Technically successful, his pod was still closer than any safety guidelines would ever approve of as his ship exploded behind him, as if waiting for her Chief Engineer left before finally succumbing to her damage.

Debris of the Cromwell struck Harrigan's escape pod, and the impact damage broke his leg in four separate places. Drifting with the power gone, Harrigan was forced to crawl about the pod in an effort to re-establish life support, and watch the rest of the battle through the tiny viewport.

Even when the battle ended, it took three days before Harrigan's escape pod was recovered by surviving starships.

Recovery, and Utopia Planitia

Doctors fought to save the Harrigan's leg, on several occasions determined to simply amputate. Each time Harrigan refused, especially when one more doctor came in to lend care - his own father. George Harrigan's insistence his son should simply take a bionic replacement triggered a stubborn reaction. Doctors professed he would never walk again - within six months, Commander Harrigan was successfully hobbling about the medical base with a cane, if in a somewhat ungainly manner. He would never again enjoy his same levels of mobility, permanently reliant upon a cane or a hoverchair.

Rebuilding in the Federation had begun, however, and the moment Harrigan could get himself determined fit for work, he sought an assignment. Finally, he took the job at Utopia Planitia R&D he had sought for years. The project he joined took the view that the Borg would some day return - and that Starfleet could not beat them with numbers. As such, most of the anti-Borg weaponry that had been considered but there had not been the time or resources to develop, Harrigan and his team set about perfecting or finalising. His team also took on some responsibility for the weapons design of several new classes, including the Enterprise, the Ark Royal, and the ill-fated Century.

As the years rolled on, and the Federation became less obsessed with the idea of the Borg coming back, less and less funding reached Harrigan's project. Eventually, it was cut back so much that he became disinterested, and requested a transfer back to a starship.

The USS Templar

Commander Harrigan was posted to the USS Templar, a ship of the First Fleet. At a time when the Federation was just beginning to turn its eyes away simply from Sol, the Templar was a vessel returning to Core World member planets, and establishing secure borders and internal safety.

Here Harrigan finally found himself experiencing some of the duties he had originally aspired to as a Starfleet Officer. There was an extensive amount of relief work required on Core World planets, and the borders and trade routes were routinely threatened by pirates and, eventually, even the Vulcans. His cultural interest underwent something of a rebirth, and Harrigan began to build his reputation as an officer capable of more than simply engineering work and research, for which he had been formally known.

As the First Officer, and eventually the CO, of the Templar, Harrigan would bring his intellect to bear in different ways. His experience from the Borg War made him a superior tactical mind, and he showed a tremendous capacity for diplomacy aided by understanding the cultural background of those he dealt with. Understanding that the Federation was bigger than Earth, and that member worlds and colonies all had their own experiences, he became a versatile commander in the maintaining of the peace.

He would also, however, prove prickly and stubborn. Insults to his pride could ruin diplomatic encounters; advice from subordinate officers whom he did not deem sufficiently qualified, in academics or experience, to lecture him on a topic, could be ignored. Harrigan was also occasionally prone to gross overreactions if incensed - on one occasion the Templar hunted a pirate ship that had raided and murdered a civilian freighter. Instead of simply incapacitating the ship with the Templar's weapons, as was possible, Harrigan hacked into the enemy vessel's mainframe and forced its warp core to begin its own detonation. He then hung this over the heads of the pirates until they surrendered, and even when they did so, he only cancelled the self-destruction program at literally the last second.

After two years of service as the Templar's commander, and four years on board, Harrigan was promoted to Captain. This came with a myriad of other job offers as his methods, deemed 'effective' in a more modern, brutal Starfleet, were applauded. But Harrigan's arrogance brought him into some conflict with his superiors, especially Admiral Moore, to whom he was routinely rude and dismissive - calling her 'no-nonsense' attitude to be simply an excuse to justify and celebrate ignorance.

The USS Endeavour

Partly through maintained interest in the Templar's mission in the Core Worlds, partly through a desire to stay and irritate Moore, the First Fleet Commander, Harrigan resisted efforts to be transferred. Eventually came the commission of the third Enterprise-class starship, the USS Endeavour.

Harrigan's name reached a short-list of candidates, though Admiral Moore balked from the beginning, and rumours abounded that even the Office of the President was displeased with such an unorthodox candidate being touted as the commander of Starfleet's newest, most high-profile recent vessel.

But when he was offered the posting, perhaps through genuine interest in the Enterprise-class and his familiarity with her systems, perhaps to irritate those who had disapproved of him, Captain Peter Harrigan accepted command of the new starship, and was assigned as the commanding officer of the USS Endeavour.