Lieutenant JG Elias Hale

Character Information

Gender		Male
Character Quote		“If we’re going to do something stupid, let’s at least do it properly.”
Species		Human
Age		29

Physical Appearance

Height		183cm
Weight		181lbs
Hair Color		Dark brown
Eye Color		Hazel
Physical Description		Elias is of average-to-athletic build, kept fit more by the requirements of Starfleet service than any particular obsession with exercise. He has dark brown hair which he keeps short but rarely immaculate, hazel eyes, and an expressive face that often betrays amusement before he says anything. He generally carries himself in a relaxed manner away from duty, although that changes noticeably when he takes a flight-control station. At the helm he becomes still, focused and economical in his movements. He has a faint scar near his right eyebrow, the souvenir of an Academy training accident which he insists was considerably less exciting than people imagine.

Family

Spouse		None
Children		None
Father		David Hale — retired Starfleet engineering specialist, currently living on Earth.
Mother		Helen Hale— civilian educator and former Federation school administrator, currently living on Earth.
Brother(s)		None
Sister(s)		Sophie Hale — younger sister, civilian cartographic analyst based on Earth.
Other Family		Elias maintains contact with a fairly large extended family scattered throughout the British Isles on Earth, although duty assignments mean he rarely sees them in person. He is particularly close to his maternal grandfather, Thomas Bennett, a retired civilian pilot who first encouraged Elias's fascination with flight.

Personality & Traits

General Overview		Elias is personable, curious and generally easy to work with. He has a dry sense of humour and tends to use it most when circumstances become uncomfortable, although he knows when to stop talking and concentrate on the job. He enjoys meeting people and rarely judges someone by species, rank or reputation before getting to know them himself. At the helm, his personality becomes noticeably more restrained. Elias is methodical rather than flashy and believes that good piloting is primarily about judgement rather than bravado. He does not consider himself fearless and is suspicious of pilots who claim to be. His greatest personal difficulty is his tendency to dwell on his own mistakes. Elias can forgive another person's error almost immediately while replaying his own decisions long after everyone else has moved on. He has become better at controlling this tendency with experience, but has not entirely conquered it.
Strengths & Weaknesses		Elias remains calm under pressure and is particularly good at processing changing information without allowing himself to become overwhelmed by it. He has strong spatial awareness, good instincts for navigation and a patient approach to complex manoeuvres. He also works well with people outside his own department and does not believe rank automatically makes someone's opinion more valuable. His principal weakness is self-criticism. When Elias believes he has made the wrong decision he can become excessively analytical afterwards, examining what happened long after further analysis has ceased to be useful. He can also be stubborn when he believes the safest course of action is being dismissed merely because it is less exciting. His sense of humour occasionally appears at inappropriate moments, although rarely maliciously.
Ambitions		Elias wants to become the kind of Flight Control officer a commanding officer instinctively trusts when a situation has stopped following the plan. He has no immediate ambition for starship command and is more interested in becoming exceptional at his own profession than collecting rank. Circumstances aboard Elysium have already forced him to shoulder considerably more responsibility than he expected when he accepted the Assistant Chief position. Although the position of Chief Flight Control Officer is currently open, Elias does not believe that simply surviving or being next in line automatically entitles him to it. If he eventually takes that role, he wants it to be because he has demonstrated that he is ready for it. His broader ambition remains unchanged: exploration, discovery and seeing places no Human has seen before — although his experiences in Circinus have complicated his understanding of exactly what that ambition can cost.
Hobbies & Interests		Elias enjoys recreational flying and has a particular affection for older shuttlecraft and atmospheric aircraft, especially vehicles which require more direct pilot input than modern automated systems normally demand. He enjoys hiking, swimming, historical aviation, cartography and tinkering with flight simulations. He also enjoys pubs, cafés and other social spaces where conversation happens naturally rather than being organised. Elias is an enthusiastic but distinctly average cook and frequently insists that the problem lies with replicated ingredients rather than his ability. He follows several Earth sports casually and has a fondness for twentieth- and twenty-first-century popular music which he inherited from his grandfather.

Character Background

Personal History		Elias James Hale was born in Portsmouth, England, on Earth in 2369, the eldest of two children born to David and Helen Hale. His father served for much of Elias's childhood as a Starfleet engineering specialist, while his mother worked within civilian education programmes serving Federation personnel and their families. Starfleet was therefore present throughout Elias's childhood without ever being presented to him as an inevitable career. His father's assignments occasionally moved the family away from Earth for extended periods, giving Elias an early familiarity with starships, orbital facilities and people from worlds very different from his own. Earth remained home, but Elias grew comfortable with the idea that home could sometimes be wherever his family happened to be living. His fascination with flying began with his maternal grandfather, Thomas Bennett, who had spent much of his civilian career piloting atmospheric craft and small transports. Thomas was less interested in speed than precision and frequently told Elias that anybody could make a vehicle move; bringing it exactly where it needed to be was the difficult part. The lesson stayed with him. Elias entered Starfleet Academy in 2387 and specialised in Flight Control, navigation and auxiliary craft operations. He was a capable student rather than an extraordinary one. His academic marks were consistently good, while his practical flight scores improved steadily throughout the course. During his third year, Elias badly misjudged a simulated emergency landing after attempting to correct an approach too aggressively. The resulting crash damaged the training shuttle and left Elias with a minor facial injury but no lasting harm. His instructors considered it an ordinary training accident. Elias considered it proof that confidence without judgement could become dangerous. He graduated in 2391 and received his first posting as an Ensign aboard the USS Kestrel, initially serving routine bridge watches, navigational duties and auxiliary craft rotations. Those years made Elias a better officer and taught him that most successful flying was not spectacular. Often, the pilots attracting the least attention were doing their jobs particularly well. In 2395 he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and transferred to the USS Callisto, where he gained greater experience with long-range navigation, shuttle operations and difficult planetary approaches. He developed a reputation for being cautious without being timid and for questioning a flight plan when he believed there was a safer alternative. By 2397 Elias had become increasingly aware that he was comfortable aboard the Callisto. Perhaps too comfortable. He had joined Starfleet because he wanted to explore, and when an opportunity arose to transfer to the Odyssey-class USS Elysium, he saw the chance to serve aboard a vessel designed for exactly the kind of long-range exploration he had imagined when entering the Academy. Elias transferred to Elysium before September 2397 and joined the Flight Control Department as Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer. What was intended to be an exciting deep-space assignment changed dramatically in September 2397, when Elysium encountered a quantum filament and was displaced approximately thirteen million light-years from Federation space into the Circinus Galaxy. The ship was catastrophically damaged and suffered enormous loss of life, including approximately ninety percent of the Flight Control Department. Elias survived and remained aboard throughout the ship's Circinus journey. In the aftermath he became one of the comparatively small number of experienced Flight Control personnel still available, helping the department continue functioning while Elysium and her surviving crew adapted to life without Starfleet support. He lived through the evacuation to the frozen world that became home to Camp Derani, the prolonged repairs to the ship, and the difficult return to space with drastically reduced personnel and resources. Since then, Elias has continued serving aboard Elysium as the ship has encountered unfamiliar species, conflicts and technology throughout Circinus. The crew he originally joined has gradually evolved into a mixed community of Starfleet officers, civilians, Circinus survivors and Romulan refugees, all depending upon the same damaged vessel for the possibility of eventually returning home. The eager young officer who transferred aboard looking for somewhere “bigger, farther away, and a little less predictable” has therefore received considerably more than he bargained for.
Service Record		2387–2391 — Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth. Flight Control specialisation; secondary study in navigation and auxiliary craft operations. 2391 — Graduated Starfleet Academy. Commissioned Ensign. 2391–2395 — USS Kestrel. Flight Control Officer. Bridge Flight Control rotations, navigational planning and auxiliary craft operations. 2394 — Completed Advanced Auxiliary Craft and Emergency Flight Operations certification. 2395 — Promoted Lieutenant Junior Grade. 2395–2397 — USS Callisto. Flight Control Officer. Long-range navigation, planetary approaches and shuttlecraft operations. 2397 — Transferred to USS Elysium. Assigned as Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer. September 2397 — Aboard USS Elysium during displacement into the Circinus Galaxy. 2397–Present — USS Elysium. Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer.
Languages		Federation Standard / English — Native Basic conversational Vulcan — Academy-level proficiency
Academy Graduation Year		2391

Medical and Psychological Information

Medical Review		Lieutenant JG Hale is in good general health and meets Starfleet fitness requirements for active Flight Control duty. Previous injuries are limited to minor training and service-related incidents. A small scar near the right eyebrow remains from a shuttle-training accident during his time at Starfleet Academy but causes no functional impairment. Vision, hearing, reaction time and spatial-perception testing remain within Starfleet Flight Control requirements. Cleared for unrestricted duty.
Allergies/Health Issues		No known significant allergies or chronic medical conditions. No medication required. Fit for unrestricted Starfleet service.
Counseling Review		Hale presents as psychologically stable, sociable and well adjusted to Starfleet service. He demonstrates a strong sense of personal responsibility and generally responds effectively to high-pressure situations. He does show a tendency towards excessive self-analysis following perceived mistakes and occasionally places greater expectations upon his own performance than he would place upon colleagues. Previous counselling has focused on distinguishing useful professional reflection from unnecessary rumination. His experiences since the displacement of the USS Elysium into the Circinus Galaxy have included prolonged isolation from the Federation, severe loss of life aboard ship and extended service under difficult conditions. Despite this, Hale continues to function effectively in his role and there are no current concerns regarding his fitness for duty.