Lieutenant JG Ash Rowe
Name Ash Rowe
Position Chief Flight Control Officer
Rank Lieutenant JG
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Betazoid | |
| Age | 25 | |
| Place of Birth | Mirage (leisure resort planet) |
Starfleet Info
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'7" (170cm) | |
| Weight | 136 Ibs (61.5 kg) | |
| Hair Color | Blonde | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | A young woman with an average height and weight, she has a natural looking body with the natural curves to match. Although she is a Betazoid, she doesn't have their trademark black eyes, instead, an RGM (random genetic mutation) has given her blue eyes, and she prefers to keep her hair blonde. She has a tattoo of a black, stylised flame down her left arm. |
Family
| Spouse | None | |
| Children | None | |
| Father | Nikoli Rowe | |
| Mother | Lotti Rowe | |
| Brother(s) | Unknown | |
| Sister(s) | Unknown | |
| Other Family | Unknown |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | An independent young woman, Ash has been used to looking after herself. She has warmth and a keen sense of humour. She enjoys a drink and spending time in the bar. When not unwinding with a drink, she prefers to be either driving or racing, or tinkering with the mechanics of her vehicle. Despite her change in career, she's still an adrenaline junkie. She's got spark in her, which can present in both passion and a temper, but also drives a fierce sense of competition, determination, impulsiveness and tenacity. Once she has her mind set on something, nothing can deter her from her goal. She has firm opinions and isn't scared to speak her mind. She is a girl who achieved the height of her career and even fame at a young age only to have it all gone in a few short years. Although Starfleet gives her a place and purpose again, she is still dealing with that adjustment. Many people would say she wasn’t ‘officer material’, too mouthy and quick to argue, not having the earnest loyalty to Starfleet that others have and preferring to go out and have fun and play hard rather than work overtime. However, her skill is undeniable and has been the leading factor in her quick rise. As a Betazoid, she is able to tell when people aren't being straight with her and isn't afraid of both calling them out on it and being honest, sometimes stingingly so, in return. However, Ash has a lot of warmth and generosity to give and she makes a loyal friend, to the point where there is little she wouldn't do for a close friend in need. Although she has telepathic and empathic abilities, she was not brought up with the same training as other Betazoids, so all her ability is from her natural development and her own discipline. While she is a naturally strong telepath, her control can be erratic, meaning she occasionally finds it hard to 'block out' other people and mental 'noise'. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: Natural pilot, driving wheeled and hover vehicles even at high speeds and under pressure, improvising repairs and fine tuning vehicles, determination, independence, telepathic/empathic. Weaknesses: Not good at sciences, not great at reading or writing, honest to the point some people could consider rude at times, can sometimes be impulsive and fearless to the point of reckless, can be more flippant and devil may care than most officers. |
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| Ambitions | To be one of the best pilots Starfleet has to offer. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Racing, tinkering on racing vehicles, holodeck adventures, swimming, climbing, extreme sports, abseiling, brawling/sparring, bars and clubs. | |
| Languages Spoken | Standard, little bits and pieces of many languages but not fluent in any other languages. |
Character History / Other
| Personal History | Ash was born and grew up on the leisure resort colony 'Mirage'. Although on a smaller scale than somewhere like Risa, (as only a small area of the planet was suited to safe and practical colonisation), Mirage is an independent colony, so have their own rules and laws that have led to a wilder but also seedier version of a tourist resort colony. Ash was born to a dancer, Lotti, who worked in one of the entertainment bars. She and her boyfriend had run away from Betazoid to avoid Lotti's arranged marriage, thinking there would be ample opportunity to support themselves on the pleasure colony, however Lotti ended up performing in an exotic club and her boyfriend tended a bar. The pressure of real life, scraping a living and seeing Lotti perform for other men was too much, and when Lotti became pregnant and had Ash, it was the straw that broke the camel's back and the relationship broke down. Her father left Mirage, but Lotti was not in a position or state of mind to leave. With her mother working, Ash was brought up in the child care unit for younger children, rather than being brought up by her mother who was too caught up in work and her own leisure to worry about a child. Childcare was only provided until a child turned eight though, and after that, Ash was free to wander the leisure resort colony by herself. She joined up with other children in the same position, as there were no free schools, leaving many other children in the same position as Ash; wandering the streets with not much to do all day. They would group together in their own little gang of friends and find ways to entertain themselves, be it dare games involving tourists or getting free goes in the different tourist attractions available in the leisure resort colony that tolerant facility owners allowed the kids to indulge in from time to time. With little time or input from her mother, Ash never really got a sense of her Betazoid culture and it was lost to her. All she grew up knowing was the dubious surroundings of the pleasure colony. Ash's favourite part of the colony was the race track. She loved watching the races of wheeled cars and hover cars and bikes and longed to try it out for herself. After nagging one of the wardens long enough, he finally took her out in a wheeled racing car when she was twelve. She loved every minute, enjoying the rush of it even at that early age. The warden saw she had an enjoyment and knack for it, so gave her lessons every evening he had free. She proved to have a talent for the anticipation and quick thinking needed to drive and race, with fast reactions, a great eye, genuine talent and skill, and as she developed her telepathic abilities it gave her an edge to anticipate competition. After a couple of years, she was allowed to enter the junior races set up for gambling opportunities and for the tourists in Mirage who liked to watch racing. Ash raced for fun whenever she could and was eventually spotted by a race team sponsor who was scouting for young talent. She was fifteen at the time, but her mother signed permission for her to leave Mirage and work, never having had much interest in her girl. Ash was only too pleased to be off the colony, full of seedy tourists and demanding offworlders as she saw it. Leaving Mirage, the sponsor took her to Earth, where their team was based for training. She became part of a high ranking racing team in the league for under 18s, learning both the pit work required to keep a vehicle finely tuned for racing, as well as the driving and racing aspect. Ash worked hard, her passion for racing pushing her on to get better and better and fight for the premier driver position on the team. She won the honour, and by the age of seventeen, she became the junior Federation champion racing driver in both the wheeled and hover car racing leagues. When she turned 18, she left the team to join the professional Black Flame adult racing team to compete in the professional adult racing championships. The competition was a lot more fierce and cut throat however, and she missed out on the top spots on her first time out. Her team sponsors believed in the young talent however and invested in her and the team, pushing them harder. It took a season of working the team together in races before they started hitting their stride and bringing the titles home, and after a lot of slogging hard work and training, Ash started to ring up the wins. Ash became an adult Federation champion racing driver for three years running in wheeled car racing, took the top spot as a hover car racing driver for the last two of those three years, and in the third year of her championship titles, she also took the top spot in the non-Federation racing championship, beating an irate Klingon to take the cup and win the title. The young star of racing seemed to attract a lot of attention, not just for the amount of cups and titles she won in a three year period, but also for her age and fiery nature, living up to the Black Flame's team name when in the bar, in the press and in competition. She even had the tattoo of the team's emblem put down the length of her left arm, along with her fellow team mates. It led to a good deal of media attention, seeing her in various interviews for entertainment channels, invitations to VIP and 'red carpet' events and even some modelling work. However, when it seemed that she was set for another championship smashing year, the third race of the season went wrong. A combination of mechanical failure and aggressive driving on the track ended in a serious crash for Ash's hover racer. The thing was a wreck and they had to cut the broken young woman out of the wreckage. Although they nearly lost her in the hospital, she finally managed to pull through, but a lot of surgery was needed. Several metallic implants had to be used down the length of her back, particularly down the right side, and in her right arm and leg. At first, she thought it would be fine and she could jump straight back into a car. However, a few testruns soon showed up problems. The change of weight in one side of her body completely changed the balance in the light weight vehicles, where every ounce counted to keep the balance just right. The implants also meant that she wasn't quite as sharp with her reactions as she had been before. While it was barely noticeable, it was just enough to shave the precious fractions of seconds off in some of the trickier tracks. It also made it harder for her to use her right leg as sensitively as she had done before, making the controls manipulated by her right leg not quite as sharp as they had been. She lied about the discomfort and pain caused by movement at times in her supported body, but it was there when she raced all the same. While all minor things, they added up to precious time lost in races. Ash had to face the fact that she wouldn't be able to win another title in such competitive championships. And she couldn't deal with being in a team purely as a techy when she couldn't race. Ash left the team, unsure what to do or where to go. She didn't have a home or a family, and she'd lost the only thing that she had a passion for. She was still wanted at times for interviews and appearances at events, but she had nothing to do, so spent the rest of her time in the bar. She had gone from being a young woman who had achieved and had so much so young, to suddenly it all being gone. And there was nothing left over. It seemed like life could be finished for her before it had barely begun. A chance meeting with a fan decided her next step. A Starfleet Commander who was a racing fan attended an event that Ash was also reluctantly attending. After asking for her autograph, he asked what she was doing with herself after retirement. When she admitted that there was nothing, he showed some surprise as he would have thought the skills in racing, particularly hover cars, could translate well to piloting. Ash had never given it much thought, but they kept in touch. She was doubtful she would be accepted in to Starfleet anyway. She hadn't been enrolled in a school after the age of eight and in truth, she couldn't even read or write properly, a secret she had managed to keep for many years. While the Commander agreed that it would make being an officer harder, he sponsored her for a condensed 2 year officer course and flight school specifically established to train pilots with prior experience. Her transferrable skills and experience made them eager to accept her into Starfleet, but she was required to do extra work and give up breaks and leave on her course to improve her basic education and reading and writing skills. By the time Ash had successfully completed her training with Starfleet, she was an accomplished pilot, able to handle fighters and small craft particularly well with her previous experience and expertise, and although she still wasn't great at reading or writing, she was able to scrape through the minimum requirements in the academic modules and just about get by with reading and writing if she took her time with it. Her first stint as a pilot went well, earning her experience with small craft, fighters and bridge duty. What she lacked in Starfleet ambition and serious attitude she made up for with natural talent and skill. It meant she ended up butting heads more than once with other officers though, who felt she wasn’t taking her position seriously. She was as shocked as anyone else when she was promoted to Assistant Chief in a matter of months. In fact, she actually laughed out loud when she was informed. Someone believed in her though, as only a year and a half out of the Academy she was promoted to Chief, based solely on her skill in the chair. There was no arguing that she was talented, but it could be argued that her leadership skills were untested, her discipline and respect questionable, and her flippant attitude didn’t make her officer material, let alone chief. Somehow, she made it work though, and it wasn’t long before she was transferred to the USS Wolff. |
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| Service Record | 2391-2393 - Starfleet Condensed Officer's Course and Flight School 2393-2395 - USS Crescent, Pilot - Chief Flight Control Officer, Ensign - Lieutenant JG 2395-Present - USS Wolff, Chief Flight Control Officer, Lieutenant JG |