Horatio Hawke


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Basic information
Assignment


Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke is a Federation Starfleet officer serving the 11th Fleet, currently assigned to the USS Highlander as the vessel's First Officer.

Always neat and tidy - almost meticulously so - Horatio takes care to present well. Coming from a military family, this neatness was drilled into him from an early age. He is of average height and build and wouldn't stand out in a crowd except for the air of confidence he projects wherever he goes.

Childhood

Horatio Hawke was born in 2357 on Mars, to Starfleet Officers Hadrian and Haydée Hawke. He was a ‘fleet brat’ and travelled extensively with his parents. The senior Hawkes were not always able to secure joint postings, which meant Horatio was either brought along with one or the other or stayed with his uncle and aunt in Brisbane.

Because he was moved around a lot, he learned early how to make friends quickly and was quite popular. He always knew he wanted to follow his parents into Starfleet and defend the Federation against its enemies.

He is too young to have fought in the Dominion War, but like so many, he felt the impacts of it. His father, Hadrian Hawke, was captain of the USS Proteus during the Federation Alliance’s final push to [Cardassia]] in 2375. Early in the battle, the Proteus was destroyed with all hands. Horatio took the loss of his father hard, but the loss reinforced his determination to enter Starfleet.

He had a stuttered education, often moving from school to school and being educated in every type of school you can think of. Naturally intelligent, he was able to quickly adapt to his new surroundings and had little trouble despite the constant moving.

His grades were easily enough to qualify for Starfleet entrance exams.

Starfleet Career

Starfleet Academy

While attending Starfleet Academy, Horatio’s talents as a pilot quickly became apparent. Despite several reprimands for misconduct, his scores were consistently in the top 5 per cent of his class.

One of his instructors remarked of Cadet Hawke, "He will make a good pilot and a decent officer, but if he would only apply himself he could be great at both."

In one incident in his third year, Horatio narrowly escaped expulsion when he and a friend attempted to steal a shuttle out of the Red Squad Hangar. They were both intoxicated and if they had succeeded in getting into the shuttle, Horatio’s career would have ended prematurely.

Despite this, and other disciplinary setbacks, Horatio graduated in the top 5% of his class in 2378 and was immediately assigned as a Flight Control Officer in the new Luna-class USS Oberon.

Early Career

Horatio’s first cruise, in the USS Oberon, lasted 18 months and was spent charting the Ha’Galaa Expanse in the Gamma Quadrant. He remembers this is the most boring assignment of his career as Ha’Galaa turned out to be void of anything interesting – at least to Horatio. The ship made a motherlode of biological and geological discoveries that kept her science crew in a permanent state of giddy excitement, but were of little interest to an adrenaline-driven flyboy like Ensign Horatio Hawke.

When the Oberon returned to Federation space in 2380, Horatio accepted a transfer to the Galaxy-class USS Venture. He idolised the Galaxy-class as a boy and the chance to serve in one of the most recognisable ships in Starfleet was a real boon for him.

His three years in Venture were among the most memorable, but also most traumatic of his career. He met Federation President Nanietta Bacco, received an official reprimand for fraternising with a subordinate, received a commendation for bravery and watched friends die when the Venture led a fleet to defend Andor during the Borg Invasion of 2381. He was even promoted to Lieutenant (JG).

In 2383, when Venture went in for major refit, he was transferred to the USS Sovereign as Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer.

Later Postings

Horatio’s time in the Sovereign was a little more ordinary than in the Venture. He was well-liked by his fellow crewmates and continued to demonstrate his abilities as a pilot. In one incident, when he was Acting Chief Flight Control Officer, he expertly piloted the Sovereign through the Vorallian Asteroid Field without sustaining a single strike on the ship’s shields. He still has trouble convincing people that this actually happened, but his then-captain will back it up.

After three months acting as CFCO, he earned a substantive position in the role in the Akira-class USS Swiftsure, part of the Thirteenth Fleet stationed along the border with the Tzenkethi Coalition. The transfer also came with the added bonus of a promotion to full Lieutenant.

In late 2387, the Swiftsure discovered a Tzenkethi outpost in the nominally neutral Ollara System and the ship’s captain decided to take it out himself rather than call for reinforcements. Using Swiftsure’s complement of attack shuttles, Captain Bar’eth launched an assault on the outpost.

Horatio was tasked with flying a shuttle beneath the Tzenkethi defence turrets and assault the base’s control tower. With him in the shuttle was Ensign Zera Kalik, with whom he had been engaged in an increasingly serious relationship for the previous three months. The initial run was a success and they were able to destroy the control tower with three well-placed micro torpedoes. But taking out the control tower did not bring down the defences like Captain Ber’eth thought it would. Horatio’s shuttle was shot down by disruptor fire.

Horatio performed a crash landing on the planet’s surface, several hundred kilometres from the Tzenkethi base. Tragically, Zera did not survive the crash and Horatio was pinned in the wreckage, his legs crushed beneath the shuttle’s control console.

Zera’s death shook Horatio in a way similar to when his father was killed more than a decade earlier. As he recuperated at Starbase 621’s hospital, he undertook considerable self-reflection about his place in the universe and how he was approaching his career. He became convinced that his father would not be proud of his son’s career to this point and vowed to become more focused on his duty as a Starfleet Officer.

USS Endeavour

Following his recuperation, and a few months of shore leave back on Earth, Horatio received orders to ship out to take up a position as Chief Flight Control Officer in the USS Endeavour. He sees his assignment to the Endeavour as a fresh beginning, a chance to finally make his family proud.

Personal Life

Throughout his twenties, Horatio was the life of the party, girl in every port kind of guy. However, following an incident while serving in the USS Swiftsure in 2387, he has mellowed considerably. Realising that he was heading for a major crash and burn, he focused himself on his career and the things that were most important.

That being said, he is no stick in the mud and is still likely to be the life of the party, but not at the expense of his duty. He has a strong confidence about him that can sometimes seem like cockiness.

He is highly intelligent and has a commanding presence, making him a natural leader. He is an excellent pilot, but disciplinary problems in his past have hampered his career progress. Although he has turned a new leaf, he still ranks ‘girls and booze’ as his greatest weakness.

He has always had an ambition to command his own starship and lead a fleet of ships in defence of the Federation. His early years in the service did not reflect this ambition, but he still holds it and now uses it as a major motivator to achieve.

He’s a sports fan – particularly football and judo. However, he is also a big fan of early 22nd Century Renewal Music and likes to relax by reading classical literature.

Personal Relationships

Family

Horatio has a good relationship with his mother, who is now living on Earth and holds a position at Starfleet Headquarters. He sees her when he can and regularly writes to her when out of real time comm range.

He also keeps in regular contact with his aunt and uncle, who spent about as much time raising him as his own parents, and his cousins, Jacob and Alesia.

Relationships

He is known as a bit of a playboy and has been reprimanded for fraternising with subordinates in the past. However, in the last few years he has scaled back his debauched lifestyle and is now more focused on his promising career.

He is hesitant to get involved in serious relationships and the one time he found himself in one, she tragically died.

Friendships

He makes friends easily and tends to keep them for a long time, but has very few close friends.

His best friend is from his Academy days - Lieutenant Bram Deakin - who is serving in the USS Armstrong.

Chronology

Year Placement Rank Assignment
2375 - 2378 Starfleet Academy
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Cadet
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2379 - 2380 USS Oberon
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Ensign
Flight Control Officer
2380 - 2382 USS Venture
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Ensign
Flight Control Officer
2382 - 2383 USS Venture
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Lieutenant JG
Flight Control Officer
2383 - 2385 USS Sovereign
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Lieutenant JG
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
2385 - 2386 USS Sovereign
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Lieutenant JG
Acting Chief Flight Control Officer
2386 - 2387 USS Swiftsure
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Lieutenant
Chief Flight Control Officer
2387 - 2389
Extended Medical Leave
2389 - 2391 USS Endeavour
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Lieutenant
Chief Flight Control Officer
2391 USS Highlander
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Lieutenant
Chief Flight Control Officer & Second Officer
2391 - USS Highlander
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Lieutenant Commander
First Officer


Preceded by:
Gaius Ra-Xialii
First Officer of USS Highlander
2391 – Present
Succeeded by:
Incumbent
Preceded by:
Ysir Aspin
Second Officer of USS Highlander
2391
Succeeded by:
Ciaran McIntyre
Preceded by:
Britok
Chief Flight Control Officer of USS Highlander
2391
Succeeded by:
Unknown
Preceded by:
Jack Lynch
Chief Flight Control Officer of USS Endeavour
2389 – 2391
Succeeded by:
None; Vessel lost