Colton North


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Basic information
Assignment
Captain Colton North is a Federation Starfleet officer commanding the USS Viper and Task Group Hyperion in the Eleventh Fleet.

North strives to remain at his peak of physical condition due to the years of Starfleet Security Training, including Martial Arts, Survival training, Environmental training and a strict fitness regimen.

Considered to be a 'typical North' with the dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Pictures of his grandfather, uncle and his father in their youths could easily be mistaken for pictures of Colt.

He prefers to keep his off-duty outfits as simple as possible. Often wearing comfortable sweaters or t-shirts and loose fitting shorts or pants. However when he's not in his Starfleet Uniform, he is most probably seen in his workout clothing, consisting of t-shirts, vests, loose fitting shorts or pants.

Personality and Traits

General Overview

For a man who has been entrenched in war and combat since his teens, Colton North is considered to be a kind, relaxed individual. He has a personal code of honor which he strictly abides to, no matter what the consequences and has in fact risked his Starfleet career on more than one occasion to follow that code. If he feels that the strong are preying on the weak, he will intervene to defend the underdog.

His relationships with members of his family have always remained strong, and he does keep in touch with them regularly so that no matter how far away he travels from them, they know that he's always there. His relationship with his sisters are especially strong, Colt and his twin sister Alexis have always been close, giving each other their opinions on what's going on in each others lives and depending on each other for moral support and guidance when needed. His relationship with his younger sister differs slightly, however. Like him, she wanted to see the universe from a very early age, and although he was already in Starfleet when she realised this, she depended on him to guide and advise her on her future. As well as sharing a brother/sister relationship, Colt and Kara have a mentor/student bond, that continues to grow and develop as Kara progresses with her Academy education and training.

While family is important to him, he doesn't believe that he will have a family of his own, due to his responsibilities in Starfleet and the few major relationships he's had over the years have ended because of that fact.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Colt's personal code of honor has both helped and hindered his career. While he is highly respected as a fair and impartial decision maker and for defending those who can't or are unwilling to defend themselves when they are in the right, some of his decisions have led to disciplinary action. For instance, during his time with TROJAN, he and his unit were ordered to launch an attack on a cartel of the Orion Syndicate, placing innocent lives in jeopardy. He disobeyed the command to open fire and the cartel members almost escaped with information vital to Starfleet's undercover operations against the Orions.

While he is experienced in the field of security and tactical operations, and even considered to be a combat expert by many, his scientific and diplomatic experience is lacking, forcing him to rely on those with more experience in these matters.

Ambitions

From an early age, his career ambitions have always pointed him in the direction of Starfleet. While he originally dreamed of being a Starfleet Captain, like his uncle, he was content to remain a Security specialist for the remainder of his career. Fortunately for him, his passion for Commanding a vessel of his own was rekindled and encouraged by his Commanding Officer's.

Now that he has his own command, his career ambitions have been fulfilled. He does not want to go beyond the rank of Captain if he can help it as he feels that it would be a great loss both to him and to Starfleet if he ended up behind a desk for the latter years of his career.

Personally, he is happy with his job and although he would like to find someone to grow old with, he knows that his Career and his lack of desire to have children would complicate that.

Hobbies and Interests

As a youngster, he would spend hours listening to his uncles tales about his time in Starfleet, starting him on the path that he has been walking for 20 years. As time progressed, he became interested in all aspects of combat, studying the works of Sun Tzu, the Dahar masters Kang, Kor and Koloth, Thul'aan of Andoria, T'Raal of Romulus and the like in an effort to better understand combat in its many forms. He is an expert in melee weapons and firearms and that expertise has spilled over into collecting antique weaponry from worlds throughout the Alpha, Beta and now the Gamma quadrants.

An avid lover of both swimming and the Earth sport Rugby, he continually follows the few sports competitions that are held. He is also an avid reader of crime novels and when the opportunity arises, plays out some of those novels on a holodeck.

Family

Father: Professor Daniel North
Mother: Doctor Melanie North
Sisters: Alexis North, Kara North
Other Family: Captain Richard North [Retired]

History

Born on Stardate 27414.0 (May 31st 2350) to proud parents Daniel and Melanie North, Colton ‘Colt’ North was brought into the universe along with his non-identical twin sister Alexis North. Daniel was an expert in Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics, while Melanie was a Medical Practitioner. Because of their professions, Daniel and Melanie worked with Starfleet on a number of occasions; this meant that Colt and Lexi would spend a lot of time living with Daniel’s parents on Archer IV. Due to their parents’ sporadic bouts of absence, Colt and Lexi formed a bond that went beyond that of brother and sister, they became best friends and were quite inseparable for most of their young lives.

When attending school they were both bright students, Lex seemed to do better in History, Mathematics and English while Colt was the achiever in Science, Technology and Physical Education and decided to concentrate on earning the grades necessary to join Starfleet, in honour of his uncle Richard North, a retired Starfleet Captain who was one of Colt’s heroes.

Submitting an application to Starfleet Academy in 2365, Colt had a number of letters of recommendation from teachers and his swimming team's coach, who had once served in Starfleet himself. The application was accepted and Colt was informed later that year. In the meantime, Lexi was accepted to the Phlox Institute of Medicine on Archer IV and the North's welcomed a new addition to their family, a baby girl named Kara.

In 2366 Colt headed to San Francisco on Earth, where he began his four-year course at the Academy. He was well prepared for the experience, having trained his body and mind in anticipation of the rigors of his fist year, which consisted of basic training, advanced training and required studies. He joined the Academy swimming and rugby teams, and quickly gained notoriety amongst his peers and instructors for his achievements.

In 2367 Colt was sent to Outpost 12 for his second year's Field Studies assignment. The Outpost was primarily a communications hub for traffic in the surrounding sectors, however it also served as a training facility for Security Personnel. North jumped at the chance to train alongside some of the officers stationed their, and it was during these training sessions that he first caught the eye of Captain Red Fuller, the Outpost's CO. Suffice it to say, Colt had an amazing time aboard the Outpost. Training with the Security Officers inspired him to focus his efforts on a career in the Security and Tactical division.

After returning to the Academy, Colt continued to perform admirably both in the classroom and in the training missions and holodeck simulations. He also led the Academy swimming team to victory in several competitions held throughout the Federation.

By 2370, North had graduated and returned to Outpost 12 were the newlly promoted Commodore Fuller presented him with a unique opportunity. With terrorist threats to Federation Security such as the Maquis, the Orion syndicate and the True Way, the Commodore was instructed to formulate a team made up of some of the best candidates to train at the Outpost. The teams goal was to combat these threats using the latest techniques in infiltration, reconnaissance security and tactical operations.

Accepting a position on the Commodore's team, codenamed TROJAN, North spent the next several years working alongside Starfleet Intelligence and Starfleet Security. Having successfully prevented a number of terrorist plots against Federation targets by various groups, as well as succesfully infiltrating the Maquis with several operatives, TROJAN was deemed a success by Starfleet Command and the Federation Council ruled on keeping the project going, until the Borg attack and the war with the Dominion gripped the Alpha Quadrant in 2373.

With TROJAN on an indefinite hold, Commodore Fuller was placed in command of the USS Humberside (NCC-42166), an Excalibur-class vessel. He assigned Colt to the ship as his Chief Security & Tactical Officer, having been impressed with his performance as part of TROJAN. The Humberside was assigned to the Third Fleet, primarily operating along the Romulan Neutral Zone border to prevent the Dominion from taking advantage of the Romulans 'relaxed' attitude toward them crossing through Romulan space and the Neutral Zone to attack Federation targets along the border.

The Humberside engaged the Dominion 27 times within the first few weeks of the war, and by the beginning of 2374, North was an experienced war veteran, with the skills, the guile and the determination of a seasoned soldier.

In mid 2374, the Humberside was pulled from the Third Fleet along with several other vessels to bolster the Fourth Fleet which had received heavy losses along the Cardassian Border. It was here that North assisted Fuller in planning an assault on the Retka IV Shipyards, a key Cardassian facility. After successfully engaging the shipyards patrols and defenses, the Fourth Fleet managed to destroy the yards. By the wars end in 2375, the Humberside took part in several other key battles that helped turn the tide of the Dominion War, such as the second battle of Betazed, the liberation of Orlana Prime, the Siege of Starbase 314 and the Battle of Cardassia.

With the war over, Commodore Fuller was promoted to Rear-Admiral and the Humberside was refitted and placed under the command of a new CO. Colt contemplated his next assignment. He opted to take an instructors position at Starfleet Academy, teaching cadets armed and unarmed combat techniques as well as classes on Tactical Strategy. Being at the Academy again meant that he could spend more time with his family, and while he enjoyed spending time with his sisters and his parents, he was offered assignments aboard several different Starships, all of which were crying out for experienced officers like him.

Although he found the teaching assignment rewarding, it wasn't long before he wished to serve on a starship again and by 2377, he had left Earth to serve as the Chief Security/Tactical Officer aboard the USS Quasar (NCC-72369), a Nova-class starship under the command of Captain Willix of Bolarus IX. The Quasar's mission was to patrol the border to Breen space. Since the end of the Dominion War, the Breen had returned to their own space and closed off their borders in defeat.

Apart from several noteworthy skirmishes and a few minor incidents, the Quasar's mission was rather uneventful. By 2379 North contemplated leaving Starfleet until he was posed an interesting question by Captain Willix, “Where do you see your career going from here?”. After-all, the Quasar was primarily a Science vessel, North's skills weren't being used to their full potential. Although Captain Willix was reluctant to lose North to a new assignment or to retirement, he felt it necessary to give his Chief of Security the push he needed to further his career.

Contemplating the answer, Colton assessed his career thus far. He had faithfully served Starfleet and the Federation as a Security Officer, he had infiltrated terrorist cells and crime syndicates, bringing some of their major players to justice in the process, he had fought in a war and in several costly battles and he was once again serving as a Security and Tactical specialist.

Willix then asked him about his aspirations for Command. When he was in the Academy, Colt had hoped to command a ship of his own one day, but the need for people with his skills was just too great to ignore, so those dreams were sidelined. It was then that Willix offered him the chance to take a position in which he would receive the training he needed to command a ship of his own one day.

Graciously accepting the offer, North transferred to the USS Red Cloud (NCC-63306), an Akira-class ship under the command of Captain Thomas McTavish. He was assigned the responsibilities of the Second Officer in addition to the role of Chief Security/Tactical Officer. McTavish was a highly decorated veteran officer and Colt quickly realized that he could learn a lot from the Captain and rightly threw himself into his command training.

The Red Cloud was assigned to the Federation sectors bordering Breen space, and although she only engaged daring Breen vessels on a handful of occasions, the Red Cloud also had run ins with the Remans, the Cardassian extremist group known as the True Way, the Orion Syndicate and Nausicaan pirates. Even with the hectic patrol route, McTavish found time to assist Colt with his command studies by mentoring him on a number of simulated missions on the holodeck, allowing him to lead away teams when plausible and by giving him regular progress reports.

When the Red Cloud completed her patrol assignment in 2382, the ships first officer was given her own command, having also been trained by McTavish for several years. The Captain promoted North to First Officer soon afterward, citing that he had surpassed the Captain's initial expectations.

The Red Cloud then ventured into the Gamma Quadrant as an XO. He knew he still had much to learn of course, but he believed that the four-year mission in the Gamma Quadrant would no doubt help him reach his goal of commanding a ship of his own.

As well as making contact with several new races, the Red Cloud encountered several races that had seceded from the Dominion following their defeat in the Alpha Quadrant. With the Dominion's situation a fragile one, the Federation Council believed that it was time to extend an olive branch and form some sort of relationship with their former enemies, a relationship that would hopefully go beyond the boundaries of the treaties signed by the Federation and the Dominion following the end of the war.

The Red Cloud was tasked with providing security for this venture and although the initial meeting between the Federation and Dominion representatives got off to a slow start, the parties involved felt very optimistic about future meetings. With the assignment complete, the Red Cloud was free to return to the Alpha Quadrant in 2386.

While in spacedock for a refit, Captain McTavish expressed his gratitude for North's high level of excellence under his command and the achievements that his protege had earned by recommended him for a command of his own.

Colton's command training had finally paid off, the Captain and the Red Cloud crew believed he was ready and he did too. Grateful for their support, he left the ship and was assigned to the USS Viper (NCC-78665) as her commanding officer. Due to his note-worthy career as a combat expert, North was selected to command the Defiant-class USS Viper, which had just completed a refit.

The Viper was quickly assigned to Outpost 56, a small scientific and resupply station on the edge of the Kepler Verge, a neutral area of space that hadn't had any substantial contact with the Federation since the early 2370's.

With new trade routes being forged throughout the region and the diplomatic corps forging new alliances and negotiating with the Verge's various inhabitants, the Viper's presence became vital to maintain peace and protect Federation interests in the area.

Service Record

[2366-2370] Starfleet Academy Cadet
[2370-2373] Security Specialist, Operation TROJAN
[2373-2375] Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Humberside NCC-42166
[2375-2377] Personal Combat/Tactical Strategy Instructor, Starfleet Academy
[2377-2379] Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Quasar NCC-72369
[2379-2382] Chief Security/Tactical Officer – Second Officer, USS Red Cloud NCC-63306
[2382-2386] Executive Officer, USS Red Cloud NCC-63306
[2386-????] Commanding Officer, USS Viper NCC-78665