Distinguishing Physical Characteristics

Muscular build, rough hands. Close trimmed goatee. Tattoo of military ID number on right back shoulder and left ankle.

Personality

Although Nicholas is currently a Starfleet NCO, he started in Starfleet Marines and will always be a Marine.

Focused and determined. Seems a bit detached and unemotional, especially under stressful circumstances. This is due to Nico suffering prolonged Post Traumatic Stress as a result of his experiences in the Dominion War.

Very much a team player, due to SF Marine training. Will follow orders, unless those orders are extremely questionable and will lead to loss of life on the team. He will however, wait until the appropriate time to make his opinion known.

Is generally easy to get along with.

Hobbies

• Hobbies - rock climbing, orbital skydiving, rugby, small-craft piloting, plays Terran violin
• Interests - classical literature, Political Science, history, music of most kinds, astronomy

Background

Nicholas Donovan was born into a freelance freighter family and grew up as a starship brat. From an early age, Nicholas (or Nico to his friends) learned about space and starships, picking up with skills required to live 24/7 on such a vessel. At his father's hands, he learned astrogation, piloting, and repair of shipboard systems. As his mother's hands, he learned academic subjects and the terran violin, becoming a semi-accomplished musician.

After graduating from secondary schools, Nico decided to apply for Starfleet Academy, figuring it was a logical extension of his childhood experiences. Nico's father was immensely proud of Nico for opting to enter Starfleet. However, Nico quickly figured out that Starfleet wasn't for him and he washed out in his second year. On his release papers, all of Nico's instructors noted that while he certainly had an aptitude for Starfleet, it simply seemed that he wasn't challenged enough or even interested in Starfleet life. While outprocessing from the Academy, Nico ran across a SF Marine NCO and was immediately impressed. This encounter left such an impression that Nico simply walked into the nearest SF Marine recruiter's office and immediately enlisted. When Nico told his father that he washed out of Starfleet Academy and joined the SFMC, his father was bitterly disappointed in him. Christopher Donovan wanted Nico to immediately reapply to Starfleet, which Nico refused to do. This caused a rift between father and son, which was resolved only shortly before his father's death.

In SF Marine training, Nico's aptitudes and skills were assessed and Nico was assigned to be a Marine Search and Rescue Specialist. Nico found this work to be extremely challenging and quickly grew to love the work he was doing. The first assignment that Nico had was on the USS Blackhorse as a SFMC SAR Specialist. The BlackHorse was a specialized SFMC SAR/recovery vessel which saw alot of action as a result of the Dominion War. While never engaged in actual conflict, Nico saw the results of combat first-hand as a SAR/recovery specialist.

After receiving specialized medical training to treat field trauma, Nico was reassigned to another Deep Space Recovery Vessel, the USS Bonin. Again, Nico saw more results of combat and war firsthand. It was at this point that his commanding officer started to notice minor changes in Nico's psychological profile which were later identified as post traumatic stress disorder. Although Nico was kept on active duty, he started to receive psychological counseling, which helped to stave off a complete breakdown at the time. However, this did not completely help and Nico had to be rotated from a front line unit.

Nico was reassigned to DS5 in attempt to help his psychological condition, which it did. After two years, Nico was judged well enough to be rotated back into a specialized unit, a detached SFMC SAR/recovery unit. While not quite Special Forces, this unit's mission was to rush to disaster sites and work with SF Medical Corps as a specialized first responder unit. It was during this time that Nico's psychological trauma came back in full force and Nico suffered a nervous breakdown while on a disaster recovery mission. Nico was taken back to Earth and admitted to SF Medical San Diego ward, where he received intensive full time counseling for his stress and traumatic experiences. After a full year at SF San Diego, Nico was judged fully recovered and fit to stand duty. However, his counselor made it absolutely clear that Nico could not go back into SF Marines, due to the intensely stressful nature of the mission. SF Medical was able to arrange for a NCO posting in Starfleet, thus avoiding a medical discharge for Nico.

Nico has spent the last year in a hurried Starfleet training, in order to bring him up to speed on Starfleet life and protocol. During this time, Nico received a promotion to Chief Petty Officer. Although Nico was supposed to be rotated to a 'nice, sedate, and comfortable' (his own words) position elsewhere in Starfleet, he lobbied to be attached to a SF SAR unit. After taking a battery of psychological and physical assessment, Nico was able to convince the StarFleet Bureau of Personnel to assign him to Serenity. However, as part of Nico's orders, he is to undergo psychological monitoring and regular counseling in order to avoid any relapses.

Player Name

Les Connors