ORIGINS: Etsuko Oda
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Lieutenant Etsuko Oda [Kyungmi Kim, byunhosa64@yahoo.com]
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I. Personal Data
Surname: Oda
Given Name(s): Etsuko (Etsu for short)
Current Rank: Lieutenant
Current Assignment: SEC, USS Endeavor
Former Billet: Asst. Sec, USS Normandy
Species: Human
Gender/Sex: Female
Age: 48 Standard Terran Years
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth: Nara, Japan, Earth
Parents:
Father - Hideo Oda, Starship Captain, Deceased at Vulcan,
Mother - Hiromi Nagano, Ship’s Doctor, Deceased at Vulcan
Siblings: Emiko Oda, CO, USS Kongo (under construction)
Aunts/Uncles: LCDR Akiko Kimura, SCI, USS Intrepid
Spouse: Never married
Children: None
Religion: Zen Buddhist HT: 5'1" ; WT: 92 lbs ; Eyes: D. Brown; Hr.: Back; Comp: Light
II. Educational Background
A. Academic Institutional Background: n Nara Prefectural High School n Starfleet Academy, BA Political Science n Starfleet Academy, Juris Doctor
B. Service Schools Attended:
-- Starfleet Academy
C. Qualifications (MOC's)
-- JAG Officer, Security Officer
D. Star Fleet Academy Record:
Academy Record: Class Rank: Top 5%; Honors *Summa Cum Laude*; Academic Major: Physics; Professional Majors: Security, Operations, JAG Qualifications: Security Officer, Operations Officer, Legal Officer Commendations: 1; Reprimands: 0
Activities:
Japanese cultural activities including Kenjutsu, Karate and Aikido, flower arrangement and tea ceremony.
Etsuko also was a collegiate gymnast of above average skill.
III. Biographical Notes
A. Chronology (tabular form):
0-17: Lived with parents.
14-17: Attended high school in Nara, which while once a capital city in the 5th century AD, is now little more than a small town though possessing a very large community of artisans of traditional crafts. Her grandfather is in very high renown throughout Asia, and is declared a “living treasure” by the Japanese cultural governments.
18-21: Starfleet Academy, graduated as Ensign, assigned USS Normandy as Assistant security Officer.
21-24: Yale University School of Law
25-27: Criminal Prosecutor, Starfleet Headquarters
27-48: Acting Captain, USS Normandy
48- : Chief of Security, USS Endeavor
B. Background Summary:
Etsuko was the latest in a long family tradition of military service. Her parents were both senior officers who perished at the battle of Vulcan, while her sister was perhaps THE most decorated officer at the battle who did not serve on the USS Enterprise. Her Aunt is a veteran of the USS Kelvan who currently serves alongside her daughter (Etsuko’s 1st cousin) on the Intrepid.
Etsuko herself has a story that seems to unravel at the planet Vulcan just over two-years-ago. Then a junior lieutenant in the JAG corps (prosecutor), she was on board the USS Normandy where a crime she was prosecuting had been committed. Since the crime scene and witnesses were all on the Normandy, Lt. Oda had to conduct her investigation and trial-prep interviews on board, without interrupting the Normandy’s operations.
When the Nerata attacked Vulcan, Normandy was part of the fleet sent to defend the planet. Lt Oda informed Captain Bridges that she was qualified as a security officer before attending law school, and so he put her to work at the weapons console. The last order Bridges gave was turning command of the Normandy over to Lt. Oda, who at that time was the only surviving officer on the bridge.
That was the known story. The unknown story was that the Normandy emerged on the other side of the singularity, hundreds of light-years-away, and 20 years in the past. Etsuko was immediately faced with significant challenges to mere survival as the Normandy herself was in extremely bad shape, the result of both Nerata’s weapons and the stresses of passage. Quick thinking and hard work paid off, and within four months Normandy, now a hodge-podge of her original equipment and much jury-rigged improvisation made easy by the massive debris field, was under way. The voyage took 20 years and seven months at the low warp speeds the ship was capable of.
Most of the survivors were in no condition mentally to continue in Starfleet, with the vast majority turned over for psychiatric care. Of those deemed stable, only Etsuko Oda requested a return to active duty.
IV. Official Star Fleet Record
Served with distinction at the battle of Vulcan, and again in bringing the crippled Normandy back home.
V. Skills Profile
Etsuko does her best to conceal her feelings and suppress her emotions, not unlike a Vulcan in that respect. While most of her fellow survivors feel that their best years were stolen from them, Etsuko believes that those were her best years and looks back with pride on her accomplishments.
The obstacles were not the problem, it is the ease of return that frightens her.
VI. Recent Fitness Report
For a woman of 47 years, Etsuko is exceptionally fit. She still spends much time in the gym and in maintaining her skills as a gymnast and a martial artist. Life on a ruined starship was anything but easy, and it shows in Etsuko Oda’s firm musculature and callused hands.
VII. Psychological Profile
Lieutenant Oda is something of a mystery. The rest of the survivors from the Normandy were eager to get as far away from starships and space as possible, while Lt. Oda requested reassignment to a starship. Very odd, since she had essentially been in command for twenty years, without any support and with little hope of actually surviving.
Despite the oddity of her request, she has passed all evaluations, though she remains quiet and distant. Oddly, she requested an assignment in her first branch, security, rather than in the JAG corps for which she received advanced training.
CDR Mary Toulousse, Counselor, BUPERS
VIII. Current Recreational Interests
Kendo, Caligraphy, tea ceremony, flower arrangement
IX. Miscellaneous Information
Etsuko Oda looks extremely young for her age, easily looking like a teenager even when in uniform, unless one looks very closely. Up close, the tiny lines in her face, the calluses on her hands and the weariness behind her eyes tell a different story.
She is extremely proud and believes in self-sufficiency and personal integrity. She won’t ever allow others to see any weakness, and keeps her problems to herself. She will never engage in small talk and is a firm believer in keeping her mouth shut unless she actually has something to say.
Etsuko also is going through something of a crisis of conscience. She was not only a starship captain for the last twenty years, but an unsupported captain, on a derelict ship with a skeleton crew. Many of the survivors literally believe that Etsuko literally held the ship together with sheer force of will, such was the extent of the damage.
X. Roleplay Notes
Etsuko Oda was actually introduced by my husband as the sister of one of his characters, Emiko Oda of the Lexington. He posted her story at the battle of Vulcan and getting sucked through the singularity with the thought of using the Normandy’s return as the basis of a future mission.
I have appropriated the character concept and character with his permission.
Etsuko is also the niece of my character Akiko Kimura on the Intrepid.
End BioFile
