Name: Michael Howard

Birthplace: San Francisco, Earth

Age: 30

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Service Record: CO, Lt. Cmdr., USS Paladin

Physical Description: Height: 6'1"

Weight: 165 lbs.

Hair: brown

Eyes: brown

Appearance: Michael is in good shape for his age, owing to his tactical background. He has the "look of the eagles" about him during combat situations.

Bio: Michael was born in San Francisco, but for reasons that were not clear to
him until he was older, his family moved to a small colony on the edge of
Federation space. He grew up fairly normal, listening to his father's
romantic stories about space. His father was a retired trader who loved the
Federation. This was one of the biggest factors in getting Michael to join
Starfleet, which he excelled in. In his second year Michael got the news
that his father's shuttle had been destroyed by pirates, and his father had
died. It was now that his mother told him the truth of his father. He was a
pirate who had sold out his ship and many other pirates to the Federation in
exchange for a safe place for his family to live. Michael was born when his
father was giving the Federation information, and that is why they left
Earth so soon after his birth. He took time off after this news, but came
back to Starfleet and managed to scrape together a passing grade. He was
assigned to the USS Buenos Aires as Tactical Officer. He was given the rank
of ensign. He was awarded the Cross of Valor for his attempt to save an away
team including the ship's CO and XO from a potentially hostile creature.
The Buenos Aires' CTO soon resigned, and Michael was promoted to ATO. After
two uneventful years, Michael was promoted to Lt. JG and sent to Deep Space
6 to serve as CSO. He soon found the entire security staff to be corrupt,
and had them all prosecuted and replaced if found guilty. In doing so he
ended a major crime ring that centered around Deep Space 6.
For his actions in cleaning out his security staff, Michael was promoted to
full Lieutenant. When the Dominion War began, there was a need for
experienced tactical officers and Michael was reassigned to the USS
Edinburgh as CTO. He was involved in minor skirmishes, but the Edinburgh was
too old to be sent to the front, so it was a relatively calm period despite
the war. A rogue Dominion Ship managed to confront the Edinburgh after the
official end of the war, and the ship was severely damaged, including the
loss of the CO and XO. Michael found himself in command of the ship, and
brought it to SB 361 for repairs. When the ship arrived, it had a new CO and
XO waiting for it, but Michael was praised for his command skills and
promoted to Lt. Cmdr. He was then assigned to the USS Buenos Aires-B as XO,
the first ship had been destroyed in the Dominion War. Michael was praised
for his bravery several times, and at the end of his stay on the ship,
actually saved a 5-man engineering team when a plasma leak blocked them in a
room. He sustained several injuries in doing so and had to take 6 months off
to recupirate. When he returned to his post he was promoted to Cmdr. He
served for another 2 years onboard the Buenos Aires before being offered a
command post of his own.