Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi
Name Erika Itsumi
Position Chief Cultural Officer
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Stats
- 11 Mission Posts
Last Post
Saturday February 3rd, 2024 @ 4:11pm
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 31 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'3 | |
| Weight | 140 lbs | |
| Hair Color | light blonde | |
| Eye Color | light blue | |
| Physical Description | Erika wears her shoulder length light blonde hair down. She is of average height and build, and can normally be spotted on duty wearing the purple uniform of Starfleet's diplomatic corps, worn by members of the cultural division on board the Poseidon, which oversees Academy training operations on the ship. |
Family
| Spouse | none | |
| Children | none | |
| Father | Soichiro Itsumi | |
| Mother | Hilda Itsumi | |
| Brother(s) | none | |
| Sister(s) | Monika Itsumi (older) | |
| Other Family | Extended family in Germany and Japan |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Following her traumatic accident on her first assignment, Erika has a new outlook on life, and has dedicated her work to training Starfleet's next generation. She might come off as strict to cadets, but she does so with the best intentions, as she has seen what reckless behaviors cause. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | +Kind and caring +Wants what's best for the cadets +Has a knack for teaching +/-Strict -Suffers from PTSD -Erika was primarily a security instructor at Starfleet Academy before coming to the Poseidon, and is new to dealing with cadets in different fields -Gives automatic failing grades for behaviors she deems reckless |
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| Ambitions | Erika's primary ambition is to help train Starfleet's next generation and cut reckless behaviors at the source by teaching and emphasizing safe operating procedures in the hopes that the cadets, following graduation, will never have to be hurt in the same way that Erika was. On a more personal note, Erika wouldn't mind one day finding her collar an extra half-pip heavier with a promotion to full Commander |
| Personal History | Erika Itsumi was born on March 6, 2364 to Soichiro and Hilda Itsumi, the couple's second child. Erika grew up with her parents and older sister Monika in Tokyo, though the family did make annual trips to Erika's mother's homeland in Germany. Growing up, Erika looked up to her sister Monika as a role model. However, Monika wasn't exactly the role model type, as Erika's older sister was a bully at school, and eventually she began committing crimes around town. Looking up to Monika, Erika inevitably inherited some of her sister's behavioral traits, picking on poor kids at school and calling them "country bumpkins" despite some of them having also been raised in Tokyo. Things came to a head shortly before Erika's 18th birthday in February of 2382, when Monika was arrested and charged on multiple felony counts, being sentenced to 15 years in a Federation penal colony. Following Monika's imprisonment, Erika's parents told their youngest daughter that what happened to Monika should serve as a cautionary tale, and if they caught Erika so much as robbing a convenience store, they would disown her. Frightened by the prospect of being shunned by her parents, Erika took her own initiative to set herself straight, and applied for Starfleet Academy, as she was about to turn 18. Erika had to plead her case, given her sister's recent conviction, and for the first time in her life, Erika worked hard to achieve something for herself, routinely attending her appeal hearings on time and well-dressed. Her dedication to seeing Starfleet Academy's decision overturned impressed the JAG officers present at the appeal hearings, and after months of back and forth, Starfleet Academy's decision was ruled as unjust, and Erika was accepted into Starfleet academy, with her choosing the security track. Even though she had worked hard to get into the academy, Erika still routinely went back to her old ways, picking on undeserving cadets, just enough to cause them torment, but never enough to get her in trouble with her instructors. Erika graduated in 2386 at the rank of Ensign, and was assigned to the USS Halcyon, a Saber class starship that had been drafted as part of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard's Romulan Rescue armada, as by the time of Erika's graduation, it was becoming apparent that the Romulan sun would go supernova. Erika only saw three evacuation missions completed before the Romulan sun went supernova sooner than expected in 2387, obliterating Romulus and Remus. Following the destruction of Romulus, Erika served aboard the Halcyon for another four years, climbing up to the rank of Lieutenant in this time. However, in 2391, disaster would strike when an out of control plasma fire ripped through the Halcyon. The pain Erika experienced as she literally cooked alive sent Erika into a state of deep shock, and she doesn't remember what happened from the time she started burning to the time she woke up in another starship's sickbay. She later learned that she had only been saved from the inferno in an act of compassion by two security officers that she had regularly picked on, one of which had apparently insisted on leaving Erika to die after all the mean things she did to them. Following the loss of the Halcyon, the ship's captain and surviving senior staff were questioned by a public inquiry into the disaster. The inquiry discovered that negligent practices were commonplace throughout the Halcyon, and the captain and senior staff were placed under arrest and their cases went to trial, where it was discovered that they had abandoned ship once it had become apparent that the fire was out of control, leaving the crew to die. The Chief Engineer received the harshest sentence, being sentenced to life in a Federation penal colony without possibility of parole. Erika kept up with the trials as she recovered, and believed the sentences were deserving, especially after it had come to light how cowardly the senior officers had acted. Erika was left emotionally and physically scarred by the disaster, with more than 50 percent of Erika's body being severely burned. Erika was paralyzed from her injuries for several weeks after the accident, and she was in a wheelchair for many months more. Even after Erika learned to walk again in early 2392, she kept her wheelchair a constant reminder. When Erika was able to return to active duty when she was still in her wheelchair, she was understandably hesitant to board another starship after what had happened, and requested a domestic posting for the indefinite future. Erika was offered a position as a security instructor at Starfleet Academy. Though she was initially hesitant, she discovered that she had a knack for teaching, and she certainly commanded respect from the classes she taught, showing up in a wheelchair. So much so, that when Erika learned to walk again, she still rolled into class in her wheelchair before rising from it to begin the day's lessons. During her time teaching at the Academy, Erika infused a focus on safe operating procedures, and she let her own condition speak for itself as a cautionary tale on why reckless and negligent behaviors should not be tolerated. Erika became such a revered instructor that by 2394, Erika found her collar a half pip heavier with a promotion to Lieutenant Commander. In 2395, Erika was approached by Commodore Gregory Paladin. Her teaching had attracted the attention of the Commodore, and Paladin felt that Erika was the best candidate to become Chief Cultural Officer aboard the USS Poseidon. The Poseidon was an old Miranda class starship that had seen a second life as an Academy training vessel, and the position of Chief Cultural Officer was something of a mobile academy commandant. Though Erika was hesitant to return to life on board a starship, she saw Commodore Paladin as a good man, and agreed to take on the role of Chief Cultural Officer. |
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| Service Record | 2383-2386: Starfleet Academy - Security Track 2386-2388: USS Halcyon (Ensign - Security Officer) 2388-2390: USS Halcyon (Lieutenant JG - Security Officer) 2390-2391: USS Halcyon (Lieutenant - Security Officer) 2391-2394: Starfleet Academy (Lieutenant - Security Instructor) 2394-2395: Starfleet Academy (Lieutenant Commander - Security Instructor) 2395-present: USS Poseidon (Lieutenant Commander - Chief Cultural Officer |