Richard Allen Cleary official bio

Richard Allen Cleary was born in a small town in northern Wisconsin in 2227. His mother was a ranger in the wildlife refuge that had been established around the North American Great Lakes region after World War III. His father was a carpenter who chose to work with traditional tools rather than modern technologies. Cleary’s early life was filled with woodland adventures and he learned to be self-reliant, to value hard work, and to adhere to a strict code of personal ethics. Staring up into the clear night skies, he also began to dream of further adventures among the stars.

When he was 17, after failing his first attempt to enter Starfleet Academy, he decided to enlist as an ordinary crewman. His initial assignment was as an engineering mate on board the USS Stingray, an aging cruiser that had entered service in the final days of the Earth-Romulan war. The Stingray had been refit several times and it was filled with layer upon layer of barely compatible technologies. The ship’s chief engineer took an early interest in Cleary, and he quickly learned to finesse and, when needed, jury rig the Stingray’s systems.

In 2245, the Stingray participated in the Battle of Donatu 5. Cleary distinguished himself both in ground action, helping to organize a counterattack against a Klingon ambush, and in space. He was promoted to petty officer, second class, and received the Starfleet Award for Valor. He also caught the eye of Starfleet command.

Three years later, during the Battle of Orias 7, when the Stingray’s captain and first officer were injured, Cleary temporarily assumed command of the ship and successfully held off a Klingon battle cruiser long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Once again, he was recognized for his actions, earning a Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry. The damage suffered by the Stingray was too great, and the ship was decommissioned after the battle. Cleary, however, was called on to greater things. He was invited to participate in Starfleet’s Enlisted-to-Officer program and to enter Starfleet Academy. He accepted.

When Ensign Cleary graduated, he was assigned to the USS Fianna, a newly minted light cruiser. Though a few of his shipmates found him overly fond of regulations and unwilling to bend rules, he continued to excel and, during his more relaxed off-duty hours, became a popular companion in the ship’s lounge. When a medical officer named Leonard McCoy came on board to serve a temporary rotation, he and Cleary quickly became friends. The two were nearly the same age and shared a plainspoken style and, despite Cleary’s background in engineering, a belief in the human spirit and a subtle distrust of advanced technology. By contrast, they often clashed over Cleary’s insistence on obeying regulations as precisely as he could, and demanding that those around him did the same.

In 2259, at the age of 32, Cleary became the Fianna’s chief engineer. Two years later, during a conflict with several Tholian patrol ships, he remained behind when main engineering was evacuated to initiate a manual shutdown of the warp core and prevent a breach. When a hull rupture resulted in an explosive decompression, he was briefly blown into space. Fortunately, the Fianna’s transporters were able to get a lock on him and beam him to safety. After several weeks in sickbay, Cleary was awarded the Antares Cluster for Bravery Beyond the Call of Duty. In 2262, partly in recognition of his actions, he was given command of the destroyer USS Eastwood.

The Eastwood’s primary duty was patrolling the Klingon border. She brought aid to nearby colonies, investigated unusual long-range sensor readings, and participated in several small skirmishes. In 2267, five years after Cleary had assumed command, she was assigned to the fleet that confronted the Klingons in the Organian system. While separated from the main Starfleet force on a scouting mission, the Eastwood engaged three Klingon battle cruiser, fighting them to a draw just before the Organians intervened and enforced a tense peace on the Federation and Klingon Empire. Once again, Cleary’s actions garnered praise, including the Grankite Order of Tactics.

Recognizing his abilities, Starfleet command decided to give Cleary the USS Exeter, one of the original twelve Constitution class starships. The Exeter had just returned from Omega IV, where its entire crew had been lost. The ship itself was unharmed, and after a brief refit she was reassigned to her own five-year mission of exploration. Cleary’s second in command, an Andorian named RaeThrasa sh’Aanil, was in many ways his exact opposite. She was impulsive and willing to bend rules that Cleary felt were inviolable. Though their relationship began in conflict, they soon found that they worked as an effective team, each complimenting the other.

Unfortunately, two years into its mission, the Exeter was lost with all hands. An emergency beacon recovered near her last known position indicated that she was likely destroyed by a an extremely rare condition—a quantum “bubble” in the antimatter containment field—and one that would have resulted in an unavoidable warp core breach within seconds.

In fact, Cleary and the Exeter’s chief engineer were able to burst the bubble through an entirely novel technique, by modulating the subspace guide wave that directed the matter and antimatter flows at the same time they initiated a hard restart of the ship’s power systems. Once they did, several Romulan battle cruisers decloaked around them. The bubble was actually the result of a new Romulan weapon that was being tested on the Exeter. At the same moment, a starship from the 25th century appeared, expecting to find the Exeter alone and to render aid. Instead, they discovered the Exeter taking heavy fire, many of its systems still offline. Together, the two ships defeated the Romulans. In the aftermath of the battle, Cleary discovered that he had been recruited by a secret project aimed at bringing captains from the past—including his present—into the 25th century to help protect the Federation.

by Dan (mygod_itsfullofstars) on 2011-08-16 09:30:10