Ensign Jaxom Dane “Joker”

Jaxom has a lean athletic build, keeps his brown hair well within regulation. He enjoys the opportunity to work out build himself up more.

Jax is naturally energetic, charismatic, and quick with a smile. He uses humor as both a shield and a bridge. By keeping the vibe light, he keeps people from digging too deep into his past, while simultaneously winning over his crewmates. He possesses a razor-sharp wit and rarely misses an opportunity for a joke, a playful tease, or a snappy counter-argument. Whether he is dealing with a grumpy chief engineer or dodging a plasma anomaly, a sarcastic quip is usually the first thing out of his mouth.

Like the legendary pilots before him, Jax is fiercely proud—bordering on cocky—about his flying abilities. He doesn't just believe he is a good pilot; he knows he can pull off maneuvers that would make a textbook Starfleet officer sweat. He thrives on showing off a bit when the pressure is on.

Although Jaxom’s came to respect the traditions and history of Starfleet and the Federation, he was not steeped in the culture like his Academy counterparts. Some would say he lacks the spit polish expected in an officer but his disregard of the system doesn’t extend into really actionable offenses.

Due to his childhood and background talks like a freighter pilot referring to the ship as "the boat" or "the bird” and has been admonished on more than one occasion for his foul language. He struggles with formal military greetings, and detests the red tape of the government.

Jax doesn't just read flight telemetry; he feels the ship. Years handling, heavily modified Orion freighters without standard Starfleet safety systems give him an instinctual grasp of atmospheric drift, micro-gravity stalls, and emergency maneuvers that cannot be taught in a simulator.

Spending ages 16 to 19 as a captive asset to a brutal criminal cartel leaves deep scars. Jax is hyper-vigilant, distrustful of strangers, and suffers from a quiet cynicism that contrasts sharply with the sunny optimism of his Starfleet crew mates. If he encounters an Orion vessel, his objectivity may waver.

At this moment, Jaxom wants to prove himself to everyone. In the future he would like to be a flight instructor, but right now, it’s his time to fly.

Jaxom enjoys good drink and friends after a long day in the seat. He’s fond of action and mystery simulations as well as playing music so loud he has to disable the safety protocols.

Early Life:

Raised under the cargo docks and bustling marketplaces of the Deneva Colony, Jaxom spent his childhood at the spaceports watching massive freighters move in and out of the docks. He never cared for the traditional education track and instead, attended a Denevan trade school caught his eye. This intensive, two-year curriculum focused training pilots by establishing a foundation in astrogation, physics, and subspace mechanics. The immersion style courses put students at the controls from day one, an experience which appealed to Jaxom. The practical portions of his coursework motivated him to achieve in the classroom. By his sixteenth birthday he held a Class-II commercial license.

2362-2365

Following his graduation, his curiosity led him to sneak aboard a docked Orion freighter. The Orion crew returned unexpectedly, trapping Jaxom aboard before the Captain "invited" him to stay as a forced laborer. Coerced into piloting for the Orion Syndicate, the captive crew quickly recognized his almost instinctual, approach to the helm. Jaxom spent three grueling years running illicit cargo past Federation patrols. He bided his time by meticulously mapping the Syndicate’s hidden shipping lanes while secretly feeding breadcrumbs of telemetry data to Starfleet. Following a targeted Starfleet tactical sweep, Jaxom and the Orion crew were apprehended. After providing details including complete nav-logs of the ship’s movements, he was exonerated. His vital intel allowed Starfleet to infiltrate and dismantle a high-profile Syndicate cell.

2365-2368

Following his exoneration, Jaxom returned home to the Deneva Colony to reunite with his family and rebuild his life. Recognizing that his practical skills lacked formal credentials, he enrolled in a local institute of higher learning. Driven by a newfound sense of duty and purpose, he fast-tracked his education, completing a four-year aerospace degree in just three years. Armed with his new credentials and a strong recommendation from the Starfleet Intelligence officers he’d aided, Jaxom applied for Starfleet Academy’s Officer Candidate School (OCS) program.

2368-2370

The OCS track, not only introduced Jaxom to Starfleet history, policies, and tradition; concepts that he found constraining at first. What he did respect about these courses was he fact that every general order and policy was not simply adopted from previous iterations of Terran government; These were lessons learned in blood. In the final year, he was able to pursue courses that he truly enjoyed; Combat Flight and Tactical Scenarios really allowed him to “wet his beak”. During a seminar, a prominent instructor Khalil Hoshino delivered a guest lecture on intelligence gathering tactics in the field along with advanced evasion techniques. Khalil transported the class into his mind as his team navigated a hostile jungle, pursued by superior (in number at least) toward heir extraction point. Jaxom's grasp of complex tactical concepts immediately stood out as well beyond that of a traditional OCS candidate. Intrigued, Khalil reviewed Jaxom's official Starfleet file, discovering the raw, instinctual piloting background forged during his years in the Orion Syndicate.

Recognizing his untapped potential, Khalil decided to take Jaxom under his wing. Under Khalil's mentorship, Jaxom was to master the flight dynamics of Starfleet’s cutting edge Peregrine-class fighter and long-range scout vessels. He entered active service as an Ensign in 2370, graduating with top marks.

2368: STARFLEET OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL ATTENDED OCS BASIC TRAINING, COMBAT FLIGHT SCHOOL. GRADUATED 2370 ENSIGN ASSIGNMENT REQUEST SUBMITTED BY KHALIL HOSHINO

2370: USS RUBICON