Post by Fredrick Hoffman on Aug 9, 2013 7:30:28 GMT -5
Fredrick Hoffman
The Basics
Full Name: Fredrick Kurt Hoffman
Call Sign: N/A
Nickname(s)/Alias(es): Senior Chief, Chief, Hoff
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Age: 36
Birthday: May 10, 1967
Birthplace: Virgon
Occupation: Deck Chief
Rank/Title: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Physical Appearance
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 185 Lbs.
Build: Muscular
Hair: Short blond
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks: Several scars from machine related injuries.
Possessions, Equipment, Belongings:
Other:
Play- By: Hinnerk Schönemann
Friends, Family, and Other Relationships
Mother: Susan Hoffman (62)
Father: Albert Hoffman (64)
Siblings: Robert (34), Jutta (33)
Significant Other: Lucia Eichmann (Ex-wife)
Children: None
Other Notable Persons:
Personality
Likes:
- Order – Whether it be man or machine. Everything has its proper place. And relationship to everything else. Order allows for greater effectiveness and much less frustration than one would experience with disorder. Fortunately the military is very much on the orderly side of things.
- Machines and Machinery – Turning a simple object into a useful tool capable of great feats is what elevated man to its current position of preeminence. There is nothing more satisfying to Fredrick than to learn how a machine works, how to repair it and build it himself, and then to try and figure out how to improve upon it.
- Brotherhood/Camaraderie – Although not the warmest of people, Hoffman truly does see his fellow crew members as family. The bond between brothers forged trough military service is unique and something that lasts long after their service has ended.
- Action Stations - Fredrick likes his job: routine maintenance, launching CAPs, etc. Fredrick loves when the ship goes to Action Stations and the deck is a flurry of activity. It’s hectic, yes, but the entire machine that is the deck gets in motion to launch hundreds of warplanes in a few short moments.
- Relaxing When Possible – It’s not all too common, but when he does manage to “turn off” and get away from work, Hoffman enjoys nothing more than a cold beer and a good joke. The trick is finding him at a time when the Deck doesn’t need him… and also he doesn’t hate you.
Dislikes:
- Disorder – Naturally the reverse of his first like, order. Hoffman despises things being out of place, crew members being lazy or disrespectful, policies not being followed, equipment not being manufactured or designed to standards, etc. It’s just infuriating.
- Lulls/Inactivity – Fredrick is not an action junky that requires constant fighting and blood-pumping incidents on a regular basis. The routine maintenance and launch duties of the deck are enough to keep him relatively busy. It’s when there is absolutely nothing to do that Fredrick starts to get a bit ticked off. He’s not the type to “sit on his hands” or “kill time”.
- Vocal/Preachy Religious Types – Keep your faith to yourself, don’t go parading around with it and certainly don’t ram it down the throats of others. This goes for the polytheists that dominate the worlds with their more benign proselytizing as well as the monotheists who seem to prefer just killing people as if that will somehow make others accept their faith.
- Dust and Sand – Hoffman is fine getting dirty (he’s a mechanic) and he’s fine with the outdoors. However, he absolutely loathes sand and dust. He hates it when he’s walking around in such environments and he hates it even more for what it does to Viper and Raptor engines flying through it.
- Immature Pilots – The Vipers and Raptors of the ship are the property of the Fleet and are under Hoffman’s supervision. They do not belong to the pilots. The Chief only loans them out one mission at a time. It’s he and his crews that maintain them with their blood, sweat, and tears while the pilots go tearing around in them. Sure, that’s the order of things, but when you get a young jock who has no respect for the deck, the deckhands, or that beautiful piece of engineering that was entrusted to them… oh, you’re on the Chief’s shitlist.
Fears:
Strengths:
- Mechanical Knowledge and Skill – Fredrick knows everything there is to know about Viper and Raptors and he can apply that knowledge practically to maintain them, repair them, and to even rebuild them if necessary.
- Leadership – The Chief is a skillful organizer and overseer. However, he is also the type who often leads by example. After all when his crews are dispersed on various jobs and no longer requiring oversight then he’ll pick up his tools and join in the work. If there’s an issue someone can’t solve or an inexperienced crew member coming across a more complex issue than they’re used to then the Chief will be there to fix the problem and teach his subordinate.
- Musical Talent – Hoffman is a skilled pianist. By day his fingers nimbly repair machines and by night they nimbly tickle the ivories. Why the piano of all instruments? Naturally the mechanic was drawn to the musical instrument that has thousands of moving pieces inside it.
Weaknesses:
- Cold and Commanding Persona – The Chief is what some might call “all business”. He’s deadly serious when on duty and is rarely off duty. Few get to see the more relaxed side of him and many don’t even know such a side exists.
- Quick to Anger – The above isn’t helped any by this. Hoffman has high expectations and is generally well pleased by the work of his subordinates. However, get on his bad side and he’ll let you know it. Many people throw around the word “unacceptable” but when Hoffman does, he really means it. He’ll make it clear that if you don’t shape up then you will soon find yourself tossed off the ship.
- Education – Hoffman went straight into the service out of high school. Although he has no regrets, he has always thought about going back to school to earn an engineering degree. The Deck is his life, but maybe he could do more and really become a pioneer in the industry if he could just get to that next level.
Aspirations: Make Master Chief.
General Personality: Fredrick is what you’d call a “workaholic”. He is dedicated to his job, he loves it, and he rarely ever turns off and takes a break from it. Once his official duties are finished he’ll likely start working on some side project or start doing someone else’s work for them. He both greatly enjoys it (the kind of thing he’ll do without even getting paid) and he also has the underlying concern that he always needs to be present to make sure things are done properly and that he is immediately on hand if needed.
He absolutely loves the military. It provides the disciplined and ordered environment that he desires and provides him with plenty of work to stay busy. The pressures of the job, particularly during combat, only drive him to work harder and perform at an even higher level. Lives literally depend on his work. He expects nothing but the best from himself and his subordinates.
As far as personal relationships go, work always comes first. There is a time and a place for idle chatter, jokes, and other such things. That time is not while you’re working on a 25 million cubit piece of machinery. Outside of work, Hoffman is still not the friendliest of persons and generally does not seek others out for social interaction. However, he’s also not the type to turn people away if they catch him at a good time.
The Backstory
History: Fredrick was born into an industrial life. He officially went to work at his father’s auto shop at the age of 16 but had been working related to it in little jobs here and there for years before then. At 18, a combination of a general youthful desire for adventure as well as a slightly declining workload for his father’s store (and the economic concerns with keeping Fredrick as an added employee) led the young man to a recruiters office and soon a military uniform.
Hoffman’s career actually began in the Colonial Marine Corps. He was made a combat engineer and served in several postings attached to frontline infantry squads, Landram units, or general motor pools “in the rear with the gear” on Virgon and then Scorpia. It was a good experience, but for the most part it was incredibly dull considering there wasn’t any war on. Most of the time they were just sitting around doing nothing or packing up and moving so that they could go someplace else and sit around to do nothing.
In 1987, Corporal Hoffman managed to get a transfer and become Specialist Hoffman. He was transferred to the deck of the Battlestar Pegasus and began his new life. The job of a deckhand was a quick learn thanks to Fredrick’s past experience as a combat engineer and a general mechanic before then back in civilian life. Vipers and Raptors weren’t all too different once you got past all the added components for flight. In about three years when Hoffman was promoted to PO2, he was on par with his petty officer peers who’d been on the deck twice as long as him.
In ’92, Hoffman was transferred to the Battlestar Triton and promoted to PO1 about a year later. From there he “saw action” as the Triton joined the Sagittaron Conflict in ’94 and ’95. There was actually very little action going on up on the Triton. It was a prolonged campaign, not the type of pitched battle you see in movies where the ship goes on alert, the entire air wing is launched, and seconds later there is this crazy battle just outside the ship. Triton launched various patrols and raids but all the fighting occurred down below, in atmosphere.
That’s not to say that the deck wasn’t busier than normal. Pilots were still logging more sorties than normal and the deck had to keep up with the increased workload. The war really came home, however, when a Viper or Raptor would come back to the barn with a line of bullet holes through a wing or a smoking engine. Some didn’t ever come back…
Following the war, Fredrick was transferred off to the Gunstar Juno. He was shortly promoted to Chief Petty Officer and made the Chief of the Deck for the ship’s small air wing. Hoffman rose to the requirements of this position and must have caught someone’s attention for in ’99 he was tapped to be transferred to the newly built Battlestar Hyperion.
With 300 Vipers and 50 Raptors Hyperion was no Juno. Hoffman was transferred over as a Chief, but not THE Chief. It was still a very prestigious posting and a step up from the Juno's small wing. Fredrick served in this position for two years until ’01. It was then that his superior was… removed. The Commander had grown tired of the man’s poor performance. With the position now vacant, Hoffman was chosen to temporarily fill the slot until a new senior chief could be found. The CO was apparently impressed by how Hoffman performed in those few weeks and decided that his search for a replacement needed to go no farther. Hoffman was promoted to Senior Chief and made the official Chief of the entire Deck Department. He has overseen operations on Hyperion from then until the present. That period of service included regular sorties during the period of unrest on Tauron, the raid on Pallas (involving precise work on the deck to move so many men and ships in such a short timeframe), and of course the Erebus campaign.
Anything Else?: Kind of a rushed app so I can catch up and get posting.
The Player
Name/Alias: Roger
Experience: Years - BSG, Firefly, etc.
How you found Battlestar Hyperion: Founding member of BSH 1.0, invited by Sid
Other characters: Roger and Phaethon
Contact via: PM to Roger
