Biography: Rachel Cortez, Commanding Officer
Played By: Eleiece Krawiec (bio)
Voice Sample: Callback, 6/23/07 - Scene 10014
Assignment: U.S.S. Excelsior
Position: Commanding Officer
Rank: Captain
Name: Rachel Cortez
Sex: Female
Race: Human/Vulcan
Date of Birth: 3 February 2346 (age 36)
Origin: U.S.S. Hawaii
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 60 kg
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Light Brown
Starfleet Profile
Physical
Tall, slender, and, like most with Vulcan blood, well above rigorous Starfleet physical fitness requirements. Despite higher-than-human stamina, strength, and reflexes, her other Vulcan traits are recessive. This leads most casual onlookers to conclude that Rachel is fully human, and hides a very capable warrior.
Personality
Rachel is confident, intelligent, and ruthlessly analytical. Her strong will--or, to some, her stubborness--has proven both a strength and a weakness, as it has led her both to victories against remarkable odds and foolish, unnecessary mistakes. Although her Vulcan heritage lends her a certain degree of detachment, Cortez is more human than not, and, if she doesn't make many jokes, she is happy to laugh at one.
Family
Father: Sulan (deceased)
Mother: Victoria Cortez (deceased)
Brother: Dr. Leonardo Cortez (Chief Medical Officer, U.S.S. Kensington)
Interests, Skills, and Languages
Kickboxing
Outdoor activities
Sus'MenaH
Level A4 Weapons Expert
Starfleet Medical first aid-certified
Awards: Bremer Prize (2376), Dan Remeck Tactical Medal (2380)
Languages: Federation Standard, Modern Vulcan, Romulan
Biography
Rachel was born aboard the USS Hawaii in 2346. Her father was the ship's Chief Medical Officer and her mother the ship's Chief Operations Officer. The couple had been married for six years and already had a son named Leo, who was four years old when Rachel was born.
Although Leo was learning some Vulcan traits from his father, Rachel never got the chance to properly know him. When she was three years old, Sulan was killed on an away mission. Their mother, Victoria, give up her senior officer position and took a lower post as an Operations officer so she could devote more time as a single parent to her children.
Ultimately, Victoria took a posting on Starbase 117, where Rachel and Leo led a normal enough life. Living on a Spacedock-class facility, they were exposed to plenty of alien races, especially Starfleet personnel, and, sure enough, Leo joined Starfleet Academy as soon as he reached eighteen. Rachel, however, was a different story. Once she understood how her father had died, she began to harbor a great deal of hostility towards those around her--especially towards Starfleet. She began to be known around the base as a troublemaker who would pick fights with anyone--even the older kids.
A year after Leo left for the Academy, Victoria became ill after an accident in sickbay exposed her to a virus. Although three personnel were exposed, only Victoria proved susceptible to the virus. Her immune system collapsed under the attack, and, despite the best efforts of the station's medical staff, she passed away six days later. Although Leo was able to return for the funeral, Rachel, at nineteen, was left alone, and she was finally forced to finish growing up.
She began to take responsibility for her life. With the Borg threat now an almost annual concern and rising discord over the uneasy settlement of the Cardassian Wars, dozens of starships passed through the Starbase en route to farflung reaches of space. Although Rachel would not realize it for many years, the officers and the solemn duty they seemed to carry with them had a strong influence on her during those years, and her hostility towards Starfleet began to break down.
After two years living alone on the Starbase, Rachel applied to Starfleet Academy at the age of twenty. Commodore Michaels, who was a close friend of her mother, assisted her in writing the application (and, unbeknownst to her, pulled some strings behind the scenes), and, surviving the entrance exams, she was accepted to the corps of cadets.
Although she was quick witted and intelligent, her strength wasn't academic. She was skilled in the combat exercises and excelled at navigation and tactical operations. Her instructors found she was a natural tactical officer. Physically, she excelled at even the most difficult training. Some comments were made that her Vulcan physiology was responsible for that, but most saw her will and determination to be the crucial factor.
Rachel's first assignment was aboard the Midway-class USS Argentina. She was posted as one of the vessel's tactical officers. With the Dominion War in full swing and the Borg attack on Earth, trained Starfleet officers were becoming more and more valuable, and this influenced how much duty she performed on the Bridge. Usually a new officer would spend years learning every in and out of the vessel's systems before he was given regular Bridge duty, but with the massive losses, every officer was assigned duty shifts to get them quick experience. Her first year was littered with combat assignments for the Argentina, and Rachel became a skilled tactical officer. The fall of the Seventh Fleet, the Battle of Chin'toka... they were traumatic events for a young officer. She dealt well with the life of constantly moving from battle to battle.
When a large battle group of vessels was destroyed by the Breen in early 2375, Starfleet was spread too thin cover the losses. The Argentina was starting to see front line combat on an almost a daily basis. All the crew were fatigued and morale was low. Rachel kept going by focusing on her duties and doing her best to keep the ship in one piece during the engagements. This was not easy with the Breen energy disruption weapon and suicide Jem'Hadar attacks, but the Argentina survived, battered but intact.
The most challenging battle was the final assault on Cardassia. The Argentina was seriously damaged when a Jem'Hadar attack ship clipped one of her nacelles. After the battle she limped back for repairs. The War was over, but the scars on the Argentina meant she was in for a long overhaul.
After several weeks of working with the upgrade teams, Rachel was offered a position on a new vessel. Her record warranted a senior position and the Argentina already had a Chief Tactical Officer. Rachel was assigned as Chief Tactical Officer of the Intimidator-class USS Hector.
The Hector was an impressive vessel. Assigned to Task Force 9 as a patrol ship dedicated to the enforcement of Dominion treaty provisions, the ship remained on a high state of alert throughout its deployment, but a rebuilding Dominion and the occasional shrewd piece of diplomacy meant that the Hector completed its tour without firing a shot. The Hector was then reassigned to Task Force 86 (T.R.I.D.E.N.T.), where it spent much of its time hunting pirates and generally helping to keep a fragile peace along the postwar Klingon, Romulan, Federation, and especially Cardassian borders. Finally getting back to exploring, the Hector was assigned to explorative operations under SENTINEL, in unclaimed Beta Quadrant territory. Rachel got back to piloting during some of these missions. Taking runabouts and shuttles on away missions, she enjoyed getting off the ship more often. Soon she was assigned as the ship's Second Officer and was even leading some away missions.
In 2379, she was offered a position as the First Officer on an Intrepid-class ship. The Mercury was a lot smaller than the vessels she was used to, but it was an excellent chance to do some exploring and a great career move. The Mercury was set for a long range explorative mission, out beyond the Tholian Assembly to study stellar phenomena towards the galaxy's edge. The mission was set to last three years. Rachel was not put off by the length of the assignment, as it was a chance to do some serious exploration where no Starfleet vessels had been before.
The mission was challenging on many levels, with dozens of cultures to study, several hostile encounters with vessels protecting their worlds and sector after sector of new systems to explore. When they returned to Federation space in early 2382, the crew of the Mercury under Cortez and Captain Santiago had masses of data and samples for Starfleet to study, and Santiago's glowing recommendation put Cortez high on the list for command of the New Orleans-class USS Atlanta. However, various circumstances, including her unique qualifications for an upcoming mission and an association with other high-ranking figures in the Starfleet hierarchy led Rachel, to her own surprise, to the captain's chair of the U.S.S. Excelsior as it began its new mission of exploration in Starfleet's territory in the Delta Quadrant.
Character Developed and Originated By: "Rachel"
Character Art: John Hazard