CREW

Name: William Gregory Thorne
Terran Age: 36
Date of Birth: 2365
Species: Human
Place of Birth: Blyth, Northumberland, Earth
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Chief Intelligence Officer, Deep Space 1
Marital Status: Single

Father: Michael Thorne, 28th Duke of Northumberland (Deceased)
Mother: Henrietta Thorne (Deceased)
Brother: Edward Thorne
Sister: Jennifer Thorne
Second Cousin: Rear Admiral Falco Tauvits, 27th Duke of Northumberland (Missing, presumed dead)

Height: 6’2”
Weight: 173 lbs.

Hair Colour: Reddish-blonde
Eye Colour: Blue

Appearance:

Of the Thorne family ‘looks’, William has certainly inherited more of the thinking dukes than the fighting dukes. He is tall but slender, strong and wiry but not particularly muscular, and would never succeed in intimidating anybody. However, his indistinctive appearance is often useful in his line of work. His reddish-blonde hair can often look rather scruffy, and the stubble on his chin regularly ranges from clean-shaven to a full-blown beard depending on his mood. He has clear blue eyes, though is a little long-sighted, and thus often carries some ancient spectacles around with him if he wants to read anything – just one of his many eccentricities.

Interests: Writing; Literature (Earth, 22nd Century); History (Late 21st – 23rd Century, Medieval); Genealogy and Heraldry; Traditional Jazz; Hiking; Piano playing; Tinkering with computer systems; Orienteering; Athletics; Linguistics

Decorations, Reprimands, Commendations and Achievements:

Battle of Sector 001 Ribbon – 2398

Honour Legion – 2396

Service Record:

2383 – 2387: Starfleet Academy; Officer Candidate (Cadet)

2387 – 2389: USS Hemingway; Operations Officer (Ensign)

2389 – 2393: Zulu Intelligence Outpost; Chief Data Analyst (Ensign) [CLASSIFIED]

2393 – 2398: Zulu Intelligence Outpost; Infiltration Specialist (Lieutenant JG)

2398: USS Constitution; Acting Chief Tactical Officer (Lieutenant JG)

2398 – 2401: Starfleet Command; Intelligence Advisor (Lieutenant)

2401 – Present: Deep Space 1; Chief Intelligence Officer (Lieutenant)

Background:

William Thorne was born in Blyth, Northumberland, into a family that is part of a dying breed – the British aristocracy. Although devoid of any real power and even that much social respect, their ‘nobility’ was something the Thorne family took very seriously, and thus Will was brought up in a wealthy, influential family with many luxuries and very few cares in the world. His father was the next heir apparent of the title, and yet spent most of his time flitting around somewhere other than Earth, leaving his wife to bring up his three children and caring very little for the existence of someone other than himself. Will managed to cope with this, settling into the role of the ‘big brother’ to his two siblings, and supporting his mother as much as possible.

However, the Thorne family was shaken even more when Will was seven, for his father Michael argued bitterly with the Lord Gregory Thorne over matters of inheritance and his father’s way of life. The traditional Gregory disliked Michael’s cavalier attitude towards his family, and promptly disowned him in the fight. This left mostly bitterness on Michael’s side, which he tried to transfer to his family – unsuccessfully – yet there was minimal concern about; Gregory had no other sons, no other likely heirs.

Will was given one of the best educations money could buy, and quickly proved himself to be particularly bright – not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but comfortable in his intellect, and ambitious in his dreams.

When fourteen, Lord Gregory Thorne died, and much to the surprise of everyone, his will declared that Falco Tauvits, a half-human nephew, be declared the next Duke of Northumberland. Michael, in a blind rage, completely focused himself thenceforth on his own pleasure and way of life, and abandoned his family to travel the galaxy however he pleased.

This was not long before the first of the Borg attacks on the Alpha Quadrant, and these solidified Will’s career considerations very much. He had intended to become an architect or engineer of some sort, but the threat to the galaxy tugged at something of his desire to serve, and he moved to join Starfleet Academy when he was old enough.

Just before he joined, however, the attack on the Raeyan system came. Falco Tauvits was presumed to be lost in that battle, and the Admiral’s last declaration in his will, discovered later, was that he wished to rebuild the broken Thorne family by making, surprisingly, Michael the inheritor of the title. This placed Will, once again, in line.

The four years at the Academy served as something of a shock to the system for Will. Here, not everything was handed to him on a silver platter, and he was treated just the same as everyone else – with added difficulty, thanks to his arrogant and presumptuous manner. The situation could have gone two ways; either Will could have failed and withdrawn to his protective shell back home, or he could have settled down and become stronger as a result. It turned out to fortunately be the latter, and Thorne has since continued to describe his time at the Academy as his ‘formation years’.

He trained as an Ops officer, proving to have an excellent mind when it came to dealing with analysing data and managing computer systems. It is probably in these two area of expertise that he first caught the eye of Starfleet Intelligence, for his first two years of active duty were not distinctive enough to catch their attention.

Yet just after he graduated, the Borg attacked Trill, where his father Michael had been at the time. Contact was lost, and Michael was presumed to be dead. This landed twenty-two year-old Will as Lord William Gregory Thorne, 29th Duke of Northumberland, somewhat to his disgust. He had come to regard his heritage as something of a nuisance since going to the Academy.

He served on the Hemingway as an operations officer, serving diligently and making his mark, learning the ropes, not to mention getting combat experience with the conflict against the Borg. But at the end of the two years, he was approached by a representative of Starfleet Intelligence, and offered a place in their ranks.

Will, not thinking much about the consequences, rapidly accepted. His natural curiosity and impetuous nature made the idea of serving in Intelligence both intriguing and exciting. He was shipped off to the secret Zulu Outpost, which was then gearing all of its resources towards research and development of technology against the Borg. Will spent four years as the Chief Data Analyst, though at the end of all of his avenues of research concluded to his superiors that they simply did not have enough information about the Borg technology to develop any weapons against them.

Intelligence, impressed with the work he had done there, clearly accepted this report. As such, much to Will’s dismay, they decided he would be then perfect for training as an infiltration specialist to join some of the new data-gathering teams being formed. Thorne, with his background and knowledge, was considered to be the perfect candidate to deal with Borg technology on any missions.

Will, for once, found himself having to train physically as well as intellectually. As someone who had often been in fairly good shape, he managed to cope, but the extent of his preparation for missions in the field certainly strained him. The training, and the work after it, certainly adjusted his perspective of intellect always over body; he has since adopted a greater belief in a balance of the two.

Thorne and his teams were regularly sent on missions, based out of Zulu Outpost, to collect Borg technology for analysis. This was highly dangerous not just for the fact that they sometimes had to directly enter Borg ships, but because if one of them were assimilated, the Borg would have highly delicate information as to Starfleet Intelligence’s plans.

As such, on one infiltration mission on a Borg cube, Will managed to accidentally catch the attention of the drones when digging in the computer system. He and his team of six were rapidly surrounded, though before they could be beamed out, one of the team was grabbed by two drones. Thorne, hardly thinking, delayed the beam-out just long enough for him to vaporise his team-mate.

But when the word came of the grand Borg attack at Sector 001, Zulu Outpost was rapidly dismantled and abandoned, the officers returning to help defend. Will asked to see active duty, and was assigned to the age-old ship the Constitution, brought back for this one last battle. He served as the Tactical Officer in the great fight, and although the Constitution was, ultimately, destroyed, Thorne managed to make it to an escape pod.

He served in Starfleet Command as an Intelligence Advisor for some of the new admirals of the new Starfleet, for his experience and Borg expertise. But when victory was finally declared, and Will’s value to the brass went down, he took advantage of the situation to request a transfer back to active duty. His old commander from Zulu Outpost was quick to arrange him a position on the new Deep Space 1.

Personality Profile:

William Thorne often comes across as arrogant yet jovial, rude yet sociable. Although these are key parts of his personality, they are also old parts. His time at the Academy toned down his arrogance; his work in Intelligence showed him that courtesy was something everyone could afford to learn. Similarly, his combat experience has tuned down his once indomitable sense of humour, and his experience in a grey shirt has made him much more withdrawn than he once was.

He still relies on this appearance, however, using it as a defensive mask. He has always believed that one should not show just anyone their true nature, and time in Intel merely solidified this conviction. This makes it fairly hard for him to make meaningful friendships, for he is rarely showing his true feelings. Either superficial friendships strike up, or people recognise his distance and slight deception and are prone to avoiding him. This is partly due to his past, for his fractured family life deprived him of some key relationship-building skills in his youth.

In all truth, however, he can be a good person to be with. Honourable in his way and fiercely loyal to Intelligence, the Federation, and those friends he does have, the bonds Thorne will develop tend to be unbreakable. He has a cutting, wry sense of humour he has no problem turning in the direction of anyone he decides to be a suitable target – be they superior, subordinate, friend, or foe.

He finds hit inherited title to be an annoyance more than anything else, and often wishes that Falco Tauvits had turned it over to his sister or his daughter instead of Michael Thorne. Yet he tolerates it, and will be willing to use the prestige it may offer as a tool. This is a defining feature of Will Thorne – whatever the situation, good or bad, he will be quick to find out the best way of using it. He is not an optimist, and certainly not an idealist, but he is one of the most practical people you will meet.

He is an expert on Borg technology, thanks to his experience in Intelligence and the assignments there. His natural talent with computer systems and data analysis have held him in good stead in both his career and his personal life, and he is an exceptionally versatile individual in all aspects of his life.

There has, however, been one or two of his Intelligence superiors who have insisted the masks he wears may someday be the death of him.