Ichika Miki

Ensign Ichika Miki is the Transporter Chief on the USS Odyssey.
== Background ==
Hiroo Hospital, Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan.
May 12th, 2393
Miki Eiichi paced back and forth in front of the door to the delivery room. He could hear his wife’s scream, muffled as they were by the thick walls, but he simply could not make himself walk through the door. It would not be proper. It would not be respectful. He would wait, as his father did before him, and his father before. While they could have easily known the gender of the baby from the onset of Aoi’s pregnancy, the conservative husband had chosen not to know. He had prayed long and often for a firstborn son, and his hopes were still high.
It took a few long, grueling hours before the door finally swung open, one of the nurses inviting him in. Putting on a stoic face, Eiichi walked into the room. Aoi was holding the babe in her slender arms, and he quickly made his way toward them. While his wife was beaming with happiness, the older man took a quick glance underneath the blanket covering the newborn, and a frown corrupted his stoic expression. A girl. His wife looked up at him, her smile disappearing. She could see he was disappointed. Without a word, Eiichi turned and left the room. He had better things to do.
The young girl was named Ichika, after Aoi’s grandmother. It was a good name, or so she thought. Eiichi had not deigned to participate in naming his daughter, and had resumed his posting as First Officer on the USS Shurijo barely a week after Ichika’s birth. His young wife had not been surprised. After all, Eiichi had been raised very conservatively, and he considered his position as a great honor, and so, Ichika was mostly raised by her Mother, along with Aoi’s parents. Strict, rigorous and traditional, it was no surprise that the young girl turned out to be quiet and obedient.
Ichika finally met her father for the first time when she was 5 years old. Standing next to her mother, she watched as the tall, thin man appeared on the transporter pad. Wearing a crisp Starfleet uniform, the older man barely gave the young girl a cursory glance and nodded to his wife. Aoi pushed young Ichika’s back, motionning for her to follow along as they walked toward their house. The young girl’s gaze moved down to the ground and she followed the two adults. Despite the cold and uncaring exterior of her Father, the child could not help but feel a deep sense of admiration for him and what he did. From a very young age, her and her mother had spent time outside the house at night, staring at the sky and finding distant constellations while Aoi recounted stories from Eiichi’s voyages. Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, the young girl blurted out her interest to one day join Starfleet, just like he did. The stare of disapproval she received from her Father, however, was like a knife stabbing into her heart.
This simple non-verbal declaration held Ichika back for many years. Her younger brother, born nine months after her Father’s short visit on Earth, had already passed his Starfleet entrance exam at 18, with their Father’s blessing of course. Ichika, now a young woman, had not had the chance to do much of her life. Her Mother had guided the young woman toward studies in Art and History and, while the bright young girl did well in those subjects, she knew she had no passion for either of them. She had, instead, used her free time to read her Father’s old notes from his Academy classes.
It was only a year later, during one of their father’s infrequent visits, that young Ichika broke down. Eiichi had brought a friend with him, a fellow officer on his ship who showed great promise, and it was quite clear to the young lady what her Father had in mind. A feeling of dread filled Ichika’s stomach and, without any warnings, she got up, walked past her Father and the officer without a word, and ran out. At first, she had no idea what she was doing or where she was going, and only when she ran out of breath and stopped to catch it back up, leaning over and hands on her knees, did it hit her. She had to try, whether her Father approved or not. She had to.
Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, United States of America
Miraculously, Ichika’s candidacy was approved in a timely manner. While she did not score perfectly during the Academy entrance exam, she did manage to make it onto the list, barely scraping the lowest score to make it so. When she saw her score and her letter, she simply could not help but thank her Father for his meticulous note-taking. She would have never made it without them.
Life at the Academy was a brutal change of pace.. While she had been used to strictness and discipline, the amount of classes and work to do was, at first, overwhelming. Her shy and quiet disposition made it very hard at first to seek out the help she needed and thus, she spent most of her time either in her shared quarters studying, or in the library. It took her a year of general education before the young woman found her passion. While she knew she didn’t have the mettle to go full on into Engineering, she did have an affinity with transporters and their components. While she did follow some basic Engineering classes, she concentrated mainly on the Operations department.
She managed, after a few months, to open up to other students of the academy, and even made a few good friends in some of her classes. While she was not the brightest student and never the top of the class, her teachers found her to be hard working and disciplined, and despite her original difficulties, Ichicka managed to go through all four years of the Operations program without failing a class. It was a bittersweet moment when the cadet finished the program. Through the price of hard work, and being dishonored from her family, she had accomplished her dream : to be part of Starfleet. It was her time to shine amongst the stars.
== Appearance ==
Standing at 5’1”, Ichika is not an intimidating presence. The young woman is obviously of Japanese descent, pale skinned and dark of hair. Her eyes are pale brown. She keeps her hair long and straight, with a long fringe that hides most of her forehead.
== Personality ==
Quiet, shy, obedient. Her strict upbringing made her the woman she is today. Her years at the academy did help her get out of her shell, but it still takes her a while before letting people get closer to her. She is a hard worker, disciplined and taciturn.
== Psych Evaluation ==
Due to her strict and traditional upbringing, Ichika is extremely shy, and usually quite obedient, almost to a fault. She’s usually not good at approaching other officers of her own volition.
== Other information ==
* Likes: Tea, reading, listening to music
* Dislikes: Fighting, large social gatherings.
Category:Former Characters