Lieutenant Nicholas Boucher
Name Nicholas Boucher
Position Starfighter Wing Commander
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 34 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'2 | |
| Weight | 175 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Brown | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | Tall and slim, Nicholas isn’t quite as military-fit as he was in his Marine days but still hasn’t completely let himself go. He bears several scars on his torso, wounds from the war, but no other distinguishing marks. He has rough hands from years of manual labour and rock-climbing. As his hairline has begun to recede, he keeps his hair buzzed to an induction cut. He sports a full beard which he tries to keep as neat as possible despite the curly nature of his facial hair. Laugh lines and crow’s feet have begun to make themselves visible in recent years. His pale blue eyes had once been described to him as “steely” and he enjoyed the descriptor. |
Family
| Children | Stephane Gendron (2372 - ) Michel Boucher (2379 - ) Emilie Boucher (2381 - ) |
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| Father | Jean-Pierre Boucher (2321 - ) | |
| Mother | Emilie Bellefeuille (2323 - ) | |
| Brother(s) | Jean-Marc Boucher (2346 – 2373) | |
| Other Family | Christine Gendron, Mother of his child (2355 - ) Danika Boucher(nee Robertson), ex-wife (2357 - ) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Nicholas wouldn’t describe himself as a thrill-seeker, but he has always been a bit restless in mundane settings. Growing up, he always loved adventure and had a wild imagination, and although his imagination has taken a hit because of the harsh realities of life, he still enjoys the thrill of something new. He has a quiet confidence and easy-going manner. He had been in therapy for a large chunk of his adult life, and the mechanisms he learned there have enabled him to cope with the troubling events of his past and the uncertain promise of his future. While not the most boisterous or loudest person, he is outgoing enough to be noticed and usually leaves a good impression on people. A team-player, he is quick to trust and rely on those with whom he works. The discipline instilled in him from his time in the Marine Corps has eroded somewhat in the intervening years, and Starfleet itself is a bit of a different beast, but he is still not one to ever disrespect the chain of command. He has an easy time forming relationships, but history has shown a difficulty in maintaining them, being separated from the mother of his first child and divorced from his wife. It was once posited by his therapist that he may not be wired for monogamous love, not because of a lack of loyalty, but because as easy as it was for him to fall in love, it also seemed to be easy to fall out of it, through no fault of anyone involved. He is a dutiful parent and although being off of Earth means he is away from his children, he still maintains regular contact with them and it is clear to anyone that he cares for them deeply. |
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| Ambitions | Nicholas has no aspirations to command a starship, he is most comfortable in a cockpit and plans to stay there for the foreseeable future. He hopes he can be a good parent to his three children. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Rock-Climbing, vehicle maintenance and construction, cooking, poker, visiting the firing range. |
| Personal History | Nicholas was born in 2355, the second child of a lower-middle class French family. His birth came as a surprise, as his parents hadn't been planning to have another child, their first and only before that already being nine years old. For his religiously-inclined parents, there was no choice but to keep and raise him. While his parents loved and cared for him, Nick always felt that there was a bit of apprehension there, that feeling being the basis for his rebellious youth. His father was a mechanic and in that, he and Nick had their only common ground. His mother, a stay-at-home parent, would always know where to find Nick when he was younger: Watching his father and older brother tinker away in the family shop, repairing this vehicle or that appliance. When Nick was old enough, his father let him start to help around the shop. While he had an aptitude for the work, he never saw himself following a similar career path as his father, as Nick had his eyes on the stars. If the shop was his common ground with his father, his love of adventure was his common ground with his brother, Jean-Marc. Nick idolized JM and followed him around whenever he could. Contrary to the apprehension he felt from his parents, Nick never got that feeling from JM, who adored Nick. Despite their age difference, Jean-Marc never once scoffed at his younger brother tagging along anywhere. The two would spend hours exploring the streets of their town or talking about leaving it behind. JM was a "golden boy" and Nick always strived to emulate him. When Nick was 9, Jean-Marc finally got his wish upon his acceptance to Starfleet Academy. The parting was difficult for Nick, and he reacted poorly by spiraling and finally giving in to the negative emotions and attitudes that he had only been able to repress due to JM's steady presence. He became a problem child at school and at home, this culminating when he was 12 and stole a shuttle his father had been repairing before the repairs were fully complete. This was a pivotal moment for Nick. Although he ended up crashing the shuttle and his father needed to spend even longer to repair it, on his own dime on top of that, it's when Nick discovered his love of flying. The revelation flipped a switch in Nick. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, and that was to be a pilot. The change was obvious to everyone. Gone was the rebellious slacker and in its place, a dedicated and motivated young man began emerging. Nick threw himself into his studies, and even convinced his parents to enroll him in civilian flight lessons when he was old enough. He would follow in his brother's footsteps and apply to Starfleet to be a pilot. When Nick was 17, his longtime girlfriend became pregnant. While Nick was willing to do the dutiful thing and marry her, the girl's family absolutely refused and moved her away, blaming him for the pregnancy. For the first few years of the child's, Stephane, life, Nick only ever knew him through holos and stills that the boy's mother would send him. He and his girlfriend bore no ill-will towards each other, understanding the situation was somewhat out of their control at present time, but they soon fell out of love. Nick, however, wished to play a part in the child’s life and at least be able to help support the two of them. Knowing the advantages and benefits that Starfleet could offer, he finally submitted his application when he was 18, being accepted. A few months before he was set to begin classes there, fate intervened and the Dominion War erupted. While this event in and of itself would not necessarily have changed the course of Nick’s career, the destruction of the USS Alberta and the loss of all hands, including their Assistant Chief of Security, Jean-Marc Boucher, certainly did. JM’s death hit Nick hard and his reaction was swift. He declined his position at the Academy, not wanting to wait 4 years to be a factor in the war, and enlisted in the Marines. After his 9 week boot camp, he was posted to the front where he remained for most of the war. He saw action on several worlds and received several battlefield promotions during the conflict. Fighting in the war was an outlet for the grief he felt, but it also severely damaged his mental health. While he avoided any critical wounds, he left the war with scars that he chose to keep, a reminder of that dark time. He rarely speaks of the specifics of what he experienced in those years. Upon the war’s conclusion in 2375, Nick was kept on active duty, but it was soon determined that without an enemy to fight, his driving motivation had left him a broken man. He was pulled from duty and ended up in psychiatric care for the better part of two years. It was during his treatment that he finally came to terms with his brother’s death and finally began to have a relationship with his son. It was also where he met his wife, Danika, an administrator at the clinic where he was being treated. After being romantically involved for a year, they married in 2378. At the conclusion of his psychiatric care in 2377, he requested and was approved for a discharge from the service, at the rank of Corporal. Nick and Danika moved back to his old hometown, and Nick began to work with his father in the family shop again. Nick’s ex and his son had also moved back during the war, and Nick was able to finally become a bigger part of Stephane’s life. On the advice of his therapist, he took up rock climbing and began flying again whenever he could, hobbies to occupy his time. His relationship with his parents improved during this time, as their shared grief pulled them closer together. Two children were borne of his marriage to Danika, and Nick threw himself into parenting. It was a role he came to easily and he enjoyed the relationships he had with his children, however his relationship with Danika began to deteriorate over time. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his wife, but he had a feeling of something lacking in his life that his family was not able to replace. Eventually, his relationship with Danika deteriorated to the point that they agreed to separate amicably. She moved back to San Francisco with the children, but Nick was still a constant fixture in their lives. It was his ex-wife who opened his eyes to what was missing for him to be truly happy. She hypothesized that he felt that way due to unfinished business and not having resolved his original calling in life. And so, in 2384, at the ripe young age of 30, he enrolled in and was accepted to Starfleet Academy. While older than many of the other cadets, he still enjoyed his time there as it allowed him to be more present in his younger children’s lives, even if it did mean some separation from his oldest. His life experience made him a natural mentor to his classmates, a fact his instructors took notice of, and upon graduation, he was offered a position as an assistant instructor at the Academy, with a rank of Lieutenant J.G. He enjoyed teaching and helping others, but he'd signed on for something more. He was hesitant to request a posting off-world, but his son Stephane convinced him to apply. With a recommendation from senior staff at the Academy, he put in for a transfer and was accepted aboard the USS Pandora, with a temporary assignment to the USS Palatine until the Pandora could be retrofitted to carry a fighter wing as the CO of their newly formed Starfighter Detachment. |
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| Service Record | 2373-2375: Private > Pvt 1st Class > Lance Corporal, Starfleet Marine Corps, service in the Dominion War 2375-2377: Corporal, Starfleet Marine Corps, Medical Leave 2384-2388: Cadet, Starfleet Academy 2388-2389: Lt. JG, Assistant Instructor, Starfleet Academy 2389- : Lieutenant, Flight Detachment Commander, USS Pandora |