Lieutenant Commander Burgoyne 172. Chief Engineer of the Starship Excalibur under the command of Captain Calhoun.

Background:
Burgoyne is a member of the Hermat species, a technologically sophisticated civilization of humanoids. Hermat individuals are possessed of two sexes. Burgoyne, or "Burgy" as some of his friends call hir, has a natural talent for all things technical. Since the most advanced systems in the Alpha Quadrant are in use by Starfleet Burgoyne realized that that was where s/he could find sufficient challenge. Thus around 2350 s/he entered Starfleet Academy. As a cadet, Burgoyne excelled at Engineering, of course, but also did extremely well at psychology and the sciences. Being the most happy when allowed to pursue hir technical prowess, Burgoyne consistently asked for and received assignments to predominantly engineering duty. Burgoyne has a wealth of Starfleet Engineering experience having served in the engine rooms of several classes of modern starships including the Constellation-class U.S.S. Magellan, the Excelsior-class U.S.S. Livingston, the Oberth-class U.S.S. Cochrane, the Miranda-class U.S.S. Tian An Men, the Nebula-class U.S.S. Ulysses and the Galaxy-class U.S.S. Odyssey.

Burgoyne also served a tour of duty at Starfleet Engineering in 2370 during the construction of the Intrepid-class U.S.S. Monterey and the design of the new Akira-class starship.

In 2371, Lieutenant Burgoyne 172 was transferred to the Ambassador-class U.S.S. Excalibur as the Assistant Chief Engineer. There s/he met Commander Shelby the ship's Executive Officer. After two years of exciting missions at the fringes of the Federation border, the Starship Excalibur was recalled to Earth after Deep Space 5 informed Starfleet Command about a Borg vessel heading towards Sector 001. At Earth the Excalibur joined Admiral Hayes' task force which consisted of more than a dozen ships including the starships Bozeman, Budapest, Thunderchild, Yeager, Lexington, Defiant and Endeavor. The Borg vessel was engaged and several Starfleet ships were destroyed. In a series of maneuvers designed to lure the Borg ship away from Earth, the Excalibur was caught and severely damaged by a Borg cutting beam. The Sovereign-class U.S.S. Enterprise-E, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, arrived and led the remains of the fleet to victory. In the encounter several members of the U.S.S. Excalibur crew were killed including the chief engineer, Commander Argyle and the ship's commanding officer, Captain Morgan Korsmo. Commander Shelby assumed command of the ship upon the death of Korsmo.

After the battle with the Borg at Earth, the U.S.S. Excalibur was sent to drydock for repairs, and most of the crew were reassigned. Lieutenant Commander Burgoyne remained aboard and was reassigned as the ship's Chief Engineer.

Hermats:
Hermats, as a race, tend to keep to themselves, and they have tended to segregate themselves from the rest of the Federation. In the mid 2370's there were still few Hermats in Starfleet, and Burgoyne 172 was the only command-level Hermat in Starfleet. Hermat individuals are possessed of two sexes, and each has fully functioning male and female capabilities. They are exceptionally hedonistic in general and they celebrate the duality that makes them unique.

Physically Hermats look much like humans, that is a cross between male and female humans. Their hips are typically rounder than human males, yet not so curvaceous as typical female humans. Similarly, they are typically small busted. Also, Hermats have somewhat larger foreheads, slightly sharpened canine teeth, and very dark eyes. Hermats possess physical strength about two and a half times human norm. They also possess a very acute sense of smell in regards to detecting pheromones. Many members of other races find the Hermat's dual sexuality to be disturbing. One race who are completely comfortable with Hermats are the Trill for obvious reasons.

Because of their bi-gendered natures, special pronouns and honorifics are used when referring to members of species possessed of both sexes such as the Hermats. In place of him and her, the term hir (pronounced "HEER") is used. Hish is a possessive pronoun which replaces the mono-gendered terms his and hers. The pronoun s/he (pronounced "SS-hee") replaces the masculine he and feminine she. In place of such honorifics as Sir or Ma'am, the dual-gendered Shir (pronounced "SHER") is used.

Personality:
Burgoyne is a gregarious, very self confident, and often boisterous individual. S/he is a strict taskmaster but deals with underlings very fairly. Burgoyne is very outgoing, is effortlessly amiable and as such forms many good friendships. Although s/he spends a large percentage of hir time studying technical specifications to become an even better engineer, Burgoyne always seems to have time to socialize. Having closely known so many people in hir life, Burgoyne is a very good judge of character and often acts as a de facto ship's counselor. Professionally, Burgoyne knows the ship's systems better than anyone aboard. Like many Hermat's, Burgoyne is extremely libidinous and utterly unembarrassable.

Current Assignment/Duties:
As the U.S.S. Excalibur's Chief Engineer, Burgoyne is responsible for the repair and maintenance of all ship's systems. This includes prescheduled preventative maintenance, system upgrades and repairs to correct malfunctioning or damaged systems. Chief Engineer is a department head position requiring a rank of Lieutenant or above. On large vessels, the Chief Engineer is usually a Lieutenant Commander. Chief Engineer is easily the most demanding officer posting aboard a starship next to the commanding officer because their responsibility is virtually every part of the ship with the exception of the crew.

Recent Events:
In late 2373, Lieutenant Commander Burgoyne met and was attracted to the ship's new medical officer, Dr. Selar, and found in her a troubled soul. In Burgoyne's opinion Selar needed a relationship with someone just like hir. So, true to Burgoyne's style, s/he frankly told Selar that s/he was interested in the doctor romantically. Selar contended that she wasn't interested in Burgoyne, but deep down the engineer stirred a desire in the Vulcan.