Kemper
| Samuel Peyton Kemper | |
| File:Kemper.jpg | |
| Full Name: | Samuel Peyton Kemper |
|---|---|
| Nickname: | "" |
| Species: | Betazoid |
| Gender: | male |
| Birthplace: | Iscander, Betazed |
| Birthdate: | Apr 7 , 2371 |
| Empire: | United Federation of Planets |
| Organization: | Starfleet |
| Assignment: | Starfleet Command |
| Billet: | Chief of Starfleet Intelligence |
| Rank: | Rear Admiral |
Samuel Peyton Kemper is a Rear Admiral in Starfleet, serving aboard the Starfleet Command as the Chief of Starfleet Intelligence.
Description
The man before you stands 5'11 and he is somewhat heavyset. Deep black eyes betray his Betazoid heritage, and bushy sandy blonde hair covers his head. A full beard of slightly darker brown contours around his jaw, adding definition to his jawline. Though he seems bookish, he also seems affable and approachable.
Biography
Samuel Peyton Kemper was born in 2371 to parents Rixxana and Ryon of the Seventh House of Betazed. Much to his father's chagrin, Peyton was named for Rixxana's first love, a Terran Starfleet officer named Samuel
Peyton, who was killed several years earlier at the Borg incursion at Wolf 359. Even so, Peyton enjoyed a happy early childhood at the family's estate just outside Iscander and close relationships with both his mother and
father.
When the Dominion launched its surprise attack on Betazed in late 2374, Rixxana and Ryon managed to escape the surface with Peyton in tow aboard a departing freighter owned by a family friend. After a brief stay
on Vulcan, the Kemper family made its way to Earth, where they settled in the prairie lands of Texas. Unlike most of their fellow expatriot Betazoids, the Kempers remained on Earth after Betazed's liberation, largely at the
insistence of Peyton's mother, who was loathe to participate in the pomp and circumstance associated with being part of a noble Betazoid house.
It was clear in Peyton's early studies that he was exceptionally bright,
outpacing his peers to complete his primary studies by the time he was ten. Peyton's secondary studies proceeded along a more normal timetable, and he graduated high school in 2385 at age 14. He was a precocious, yet bashful
youth, traits that were exacerbated by his burgeoning telempathic abilities that seemed as sharp and incisive as his intellect.
Peyton was determined to join Starfleet, though he could not do so until he was 18. In the
intervening four years, the adolescent Kemper developed a keen interest in politics, studying how the previously rival powers in the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans were able to set aside their differences to successfully
collaborate in peacetime on a joint settlement in the Gamma Quadrant. At the same time, he also studied the thawing of relations between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire following the Shinzon incident, and his mother
even arranged for him to spend some time aboard one of the starships in the task force working along the Romulan border.
The aspiring Starfleet officer caught the attention of a covert Intelligence officer serving aboard
the ship he visited as a social sciences officer, largely because of the quick, insightful analysis he was able to provide based on both his knowledge of the astropolitical landscape in the region and the additional information
he could glean via his Betazoid abilities. The half-Betazoid Intelligence officer, Lieutenant Dawson Walters, made a point of keeping in touch with Peyton after he returned to Earth, a connection that would have lasting
impacts on Peyton's later Starfleet career.
At 17, Peyton was furiously studying for the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, which he took and passed in the fall of 2388. He developed an affinity for Engineering during his
preparations for the exam, and he chose to double major in Engineering and Command when he matriculated at the Academy in 2389.
Like so many of his classmates, Cadet Kemper wondered whether a career in Starfleet was
still advisable in the wake of the tragedy at the now-decimated Outpost Unity in the Gamma Quadrant, and he considered leaving the Academy to join the Federation Diplomatic Corps. Peyton was ultimately swayed to remain at the
Academy by Lieutenant Walters, despite his growing dismay at how quickly and seemingly easily the bonds of friendship that formed over the Outpost Unity project dissolved.
Peyton's tenure at the Academy was largely
unremarkable, aside from the high marks he earned in his studies. Despite being an applied, even bookish student, he found ample time to socialize with his peers, finding it easy to fit into the various groups with which he
interacted thanks to his ability to quickly read his peers and reflect their expectations for behavior.
Upon graduation 2393, a newly minted Ensign Kemper was assigned to a frigate patrolling the area of space near the
Briar Patch. He had a front seat to the conflict with the Son'a, and he spent much of his time countering the effects of the Son'a subspace weapons on his ship's systems. As the conflict began drawing to a close, Kemper
became increasingly concerned the nearly defeated Son'a had laid plans for a final, desperate act to try and drive Starfleet from the area, concerns he relayed to Walters, now a Lieutenant Commander. For the most part, Walters
dismissed Peyton's warnings as hyperbole given that the Son'a had never displayed a propensity for such erratic behavior.
Shortly after the Son'a began destroying inhabited star systems using their subspace weapons,
Kemper received surprise orders to report to a nearby starbase for reassignment. Peyton was greeted at the starbase by Lieutenant Commander Walters, who revealed he was a member of Starfleet Intelligence and that it was at his
behest the Ensign was there. Recalling Kemper's nearly effortless ability to read others, Walters wanted him to observe while the Intelligence officer interrogated a captured Son'a rebel.
The interrogation proved a key
turning point in the Son'a conflict, leading Starfleet forces to several Son'a bases of operation that ultimately resulted in their capture, ending the Son'a reign of terror. Peyton's performance in the effort earned him an
invitation to join the ranks of Starfleet Intelligence, an invitation he eagerly accepted.
Kemper's tenure in Intelligence afforded him opportunities to serve as an analyst, field agent, and commander, earning him
accolades from his superiors and Starfleet leadership. He distinguished himself as a competent field commander, successfully directing operations few if any other commanding officers could.
When Starfleet Command began
seeking candidates to command the Phoenix's mission to find the USS Antietam and, if possible, continue her mission, Walters, by then an Admiral and Chief of Starfleet Intelligence, pressed upon Starfleet leadership to select
Kemper for command given his sterling track record and his keen ability to quickly and accurately assess unstable situations. He furthermore suggested it would be to Starfleet's advantage to have one of its best Intelligence
agents leading the mission, especially if some as-yet-unknown foe lay in the abyss.
On Stardate 105789.04, Captain Samuel Peyton Kemper received orders from the Bureau of Personnel to report to Spacedock, where he was to
assume command of pre-commissioned unit NX-170100 (PCU PHOENIX). There, he oversaw the final stages of the Phoenix's construction and began assembling his crew, eager to embark on the journey ahead.