• Roman Theodore Burton MA (Hons)

Commander Roman Burton

Name Roman Theodore Burton MA (Hons)

Position First Officer & Science Officer

Rank Commander


Core Statistics

Gender Male
Species Human
Date of Birth January 5th 2125
Marital Status In a Relationship
Affiliation United Earth

Height 6'1½" (1.87 m)
Weight 158 Ibs
Hair Color Sandy Brown
Eye Color Blue

Pre-Starfleet Roman was born on January 5th 2125 in the British city of Portsmouth. As the third eldest out of four children, Roman grew up along the shores watching a number of ships from the British Royal Navy passing through the various yards. Sharing his two brother’s passion for adventure, every weekend they would head to the historic dockyards and walk along the sea front to see what ships they can see. This was one of only a few passions he shared with his brothers. Compared to Lloyd and Seth, who were more sports driven, Roman was passionate about science and building things. Many times he got told off by his parents for taking apart a home appliance and fixing it back together. Roman was a lot closer with his older sister, Madison, then to Lloyd and Seth. The two of them shared their interest of physics. Roman blames Madison for getting him hooked on it and she even admits he knows more about it then she does it.

When Roman turned 18 he attended Portsmouth University and four years later gained a master’s degree in physics. By this time the United Earth had launched a number of ships to begin exploring the local region. The adventure of joining Starfleet excited Roman. The start of the Warp 5 program had already started and Starfleet was looking for good engineers and officers. Roman felt that he had to apply his skills in to a worthwhile cause and as such applied to be an officer within Starfleet. This action caused some rift with his parents; however his sister and brothers all supported his decision due to them also being part of Starfleet. Eventually the tension in the family settled after their parents saw that their children were doing something productive to help humanity.
Starfleet Career Assigned to the Apollo (NV-04), Roman was ordered to help out in the last construction efforts with the Intrepid-class ship. He spent a couple of months on board the Apollo installing, fixing and preparing its new systems. Eventually in August of 2148 the ship was launched from dry dock. He remained with the Apollo as it started its patrol route of the shipping lanes established within the Home Core Territory. As such he got to visit other colonies of the United Earth Commonwealth including Proxima, Deneva and Vega colonies. While on the small ship Roman made good friends with the ship’s chief engineer and soon by 2150 was made a lieutenant junior grade and made assistant chief engineer. His quick imaginative thinking helped save the ship from a warp core breach.

In 2150 he was part of a team to save a crashed Denobulan shuttlecraft on Vega colony and was commended by Captain Antoinette Proulx for his bravery in saving the Denobulan crew in harsh arctic conditions. This was after the landing party was stranded in ice caves and the Apollo’s executive officer/chief science officer was also injured during the rescue attempt. As the senior most officer after Commander Cristianas Iglesias, Roman led the team to find the crashed shuttle and was able to repair the damaged craft and transport everyone off the planet and return to Apollo safely.

Roman’s engineering capabilities were highly sort after and as such he was assigned to the Daedalus-class ship Pathfinder (NCC-04). Captain Edward Hollander was looking for someone to help with the ship’s upgrades in 2151. Roman served with the Pathfinder for the rest of 2151, gaining experience in the field and coming in to contact with new technologies that helped improve the Pathfinder after its refit. In December 2151 he was promoted to second engineer and remained in this position for a two more months before he was recalled to Earth.

As Roman was beginning to make a name for himself he was asked to return to Earth to be part of the engineering detail assigned to the construction of Columbia (NX-02) and subsequent NX-class ships. This was a dream of Roman’s, he would get to work with some of the brightest minds in Starfleet and on Earth to create the next generation of Starfleet ships. For the next three years he worked on different projects that worked towards the construction of the second ship. In 2153 he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned a large engineering team to work on installing the ship’s warp core and power systems. Throughout the rest of the year the team were plagued with a number of operating difficulties, these even challenged Roman’s abilities and knowledge. At the end of the year the construction manager, Captain Erika Hernandez insisted that Roman take a break from the project. Instead of taking a break he requested a six month tour on board another ship, feeling he needed to a different scenery to think of the ideas for Columbia. She didn’t like the idea at first but when he argued her a convincing case that he would continue working on the system problems she agreed.

Captain Daryush Rostami of the Daedalus-class ship Gemini (NCC-107) agreed to the temporary transfer. Eager to use Roman’s abilities to make his ship better based on what he did on the Pathfinder and for what he had seen being installed on the Columbia. For the six months on the Gemini he served with on her with distinction and valour now commanding the engineering room. He had never expected to be in such a senior position so quickly but Rostami had told him he was one of the most experience officers around who knew how to run Starfleet ships so well. He was commended on a number of occasions in ensuring the ship didn’t blow itself up while fighting off numerous pirate ships. In October 2153 the ship was boarded my unknown mercenaries while it was on patrol. The ship was overrun by them and eventually captured. However through his ingenuity, Roman planned a way for the crew to retake the ship through displaying a number of fake system failures, forcing the invaders to abandon the ship with its crew still on board. This was a trick he had read about from the logs of the Enterprise (NX-01), and a strategy he wanted to try himself one day. The Gemini returned to Earth for repairs and for his clever thinking he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander and offered second officer on board the Gemini. Roman was flattered by the offer from Captain Rostami but he turned it down as he wanted to return to the Columbia project.

With a third pip on his collar, Captain Hernandez was eager to keep hold of Roman however she was unable to offer him the position of chief engineer on the Columbia as by November 2154 she had received another applicant, someone with a lot more experience than him. One Commander Charles Tucker III, the former chief engineer and second officer from Enterprise (NX-01). Roman didn’t mind and requested that he would be the Second Engineer under Tucker. He knew he could learn a lot from the man who for the past four years had help build and run Earth’s first warp five engine.

Fortunately for Roman, Tucker’s time on board the Columbia was short lived and by the end of year he had returned to Enterprise. Hernandez offered the spot of chief engineer and second officer to Roman and he gladly accepted. Roman ran the engineering room for next four months. While there he began to get to know the crew and in February got romantically involved with one of armoury officers, Lieutenant Nathan Harris until he received a call from Starfleet Command. They were having similar difficulties with the system errors on the fourth NX-class ship, the Discovery. Again Hernandez was reluctant to lose a member of her senior staff, especially as the Challenger (NX-03) had pinched her chief science officer at the start of the year. Hernandez granted the transfer after Starfleet agreed to send her another experienced engineer. Roman didn't want to transfer however Starfleet made it quite clear this wasn't a request. He and Nathan agreed to carry on seeing each other for as long as they could.

Roman’s first duty was to fix the problems the ship was having and oversee the last parts of its construction, which included the installation of its warp core and upgrades to its computer and power systems. Roman brought with him his assistant chief engineer from when he served on the Gemini, Craig Muldrew someone he had formed a close friendship with to help out with the issue. Eventually Roman was able to fix the Discovery’s problems and the ship was ready for launch. He was offered the position of chief engineer and first officer by Captain Curtis, he quickly agreed on the spot.
Service Record 2125-2146: Civilian
2146-2148: Cadet - Starfleet Training Command
2148-2150: Ensign - Engineer - Apollo NV-04
2150-2151: Lieutenant junior grade - Second Engineer - Apollo NV-04
2151: Lieutenant junior grade - Second Engineer - Pathfinder NCC-111
2152-2153: Lieutenant junior grade - Construction Engineer - NX Project: Columbia NX-02
2153: Lieutenant - Engineering Team Leader - NX Project: Columbia NX-02
2153: Lieutenant - Chief Engineer - Gemini NCC-107
2154: Lieutenant Commander - Chief Engineer - Gemini NCC-107
2154: Lieutenant Commander - Second Engineer - Columbia NX-02
2154: Lieutenant Commander - Chief Engineer & Second Officer - Columbia NX-02
2155: Commander - Chief Engineer & First Officer - Discovery NX-04

Family Roman is close to all members of his family but particularly close to his sister Madison.

When his older brother Lloyd lost his girlfriend during an accident, Roman was the one who helped him through his depression and convinced him not to leave Starfleet. This brought the two brothers close to the point Lloyd would later on tease Roman for not telling their domineering mother who he was dating when he joined the Columbia.

Romance Roman can become quite a flirt when he is with someone he likes. He had several girlfriends during his time at university however when his career kicked off he stopped focussing on romance and put his energy in to his career.

Nathan Harris: When Roman joined Columbia he began a romantic relationship with its Armoury Officer, Lieutenant Nathan Harris. The two become inseperable in the four months they were together until Roman's transfer to the Discovery.
Friendships Craig Muldrew: Craig and Roman are very close, with the two of them serving on the Gemini for over a year together. Captain Rostami had called them his walking talking miracle workers when he needed a problem solving. The two of them share many interests. They care for each other a lot to the point that Craig could no longer remain on the Gemini after Roman had left it.

Physical Description Roman has a slim athletic build. He keeps himself smart and presentable while on duty. He normally keeps his hair in a tidy-shabby look.
General Personality Roman is a competent and devoted officer; as such he sometimes comes across as too keen with his job, purely down to the fact he loves what he does. He keeps an open mind on all situations and isn’t quick to rule out all different possibilities
Strengths & Weaknesses Roman is known for his extraordinary talents in engineering and as such it is a driving passion in his life. To a point sometimes he can come across as nerdy. He loves the opportunities to see different alien technology and learn about the latest development in technological research from home.

Roman can lead his department and teams in a professional style that delivers an outstanding environment for those under him to work in. He knows how to command respect and is noted to be an excellent coach in empowering those he leads through positive encouragement. However during a crisis he has been renowned to yell out orders to ensure the ship doesn’t explode around them, sometimes being giving the nickname of drill sergeant. This aside he is always well-liked by his shipmates.
Ambitions Roman has always wanted to be a chief engineer and eventually command his own ship.
Hobbies & Interests Technical Research, Volleyball, Skiing, Snowboarding

Family

Father Doctor Fraser Burton BS, MS, MA, PhD, ScD, physicist, Cambridge University
Mother Professor Dame Lynette Burton DBE, BS, MRes, PhD., retired exo-archaeologist, Oxford University
Brother(s) Captain Lloyd Burton, Commanding Officer, Challenger (NX-03)
Lieutenant Commander Seth Burton, Chief Helm Officer, Republic (NV-02)
Sister(s) Captain Madison Burton, Commanding Officer, Voyager (NV-03)