Bayushi Chisato

Chisato Bayushi is the ship's quartermaster in the Operations department of the  starship Independence.

History
As far as she can remember, Chisato has always wanted to be in Starfleet. When she was seven, Chisato (along with the rest of her family) were aboard USS Kyushu when the starship attacked the Borg cubeship at Wolf 359. During the chaos, Chisato's father (who was fatally injured in the attack) took her to an escape pod and ejected her to safety before he died. Chisato was the sole survivor of her family, and when her pod was rescued later by a Federation vessel, Starfleet officers found a comatose young child.

For three years afterward, Chisato suffered the effects of traumatic shock and mutism, withdrawing into her shell and living in silence in a mental facility on Alpha Centauri. Eventually, she came out of her shell and sufficiently recovered to re-attend high school, where her personality seemed to have undergone an inversion and she became an incessant talker.

Chisato later applied to Starfleet Academy, and excelled herself, gaining a coveted place in Red Squad. For her cadet cruise, Chisato decided not to do it with Red Squad, for reasons as yet unspecified. After missing her Starfleet graduation (and forfeiting being class valedictorian) because she was on an Away Team mission, she was granted a field promotion by Captain Breawyn Lem to the rank of Ensign. (Starship Independence: "Darker Than Obsidian")

On Stardate 60672.5, she was promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade). (Starship Independence: "All's Well That Ends Well")


 * Chisato's family name, Bayushi, is derived from the Scorpion Clan of the Legend of the Five Rings Oriental adventures role-playing game.

Physical Attributes
Chisato is beautiful, atheletic and intelligent, with a cool and confident demeanour that belies her stature. She can be slightly overbearing with her brash, outspoken nature, but at heart she feels she's just being honest.

Chisato is also proud of her heritage and ancestry: her family can trace an unbroken lineage all the way back to the Edo Shogunate of Earth's middle ages, and regards herself as the modern manifestation of the traditional samurai-ko. She is smart, loyal, and dependable in any crisis.

Personality & Traits
Chisato is very aware of the effect she has on others, and makes no pretense about her beauty or intelligence. With her looks, physique and family name, she doesn't hesitate to get what she wants, and she happens to be very good at most things she sets her mind to. Her temper, stubbornness and refusal to take no for an answer has made her a number of rivals (at the Academy) who would enjoy nothing more than to see her fail.

Strengths & Weaknesses
She is at heart a perfectionist, and always puts her best effort into everything she does. She is also strongly driven by an innate sense of honour and pride because of her ancestry.

Hobbies & Interests
Chisato has diverse interests, but her favourite activity is kendo and chess. She owns a matching pair of daisho - katana (longsword) and wakizashi (shortsword) - which has been in her family for generations. And she hates musicals.

Summary Record
Chisato completed her first tour of duty as a midshipman aboard Independence (right), remaining on board as an Ensign after missing her formal graduation from the Academy. More recently, she was promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade). Her chosen service branch is Command, although her current rotation has put her in the ship's Operations department. She secretly hopes to break Tryla Scott's record to become the youngest starship captain in Starfleet Command.

Chisato was formerly a member of Red Squad, and also the reigning chess champion at Starfleet Academy in her senior year.