John Wilcox

Captain John Wilcox is a Starfleet Officer who served in the mid to late 24th Century. He gained promotion to Commanding Officer of the USS Nighitngale in 2376 weeks after the end of the Dominion War.

Starfleet Career
John served for four years on the USS Washington as Chief Helmsman, early in his career. He built up a good relationship with his then Commanding Officer, Captain Jenkins. At some point John was transferred to the USS Ark Royal as it's executive officer where he served during the Dominion War. Part of the Ark Royal's assaignments was convoy duty. John admitted that he thought the crews of these cargo ships were braver than he was. ("Trial by Fire"). During this assaignment he saw a lot of his crew die from attacks by the Dominion Forces throughout the war. It was during his early career he met and befriended Dan Hawke, however it is not known exactly where or when they met.

In February 2376 he took command of the USS Nightingale on the behest of his old commanding officer and now Admiral, Jenkins. His first mission was to take the USS Nightingale close to Gorn space and search for the missing vessel, USS Brave. John's task was made almost impossible by the fact Starfleet had delayed sending a ship to search for them and the Nightingale was not yet completed and had less than a full crew. Even so John complied with orders and proceeded to the area. Once in the area the Nightingale came under fire from a new Gorn cruiser and took heavy damage and casualties, including his executive officer Commander Dan Hawke.

Wilcox took the ship into a nebula to hide while he thought of his exit plan. However his grief over the lose of his friend briefly overcame him. He was brought back from the brink by the mission advisor Lieutenant Commander Hans. John was able to trick the Gorn into showing their weak stern, thus allowing him to disable them, contact Starfleet and then ran to the Geckonian homeworld, which was also being attacked by the Gorn. There he formed a sort of alliance between the Federation and the Geckonians against their common foe. When the Gorn decided on a final battle between the Gorn and Geckonian fleets, Wilcox took the Nightingale into battle, but was nearly destroyed saved only by a Starfleet relief force led by the USS Hood. John then asked for Lieutenant Commander Hans to stay on the Nightingale as his executive officer ("Trial by Fire").

During the repairs of the Nightingale, John had a fight with a replicator when it wouldn't give him a cup of his favourite beverage, Earl Grey Tea ("Time for Tea").

After repairs to the USS Nightingale were completed, Starfleet ordered John to proceed to negotiations for peace with the Gorn. He made his feelings known that he did not trust the Gorn and still harboured some resentment against them for the deaths of some of his crew. However Starfleet had other, secret orders for him to follow as well ("The Ruse")

Personality
John Wilcox can be characterised as lacking confidence in himself. He hides it by being sarcastic when he doesn't agree with missions or tasks. However he is an extremely good tactician and an excellent Commanding Officer, gaining respect from members of his crew.

Notable Quotes
"Believe it or not, you could have a meeting with three people in here? I tested it last week. "

"What did you have, someone hanging on the ceiling?"


 * Admiral Jenkins and Captain Wilcox discussing his rather small office space.

"Again with all due respect sir, the Gorn were happily blasting away at ships yesterday, Are you telling me now that after a good night's sleep that they suddenly thought 'hell this war is a bad idea' and called us up for a little handshaking session?"


 * John Wilcox on hearing the news that the Gorn want peace

"So what the Gorn have decided to scare us all witless by showing us this ancient movie?"


 * John Wilcox on hearing the code word for the Gorn's new weapon.