Jess Maxwell, Terran Engineer

Welcome to the first entry of this love note to fans of Tuesdays at Quark’s. Like I said last week I’m going to be closing T@Q’s, at least for the time being. With all the NPCs on this site GMs certainly have their fill and I’m going to be taking a look at campaign options instead. The theme for this month, therefore, is Love Interests to show how much I appreciate fans of this series.

The first character in this series is actually an old one! Jess Maxwell was developed by me and Takeshi Yamato, and he has been asking about their Mirror Universe counterpart almost since we wrote the character up. I did some thinking about what a Mirror Jess would be like and figured I’d go for gold. This version of Jess Maxwell also opted for a more civilian pathway but that means something very different in the horrific Mirror Universe.

Now, as stated in the optional sidebar, having a love interest from your days in the Imperial Academy who is a bigot and pretty vocal about it might be a challenge for players. Yep. Playing in the Mirror Universe is about looking through a dark lens and seeing what the Star Trek universe could be without the morals of the Federation. It’s a bad place, everyone. You can temper that by making Jess secretly a good guy but I encourage you to think about using them as written.

Does the Main Character involved with this nasty version of Jess have feelings for them despite the xenophobia? Or maybe your Terran character shares those beliefs and it’s part of what draws the characters together. This is the darkest timeline, use it to try out a nastier character. Take a shower afterwards if you need, but it can be a fun roleplaying experience.

There are different directions to take this character, but here are a few plot hooks to get you started.

• The Main Characters’ ship receives a signal from Jess Maxwell asking for assistance in terrorists attack on a newly-conquered colony. When they arrive, the crew finds a massive engineering project underway to launch weather-control satellites to change the planet’s arid climate to something more comfortable. An away team is needed to protect the launch site while the ship keeps enemy spacecraft from shooting the satellites before their defense systems come on.
• During a tryst alone, Jess Maxwell confesses to their lover that they are concerned about some of the leadership in the Colonial Corps of Engineers. Apparently some of their projects have been cancelled or adjusted last minute and Jess suspects that some of the Empire’s alien subjects are bribing officials.
• With the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance a rising threat to the Empire, Jess Maxwell’s team is working on a massive orbital defense array around the Trill homeworld. Before it can be completed, however, the enemy attacks and the team is trapped on the array. It’s up to the crew to rescue them, and keep Jess alive, perhaps with the help of Laris Dek.

Click on the image below for the PDF.