Donna McKellen

This is OOC information.
Information detailed here is for OOC uses only.

Donna

Full name	Donna McKellen
Date of Birth	17 September 2500
Birthplace	Osiris
Parents	Deceased
Siblings	None
Spouse	Karn Dalton (2528-2537, divorce)
Children	Marie Caitlin Dalton, b. Dec 2530 Louis Orion Dalton, b. Jan 2533
Gender	Female
Height and Weight	1.54m (5' 0.5") / 48kg (106 lbs)
Status	Active

Donna started out as an engineer, working on various ships until she found a home on the Guan-Yin. After establishing herself there and rising through the ranks, she reluctantly took over as captain just before her twenty-fifth birthday. She led the crew for four and a half years, then stepped away from the ship for a while. She is now exploring new career territory: as a nurse and a mother.

Background

Records show that Donna McKellen was born on Osiris, to parents who ran a moderately successful business together. They were still middle class, especially by Core standards, but did well enough. The family moved back and forth several times between Osiris and Beaumonde, where they had a few factories, and Donna went through public education on both worlds (through high school level). She also received training and worked at the factory's machine shop, repairing hover-lifts and other equipment.

Her parents died when she was seventeen, and some time after this she began working on one of the company's cargo liners as an assistant engineer. Both Donna and the company foundered however, the latter eventually closing down entirely. Donna drifted from one job to another, her life falling further off track until she was finally forced to pull herself together and turn things around.

Donna was hired on the Guan-Yin as an engineer in late September of 2522. A month later, the Guan-Yin crew began the process of trading in their ship for a Trans-U model vessel that was rechristened the Guan-Yin II. Donna and the other engineers began several months of work refurbishing and restoring every system to full working order.

By Christmas, Donna was dating Robert Forge, an Alliance liaison and security hand on board the ship. He left the crew in January to join another ship, and they tried to keep things going long distance for a while, but finally broke up three months later.

In February 2524, following the disappearance of Jansen Vincent from the crew, Donna was promoted to XO. In the summer and fall of 2524, Donna learned to fly first the LRS Tereshkova and then the Guan-Yin herself, from Eyvindr. She then left the ship for the first half of 2525 to take some business courses, wanting to better fulfill her responsibilities as XO and help out with running the ship.

Donna returned to the ship at the end of July to find Xian gone from the ship, Olivia and Eyvindr announcing that they would retire, and then soon after Cennaire leaving the crew to settle elsewhere. Having each of these friends move on from the crew affected Donna deeply. It also meant that the ownership and captaincy of the ship passed into her hands, at the end of August. She at first struggled with this, not sure she could manage to fill the position, but started to grow into it and build her confidence as the ship went through a long hiring and rebuilding period. It took several months, but the ship was eventually fully staffed and once again traveling the Verse doing good works.

In May of 2526, Donna began dating Karn Dalton, one of the Goddess's new engineers. She was also shot in the neck that same month, during an attempt (which was thankfully successful) to recover Shepherd McManus from a group of thugs who had kidnapped him. A month later, Scrubs was gifted to the ship by Damian Carmichael. The kitten moved into the captain's cabin with Donna and Karn, who look after him on behalf of the ship.

At the start of 2527, Donna expanded the business setup for the Guan-Yin Corporation, passing ownership of the ship and all of the equipment on board to the corporate entity.

On 26 April 2528, Donna and Karn were married in a small civil ceremony on Greenleaf. The ceremony was held at a riverside spot that is a favorite of the Guan-Yin crew, conducted by Zachary MacAbrams and attended by the crew and close friends.

At the end of 2529, Donna and Karn took an extended leave from the Guan-Yin for medical and personal reasons. They returned to the ship and Donna announced that she was stepping down as captain and leaving the ship. They settled down on Paquin, buying a house and finding jobs. Their daughter, Marie Caitlin Dalton, was born in December 2530.

For a time, Donna and her family returned to the Guan-Yin under the leadership of Cody Martin. Donna took a new post as nurse on board. After about six months, she and Karn returned to their home on Paquin. Their son, Louis Orion Dalton, was born in January 2533.

Following a number of troubles, Donna and Karn separated in 2536 and divorced the following year. In 2539, she moved with the children to New Melbourne, taking a job at the capital city's hospital.

Stay tuned for more...

Bits and Bobs

• Donna is one of the Guan-Yin's "Aunties", counting among her "nieces and nephews" the children of Olivia and Eyvindr (Gawain and Freyja), Cennaire (Jass and Joss), Anissa and James (Shawn and Samantha), Erin and Odell (Erica and Ella), Erin's adopted sister Jane, and Blake's daughter Aurora.
• She has a tattoo of the Chinese character Jia just above her right shoulder blade.
• She used to wear glasses whenever she was off-ship, but no longer wears them.
• In her younger days, she frequently dyed her hair and changed around its style.
• She drinks tea by choice, coffee only when she really, really needs it. She does not drink alcohol.
• While she ran the Guan-Yin she was often mistakenly addressed as a doctor.

Donna in her younger days.

Her favorite mug, a gift from Stephen McManus.

<OOC> Donna staples.