Ensign Matthias Von Kessel


Name Matthias Von Kessel

Position Master-at-Arms/Security Officer

Rank Ensign


Last Post

2025, Wed Oct 22nd, @ 2:10am

Character Information

Languages Spoken English (Federation Standard), Breen, German, French
Gender Male
Homeworld Unknown
Species Breen
Date Of Birth(DOB) 25/03/2376
Age 24
Nick Name 'Mat'

Physical Appearance

Height 6'4"
Weight 205
Hair Color N/A
Eye Color Yellow
Physical Description Mat is a tall, lanky Breen male of imposing stature. His physical look is a strange contradiction; though aboard a diplomatic vessel, his helmet is always worn in the presence of others, providing an air of mystery and detachment from others. Despite being assigned to a mission of peace, he’s adorned in a cross between an atmospheric suit and a warrior’s battle-plate. He always stands as straight as an arrow, proud and stiff, though he often has to duck through some small doorways, owing to his height.

But, he’s still Starfleet - ensign pips adorn his collar, a combadge is proudly pinned over his breast, and the chestpiece of his all-black biosuit is covered in the crimson red of Command. Indeed, one of his little foibles is changing the color of his visor to match whatever place he’s stationed - in Command, his visor is red, and when he was briefly employed in Sciences during an Academy exercise, he tinted his visor to a blue color.

Family

Spouse N/A
Children N/A
Father Captain Randolph Ludwig Von Kessel, U.S.S 'Quaestor' (Adoptive Father)
Mother Maria Lorraine Von Kessel (nee. Bernard, Adoptive Mother)
Brother(s) N/A
Sister(s) Anya Von Kessel (Starfleet, Engineer, U.S.S 'Skylark', 30)
Other Family Anya Ingrid Von Kessel (Grandmother, Father's Side)

Personality & Traits

General Overview Mat has been a figure of suspicion, mistrust, curiosity and fear for as long as he's lived - he’s a Breen, a highly enigmatic species with a history of violence, banditry and piracy whenever they aren’t ignoring the overtures of every other race in the galaxy, raised amongst Starfleet. Growing-up, he had to suffer the whispers and comments from everyone - he was the ‘outsider’, the Captain’s ward, the ‘other’. Overtures from crew in Sciences, supposedly the people attempting to learn more about him as a way of maintaining his own personal health, were only getting closer to publishing essays on Breen biology as a way of advancing their own careers. To Mat, this was a betrayal of the highest order, and has caused him to be more insular and close-off’ed. He’s evolved to be somewhat uninterested in other people and in maintaining relationships; he’s got his adoptive human family, and as far he’s concerned, that’s connections enough. Anyone else would just try to learn more about him, to use him for their own ends - just like the Science department, who eyed him like a mortician eyes a fresh cadaver.

So, if he can’t be friendly with these unjust people, Mat instead resolved to be better than them in every regard. Ensign Von Kessel is a consummate perfectionist, utterly obsessed with being the best in every regard. This outlook led him to embrace the more martial aspects of Breen culture when studying at Starfleet Academy; he adores weaponry and combat, and overcoming his foes in the most decisive way he can find.

That said, despite his apparent aloofness and stick-up-the-ass attitude, Mat’s human upbringing has fostered some gentleness in him. He’s particularly happy and surprisingly jovial around children, as his upbringing alongside his adoptive sister Anya encompass most of his happiest memories.

Like all Breen, Mat does not expose his face or skin in public, except in highly specific circumstances. The only people who've seen him without his bio-armour are his parents, sister and grandmother: the only people he truly trusts, beyond all others in the entire galaxy.
Strengths & Weaknesses > Super Soldier
Mat has many failings as a conventional officer, but one area in which he doubtlessly excels is in combat; one might even say that he’s something of a prodigy in this regard. Whether in hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, bladed combat or martial arts, Mat is an incredible physical opponent. Part of this is aided by the intense durability of his bio-armour, granted, but you’d be a fool to put all of Mat’s ability to that ‘alone. To Mat, combat is the one area that Starfleet education tends to sidestep, it’s a way of staying connected to his Breen heritage, and it’s a way of ensuring that people will think-twice before using him for their own ends.
> Multilingual
Mat can speak, read and write in multiple alien and human languages. This interest was founded in him by his adoptive father, Captain Von Kessel, who himself spoke German with his family over dinner, and learnt to speak and read Breen alongside Mat as the pair of them studied / bonded over the salvaged datavaults of the destroyed Breen ship.
> Perfectionist
Mat is an incredibly well-organised and squared-away person. As soon as he’s given a task, he dedicates his time to it intensely until he’s completed it. Procrastination is simply not a part of his personal doctrine. His inventory records and logbooks are always clear and submitted in a timely manner, his uniform is always spotless, his shift rotation exercises were always impeccable, and he’s never once been late for a single assignment or class since enlisting at the Academy.
> Stoic
Mat doesn’t run, and he doesn’t lose his head. He’s cool, pragmatic, and level-headed in times of crisis. In battle or in crises, Mat is an island of calm efficiency when everyone else is shouting, screaming or losing their heads.
> Quantum Torpedo Ace
One of his main areas of studied expertise at the Academy, Mat has perfect understanding of the firing mechanics, makeup, payloads and delivery of quantum torpedoes, as well as being an expert ‘shot with the devices. During his pre-graduation simulated exercises, Ensign Von Kessel was congratulated by his gunnery instructor for making a nigh-impossible shot with a quantum torpedo, delivering a killing blow to a simulated enemy cruiser through a maze of battlefield debris.

> Inflexible
Mat is an unbending and unelegant individual. To his mind, imagination is a curse, prompting idle hands and (even more dangerously) an idle mind. Though a capable warrior, Mat lacks the fundamental interest and abilities as a tactician and strategist. If placed in command, he’d attack with blunt force rather than any form of efficiency or grace. He has no real creative or artistic hobbies, and doesn’t consume any material in a philosophical vein. Whilst this does ensure his unquestioning loyalty, this doesn’t exactly endear him to the greater mission of Starfleet.
> Ruthless
One of his deepest vices: Mat is utterly merciless. “Never turn your back on a Breen” is a saying for a reason, after all. Although his human upbringing has quelled and dispelled much of his Breen culture and traits, he’s still the son of mercenaries and reavers, hailing from a cultural stereotype of mercenaries and reavers. His original parents were shown no mercy before their deaths, and the comments and sneers of his classmates showed him no mercy either, so why should he entertain the pleas of beaten foes? If Mat can go the extra step to leave his foe broken beyond ‘compare and ruined forever, then against his better-judgement, he’ll often take that path over any-other… something that might dismay and disgust his more even-handed comrades.
> Distant
Mat doesn’t have any friends outside of his adoptive family. During his earlier years, an attempt at bonding with members of the Science department of the U.S.S ‘Quaestor’ resulted in the discovery that those scientists had been attempting to manipulate him into revealing more about his biology, as a way of selfishly advancing their own Starfleet careers. This caused Mat to feel betrayed and used to betray his own people and heritage, and he closed himself off from almost everyone. He had no friends, no lovers, no acquaintances. He’d attend his classes, perform his duty to the highest standards, and once done, he’d retreat to his quarters, to the combat holodeck, or to the school library. No parties, no social events. Nothing. A social outsider, quiet and devoid of any interest in ‘getting close’ to others… for now.
Ambitions Ensign Von Kessel’s primary ambition is to follow in his father’s footsteps, and become the first Breen Starfleet Captain - not only making his father proud, but also, cementing his place in history as ‘the first of something’. To Mat, becoming a Captain over his very own ship is the climactic goal of his career; to rise above the distrust and suspicions of others for his species’ reputation, and to reward the love his adoptive family placed in him with a life served for the greater-good of the Federation.

Mat’s own, secondary ambition is to reconnect with his Breen people. For much of his life since the passing of his parents, Mat has been isolated and disconnected from his people, who have never once responded to any Starfleet hails regarding his existence. He’s read plenty and studied much, but he’s never been ingrained or admitted into Breen culture or society, giving him a slightly warped understanding of his heritage, based primarily around accounts and recollections of others who’ve faced his people in battle or curt, brief negotiations.

A third, and secret, motivation of Mat’s, is to start a family. Being the only ‘male’ ‘son’ in the Von Kessel family, Mat considers it a form of duty to his father’s lineage to continue the name, at-least in some way or regard. Although, considering his rather distant and unfriendly attitude to most people, that seems like somewhat of an unlikely prospect.
Hobbies & Interests Outside of his normal Starfleet duties, Mat enjoys his training simulations - he recreates key human battles in the Holodeck and fights through them, finding a sense of grim pleasure in overcoming the hurdles and strifes of Earth's past conflicts and emerging both victorious unscathed. This also ties into a secondary, more mundane hobby of his, which involves him stripping, examining and re-building old-Earth and pre-Federation firearms of many different periods in history, oftentimes whilst listening to learned lecturers talk about the weapons.

In a less violent vein, Mat also enjoys cooking - a craft he picked up from his grandmother, who tried to guide her adoptive grandchild away from embracing his more aggressive side. To Mat, cooking is an expression of love and servitude to a person who truly deserves it. To him, if he cooks for you - and only for you -, by hand, it is an expression of how truly and earnestly he adores you.

Personal History Discovered in a secure airproof compartment by Captain Randolph Ludwig Von Kessel and the crew of the U.S.S ‘Quaestor’, amidst the wreckage of a destroyed Breen vessel, ‘Matthias’ was officially adopted by Captain Von Kessel after repeated attempts to contact Breen authorities regarding the infant were either denied, ignored or otherwise deflected. The boy was raised aboard the ‘Quaestor’, and given a conventional Earth-style education, with a special emphasis on German culture to reflect his adoptive father’s own heritage. Indeed ‘Matthias’ is a Germanic extension of his actual Breen name (gleaned from the Breen ship’s manifest): ‘Mat’.

The main tragedy, as far as Starfleet is concerned, is Mat’s utter unwillingness to entertain Starfleet examination of his Breen physiology. As a child, Mat became incredibly defensive and even aggressive regarding matters of studying his unique and mysterious Breen physiology: as Captain Von Kessel reports, it’s a case of loyalty to his dead parents. In Mat’s testimonial, his parents told him that Breen secrecy was a matter of pride and strength before their untimely deaths, and though he owed much to Starfleet, the boy was determined not to betray his people (even if, by Captain Von Kessel’s opinion, the Breen were the ones to betray him by refusing to have anything to do with a lost child). The only leeway the boy has ever given was to the ‘Quaestor’s’ engineering department, who constructed multiple suits of Breen bio-armour based on Mat’s own childhood attire and scans of salvaged suits taken from the Breen ship’s wreckage.

Mat would later attend Starfleet Academy, taking specialist courses in ship’s gunnery, weapons maintenance, navigation, piloting, hand-to-hand-combat and starship repair. His tutors spoke highly of the Cadet’s strict, disciplined personality and professional attitude to his duties. A bit stern and cold, maybe, but certainly capable. His first assignment upon graduating the Academy and acquiring the rank of Ensign, was to the U.S.S ‘Halo’, under his first official Captain.
Service Record Mat’s current service record is sparse, at time of writing - though he performed admirably at Starfleet Academy, the actions of Cadets in classrooms and the scores on written tests often don’t translate to medals and accolades within the actual Starfleet service. Those must be earnt, and Mat is buzzing with the chance to build a long and decorated career.

Out Of Character Info

Contact Info Discord: thebandage

Email: thebandaged@gmail.com
RP History I've ever owned a 'game', atleast in this 16th Fleet vein, but I've been RP'ing and writing for about seven years now.
Image Credits Star Trek: Discovery, Season 5
Character Send Me Home/Early Retirement