putting my character here for the sake of posterity!

NAME: Margaret "Maggie" Mason 
RANK: Commander
DEPARTMENT, POSITION: Engineering, Chief Engineer
RACE: Human
AGE: 29
GENDER: Female
APPEARANCE: Maggie Mason would’ve been great for Security, standing at about 5’10” and pretty damn muscular, but she picked the climbing-on-machines-all-day route. She has short, choppy, sandy hair, tanned skin, and green eyes. She's usually in uniform when she surfaces from Engineering's domain, but when she's down there, she's a regular grease monkey, jumpsuit sleeves knotted around her waist over her undershirt and banging on something with a wrench. There's a slightly crazy look to her eye and a pair of thick, angry eyebrows that most of the crew avoids at all costs.
SHORT BIO: Mason ended up in the Union Fleet because there really was nowhere else to go. She wasn't enough of a stickler for the rules to go into academics, she hated the private sector no matter how good the money was, and there was no way in hell she was getting stuck on this planet with the groundside military. Mostly, though? She'd watched countless members of her huge extended family die in space due to engineering failures in the heat of battle, and she knew she could do better. So she did. She only half regrets it.
PERSONALITY: Maggie is somewhat of a mad scientist—full of crazy ideas with the intellect to back it up. In general, she's a snappish, sarcastic, and downright grumpy genius, and oftentimes running the Engineering department is like herding cats, but she's fiercely loyal to the crew, and especially those under her care. She'd do anything to keep this ship in the air, especially now that the Captain is gone to God-knows-where. 
TALENTS: mechanical genius; plays a mean hand of poker; good at putting the fear of Space God into younger crewmembers; is actually very good at managing Engineering and keeping her people happy; mixes drinks like a boss; willing to fling herself into dangerous machines or situations for the sake of others (talent or flaw, though?)
FLAWS: can't tell a lie to save her life; doesn't really care for diplomatic stuff so she basically never comes across as charming; probably drinks more than she should