Lawrence Styles

Lawrence Styles was a human Starfleet officer in the 23rd century. In 2270, Styles was promoted to captain and placed in command of the Excelsior Transwarp Project, overseeing a combined team of civilian and Starfleet engineers and scientists in their development of a revolutionary new propulsion technology.

Styles' tenure as commander of the ETP was troubled, frequently clashing with the civilian head and initial proponent of the project, Dr. Carter Thorndyke. The project encountered repeated delays and setbacks, which Styles and Thorndyke frequently blamed on each other.

By 2285, the project had produced an actual starship prototype, USS Excelsior (NX-2000). Styles was appointed as commanding officer for the duration of the ship's systems tests, with the expectation that he would become the ship's permanent commander when it entered operational service.

But later that year, Admiral James T. Kirk and other former crewmembers of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) commandeered their former starship from Earth Spacedock. Styles pursued with the Excelsior, intending to use the ship's new drive system in an operational capacity for the first time. But when the ship attempted to engage the transwarp drive, it suffered a complete systems failure, stranding it mere kilometers from Spacedock.

Following the Excelsior's total systems failure, Starfleet Command pulled all further support from the ETP and ordered the ship to be refitted with a conventional warp drive system. Styles was transferred to Starfleet Command, where he served as an adjutant before retiring a few years later.