Early Life
Varik was born to Vrax Tal’Aura and Toreth Rllaillieu on stardate 236704.13 in the town of Thalaeh on Rekar III. Thalaeh, which in the native tongue means ‘hill’, was a predominantly Rekarian town of approximately 125,000 set upon a large plateau. The town’s natural defenses made it a strategic point of interest for the Rekarian military which maintained an installation there, of which Varik’s mother, Toreth, was the commander. Toreth hailed from a cadet branch the Romulan House-clan Rllaillieu whose members had settled on Rekar III after its integration into the Romulan Empire. Despite their intermingling with the native Rekarians, members of the Rllaillieu clan on Rekar III were proud of their heritage and many maintained their Romulan appearance through selective mating practices. Varik's father, Vrax, was a member of the Rekarian House-clan Tal'Aura which could trace its lineage back to the crash landing of the Tra'Vey on Rekar III and the first contact between the native Rekarians and proto-Romulans. Since then, members of the Tal'Aura clan have frequently been found in positions of political power. Several years before Varik's birth, Vrax was appointed prefect of Thalaeh and its surrounding territories. An arranged political marriage was negotiated by the respective families and the two were joined in union.
The first child to come of this union was Varik, followed three years later by his twin siblings Rhiana and Aerv. All three had fairly typical upbringings for privileged members of Rekarian society. Varik attended the local schools while receiving private tutelage at his family's estate. While not the most academically gifted child, he worked hard and took his studies seriously. When he was 17, he attended the Rekar III Institute for four years and accepted an attaché position within the Rekarian Diplomatic Service. It was the first step for members of his House-clan that sought a political career, a sort of Rekarian cursus honorum. As the eldest child, he was expected to serve for several years within the Diplomatic Service before taking a position either in the military or in local government.
Coming of Age
In 2387, the Hobus Supernova had sent shockwaves through the entire quadrant. With the Romulan Empire in disarray, the Rekarians were now a fully independent power and sent out diplomatic missions to surrounding star systems. Varik accompanied several of these delegations and attended a handful of diplomatic conferences. Still considered a youth by Rekarian standards, he found the work to be dull and repetitive. Against the wishes and expectations of his family, he resigned from the Rekarian Diplomatic Service in 2390 and boarded a shuttle in search of adventure and new experiences.
Varik traveled for months aboard transport ships, never staying in one place for too long and expending what little resources he had in his quest to explore the surrounding star systems. He was on Miri IV when his resources finally ran out. Too proud to request money from his family, he made a home for himself on the unique colony world. Varik would spend the next two years living on the planet, taking up various odd jobs in the human settlement of Europa with the goal of saving up enough to buy passage to a new world and his next big adventure.
Federation starships would periodically visit the planet to bring supplies to the colonists or conduct official business. On one such occasion, Varik struck up a conversation with a pair of Starfleet officers while he was working as a bartender. They recited tales of their adventures--of the exploration of new frontiers and all the dangers they faced along the way. Varik wanted to learn more and each time a Starfleet visited the planet he would strike up a conversation with any Starfleet personnel he came across. Over time, he developed friendships with some of the officers and eventually was able to secure sponsorship to enter the Starfleet Academy.
Starfleet Academy
In preparation for the Academy entrance exams, Varik used what little resources he had to enroll in the Starfleet Academy Preparatory Program. As a non-Federation citizen, he knew the bar for entrance would be that much higher having not come from a Federation member-world. Living on Miri IV had helped improve his Federation Standard beyond the basic understanding he had learned during his years in the Rekar III Institute and he was confident in his mathematics skills. To his surprise, he passed the entrance examination on his first attempt and was offered admittance into the Academy. In 2392, he left Miri IV and began his Starfleet career as a cadet at Earth's San Francisco Campus.
