Ventu/Early Career
| Cmdr. Lily Ventu Commading Officer Starbase 118 Operations |
Lily's Life |
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Climbing the Ranks on Victory
Prior to being posted to a starship, Ensign Aresee Ventu was sent to the processing center at Starbase 118, where she was to undergo a final simulated mission to ensure her readiness for a deep-space assignment. That cruise took place in one of the base's holodecks, under the guidance of Lieutenant Commanders Cura Stone and Solan.
The simulation placed Aresee in the role of counselor with a group of six other cadets. The cadets and their commanders were to explore a fictional Bajoran transport, the Shabtai. During the simulation, Aresee was instrumental in discovering that the ship had been disabled by Cardassians, although it was noted in her file that she broke away from the group and struck out on her own, in violation of standing orders, to make her discovery.
Still, she passed the simulated exam, and she and a few other new crewmen were made available to the USS Victory.
Victory's New Counselor
On stardate 238208.27, Aresee is officially welcomed aboard the Victory as the new chief counseling officer.
Her first order of business was to ask the vessel's new first officer, Commander Robin Phoenix, about allowing her sister, Alexa to come aboard with her. Alexa had traveled to Starbase 118 with Aresee, but Phoenix firmly upheld the rule barring families from Intrepid-class starships, and Aresee had to send Alexa back to Earth. This, coupled with the stress of adjusting to shipboard life, caused Aresee to have a major breakdown during her first few days on the ship, necessitating an emergency transport to Sickbay. Although she recovered fully, the embarrassment of the incident lasted a lot longer.
Aresee came aboard just as the Victory was preparing to depart for its mission to Tanuga IV. As counselor, Aresee was assigned to gather cultural information en route, and, once there, observe the behavior of one of the Tanugan dignitaries.
During a surface crisis, Aresee was borrowed by the Victory's CMO, Lieutenant Julia Harden, and assigned to a triage team planetside. She protested that she had only minimal medical knowledge, but that apparently qualified her, and she was placed as head of a triage team over her own dissuasions.
On the planet, Aresee left her duty post after both their complex and the Tanugan city were attacked. Her stated goal was to assist two orphaned Tanugan children, but while trying to coax them back to her triage unit, she was captured by an unknown entity which initially threatened her with death before relenting and just taking her hostage. Despite deep-mind probes and many hours of meditation, she is currently uncertain what happened while she was a hostage.
Aresee was rescued by a team from the Victory and returned to the ship's Sickbay. There, she spent several weeks off-duty and in technologically-induced resting periods, regaining her health.
Family and Wet Feet
Following the Tanugan mission, and after recuperating and returning to active duty, Aresee is rewarded for her work and duress with a promotion to Junior Lieutenant (January 17, 2383).
The Victory's next mission took the crew to the border of the Trinity Sector, near both Romulan and Klingon space. The goal of the mission was to recover a platoon of marines whose ship had, officially, "wandered off course" and ended up near the (officially) abandoned Romulan Celipentha Station.
In Aresee's personal life: Following her breakdown during the previous mission, she returned to using more meds than she liked, but the stress of starship life made it a necessity. Also, she met Junior Lieutenant Sameth Koveski
, a transporter officer who flirted with her. Although she initially rebuffed his advances, she found herself annoyingly flattered by the attention.
With initial reconnaissance, the crew discovered that Celipentha Station was far from abandoned, and was serving as a base for the Romulan Tal Shiar. Commander Phoenix, now serving as the Victory's CO, ordered infiltration teams assembled, and arranged for cosmetic surgery for everyone on such a team. The result? The command crew of Victory as Romulans.
Aresee was assigned to Alpha Team along with Junior Lieutenant Ben Hunnicutt, Victory's chief engineer, and under the command of Lieutenant Commander Julia Harden, the chief medical officer. The team's objective was to locate the missing marines and disable any security equipment or personnel on the way, making it possible for Beta Team to arrive and evacuate the prisoners.
The untimely arrival of Aresee's mother threw the whole mission off. Matilda had arrived on Victory just as the senior staff had left, keen on visiting her daughter and refusing to take "no" for an answer when she was told not to follow them.
On the station, everything is proceeding smoothly until Matilda comes boards and, after finding the station far from abandoned, proceeds to launch into a violent search for her daughter.
Aresee once again defies her orders and strikes out alone to find her mother. After their safe reunion, mother and daughter joined up with their evacuating comrades. Apparently, a bomb had been placed on the station by a force other than the Romulans or the Starfleet teams, and their teams escaped just before the station imploded.
Back aboard Victory, Aresee refuses to speak with her mother, and locks herself in her office. Matilda makes the most of the ship, however, enjoying its holodecks and lounge ... until, whilst in the lounge, she is approached and kidnapped by a strange device. While observed by everyone in the lounge, no one can adequately explain why or what had transpired - Matilda Tayler-Ventu had simply vanished.
Following increasing bouts of depression in late April 2383, Aresee relieves herself of duty and spends all her time in her quarters.
Early in May, Aresee receives a message from her mother, relaying that Matilda is safe and is living approximately two hundred years in the future. Although still angry, Aresee once again masters her emotions and returns to active duty.
Aresee is approach by Sam Koveski again. He was present for Matilda's abduction and was instrumental in the ensuing investigation, and she tells herself that those things make him a good person when she decides to sleep with him.
Phased!
Aresee is awarded with another promotion when she returns to active duty, this time to full Lieutenant. She retains her position as head of the counseling department.
In June of 2383, the Victory experiences shipwide systems failures, thanks to its malfunctioning bio-neural gel packs. Aresee is stranded on the bridge with Captain Phoenix and a few junior officers ... at least, until an energy overload causes an explosion, during which time Phoenix disappears. Aresee is temporarily placed in command.
Following the reactivation of ships' systems and the successful recovery of all personnel, Aresee takes a leave of absence to return to Earth, where her father is taking her mother's "long vacation" a lot harder than she is.
Two months later, Aresee returns to active duty. She and her junior counseling officer, Ensign Ryan Devin,
attend a conference before rendezvousing with the Victory at Starbase 118. While en route, their runabout is attacked by an unknown vessel, but with assistance from the starbase, the vessel is destroyed, and they arrive safely.
After embarking upon the Victory's next mission - escorting some Bajoran diplomats - Aresee receives a message from her mother than the next few days will be "very important" to both her and her timeline. Aresee relays the message to Captain Phoenix, and the captain agrees with Aresee that the best thing to do is to continue with the mission as planned.
While in the Victory's lounge, Aresee is attacked by unknown assailants before being "phased out" of temporal sync: She can still hear and see those around her, but they can't interact with her. Once phased, she discovers that a woman named Aurelie Trenet
is responsible, that Aresee's life was in danger, and that - since her assailants can phase at will - that she wouldn't have been safe anywhere on the ship. Aurelie explains that she works with Aresee's mother in the future, that she's a temporal field agent, and that she's on the Victory to preserve the correct timeline, whereas Aresee's assailants want to rewrite it for their benefit.
Aurelie's phasing device is destroyed by her enemies, leaving both women effectively invisible and vulnerable to said enemies. Their only hope is Captain Robin Phoenix, who establishes a faint telepathic link with Aresee. She manages to guide the captain to a location and, with a Victory-crew-designed device that should return them to normal, are again attacked. This time, though, it's by a group of aliens Aurelie calls "Collectors," and whom kidnap Aresee, Aurelie, Captain Phoenix, and Aurelie's enemies. Using Aurelie's knowledge, the three women escape from the Collector ship, leaving the opposing temporal agents behind, and return to Victory.
Back on Victory, the new device and Captain Phoenix's link are used in conjunction to re-phase Aresee and Aurelie.
After the trying temporal mission, Aresee is granted a promotion to Lieutenant Commander.
Command Positions on the Constitution
- 238403.29 - The Victory is decommissioned. Aresee is posted to the U.S.S. Constitution-B as second officer.
- 238404 (first third) - Aresee and her sister Alexa arrive on the Constitution, where Aresee formally receives her promotion to second officer. Lt. Commander Victoria Yladro, newly promoted to first officer, offers Aresee her old quarters.
- 238404 (second third) - Aresee quickly grows frustrated with her new position when she is assigned to work with ship's counselor Emirry MacGowan. After her first staff meeting aboard the Constitution, she stays to talk with Commander Daydan Taboo, the commanding officer, and expresses her concerns over her lack of formal duties. Taboo clarifies that she is free from a departmental designation, but that she oversees all departments. Since the Constitution's operations officer is on leave, Aresee takes on the responsibilites of the chief operations officer.
- 238404 (last third) - The Constitution arrives at Angel One, an independent world world seeking Federation membership. Commander Yladro leads an away team to the surface while Aresee is charged with preparing the reception banquet on the ship. However, while she is doing so, a small group of raiders from Angel One beams to the ship and incapacitates much of the crew. Aresee, with the help of her sister Alexa and recently rediscovered ex Nick Parks, manages to retake Engineering. From there, they, now helped by Lieutenant j.g. Katlin Uria, are able to gain control of the bridge and restore order on the ship.
- 238405 (first third) - Aresee and Nick, along with the recently arrived Ensign Mekarnoputra, try to reorganize the banquet. Indigo Haze, the leader of the raiders, is also with them, though Nick is keeping an eye on her. Aresee, however, doesn't trust the woman, and rightly so, as she attacks Counselor MacGowan in the corridor. Aresee has her locked in the brig, though the banquet proceeds on schedule.
- 238405 (second third) - The banquet is a success in more ways than one, though Angel One's bid for Federation membership is denied. However, Aresee and Nick get back together, and, after Aresee is 'asked' to sing at the ceremony by the captain, they consummate their relationship in Aresee's new quarters. While there, they discuss Aresee's career, Nick's promotion, and Aresee's name change. Aresee decides that one chapter in her life has come to a close, and she returns to using Lily as her first name.
- 238405 (late) - 238406 (early) - Lily and the rest of the Constitution crew head for Risa following the mission on Angel One. Lily and Nick are able to get a room at the last minute at Sunfall, a resort overlooking Suraya Bay. While there, Lily's approached by a man, Ven Jemtil, who says he's a friend of Aurelie Trenet from the future. He gives Lily a cryptic warning and departs. Lily keeps the warning, which is about Nick, to herself, hoping to protect him, until Nick confronts her point blank. He tells her that he doesn't care what's ahead for him, he won't leave her.
- 238406.10 - Lily is called by Daydan back to the Constitution on official business. Once there, he tells her that she's been offered the position of first officer on the Triumphant. Lily accepts, but only if Nick can be brought along; Daydan agrees to put through the necessary reassignment paperwork, and Lily prepares once again to leave a crew made up of her friends.