Charlena Vanlith

Lieutenant Charlena Vanlith is an engineering officer aboard Amity Outpost.

Amity Outpost
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Charlena Vanlith
Position Engineering Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Species Risian
Gender Female
DOB 237309.29
Age 28
Birthplace Suraya Bay, Risa

Stats


  • Full name: Charlena Vanlith
  • Date of birth (Age): 237309.29 (28)
  • Species: Risian
  • Gender: Female

| Medical Record

Appearance


  • Height: 158 cm (5'2")
  • Hair colour: Brunette, just beyond shoulder length in tight curls
  • Eye colour: Brown
  • Appearance: Athletic build
  • Posture: Due to her home circumstances she has been the primary carer for her brother most of the time. This has resulted in a very strong stance and perfect posture that she refuses to compromise for anyone.
  • Shoes: Charlena will always be found in trainer like attire when working. However, when off duty she'll be rocking heels in any and every form to try and make up for her lack of height. They can typically be the brightest part of her outfit.
  • Clothes when off duty: Charlena's sense of fashion has moved back towards the traditions of home when she was there for an extended period of time. Whilst off duty she is often seen wearing clothing that makes her feel at home. With her heels and impeccable fashion she is always ready for whatever social situation she is about to face.


Family


  • Parents
    • Father: Charlie Vanlith, a hotel owner
    • Mother: Skye Vanlith, an artist
  • Siblings: Oliver Vanlith (younger, age 10 (238711.24))


Personal Relationships


  • Friendships before the academy:

Charlena doesn't have many friends from home. After the birth of her brother she lost touch with most friends due to her more important family focus and as a result did not form friendships later in her life.

Charlena's one friend from home is George, whilst others around them thought the relationship would turn romantic both George and Charlena knew it wouldn't. George didn't let Charlena push him away when she needed a friend realising her absence actually being a cry for help as she tried to come to terms with what was happening to her brother. The friendship was strong and enabled Charlena to apply to the Academy as she knew her brother was going to be looked after by someone she trusted completely.


  • Romantic Relationships:

The element of her life she finds most frustrating with relationships is she has no awareness of people's advances to her. Whether the advances be serious or not she has almost no understanding as she has never had a romantic or intimate relationship. She pins this to the fact that having had one friends and the only males in her life being her brother father and friend (and only friend) she is lacking in social skills of building and maintaining any kind of relationship let alone one that requires her to trust and completely open up to someone.

Jonathan and Charlena had a short fling filled with as much fun and nature as the holodeck allows. They first began their relationship in the Brew Continuum and unfortunately this relationship was not particularly long lasting as when Charlena returned home it fizzled out overtime but the pair remain friends.

  • Relationships since joining Starfleet:

Nabihah and Charlena met at the academy and became good friends. Every month, on the second weekend, they cracked out the popcorn to watch Tyranor the Thunderer. They were both elated to be posted the the USS Veritas together and when they discovered they were roommates they were both filled with excitement. Charlena found relationships tough and so even after the years of friendship they have there are still areas of Charlena's life that Nabihah doesn't know about even though Charlena is now starting to open up to her.

Whilst on their first shore leave together a Slaver Box arrived on the USS Veritas, this caused huge problems with Nabihah and Charlena after Charlena's actions lead to a huge rift in their relationship. Thankfully this has now been resolved although there were definitely some awkward moments leading up to that moment.

Teller was the first Chief Engineer that Charlena had served under, whilst his sea shanties could probably grate on most people she found them rather enjoyable and truly admired the work he did. She wanted to emulate the pride he took in his work and produce the same high quality results. Charlena was rather thankful that he had stumbled into her BAXTER project and was able to help her fix the fault she had created. She didn't always understand the faith he had in her but her Christmas present from him moved her to tears.

Upon hearing about his departure and promotion she was both incredibly happy for him but sad that their time serving together at least for now was done. She still tries to keep in touch however as she knew she wouldn't be where she was today without him.

When they first met Charlena was nervous of the women and her glory, not only was she a force to be reckoned with but she didn't use that against people and it was a true inspiration to Charlena. They are now close friends and Charlena knows she could go to G for anything and everything. After helping to rebuild G'var's arm Charlena was awarded a Captain's Commendation that made reference to her input in G'var's arm repair. No Charlena has no hesitation in calling G'var her sister and hopes to continue to do so the more she learns from her.

Wil and Charlena have always had a close working relationship and after seeing the end of the shanties from Teller leaving Charlena couldn't help but smile that at least it wasn't an end to the music as Wil definitely kept that up. Charlena feels like she can trust Wil and enjoys working with him and the fun extra builds they do together in their free time. Despite his accidental mistake in having Charlena stay with her parents during a shoreleave bachelor party she couldn't really hold that against him. Charlena enjoys her work in engineering and hopes that she will get more responsibility from her friend and Chief as she proves herself more.


History


Born and raised in Suraya Bay Charlena, named after her father, is used to the typical quiet serenity except for the one time a year where tourism spikes drastically for Lohlunat. It was during these celebrations and her upbringing around tourists that lead to her fascination as to what else was out there in the universe. Despite her intrigue she never truly wanted to leave home as she had fallen in love with the flowers, and had a particular soft spot for sea turtles that as a child her mother used to always point out as they were so difficult to spot with their impressive camouflage.

Charlena had always had a love of nature and animals. This came from the beautiful nature around her but also from watching her mother paint and seeing the colours and complexity to create it on canvas from what she could see. Charlena absolutely loved exploring the jungle near the beach she grew up on and finding new flowers and birds to tell her parents about every night.

When Charlena wasn't exploring nature she could be found practising singing. As a child she would sing around the house none stop until her mother finally sent her to a teacher and at the age of 10 Charlena was a strong singer with a focus on historic musical theatre (20th/21st Century) and Opera (18th/19th Century).

As time went on, and she helped around the hotel her father ran more, she became more intrigued by the technology that existed on other planets due to what she saw of the tourists. She spent hours of her time reading and tinkering with objects to create something new.

At the age of 12 she was so heavily invested in technology she started to read into technology-driven species such as the Borg and especially found interest in understanding the system that allowed her to live on Risa with its complex weather modification. She felt disgusted by some of the things the Borg did and what they seemed proud of. After reading about this Charlena wasn't sure that she wanted to work in a field so open to abuse and misuse no matter how interesting she found it. She kept working on her singing and painting finding joy in the creations of music and the thought processes it created instead of being stuck in the negatives that can come from engineering.

At the age of 13 however, this all changed. Due to severe complications her younger brother was born without the ability to move or use his arms or legs. Seeing her mother motionless in hospital and, the realisation of the basic abilities her brother lacked, her drive for engineering returned. She was driven to create for her brother as normal a life as possible. A life where she was able to be there for him as much as possible. She wanted to engineer for the greater good and that was something she could no see as possible. Her first creation and as a result her favourite was a self-rattling rattle so he would stop crying as he was unable to grip and shake one for himself.

Whilst she had never massively excelled at school she knew she wanted to be a part of Starfleet once she had fallen in love with technology and managed to get into the academy where she hoped to develop her engineering into more than just tinkering with objects.

Despite her typical averageness at school she put so much work and focus into engineering she past one of the top of her class and she couldn't be happier about it. She left with an engineering major with an extra minor in xenobiology. She was finally going to start the job she had dreamed of. And she was going to start on USS Veritas as an engineering officer working for the greater good.


Time away from Starfleet.

Charlena took some time out of Starfleet between the start of 2399 and the end of 2400. During this time she returned to Risa and worked on setting up and establishing a robotics school at home. This was her pride and joy and was met with many hurdles during her time away in getting everything together and in place to be able to run effectively without her. It hard been hard for her to return home in this setting and she was glad that she could lean on her friend and her brother to get through it all. With their support she had been able to convince teachers who had never seen her excel that she was trained enough to set this up and get people invested in its progress for the planet long term. When everything was finally in place she made her return to Starfleet and back to Amity Outpost.


Personality and mannerisms


  • Quarters:

Charlena keeps her quarters bare. She worries about seeming too open or too closed off to her colleagues and so doesn't present a lot of information about her home life in her quarters but does have a couple of her own paintings hung up.


  • Habits:

Charlena uses her hair as almost a barrier to people. It particularly becomes obvious when she is nervous or feeling insecure here she uses her mass of black curls to hide her face from those around her in the hope they can't understand exactly how she is feeling.


  • Likes:

Charlena loves a good book. She feels she can get lost in its pages and often imagines herself within their pages and wishes she could play it out. Thankfully being on the Veritas has given her a chance for that as in her free time she can loose herself in the Holodeck with the thoughts of one of her books.

Charlena also loves a good 20th/21st Century Musical, particular favourites of hers are those by Stephan Sondheim. Her other music loves come from 18th/19th Century Opera, her favourite being The Ring Cycle by Wagner. Although most music of the Romantic and Neoclassic genres are ones she can loose herself in.

Her one tribute to home is her love of painting she had picked up from her mother and continues to this day. Although this is a rare hobby that she does typically keep to herself. Opening up about her painting is something that would be reserved to those she truly trusts.

More generally she loves cookie dough ice cream and nature.


  • Dislikes:

Charlena cannot stand anything overly girly. Pink is a colour she couldn't hate more if she tried. Spicy food and overly bitter foods are also on her list for Room 101.


  • Life aspirations:

Charlena hasn't taken much time to think too far into her future. She does one day want her own family but after the complications at the birth of her brother she is unsure as to whether she ever will have her own biological child as it has created a rather large fear of childbirth. Whilst her want for a family exists she has never been in a relationship and so honestly she is unsure if a family will ever happen for her.

She hopes to move up in her Starfleet career and whilst she isn't sure if she'd ever want to be captain right now she hopes to one day be a chief engineer.


  • Temperament:

Charlena is relatively relaxed however she can act quickly in response to her emotions without always thought of what her actions mean, including the harm they could cause herself. Although she typically second guesses her reaction in these situations and will apologise even if it takes her a while to figure out just how to do that. Although on the other hand she does find talking to those superior to herself difficult as she becomes nervous that she will make a mistake.

This typically calms down over time however, once she gets to know people.


  • Phobias:

Charlena has a huge fear of childbirth and this fear seems to extend to pregnancy however that isn't entirely clear as she has never really thought about the possibility of having children yet.

Her fear of childbirth, stemming from her mother's complications, has created an unhealthy relationship with doctors and counsellors of which it is unclear if it's true phobia of doctors or just a strong loathing.


  • Religion:

Charlena isn't religious at all.


  • Mental Problems:

Charlena has always second guessed herself and her actions. She isn't the most confident in herself despite what others around her say. She dwells on her mistakes and becomes frustrated as she cannot see past them easily or clearly.

  • Family Problems:

Charlena has always had a difficult relationship with her parents. They have always pushed her into being the best and as someone who never really was the top in anything she found this incredibly difficult to cope with.

After the complications at the birth of her brother her mother slipped into a coma and when she woke 4 months later she couldn't remember her daughter at all. This caused huge issues for Charlena as the already difficult relationship started again from scratch. Charlena worked hard to build her relationship with her mother but she found it difficult as they all struggled to come to terms with the events surrounding her brothers birth.

Her father hasn't changed his attitude towards her however, when at the age of 17 Charlena started to think about joining the Academy, much to her brothers enthusiasm, she was met with opposition from her father. Charlena's father wanted her to continue in hospitality and be able to take the hotel on from him when he could no longer run it. Starfleet was no in his plans for her and since the business had been in the family for many generations he gave her the choice of the Academy or the family. Charlena with her brothers support, well a much support as a 4 year old could give, decided that the Academy was the best way froward for her. Her parents were quick to cut her out after that decision, and discovering her brother had fuelled her ideas and convinced her to apply they didn't hesitate to do the same to him. Thankfully Charlena's friend George was there for them when that happened helping them to be able to move forward and strive towards what Oli and Char both wanted.

Charlena and her brother are so close that it made Charlena question joining the academy as she didn't want to leave him when she was the one who maintained the gadgets she had made for him. She also didn't want to leave him as she was not ready for the separation from him when he was the only completely steady family she had. She had become his career once her parents had disowned them both and only felt comfortable to leave him once he had established a strong bond with a friend that allowed her to know he'd be cared for both by someone senior in George but also in friendship with people his own age.

Oliver is an incredibly intelligent boy, even at a young age he could see how incredible his sister was, whilst Charlena was so used to her parents put down she struggled to see her strengths in herself and so desperately sort to shield her weaknesses from those she cared about; or whose opinion she cared about. Oliver's condition and his young age in telling Charlena to go for Starfleet was actually a huge factor as she wanted him to see that he could do whatever he aimed for because if she could then so could he.

  • Hair:

Although it may seem obscene to say Charlenas hair was the best way to read her character it couldn't be more right. Changes in her mood and focus are clearly represented in how she has placed her hair or how she is playing with her hair.

Some of the more common situations are:

Over face = incredibly nervous/insecure

Off face = comfortable and relaxed

Half-covered face = slightly uncomfortable, and/or embarrassed. At times can be accompanied by blushing but a desire to still see the other person's face; this could be due to a positive or negative reaction such as a response to flirting or a correction of action/behaviour. However, the unease could come from not completely understanding an exact situation she is involved in.

Tied up = Her hair is only tied up for one of 2 reasons. Safety or she is so comfortable around someone she doesn't feel she will ever be nervous at all. (Version of tied up hair can change the exact meaning)

Pushing her hair off her face (forehead backwards) = she wants to see those around her. She feels at ease and completely relaxed.

Pushing her hair off her face and tucking behind her ear (typically to the right) = a small level of embarrassment that can be accompanied by blushing. This is typically positive and playful with her hand lingering on her cheek and down her face as it almost acts as her hair would but she wants to clearly see the person's face.

Turning her curls with her right hand on the right side of her face = She feels playful and light-hearted. She is self assured and is ready to promote herself. This could show an understanding and reciprocation to flirting or her attempts to flirt.

Pulling her curls with her left hand on the left side of her face = She is confused about a social situation and isn't entirely sure how to proceed.

Using her right hand to ruffle the back of her hair = This means she could be hot or it means she is frustrated. She is at a loss of what the next course of action should be and wishes she knew how to proceed. (Work related)

Flips hair to the right = skip or change the current song/behaviour as it's frustrating, annoying or boring.

Flips hair to left = repeat song or behaviour as it is entertaining. (This can be done at jokes just to show repeat being funny.)


Service Record


Starfleet Service Record
Insignia Rank Dates Posting Assignment
Ensign 239604.16 - 239608.23 USS Veritas
 
Engineering Officer
Lieutenant Junior Grade 239608.23 - 239707.15 USS Veritas
 
Engineering Officer
Lieutenant 239707.15 - Present USS Veritas
 
Engineering Officer

Star fleet career

Charlena began her career on the USS Veritas.

USS Veritas:
  • First Mission - Sentinel:

Charlena's first mission began when she arrived on the ship which was under attack from an AI known as Sentinel. This AI was controlling other ships in their attempt to destroy the Veritas as it had done other ships. Charlena was part of the away team that went to the USS Solaris upon which, in her infinite wisdom, she decided to go off on her own to make repairs to the ship. In doing so she became trapped by Sentinel and honestly thought she would be killed if it hadn't been for the other members of the away team Zea and Delano who had freed her from the enclosed room she very well could be dead. From that moment Char was determined to make sure she took and obeyed direct orders instead of going off on her own.

  • Second Mission - The First Colony:

Whilst Charlena felt especially out of place in this mission she was in fact rather helpful. Throughout the interrogations she was part of she was able to take detailed notes and so was able to report back information accurately and precisely which helped in the process of apprehending the killer. She did get to use her engineering skills to access a locker containing the murder weapon even if just before this she was thoroughly embarrassed.

  • Third Mission - Charybdis:

Charlena began this mission feeling rather out of her depth, having been made Acting Chief Engineer of the USS Diligent which required a complete rebuild was intense. They were met with problem after problem however with a close knit team they managed to get through them all. Including the ship snowing. Charlena was happy to properly find her engineering feet her to then discover a new problem, a Solar flare coming their way. They avoided this with some expert piloting and some well balanced work on the engine. Upon avoiding the Solar flare it was discovered that the USS Veritas was missing. Modifications were made to the Diligent, with the help of preexisting schematics and Charlena's hard work. Maintaining these were Charlena's next port of call which she did successfully. Upon discovering the Veritas Charlena went off with an away team to the ship lead by MacKenzie. Charlena here was the pilot and when attacked by one of the energy draining vipers attacked the ship somehow she was able to evade it with some courage and help from everyone, within reason. being calm and helpful around here. Once onboard the Veritas Charlena got to work to help fix the damage to the ship and soon by El Sayid's idea and execution they were out of the void and back in safety.

  • Fourth Mission - Free Flight:

Charlena began this mission feeling at ease. The beginning of the mission steamed on her ability to modify the ship to cope with the travelling planet. She was not only able to do this but after Lt Ukinix went on the away team to the planet she was able to monitor this from a distance whilst beginning the process of fixing the basically destroyed nacelle 3. Making some tough decisions she was able to get that process moving along rather swiftly before she had to leave it to the rest of the team and manually operate the changes to her modifications the computer had been doing to allow for distribution of power to other places that needed it to ensure the safe return of the away teams. At the end of the mission Charlena fainted due to exhaustion, the away teams returned safely and it didn't take long for her to recover.

  • Fifth Mission - Pirates of the Quantum Realms:

Charlena was her most confident during this mission, she attempted to take on a Klingon by herself, unsuccessfully, she then was selected to be on the away team, donning her best pirate disguise, which apparently wasn't the most successful they extracted information in their smaller sub groups from those around them. Charlena worked with Jansen to obtain information on where the Marths could be found and then they regrouped returning to the Veritas. From their Charlena was down in engineering, when pirates boarded the the ship Charlena was taken by surprise and whilst her and Wil managed to restrain 3 of them one took BAXTER back to their Ship. From their Charlena became determined to get BAXTER back and with Wils clear thinking they developed a plan to help them lock into the ship in the nebula and Charlena went down to deck 9 to modify the deflector to make it happen. Charlena succeeded in this which lead to the successful capture of the pirates and saving of BAXTER, along with the rest of the away team.

  • Sixth Mission - Heartbeat:

Charlena ended up leading an away team to tackle the issue of having a Tholian station drift over the border, not only did she manage to get the team to dismantle the engineering modifications that had occurred in the station she was able to do this and get the station back over the border with a Tholian Sympathiser working against them. It was stressful but a huge success.

  • Seventh Mission - Wandering Star:

Charlena was left to run engineering as away teams were sent down to an asteroid after a distress call. For the first time in a while Charlena felt out of her depth as she signed off on decisions she wasn't entirely sure of such as sending BAXTER through a torpedo tube to the asteroid when they could no longer use transporters. Charlena proceeded to have a small mental breakdown when BAXTER was unable to communicate with her and the ship fearing she had lost him to the hostile AI. BAXTER did however return and Charlena was able to keep the ship stable despite the issues due to being so close to the asteroid and the attacks from the AI before the help of Ensign Wong ensured their safety with his AI's negotiation skills and communication.

Charlena is now based on the Amity Outpost.
  • First Mission - :

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Awards & Commendations


Awards and Service Ribbons
Service Ribbon Name Date/Assignment Citation
Starfleet Academy Graduate Ribbon 239604.16
Starfleet Academy
Graduation from Starfleet Academy
Explorer's Ribbon 239606.13
USS Veritas
For assisting in the research of a newly discovered, unaccounted for Stasis Box.
Joint Meritorious Unit Award 239606.13
USS Veritas
For working alongside a Tholian crew in defeating the A.I. Sentinel.
Captain's Commendation 239608.27
USS Veritas
"You’ve done an excellent job that was not only noticed by your fellow engineers but also your fellow shipmates including Lieutenant G’var, who wrote to me personally about how grateful she is to your work on her prosthesis."
Joint Meritorious Unit Award 239608.27
USS Veritas
For working with the Colonial Coalition Marshals Service in our joint homicide investigation.
Explorer's Ribbon 239705.21
USS Veritas
For cataloguing the rogue planet known as Hecate.
Innovation Ribbon 239705.21
USS Veritas
For identifying and implementing a Borg tech-based approach to avoid a disastrous collision with the planet.
Joint Meritorious Unit Award 239708.13
USS Veritas
For working with both Oliver Zuccaro and Lena Josett to discover information about Henley Marths on Ashworth Station.
Operation Safe Harbor Service Medal 239708.13
USS Veritas
For working to bring the pirate known as Henley Marths to justice.
Peacekeeper Service Ribbon 239710.26
USS Veritas
For avoiding detection and subsequently a direct conflict with the Tholians
Legion of Merit 239710.26
USS Veritas
For the outstanding performance of your duties
Orion Syndicate Service Medal 239710.26
USS Veritas
For your actions against the Syndicate



Awards and Service Ribbons
Award Name Date/Assignment Citation
1-year Member 2397
USS Veritas
One Continuous Year in Fleet
Genesis Award 2397
USS Veritas
The Most Improved Simmer Award. For officers who show conspicuous effort in improving their simming skills.
Scotty Cross 2397
USS Veritas
Given to an officer who shows extreme creativity while solving a plot dilemma or in-character plot twist.


Key Sims


Family:
Friendship:


Romance:


NPC Listing   ·   Amity Outpost Crew Manifest   ·   Crew History
Chief of Mission
Rivi Vataix
First Officer
Wil Ukinix
Chief Sci Ofc. & 2O
Robin Hopper
Jr. Science Officer
Niev Galanis
Jr. Science Officer
D'Cyra Varati
Chief Counselor
John Carter
Chief Medical Ofc.
Jansen Orrey
Medical Student
Ikaia Wong
Chief of Staff
Keehani Ukinix
Dep Chief of Mission
Vaje Kizat
Civilian Sci. Liason
Samantha Richards
Chief of Operations
Nathan Richards
Asst. Chief of Ops
Scotty Reade
Engineering Officer
Charlena Vanlith
Chief of Sec/Tac
Rebecca Iko
Sec/Tactical Ofc.
Kaito Moore
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