T'Penga

T’Penga was born in Vulcana Regar on Vulcan in the year 2097. She was immediately groomed to be a formidable scientist. All of her aptitude tests showed that she had an exceptional aptitude for Biology and how living creatures functioned. She performed her first dissection of a Vulcan while still in secondary school.

She attended an accelerated schooling program with a concentration in Biology and Exobiology. One that could keep up with her exceptional skill in these subjects. Her parents placed her on the path of Surak earlier than most children did. This was so that she could concentrate on her studies and not have to worry about emotional outbursts. She began to purge emotions at the age of 17, which is still adolescence for a Vulcan. This study of supreme logic would continue with her throughout her lifetime. It serves as the ever-present connection to her heritage.

Throughout her educational career, there was not a subject she could not master, and she was immediately sent to the Vulcan Science Academy at the age of 25. There she studied all of the sciences that she could muster. Although she excelled and specialized in Biology and Exobiology with a minor in Astrophysics. She took particular interest in Alien Biology and at one point toyed with idea of becoming a doctor. She pushed the idea of medicine to the side in favor of the idea of exploration. She felt it was her duty as a Vulcan to bring logic to the galaxy, order to chaos.

In her personal life, she comes to develop a fascination with non-Vulcans however; she believes that only the teachings of Surak will bring peace and order to a chaotic galaxy. Just as it did for Vulcan so many years before.

Just after her graduation from the Vulcan Science Academy, T’Penga experienced her first Pon Farr, she was 35 years old. She returned to her hometown, to complete the ritual with the mate her parents had selected for her, a man named S’Wek. S’Wek was the same age as her and in fact had gone to the Academy with her. He specialized in Astronomy and Chemistry. Every seven Earth years she experiences the urge to return to Vulcan for Pon Farr, where she completes the rituals with S’Wek. Although the two were bonded, they never had children. Years later the bond would be broken when S’Wek perishes in the Romulan War.

At the age of 40, she decided to use her love for Astronomy and Astrophysics and explore space, so she enlisted in the Vulcan Defense Fleet. It was during this time she met her first humans as she served on many joint missions with the United Earth ships. She believes that humans are lower than Vulcans in evolutionary standards as the former is still governed by emotions. However, she finds the human zeal for life and view of everything with wonder quite refreshing. She begins to view humans as the little sibling to Vulcans. She attempts to teach humans the path of Surak whenever she can. She serves the next 23 years with distinction in the Vulcan fleet.

In the year 2156 at the age of 59, she requests and is granted permission to participate in an “officer loan program.” United Earth had just entered into a war with the Romulan Star Empire and T’Penga was loaned out as a science officer for the United Earth ships. It was during this time that two things occurred that would shape her life to come. The first was she got her first look at a Romulan and decided that she would strive to reunify her people with their estranged cousins. The second was that she found life with humans fascinating and realized that they were not lesser but equals in many ways. Although their human centric view of the galaxy would need to change if they were to survive.

During the war, she had thought about resigning her commission with the Vulcan Defense Fleet. As she did not want to fight those whom she believed were her brothers. However, she found that thought to be illogical upon further evaluation and remained. She served with distinction and was granted a promotion to Lieutenant during the war.

In the year 2160, the Romulan war ends and negotiations begin to create a new power in the galaxy, The United Federation of Planets. Delegates from Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andoria were set to meet to forge this new power in the galaxy. T’Penga is assigned as an attaché to the Vulcan delegation. It was deemed logical that she get this assignment as her knowledge of humans had increased substantially during the war.

During this time, The Vulcan High Command requests her to resign her commission in the Vulcan Defense Fleet and seek admission into Starfleet Academy. This was so that there would be more Vulcans set up to keep an eye on the emotional humans if need be. She did not want to submit to this request, as she believed that leaving Vulcan would be unwise. However, upon further evaluation she sees the logic in the move and acquiesces to the request.

In light of her service during the Romulan War, her first year at Starfleet Academy is waived. She completes her three years at Starfleet Academy with relative ease. In fact, her only issues were not with her studies but were with her acclimation to life on Earth. The constant bombardment of emotions took a small toll on her and if she did not know better she would have thought that, she was homesick. She graduates in the top of her class and is assigned to the USS Cochrane as a Junior Science Officer with the rank of Ensign. She sends reports back to the Vulcan High Command whenever possible, reporting on the goings on in the fleet well as much as she knows with her junior rank.

She receives a promotion to Lieutenant for assisting Andorian scientists with finding a cure for a plague that was ravaging their planet.

In 2163, she is reassigned to the USS Melbourne. Her reassignment came from the Task Force Commanding Officer. He was worried about that ship’s newly minted captain’s feelings about Vulcans. Therefore, she was to keep the Captain in line.

After serving twenty years aboard the Melbourne she rose to the position of Executive Officer. While she was surveying a planet with three other members of the Melbourne’s crew T’Penga was taken by what we now know is the Nexus Ribbon. She was deemed lost in action and believed dead.

One hundred and eighty three years later and expedition being led by Captain Thorrin of the Department of Temporal Investigations discovers her within the ribbon. Thorrin talks her into leaving the Nexus and rejoining the galaxy. For the next ten years T’Penga is on Vulcan studying and reacclimating herself to modern society.

Upon her reactivation into Starfleet T’Penga served with distinction. She served for a short time aboard the Churchill, and then realized that the best place for her to learn what she had to learn was at the Academy. For the next fifteen years she taught Temporal Mechanics at Starfleet Academy. All the while she continued to acclimate to the modern era. She hopes that her assignment to the USS Mackenzie and return to exploration will bring about new and fascinating experiences.