Khristofer Volkov

Born in 2093 in Severemorsk, Russia on Earth to Lyova Volkov and Vanna Fedulov, a couple that were not in a relationship for any length of time, Khristofer Volkov spent much of his childhood moving between his parents’ respective families, especially as his father found work with the nascent Earth Cargo Service as an engineer.

Having an unpleasant relationship with his mother, Volkov nevertheless enjoyed his time with his maternal grandparents in his hometown, which was a naval city with a heavy focus on ports, shipping and defence, which inspired a sense of adventure and homeliness in the young Russian. Occasionally, he would join his father on the long-haul cargo flights out of the solar system – often entering Vulcan space – and would remember these times fondly, developing a very close bond with his nautically-minded father, whom he was often sorry he did not see more frequently. It was during this time that he was taught a great deal about the technical aspects of interstellar flight, but young Volkov still maintained a stronger interest in the nautical equivalent, often longing for the shores of home.

Russian Navy

An only child, Khristofer Volkov was naturally gifted in the academic field, although he professed to have no love for his school. Despite attaining good grades and encouraged to make use of the opportunities afforded by his father’s connections and experiences, he ultimately enlisted with the Russian Navy when he came of age, where he nevertheless displayed a strong aptitude for tactical thinking and the military hierarchy.

Whilst there was little call for a dedicated naval front in the early 22nd century, Volkov, eventually attaining the rate of starshina first class as a submariner, was one of the few that still saw a number of engagements in Earth’s seas, especially as a number of hostile entities opposed to the United Earth government and other post-Third World War reforms took to opposing the Russian bloc states in the northern hemisphere. Having displayed a talent for tactical thinking, bravery and armaments, Volkov became a ‘frogman’ during this insurgency crisis, within Russian Naval Intelligence’s Spetsnaz.

Family Man

In the earliest years of his career, Volkov had a brief love affair with a red-haired woman named Inessa Kerlin, which was a tempestuous period in his life, but one that remained scorched into his memory for years to come. Although their time together was brief, she gave birth to his first son, a lad named Igor Kerlin, whom remained with his mother for his childhood years, only occasionally visiting his father and great-grandparents. With only limited interactions, this boy was raised with a political mindset by his passionate mother, and he became a local politician in later life, and has a family of his own. Unfortunately, in later years, he continues to have a very tense relationship with this part of his family, which Volkov blames on Inessa. Even so, Igor’s own son, Boris, is an entrant to Starfleet as a student officer.

After establishing his career in the navy, Volkov went on to rekindle a relationship with a childhood sweetheart, Svetlana. They married and had two children of their own, Vasily and Iakov, although the nature of their father’s work meant they saw one another infrequently. Like Volkov with his own father, his boys remember their time with their father very fondly, although this later turned to some concern and resentment in later life, after the death of their mother.

Both have gone on to have successful careers of their own, in Starfleet as an engineer and in law enforcement, respectively, and the former has had children of his own. Both sons’ careers have long-remained a source of pride for Volkov, although this has led to some internal shame, in later life, as he commiserates (usually through vodka) over his absentee nature and failure to be present after the death of Svetlana early in Volkov’s Starfleet career.

Volkov only sees his grandchildren very occasionally, as his son rarely has faith that his father is sober or pleasant enough. It is Volkov’s daughter-in-law that ensures there is any sort of contact, these days.

Starfleet

Knowledgeable in rudimentary astrophysics and starship engineering, Volkov was invited to join the newly-formed Earth Starfleet at its inception, largely courtesy of his tactical knowledge and extensive experience in specialist operations. Having long-missed the stars, especially now that his father had died (which took a heavy toll on Volkov as a younger man), he willingly accepted the transfer into the new space force, but was slightly begrudging about being awarded an officer’s commission at a lieutenant’s grade, after so many years as a noncom in the Russian Navy.

Eberswalde

His first posting was to the Eberswalde, a Ganges-class escort, one of the few starship classes being employed by the nascent Starfleet. Lieutenant Volkov was the chief armoury officer and was responsible for a number of overhauls and amendments to the vessel’s tactical and defensive systems, often improvising solutions and equipment from a limited array of resources. Whilst it was never official, he also spent a significant amount of time assisting the engineering department of the vessel, and was just as likely to be seen tinkering with the nacelles and weaponry as the chief engineer, with whom he struck up a firm friendship. During shoreleaves, their families even intermingled – up until Svetlana’s death.

Neptune

After a time, Volkov was promoted to lieutenant commander and doubly served as second officer on the vessel, but it was only a couple more years before he was transferred to the Neptune-class’ namesake and prototype vessel as the first officer and chief armoury officer. This posting resulted in more time being spent further away from the Sol system, and more time away from his family.

Within a year of this posting, Svetlana died of an advanced strain of Irumodic Syndrome, which had gone undiagnosed and misunderstood. Although he was present for the funeral, Volkov became a distant character, struggling to engage appropriately with his children. He became lost in both his work and bottles of whiskey. He became increasingly argumentative with colleagues, his work began to suffer and, despite always being considered a gifted and ruthless character, the standard of his work declined.

First Retirement and the Earth Cargo Service

By 2146, Volkov was encouraged to take an early retirement. Rather than return properly to his family and his sons, who were now leading lives of their own (with one going so far as to join Starfleet to impress his father, it seems), he took up a temporary posting with the Earth Cargo Service as an engineer aboard the Kobayashi Maru. The captain, an old friend of his father’s, actually helped him to deal with a number of his issues and encouraged him to reconcile with his children, with some limited success.

NX Project and the Xindi Crisis

Due to his unique experiences and knowledge regarding modern armaments, and assured that his ‘issues’ were well in hand, Volkov was reactivated as an officer to consult as a technical adviser on the tactical side of the NX Project. Whilst the NX-01 was launched ahead of schedule, Volkov continued to work on the earliest phase cannons and photonic torpedoes, and made concerted efforts to remain abridged of Enterprise‘s discoveries and field-tested equipment and adaptations. However, his already marred view of the Vulcans was exacerbated further during his attachment to the project, as he felt they were intentionally holding humanity back – even as they faced more and distinctly troubling foes and issues in the wider galaxy.

This view was compounded during the Xindi Crisis, where his expertise was transferred over to focus on analysis of the superweapon that had been deployed, the one they feared would be used, and searching records and other species’ data in search of an Earth-based solution, even as the Enterprise and other departments sought their own solutions. Again, Volkov, now a commander, grew frustrated with their Vulcan ‘allies’.

Second Retirement

Although he never reached the same lows as prompted his initial retirement, Volkov was becoming somewhat disillusioned with Starfleet after the conclusion of the Xindi crisis and was struggling to differentiate between his views and issues, and those of the Earth Starfleet. The refusal of the Vulcans to appropriately assist, the frequent threats facing the security of his world and the difficulties in facing those, as well as his ongoing familial complaints, Volkov realised he ended up spending more time arguing about these various matters than actually achieving anything.

For his own sanity and health, Volkov retired, this time of his own volition, after a heated argument with an admiral and his own teammates, and returned to his hometown, where he found brief solace in an old fishing cottage along the coast, passing his days drinking and fishing.

Endeavour and The Romulan War

Following the Battle of Sol, Volkov was unsatisfied not being wholly involved, especially as he had members of his own extended family embroiled in the fighting and a part of Starfleet. Much like the Xindi crisis, Volkov saw, in the Romulans, an existential threat to humanity and his homeworld. After some nuanced and reserved conversations with former colleagues and prospective supervisors, it was agreed that his experience, coupled with the very obvious threat the Romulans posed, Volkov’s intimate knowledge of the NX-class’ tactical systems and stalwart manner would be a boon to Starfleet in the coming battles.

Reactivated at the grade of lieutenant commander, after some less-than-extensive screening, Volkov was assigned to the NX-06 Endeavour.