Vilo Kendris

Growing up on Gasko, Vilo Kendris never expected to go far within the Imperial Navy, even with being from a moderately well-to-do provincial family. Her parents and two brothers were content with their role as a leading family within Gasko’s shrunken-down replica of Romulan political structures, but she wasn’t. And so, upon coming of age and eligibility, she enlisted with the Imperial Navy to do her duty for the Star Empire.

Such duty and ambitions for herself and a future within the Empire were cut short in 2387 with the collapse of the Star Empire and the rise of its daughter polities. While still only a junior officer within the Imperial Navy, Vilo found herself within proximity to her birthworld and quickly in the service of the rapidly organising Romulan Republic by dint of location and, quickly enough, ideology.

While advancement within the Imperial Navy would have required patronage, especially for a provincial like herself, advancement within the Republican Navy followed a far more pragmatic and meritocratic bent as the newly formed service sought capable leaders for its fledgling force. No longer would a stalled mid-level career be the best she could hope for, but captaincy, or higher, could be hers.

The biggest hurdle, then, for Vilo’s career became the expanding pool of capable officers like herself, as well as an unfortunate tendency for too many people to fall back on old habits, with patronage and nepotism strangling the limited openings as the navy expanded each year. By 2400, she had risen to the rank of Subcommander, serving as executive officer aboard the RRW Admiral Ketterac, serving during conflict over the world of Daloon during the dying days of the Star Empire of Rator, and during the conflict with the Dominion Lost Fleet in 2401. It was here that she developed a somewhat concerning relationship with the chief engineer of the starship Atlantis that has been thoroughly investigated by intelligence services on both sides.

It was during this latter action that she was noticed by the Republic Navy Admiralty for promotion to Commander, supported by her commanding officer, Commander Grel, who was himself being promoted. However, with no commands to assign her to, the Admiral Ketterac needing to undergo extensive modernisation, she was instead assigned to a Starfleet officer exchange program for six months while Command sought to find a command for her upon her return and promotion.

Upon returning from serving aboard the USS Atlantis, having previously fought alongside the ship and crew, Vilo Kendris was promoted to Commander and assigned to the RRW Terix, recently from the yards for a minor refit. Larger than any command she’d ever been responsible for, let alone served on, Vilo’s posting was rationalised by the Admiralty as supported by her time aboard the Admiral Ketterac and Atlantis giving her command of large vessels and crew.

After six months of working up and border patrol work, the RRW Terix was then assigned to Starfleet’s Fourth Fleet under a cross-command program, where Vilo was once again reunited with the ship and crew of the USS Atlantis.