Edit - Star trek: AOS crew (final version)
Title: Star trek edits: AOS crew [updated]
Artist: Hakka ( prue84 )
Fandom: Star Trek (reboot)
Timeline: Main AOS
Characters: All main and recurring, plus some TOS recurring and an OC.
Number One, James Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Montgomery Scott, Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, Keenser, Hendorff, Carol Marcus, Darwin, Kyle, Moto, 0178, M'Benga, Christine Chapel, Gary Mitchell, Gaila, USS Enterprise (human!Enterprise), Janice Rand.
Rating: G
Tagline: The USS Enterprise senior crew and additional main crew at the start of the year 2261.
About the edit: This is the crew post-Into Darkness, with the addition of few characters that were never included in the Kelvin timeline but were recurring in the Original Series.
Original publishing date: August 16, 2016.
Chronology of the editings: Edit first modified in July 2020, to replace a Tumblr fancasting (Gina Torress) with Discovery/Strange New Worlds's Number One, Rebecca Romijn. To me the two shows above are closer to the Reboot than the TOS: Majel Barrett's Number One will always be the only TOS Number One, Rebecca is and will be my AOS Number One.
Edited again in December 2020 to add two additional characters that I should've never left out the last time, namely Kyle (the character played by Chris Doohan) and the relief navigator Darwin.
Just to be known, the initial reason for putting my hands on this edit again was the discovery that, according to Nichelle Nichols's autobiography, Uhura is "head of Communications", and I wanted to reflect that; contextually, I was working on another fandom in Star Trek edit in which I had more than one communications officer potentials and I needed to differentiate the "Uhura" of them and the relief/other one.
Another edit (I'm a George Lucas...) in February 2021, as I noticed that the logo for the UFP I've been using was strictly the TOS/Prime timeline one, and that in AOS it was slightly changed and the colors were switched (blue logo on white, when originally was white on blue). While I were at it, I changed the Enterprise into a composition that I will be able to keep without any change needed in other edits that will feature a constitution class but aren't the Enterprise. I also decided to add Lieutenant 0718 and Lieutenant Moto.
The edit was tweaked again here and there until officially the final version, with the lengthy characters presentations, was released on December 2021.
One last, and I mean LAST time (heard me, Hakka??!), in early March 2022 (published March 06), when I completely revamped the graphic to try to make these edit a bit shorter when there’s a big crew cast (to then discover Tumblr has upped the max height size to 3072 -.-).
Fixed in early April 2022 to remove the "G." as "Geoffrey" for M'Benga's second name, as Jabilo M'Benga has been canonized in a poster has his name.
Fixed again in early November 2023 because Strange New Worlds has canonized "Joseph".
Notes: Most of the non-canon (as in "non specified in the movies") bits for the main characters comes from either the Star Trek movie script, the Star Trek movie app, from the two IDW comics series or official novels, and can easily found on either Memory Alpha or Memory Beta. Rest is explained in the "addendum" post (see below).
Notes, additional: Jaylah will definitely be kidnapped by Jim and the crew offered a position on the Enterprise as soon as she's finished the Academy, although by then the mission should be ended. :(
About the "made up" roles: Liaison Officer, Computer Officer, Armory Officer and Security Chief don't exist in either canon or non-canon Star Trek and were made up by me. See more at this post.
About assignments, ranks, names and other changes: Since the post was exceeding Livejournal's limits (also, already very long textwall), these have been collected at this additional post.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): I hate Paramount because they stopped to release HQ promo pics. I managed to get my hands on some decent quality Into Darkness promo pics (well, the only ones they did - the ones used for the Empire cover - thanks to the site of an Italian small editor but they were all watermarked. :()
You might recognize Mitchell, M'Benga, Chapel and Rand from manips I already released. I made a brand new Cupcake because he deserves to be there, poor Cuppy; the same for 0178 - although the quality of the latest leaves a lot to be desired. Rachel Nichols is beautiful and "Orionize" blondes is always funny.
Keenser... well, I cheated because he comes from a screencap. :D
My Silver Lady. It was much fun to make her.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Dreamwidth, Deviantart (edit, text), Tumblr (old version).
Click to see fullsize (774 x 1255)
SF:\Starfleet\Starships\USS Enterprise\NCC_1701>_
“To Boldly Go”
Ship’s Name: U.S.S. Enterprise
Ship’s Registry: NCC-1701
Command History:
Captain Christopher Pike (2254-2258)
Commander Spock (2258-2258)
Captain James T. Kirk (2258-2259)
Admiral Christopher Pike (2259-2259)
Captain James T. Kirk (2259-PRESENT)
Ship’s Class: Constitution Class
Ship’s Type: Heavy Cruiser
Ship’s Overview: Flagship of Starfleet, pride of the Federation, the "Silver Lady" that saved Earth two times in the span of one year under the command of Captain Kirk and first starship assigned to a five-year exploration mission of uncharted deep space, the Enterprise is already a legend on its own.
Ship’s Service History, abridged: _
Constructed at the Riverside Shipyard, Iowa, and planned to launch in early 2258, the Enterprise received its baptism of blood the same day of the biggest tragedy ever occurred in the Federation since its founding, the loss of planet Vulcan and the genocide of six billion of its inhabitants.
After the heavy damage sustained during the battle with the Vengeance in stardate 2259.55, and nearly a year spent in spacedock for refitting, the Enterprise left Earth on 2260.133 to embark on the five-year mission.
Former commanding officers are late Admiral Pike, its captain during the hastened maiden voyage, and Acting Captain Spock, his first officer at the time.
<< access complete service history >>
Status: Active (2261)
Crew complement: 1,100 (1,100)
Crew manifest: _
Liaison officer: Rear Admiral Una Chin-Riley
In 2258, a brand-new promoted Admiral Christopher Pike was tasked with the honor - and burden - of keeping an eye on the USS Enterprise and, especially, on its unruly and inexperienced captain wonder. When he tragically died, and the dust of Harrison's terrorist attack settled down, the Enterprise was left without an adult keeping an eye on the youngest and less-experienced senior crew of the whole Starfleet.
Twice savior of Earth, with a problem of discipline and with a penchant to disregard rules (helped by a suspiciously accomplice Spock), no-one at Headquarters really looked forward for that mess that is Captain James Kirk to be landed in their lap, especially now with Starfleet under scrutiny and the Enterprise once again the hero in the eyes of the public opinion.
Rear Admiral Chin-Riley, fresh from a quick promotion, stepped up, feeling it was her duty to continue the job of the man and colleague she cared and respected the most.
Her rationality and cool demeanor is a complete change, from the paternal-like carrot-stick attitude of Pike, but Kirk - after some initial hostility (mostly for his hurting for having lost what was a father figure and mentor for him) - warms up to her. Unsurprisingly, she and Spock established a good connection with each other that goes back to when both served on the USS Yorktown under Pike. Which means that now Spock has an ally that can overrank his illogical captain.
Commanding officer: Captain James T. Kirk
Son of a Starfleet hero who sacrificed himself to save his crew, repeated offender and bored genius stuck in the backwoods town of Riverside, James Kirk's first encounter with Starfleet was a punch. Literally. After a brawling with three cadets who where in the town to visit the Shipyard, he was approached by captain Pike who, admiring his "leap without looking" attitude, dared him into enlisting.
Top of his class in survival strategies and tactical analysis and the assistant instructor in advanced hand-to-hand combat, cadet Kirk was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission of valor in 2256, when he served two academic quarters on the USS Farragut.
First cadet ever to beat the infamous Kobayashi Maru test, he was facing disciplinary charges in front of the board when Vulcan distress call forced the assembly to adjourn. Put on academy probation and grounded, he was sneaked on the Enterprise by his closest friend, doctor McCoy, who injected him a vaccine that caused a rare allergic reaction - and thus the origin of the meme about James Kirk being allergic to everything.
Record holder of quickest climb of Starfleeet's ladder and one of the youngest captains in the history of the institution, he moved up from cadet straight to the top, (acting) captain, in the span of half a day, and he's the reason why the Enterprise run after Nero instead of regrouping with the rest of the Fleet, ultimately saving Earth for its planned demise.
Owner of a commendation for "original thinking" for his solution to the unbeatable scenario, on top of receiving a medal for his role during the Battle of Earth, he was promoted captain and handed over the flagship.
Barely graduated and thrust into it without paying his dues on the bridge of a couple of ships, Kirk had to prove he had what it took to jump several rungs of the ladder and sit in the chair to a crew that mostly knew him as the guy who cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test, but his relentless and fearless attitude, his never asking others to do anything that he wouldn't do himself eventually won even the most skeptic.
Firm believer that the strength of a starship lies in its crew, he switched from not believing in no-win scenarios out of a way to deal with his childhood trauma (his father's death) to not conceiving no-win scenarios as long as he has his crew at his side. The no-win scenario that will beat him still has to come, not even death - the ultimate no-win scenario - managed to beat him so far.
Diametrically opposite to his first officer Spock, Starfleet thought they did the best thing matching the two; too late they understood how big their mistake had been, for together Kirk and Spock do make an impressive commanding duo, but they also ruin each other and, worst, they back each other up. Whilst they make for an impressive team, according to Starfleet they don't complete each other in the best of the ways.
Despite his brief tenure in Starfleet, he's already built himself a reputation for neglecting protocol. What people tend to forget is that, to break rules, to know protocol first is in order - and Jim knows his Starfleet General Orders and Regulations inside out.
He's the frontman and embodiment of the Hot Shots, a group made of the youngest captains currently serving in Starfleet. Originally a derogatory moniker used by veterans to mock officers who were trust into the chair in a short time, it has been since reclaimed by the younger generations as their proud nickname.
He's best friend with doctor McCoy, the only one who can wield some sort of power over him. With lieutenants Uhura and Marcus they give life to the craziest trio of the whole crew: they are the always the King and Queens of the prom, so to speak, and their costumes skills are already legend.
After The Incident That Might Not Be Named - which, really, cannot be spoken about in presence of anyone of the crew, he got the affectionate nickname "Warpcore whisperer".
First officer and Chief science officer: Commander Spock
Son of Vulcan's Ambassador Sarek and former Earth's teacher Amanda Grayson, Spock was ostracized and bullied all his early life about his dual nature, to the point that he was belittled from the Vulcan Science Academy board few seconds after they announced he was admitted to the institution. As cadet he specialized in computer programming, with tracking toward science officer, and was awarded the title of "Grandmaster" by the Federation's Three-Dimensional Chess Organization.
First Vulcan/human hybrid to serve in Starfleet, he was one of the most distinguished graduates of the Academy when, in 2250, was commissioned as officer and assigned to the USS Yorktown, where he served for five years under Captain Pike. During his tenure on the ship he stroke a close bond with first officer Una Chin-Riley, who helped him learn to work with humans while retaining his Vulcan controlled demeanor.
In 2258, the year in which all his life will be forever changed, he's in his third year as instructor of advanced phonology and interspecies ethics at the Academy, waiting for the Enterprise to be launched and to assume his new position as its first officer.
The death of his mother, on top of the loss of his homeworld and most of his people, left a scar in him that will never truly heal. Leaving command of the ship during the crisis on the basis of his being emotionally compromised, he's the only one of the crew who never thought it was disrespectful that Kirk passed him over for the promotion to captain, nor bore any grudge toward his superior.
As an officer who knows Starfleet General Orders and Regulations by hearth and firmly believes into sticking to those guidelines, Starfleet thought he would be the best choice for Captain Kirk's first officer, sure that the Vulcan would keep in check the unpredictable golden boy, but Spock revealed a new ability to find a way around rules by embracing technicalities to hide behind - an annoying trait that he started to show only after being partnered to Captain Kirk (whose bad habits rubbed on him, according to Pike). Too late Starfleet realized their mistake, and by then Spock was already ruined, proving over and over again he's got no qualm to ignore red tape if life preservation is on the line.
Together, he and Kirk make an impressive commanding duo, but sadly (at least from Starfleet's point of view) they also back each other up with a fierceness only brothers in arms know and there's the general feeling that Spock is by now more loyal to Kirk than to Starfleet itself - that, between adhering to regulations and clash with Kirk and facing even the worst consequences to stick with Kirk, he would always pick the second.
He's an expert in Suus Mahna, a Vulcan martial art that comes in handy during infiltration missions or when he doesn't have a firing weapon, and has also turned the Vulcan nerve-pinch into a brutal move to incapacity enemies.
Involved in a romantic relationship with Lieutenant Uhura since at least 2257, when she still was a cadet and he his former teacher, he recently gifted her with a necklace that belonged to his mother Amanda, a pendant featuring a vokaya, a Vulcan stone.
Chief medical officer: Lieutenant Commander Leonard H. McCoy
Divorced and father of a daughter, Joanna, he's quoted to have joined Starfleet after his wife took everything from him. He hates space with all of himself, so much that at the Academy he organized the first astrophobia seminar, but after Nero he stayed on the sole reason of keeping an eye on his best friend, that bloody lunatic with a suicide streak who goes under the name of James Kirk.
He has his very peculiar way to run sickbay, has mean bedside manners and his hand might be a bit heavy when brandishing the hypospray, but he's a top physician who's ready to drive himself to madness if it will help heal any ill under his watch.
With a penchant for metaphors and a sexy Southerner accent, he's the core of the senior crew, the one who balances the logical approach of Spock with a very human emotional and passionate nature to complete Jim's intuitive one.
He spends too much time on the bridge instead of his natural habitat, the sickbay, and his favorite pastime is grumble and bicker with Mr. Spock, for whom he feels respect but also manages to drive him insane most of the days.
Chief engineer and Second officer: Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott
Brilliant engineer and physicist, Montgomery Scott - "Scotty" for his friends - was an Academy aide for Admiral Jonathan Archer's Advanced Relativistic Mechanics course when he first postulated the revolutionary transwarp theory, a formula that he would eventually successfully perfect in 2258 with himself and cadet Kirk as test subjects by beaming from the outpost on Delta Vega, where he had been assigned as a punitive measure after testing his theory on Admiral Archer's prized beagle, to the USS Enterprise traveling at warp speed.
Recruited as chief engineer by the acting captain right before the Battle of Earth, he saved the ship from being pulled into a blackhole and was rewarded with the official appointment to chief engineer of the Enterprise.
On top of being the inventor of the transwarp beaming formula, immediately confiscated by Starfleet, he has entered in Starfleet's history as the first to successfully beam three people from two different locations onto one pad.
Most of his time in the engineering section is spent making modifications and implementations (not always with the permission of the captain) while also criticizing the quality of the repair and procurement policies of Starfleet Engineering. Under his supervision, the Enterprise constantly outperforms the propulsion metrics for Constitution-class ships and he is by now considered one of the best engineer of all the fleet.
A mix of brilliance and intentionally exaggerate estimations of repairs has won him the reputation of being a "miracle worker".
He prides himself of holding the position of second officer on the only basis that Kirk's out-stubborned Starfleet's HQ, that had put a ban on his head and the veto to ever give him such an important role.
His best friend is Lieutenant Keenser, whom he met during his exile on Delta Vega and managed to bring with himself on the Enterprise.
Chief communications officer: Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
Academy aide for the advanced phonology and advanced acoustical engineering courses and proficient in eighty-three percent of official Federation languages and regional dialects, cadet Uhura proved her skills by intercepting and translating a message from within Klingon territory about an unknown Romulan vessel.
A few days later, during the emergency launch of the Enterprise to Vulcan, she earned her place as communications officers on the bridge when she confirmed that, unlike the ship's assigned chief communications officer, she was fluent in all three Romulan dialects and could therefore distinguish Romulan from transmissions in Vulcan, while her interception of the Klingon message became essential to help Kirk conclude and then convince Captain Pike that the Enterprise was in danger.
Despite her main specialization being xenolinguistics, she's proven her courage and fighting skills on the field plenty of times as well, including by attempting negotiations with Klingons in Klingonese during a retrieving mission on Qo'noS.
Nyota is romantically involved with Spock since 2257, when they started dating after she completed a course Spock was teaching.
After a rocky start, that included a poor attempt at flirting on her followed by bar brawl, she has grown fond of James Kirk, who has eventually become one of her best friend: now they bond over the difficulties to be the other half (platonic for Kirk, romantic for her) of the only Vulcan serving on the Enterprise, and she volunteered to be his PR manager - a duty that comes with both an insane amount of frustration and hysterical laughs. Kirk also officially nicknamed her "Queen of the Enterprise", a title she shares with the third part of this odd friendship triangle made of gossip and shopping sprees, Carol Marcus.
Besides the friendship with the senior crew members she shares most of the shifts with, and her relationship with Spock, she has recently got close to nurse Chapel.
Known among her colleagues for her singing talent, she's learning to play the Vulcan lyre with the tutoring help of Spock.
Senior helmsman and Third officer: Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
Top of his class in Astro-Sciences and Advanced Botany, as well as founder of Starfleet Academy's European Swordsmanship club and skilled fencer, Hikaru had already turned down the offer to join an elite unit of Starfleet and was already considered one of the Federation's best pilots when, still a cadet, took the the helm of the Enterprise in its impromptu maiden voyage in place of the ill Lieutenant McKenna.
His anxiety, that lead to the failure of releasing the ship's external inertial dampener before setting to warp, it's what ultimately saved the Enterprise from destruction, as it delayed by several moments the jump of the ship, allowing it to arrive at Vulcan only after the Narada's assault that wiped out the rest of the fleet. The episode, while becoming a recurring joke, is also officially regarded as one of the reason the Battle of Earth was successfully won and the planet saved.
The tragic events of 2259 had a profound impact on Hikaru, the first of the senior crew to decide to not abandon the damaged ship failing on Earth. Initially committed to wait until a law allowing civilians to join their enlisted partners was finally debated and approved, Kirk's sacrifice and all the lives lost during the battle made Hikaru painful aware that life in his line of work is too short and too uncertain to wait for institutions to move forward and so, as soon as he was allowed to flee from the mandatory debriefings, he proposed to his then-partner Ben.
Hikaru had to leave behind Ben when the Enterprise left for its first five-year mission, but he hopes that soon Starfleet will allow families on starship, as both men can't wait to properly live together like a true family and raise togethere the little Demora, their daughter.
He and his shift partner at the console, Ensign Chekov, are called "The Gossip Queens" of the ship: 90% of any rumor about the senior crew that reaches the ship's grapevine comes from them.
Chief navigator and Tactical officer: Ensign Pavel A. Chekov
Top of his class in stellar cartography and transporter theory, expert in advanced theoretical physics, and the youngest cadet in history to win the Starfleet Academy marathon, Pavel graduated at the age of seventeen, the second-youngest freshman cadet in Starfleet Academy history.
He was still a cadet when Battle of Earth happened and he found himself at the navigation console of the USS Enterprise. Both helmsman Sulu and then-cadet Kirk owe their lives to his superior mathematical skills: by calculating coordinates faster than the transporter computer, he could successfully beam out the two from the disabled Narada probe heading fast toward the ground when the computer was failing to and neither computer nor transporter technician could get a lock on them.
Graduated from command track, in the following year in space Pavel, wishing to learn more about engineering, shadowed chief engineer Scott. Before the Enterprise's departure for Qo'noS, and after the abrupt resignation from the chief engineer, he was temporarily promoted new chief engineer and shown into a red shirt, much to Pavel's chagrin.
His annoying trait is claim that everything eventually has been invented or created either in Russia or by a Russian person; while this has become a recurring joke, akin to a meme, and he plays on it to amuse his peers, from time to time he happens to change details in Earth's history to give more prominence to his motherland.
Until he became legal, right in the middle of the first year of service, he was considered a little brother by most of the crew - something that prevented him to find officers available to a date with him.
While things have been improving for him on that side, he's still considered the ship's mascot and some of the senior officers still like to ruffle his hair and treat him like a cute puppy, annoying the hell out of him.
He plays the guitar, often with the captain, but his favorite hobby is photography, for which he has quite a talent.
He might also hide alcohol in his locker: everyone in the senior crew knows but pretend to not to, especially the captain - who, technically, should confiscate it.
Behind his cute face he's a mean chess player and an even meaner gossip spreader, a diversion he shares with his console mate and partner in crime, helmsman Sulu, during tedious, uneventful shifts.
Engineer: Lieutenant Keenser
Introduced to Starfleet in 2230 by Captain Robau and Commander George Kirk, whom he helped by offering a complete diagnostic of the broken landing shuttle used to bring the party on the planet for the first contact, Keenser left his planet, with the blessing of his parents, for a life in space and, three years later, he was the first of his race to ever graduate at the Academy. Becoming an officer few months after the tragedy of the Kelvin, he dedicated his service to his fallen friends.
His long career reached its peak when, promoted chief engineer, was assigned to what was at the time a new research station, Delta Vega.
It was years later that, in the now abandoned post, he met what would become his closest friend, whom he would follow on the Enterprise. His father once predicted Keenser was destined for great things - little he could know that, thanks to that fateful meeting, his son would become an essential member of a crew that would enter history under the son of the same man who brought him away from a planet he felt too small for him.
Too tall to be accepted on his own homeworld, ironically he's too short to serve on a starship not fitting his size without facing every-day complications, but what he lacks in height he compensates for with his intelligence and engineering skills, putting his unique talent to pinpoint problems to the service of the engineering compartment. Not even being colorblind stopped him from becoming chief engineer Scott's reliable right hand, so loyal that when Scott resigned from the Enterprise he followed suit.
Smart and great thinker, he's not a talker as he rarely speaks more than one word at a time. Despite his small size, he's one of the bravest of the ship, firmly believing that one should always stand their ground - even in front of a lethal hengrauggi.
Security chief: Lieutenant Commander G. P. Hendorff
Burly on the outside but with a hearth of gold and loyal to a fault toward his friends, Hendorff's role in the immense canvas of destiny starts when he was a cadet visiting to Starfleet's shipyard in Riverside, Iowa. Here, at the Shipyard Bar, he bumped into a local guy who was trying to pick up his friend and fellow cadet Nyota Uhura. A three-on-one bar fight ensued and he ended up in trouble with the commanding officer in charge of their group, captain Pike, from whom he received a reprimand.
The guy he assaulted turned out to be James Kirk and Pike had the chance to challenge him into being part of the fleet and prove to be better than his dead Starfleet's hero father. It can be said that, in a way, it's because of Hendorff that Kirk enlisted in Starfleet, and he can also take small credit for everything that ensued - including Nero's final demise and Earth still orbiting around the sun.
Like many of his peers, Hendorff was a four-year cadet when he was ordered to report to the Enterprise where he was assigned to security, one of the many in a crew as large as the flagship's. As part of the young and inexperienced crew that, despite all odds, saved the day in the Battle of Earth, he was awarded with a commission, the rank of ensign and a permanent assignment to the Enterprise.
His relationship with the now-captain was awkward at best, with Hendorff having assaulted him once and then arrested him later, but an awkward official meeting between the two of them settled things: he might've kissed up to his new boss at that time, but he spoke his mind and he relayed the crew's doubts and sentiment about the promotion of their new commanding officer. He eventually got to know the captain both as superior and fellow officer on the field and their relationship became one of mutual respect.
Picked to be part of the small party that traveled to Qo'Nos, he was the only one of the three security officers to survive during the brutal assault from the Klingon party: almost screwed by a bat'leth, he was saved by Uhura, who protected him and kept him alive enough for him to be brought back on the ship. When, almost a year later, the Enterprise left Earth to embark on the five-years mission, he had been promoted to deputy security chief.
Despite Hendorff's repeated reminders to Kirk of his name, the captain at times still calls him "Cupcake", although as of now it has become an affectionate nickname in reminiscence of the old, simpler times.
Very proud of wearing the red shirt, so much that he considers the first time he put the uniform on "the proudest day of his life", he doesn't care about the urban legend that being a redshirt is bad luck or the jokes made about them security: he firmly believes that operations officers are the blood that keeps the heart of Starfleet pumping and that's the spirit with which he dons the uniform every morning.
Despite not seeing each other as much as they did at the academy, he's still close friend to Lieutenant Uhura, so much that she comes to sickbay every time he ends up there after a landing party went wrong.
Recently, after the unfortunate death of his superior officer during a disastrous first contact went wrong, he's been promoted to security chief.
Chief armory and tactical systems officer: Lieutenant Carol Marcus
Daughter of late Starfleet's Commander in Chief Marcus, she lost what was left of her family during the catastrophic battle against the superior USS Vengeance. Now orphan, and with a surname tainted by the terrorist actions of her father, Carol finds on the Enterprise a new family where she's welcomed for what she is, a specialist with impressive credentials that would earn anyone a posting on the flagship, and an officer whose knowledge and courage had dramatically ruined Marcus plans for the Enterprise to provoke the Klingon Empire in a galactic war.
On a ship where the captain is son of a Starfleet fallen hero, the crew has learned to not look at the surname, to judge officers for their own actions and not for their parentage, and so she can shine on her own and make a name for herself.
Drawn together at first because of their shared experience on the Vengeance, she and Kirk find a kinship on carrying the legacy of a surname, the complications and conflicts of growing up with a heavy father figure, on the desperation of getting free from such a shadow and, from there, a true friendship develops.
Passionate about her job, competent, brave, and with a mean wit, she quickly earns her spot in the core crew, a role that is cemented when her expertise as weapons specialist is finally honored and she's promoted to Armory chief officer. Later, Kirk assigns her the Chief tactical systems officer position as well - a position usually reserved to officers with a operation tracking specialization - thus entrusting the care and supervision of all the weapons both carried and mounted on the Enterprise in her capable hands. With the help of Mr. Scott, who (like a true engineer) oversees the practical side, she endlessly upgrades the weapons and designs new additions for the ship's tactical systems.
Navigator: Lieutenant Mae Darwin
Transfer to a starship where the most of the crew had their first testing during the Battle of Earth was cause of great concern for Mae, who had been stuck on a ship in the Laurentian system when the Enterprise left Earth to aid Vulcan.
Senior in graduation to most of the Enterprise more prominent officers, more experienced, promotion earned for her dutiful service and not during an emergency or as a reward for some heroic action, she felt almost like intruding in a tight-knit team that would perceive any outsider a threat. The environment she found was diametrically opposite to the one her fellow officers anticipated when she broke them the news of her new assignment. She didn't find a bunch of lucky newbies with a rush graduation on the shoulders, cadets playing dress up with the uniforms who let fame go to their heads, or any other mean thing Starfleet officers thought about the Enterprise young crew, but a family that had come together in tragedy and is trying to find their feet without a danger to force the better out of them. A family who is desperate to prove that they earned their promotions and their place on the flagship.
And surprisingly she's welcomed, she isn't the intruder but a new transfer and everyone is eager to make her feel home, as if they were all living in a big, happy college campus. Before she knows it, she is cracking jokes and settling in, at ease in the odd bubble lead by Captain Kirk and his unique - and quite orthodox - commanding style.
Her skills and strength of character were tested as relief navigator during the Enterprise most tragic battle, and her abilities to keep a cool head during the crisis has won her a permanent assignment to the bridge.
Despite her imposing looks that manage to scare people away, she's very funny and down to earth and possesses a fine sense of humor. She's a talented dancer and teaches at the tap dance course.
Transporter chief: Lieutenant Commander Christopher Kyle
At first just one of the many transporter technicians embarked on a constitution-class, Kyle's very presence on the Enterprise during its impromptu maiden voyage happened out of sheer chance. Former transporter chief of a decommissioned frigate, he was temporarily working as transporter operator at San Francisco's Old City Station facility while waiting for Starfleet HQ to decide on his next assignment, when every officer available in town was hastily recalled to service to crew the ships that would respond to Vulcan's distress call.
It was sheer luck that he was working alongside the then-transporter chief when the transporter room was twice visited by members of the senior crew and that he was later picked by acting chief engineer Scott as assistant when acting captain and first officer embarked on the extraction mission on the Narada to save captain Pike. Him being part of three rescue missions, albeit just as little more than as a witness, warranted him the chance to be invited to the sober and private gathering held by the senior crew to celebrate their survival against all odds, where he got to know better Montgomery Scott. Having being considered by many senior crew members as one of their own (despite him being already an experienced lieutenant commander and them still cadets) and being taken under the wing of the newly appointed chief engineer, gave Kyle both the courage to apply for the flagship and the clout necessary for his request to be accepted as soon as it landed on brand-new Captain Kirk's desk.
On top of quickly raising to the position of primary transporter chief, he works as engineering assistant.
He is father of two daughters, Susan and Dawn, who live in New Berlin, Luna, with his wife Rebecca. He also has an older twin brother, John, who has recently left his civilian career to enlist and he's now a cadet in the operations track.
Security area chief: Lieutenant Moto
Formerly climate-control officer, Moto were soon assigned to monitoring the brigs. Comfortable with silence and solitude, they prefer night shifts, when the lower lights offer for a more calming environment, so much that Moto had to ask a special exoneration from the captain to not be included in the required rotation of shifts. With the brigs seldom occupied, theirs is a very quiet job and they can enjoy a loneliness that, on a starship as big as the Enterprise, it's hard to find.
After the events that crippled the Enterprise, during which the security area chief died, Moto have been promoted to replace their fallen superior and the brigs are now under their direct supervision.
Chief computer systems officer: Lieutenant 0718
Augmented with advanced cybernetic implants that put him in direct telepathic connection with the ship's systems at all times, Lieutenant 0718 had been for the Enterprise what could amount to a glorified liaison officer, the closest technology could get to a "starship whisperer".
Living on a starship where the first officer is a Vulcan allowed him to find his own place despite his at times apparently emotionless approach to others, and the Enterprise quickly became his home and his adoptive family.
When a series of unforeseeable events lead to the birth of a humanoid embodiment of the Enterprise who took his place at the computer auxiliary station on the bridge, 0718 apparently lost his usefulness on the starship and feared that in his near future laid the order of transfer to another ship.
His dedication and loyalty to the Enterprise and the family she embodies was instead taken into account: his abilities were judged too precious to be wasted and he was granted the right to stay on the starship as long as he wished to. Under suggestion of Commander Spock, Captain Kirk compensated 0718 transfer off the bridge with the relocation to the primary computer access room and the promotion to chief computer system officer. An offer that 0718 gratefully accepted.
Lieutenant 0718 continues to use his augmentations to communicate with the Enterprise's systems and is in charge of the computer systems maintenance. Thanks of his abilities, the efficiency of the whole department increased exponentially since his appointment.
Head nurse: Ensign Christine Chapel
Drawn away from the Enterprise when the man with whom she had a brief relationship with (a relationship that didn't end well) was awarded with a captainship of the ship she had been assigned to, Christine transferred to the outer frontier, where she kept working as nurse.
Close friend of Carol Marcus, Christine returned to Earth to help Carol work through the tragedy occurred in her life. When, half a year later, Carol was officially posted on the Enterprise, Christine found herself in the awkward position of choosing between following her friend out in space and return on the flagship or steer away from serving under a man she feels no respect for.
Carol, wishing the best for her friend (which meant serving on the flagship) but also out of selfishness, called in a favor and Uhura bullied Kirk into sitting down in front of Christine for a face to face; after a promise that their past relationship would not interfere nor taint their professional relationship, Christine applied for a transfer on the Enterprise.
Her competence and matter-of-fact attitude earned her the respect from CMO McCoy and, barely a month into her new position, she was promoted to head nurse.
Despite her gentle and friendly nature, she turns into a very strict officer if necessity requires it and more than often McCoy entrust her the sickbay. She might enjoy it the best when the patient on the bed is one captain and she's been given by the CMO the complete authority over him, but she will never admit it.
Her unrequited crush for Mr.Spock didn't hinder her growing friendship with Uhura, who soon becomes close to her as she is to Carol: they bond over their mostly-fake exasperation about Kirk, and on a ship where most of the crew look up at Kirk as if he were a god walking among mortals and when Carol has become Kirk's partner in crime, it's definitely something.
Senior medical officer and Physician: Lieutenant Joseph M'Benga
One of the first human doctors to specialize in Vulcan medicine and a pioneer of interspecies medicine, he was conducting a medical internship on Vulcan when the Narada appeared in the Vulcan system and he was one of the survivors beamed on the Enterprise during the dramatic evacuation of the planet.
Offering his assistance as medical officer, he caught the attention of freshly promoted CMO McCoy when his Vulcan-like manners proved crucial in a sickbay full of Vulcans who were experiencing the mental backlash of the genocide the Enterprise had been unable to prevent.
After the defeat of Nero, with the Enterprise back at drydock for reparations, officially appointed CMO McCoy approached M'Benga offering him a full-time position aboard the Enterprise on the basis that a medical officer who interned for seven years in a Vulcan ward would be of help on the ship where the only human-vulcan hybrid was assigned.
Since then, M'Benga had proven plenty of times that McCoy's choice had been a wise one, being the primary physician where Spock's health is concerned and, in a couple of times, his extensive knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology saved Spock's life.
In less than a year, before that ill-fated mission on Nibiru was even conceived, he had been promoted to senior medical officer and McCoy's trustworthy second.
In McCoy's absence, he becomes the ranking CMO.
Helmsman and Tactical officer: Lieutenant Gary Mitchell
Close friend of James Kirk at Starfleet Academy, his transfer on the Enterprise was James Kirk's first request as promoted captain.
Apt helmsman, he shares the shift with navigator Lee Kelso, a common friend of his and Kirk.
With a keen interest in studying warp engine design and stellar navigation, he engages in long discussions with chief engineer Scott over improvements and new designs.
His high intelligence quotient makes him a mean adversary in 3-D chess and his higher than average aperception quotient counterbalances the illogical and unpredictable ways in which Kirk usually play. Kirk might prefer to play with Spock for this very reason: he just cannot beat Gary, which doesn't help in curb in Gary's ego.
Boisterous, cocky and confident, fully aware of his charisma and sex-appeal, he is often wrongly mistaken as one of those arrogant officers who feel are entitled to everything they want. He tends to make jokes even under red alarm condition, but overall he is a valid and reliable member of the Enterprise 's crew.
As he is one of the few who knew Kirk before the Academy hearing, he is both the shoulder Kirk turns to when he feels overpressured by the responsibilities of the hastened promotion and the one who doesn't shy away when there's the need to challenge Kirk during one of the captain's obstinate moods.
Computer systems officer: Lieutenant Junior Grade Gaila
After miraculously surviving the destruction of the thrown together small fleet ambushed by the Narada in the Vulcan system, Gaila returned to the Academy to graduate and then was assigned to a survey vessel, the USS Tereshkova. Here, despite her skills leaning toward computers, she spends most of her days holed up in a science lab peering at samples.
It is during a seemingly innocuous rendezvous with the Enterprise, where her brother serves, that in her life return both her academy roommate Uhura and her former lover Kirk. What was supposed to be few hours spent with her brother at the Tereshkova ship bar, turns into an abduction from their very estranged mother and the Enterprise is forced - against all regulations - to cross into Orion space to save the two Orion siblings. At the end, Gaila - following a suggestion from both her brother and Uhura - boldly asks Kirk if he'll accept her transfer request to the Enterprise.
She and Kirk have a sit down and Kirk finally has the chance to apologize to Gaila for deceiving her, specifying that he indeed had initially became involved with her to gain access to the computer for the Kobayashi Maru simulation but that later he had come to really like her, and he's sorry for everything. Gaila accepts the apologies and decides that, with him risking his career by launching the Enterprise to the rescue of her and her brother, they are even. After some weeks of mutual embarrassment (failing to properly address the other by their rank instead of the personal name), they manage to resume a friendly relationship.
Uhura takes her under her wing and soon Gaila is part of Uhura's circle, finding empathy especially in Nurse Chapel, with whom she shares a former lover who is now their commanding officer.
In a blast of the past, she's offered the chance to return to a computer lab and she's assigned to the tutelage of Lieutenant 0718.
USS Enterprise mainframe conduit: Lieutenant Junior Grade 1701
With eyes the shape of the deflector dish glowing its exact hue of blue and the Aztect pattern decorating her pale gray skin, she’s the avatar of the Enterprise herself, self-created to facilitate direct humanoid communication between the computer and the crew - especially the captain. Initially self-named "Enterprise", she picked a form that would conform to the gender the crew assigned to the starship and characteristics from human females of Earth, as her place of birth is Riverside shipyard, Iowa.
Her relationship with the captain is a close one: born out of a joke, from that one time Jim claimed to be married to the ship, she thinks of the captain as her “husband”, although there is no physical nor romantic desire in her, nor she attempts to get involved in Kirk's sexual or romantic life.
Her origins are quite unique and marked strictly confidential.
Unbeknownst to all technicians that worked to purge the computers from any leftover of the faulty M-5 unit, a flicker of that artificial intelligence had taken root in the Enterprise core systems. This presence lays dormant in the main computer for months, running in background, until it’s awakened by the attempt of an alien program to infect the ship. In its need to protect the systems as per its self-preservation instinct, the artificial intelligence merges with the alien program and takes control of the main computer, gaining sentience.
When the crisis is over, and the Enterprise systems are officially clean from any infection, its too late to eradicate this new AI while traveling in deep space. The Enterprise has now a will of its own and it doesn’t want to loose it: desperate to plead its case against the decision to head to the nearest repair base for a full restore of the computers, it hijacks a surgical chamber to create an android body from synthetic tissues and carbon filaments. And thus “Enterprise” is born, a mix of a humanoid version of the hull and an Earth’s female.
Initially she has complete mastery over the ship and all of its systems but she is convinced to relinquish her full control on the computers when she is faced with a complete report of the M-5 unit failure, how much dangerous is to leave command of a ship to a computer and the fact that the human factor is essential in the running of a starship.
The battle against the USS Vengeance, and the following months in drydock for repairs, bring a big change in “Enterprise”, forcing in her the development of a more human-like consciousness in the face of Kirk’s sacrifice and some crew members refusal to abandon the dead ship.
“Enterprise” fully achieves human sentience, discovers empathy and loneliness, pain and happiness, becoming less an android avatar and more a humanoid incarnation of a ship, capable of friendship and even love. The crew to her eyes is now part of herself, a family to protect at all cost, the captain her love to cherish.
Unable to properly survive away from the Enterprise, Starfleet is faced with the ethical and moral dilemma of allowing the first ever android to serve or shutting it down by severing her link with the Enterprise’s mainframe.
With her proving to have developed full sentience and after petition from Captain Kirk and his senior crew, Starfleet grants her a full identity under her chosen name of 1701 (the registry number of the Enterprise), born in Riverside the day of the Enterprise’s fateful christening, and the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade: she becomes the first android to ever become part of Starfleet.
She accepted the moniker “Silver Lady” as the nickname the crew coined for the ship.
Captain's yeoman: Petty Officer Janice Rand
Picking Starfleet over a career in singing, Janice was sent to the Enterprise two months after the starship left Earth for its official first mission in space, as the fifth in a string of failed attempts to assign the right person to the position of brand-new promoted Kirk's personal yeoman - her name suggested by none other than Admiral Pike. Firmly believing that a captain works best if they're shadowed by a yeoman that isn't only efficient and reliable but bold enough to argue and even dig their heels when necessary as well, Pike personally scoured the list of non-commissioned officers in search for the perfect person who could flank the young and inexperienced captain and wouldn't eventually want to punch, strangle or kill him before the end of the first week in the job like the previous four - thus the transfer requests.
Very efficient and with a solid work ethic, Janice isn't one to shy away from danger, always eager to leave the ship for a mission planet side, where she showed plenty of times she knows how to hold her own. Her resourcefulness proved quite useful also to raise spirits, like the instance in which she used a phaser to heat a pot of coffee for the tired bridge personnel when power was out in the galley.
She's also the only one person on the whole starship who managed to make Captain Kirk eat a bowl of salad, where even CMO McCoy failed: the feat, accomplished in her fourth day aboard, has become stuff of legends with time, contributing to building her reputation of woman that isn't wise to wrong, feared even by captain James "I don't believe in a no-win scenario" Kirk.
Behind her fame, she's as sweet as down-to-earth as they could get, and it was with easiness that she quickly developed a close friendship with several crew members; for her, friendship is a high priority and she always looks out for the people she calls friends, to the point of carrying a tray full of food to a friend who missed mess call or checking out a ill colleague as soon as she has few minutes to spare from her duty.
Although she has become the singing partner of Nyota Uhura, her most favorite hobby is painting: her arts hang on hers and some of her friends' quarters, as she likes to personally make the gifts she'll give to the people she's closer to, instead of buying one already made.
Her iconic beehive hairdos have become her trademark: every morning she spends quite some effort into creating new and elaborate hairstyles that agree with her artistic personality, often picking details from her vast knowledge of the history of hairstyles on both Earth and other alien cultures she homages by always showing profound respect. In the rare instances in which she ties her hair up in a simple bun, photos are passed around in the Enterprise internal messaging system as a bad omen, with the level of simplicity used to rate the probability of risk of something bad to happen.
She doesn't try to punch Kirk in the face, like Yeoman Attempt #3 nor she gets a mental breakdown trying to put up with the quirks and that pesky allergy to rules of their Chaotic Good captain, like Yeoman Attempt #1 but, despite Pike's hopes, Janice falls hard for the captain, but she's too professional to let this crush interfere with her duty and has accepted this will be a one-sided interest that will go nowhere.
She's considering enrolling in Starfleet Academy when the five-years mission will end to undergo more training as a yeoman.
Artist: Hakka ( prue84 )
Fandom: Star Trek (reboot)
Timeline: Main AOS
Characters: All main and recurring, plus some TOS recurring and an OC.
Number One, James Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Montgomery Scott, Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, Keenser, Hendorff, Carol Marcus, Darwin, Kyle, Moto, 0178, M'Benga, Christine Chapel, Gary Mitchell, Gaila, USS Enterprise (human!Enterprise), Janice Rand.
Rating: G
Tagline: The USS Enterprise senior crew and additional main crew at the start of the year 2261.
About the edit: This is the crew post-Into Darkness, with the addition of few characters that were never included in the Kelvin timeline but were recurring in the Original Series.
Original publishing date: August 16, 2016.
Chronology of the editings: Edit first modified in July 2020, to replace a Tumblr fancasting (Gina Torress) with Discovery/Strange New Worlds's Number One, Rebecca Romijn. To me the two shows above are closer to the Reboot than the TOS: Majel Barrett's Number One will always be the only TOS Number One, Rebecca is and will be my AOS Number One.
Edited again in December 2020 to add two additional characters that I should've never left out the last time, namely Kyle (the character played by Chris Doohan) and the relief navigator Darwin.
Just to be known, the initial reason for putting my hands on this edit again was the discovery that, according to Nichelle Nichols's autobiography, Uhura is "head of Communications", and I wanted to reflect that; contextually, I was working on another fandom in Star Trek edit in which I had more than one communications officer potentials and I needed to differentiate the "Uhura" of them and the relief/other one.
Another edit (I'm a George Lucas...) in February 2021, as I noticed that the logo for the UFP I've been using was strictly the TOS/Prime timeline one, and that in AOS it was slightly changed and the colors were switched (blue logo on white, when originally was white on blue). While I were at it, I changed the Enterprise into a composition that I will be able to keep without any change needed in other edits that will feature a constitution class but aren't the Enterprise. I also decided to add Lieutenant 0718 and Lieutenant Moto.
The edit was tweaked again here and there until officially the final version, with the lengthy characters presentations, was released on December 2021.
One last, and I mean LAST time (heard me, Hakka??!), in early March 2022 (published March 06), when I completely revamped the graphic to try to make these edit a bit shorter when there’s a big crew cast (to then discover Tumblr has upped the max height size to 3072 -.-).
Fixed in early April 2022 to remove the "G." as "Geoffrey" for M'Benga's second name, as Jabilo M'Benga has been canonized in a poster has his name.
Fixed again in early November 2023 because Strange New Worlds has canonized "Joseph".
Notes: Most of the non-canon (as in "non specified in the movies") bits for the main characters comes from either the Star Trek movie script, the Star Trek movie app, from the two IDW comics series or official novels, and can easily found on either Memory Alpha or Memory Beta. Rest is explained in the "addendum" post (see below).
Notes, additional: Jaylah will definitely be kidnapped by Jim and the crew offered a position on the Enterprise as soon as she's finished the Academy, although by then the mission should be ended. :(
About the "made up" roles: Liaison Officer, Computer Officer, Armory Officer and Security Chief don't exist in either canon or non-canon Star Trek and were made up by me. See more at this post.
About assignments, ranks, names and other changes: Since the post was exceeding Livejournal's limits (also, already very long textwall), these have been collected at this additional post.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): I hate Paramount because they stopped to release HQ promo pics. I managed to get my hands on some decent quality Into Darkness promo pics (well, the only ones they did - the ones used for the Empire cover - thanks to the site of an Italian small editor but they were all watermarked. :()
You might recognize Mitchell, M'Benga, Chapel and Rand from manips I already released. I made a brand new Cupcake because he deserves to be there, poor Cuppy; the same for 0178 - although the quality of the latest leaves a lot to be desired. Rachel Nichols is beautiful and "Orionize" blondes is always funny.
Keenser... well, I cheated because he comes from a screencap. :D
My Silver Lady. It was much fun to make her.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Dreamwidth, Deviantart (edit, text), Tumblr (old version).
Click to see fullsize (774 x 1255)
SF:\Starfleet\Starships\USS Enterprise\NCC_1701>_
“To Boldly Go”
Ship’s Name: U.S.S. Enterprise
Ship’s Registry: NCC-1701
Command History:
Captain Christopher Pike (2254-2258)
Commander Spock (2258-2258)
Captain James T. Kirk (2258-2259)
Admiral Christopher Pike (2259-2259)
Captain James T. Kirk (2259-PRESENT)
Ship’s Class: Constitution Class
Ship’s Type: Heavy Cruiser
Ship’s Overview: Flagship of Starfleet, pride of the Federation, the "Silver Lady" that saved Earth two times in the span of one year under the command of Captain Kirk and first starship assigned to a five-year exploration mission of uncharted deep space, the Enterprise is already a legend on its own.
Ship’s Service History, abridged: _
Constructed at the Riverside Shipyard, Iowa, and planned to launch in early 2258, the Enterprise received its baptism of blood the same day of the biggest tragedy ever occurred in the Federation since its founding, the loss of planet Vulcan and the genocide of six billion of its inhabitants.
After the heavy damage sustained during the battle with the Vengeance in stardate 2259.55, and nearly a year spent in spacedock for refitting, the Enterprise left Earth on 2260.133 to embark on the five-year mission.
Former commanding officers are late Admiral Pike, its captain during the hastened maiden voyage, and Acting Captain Spock, his first officer at the time.
<< access complete service history >>
Status: Active (2261)
Crew complement: 1,100 (1,100)
Crew manifest: _
Liaison officer: Rear Admiral Una Chin-Riley
In 2258, a brand-new promoted Admiral Christopher Pike was tasked with the honor - and burden - of keeping an eye on the USS Enterprise and, especially, on its unruly and inexperienced captain wonder. When he tragically died, and the dust of Harrison's terrorist attack settled down, the Enterprise was left without an adult keeping an eye on the youngest and less-experienced senior crew of the whole Starfleet.
Twice savior of Earth, with a problem of discipline and with a penchant to disregard rules (helped by a suspiciously accomplice Spock), no-one at Headquarters really looked forward for that mess that is Captain James Kirk to be landed in their lap, especially now with Starfleet under scrutiny and the Enterprise once again the hero in the eyes of the public opinion.
Rear Admiral Chin-Riley, fresh from a quick promotion, stepped up, feeling it was her duty to continue the job of the man and colleague she cared and respected the most.
Her rationality and cool demeanor is a complete change, from the paternal-like carrot-stick attitude of Pike, but Kirk - after some initial hostility (mostly for his hurting for having lost what was a father figure and mentor for him) - warms up to her. Unsurprisingly, she and Spock established a good connection with each other that goes back to when both served on the USS Yorktown under Pike. Which means that now Spock has an ally that can overrank his illogical captain.
Commanding officer: Captain James T. Kirk
Son of a Starfleet hero who sacrificed himself to save his crew, repeated offender and bored genius stuck in the backwoods town of Riverside, James Kirk's first encounter with Starfleet was a punch. Literally. After a brawling with three cadets who where in the town to visit the Shipyard, he was approached by captain Pike who, admiring his "leap without looking" attitude, dared him into enlisting.
Top of his class in survival strategies and tactical analysis and the assistant instructor in advanced hand-to-hand combat, cadet Kirk was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission of valor in 2256, when he served two academic quarters on the USS Farragut.
First cadet ever to beat the infamous Kobayashi Maru test, he was facing disciplinary charges in front of the board when Vulcan distress call forced the assembly to adjourn. Put on academy probation and grounded, he was sneaked on the Enterprise by his closest friend, doctor McCoy, who injected him a vaccine that caused a rare allergic reaction - and thus the origin of the meme about James Kirk being allergic to everything.
Record holder of quickest climb of Starfleeet's ladder and one of the youngest captains in the history of the institution, he moved up from cadet straight to the top, (acting) captain, in the span of half a day, and he's the reason why the Enterprise run after Nero instead of regrouping with the rest of the Fleet, ultimately saving Earth for its planned demise.
Owner of a commendation for "original thinking" for his solution to the unbeatable scenario, on top of receiving a medal for his role during the Battle of Earth, he was promoted captain and handed over the flagship.
Barely graduated and thrust into it without paying his dues on the bridge of a couple of ships, Kirk had to prove he had what it took to jump several rungs of the ladder and sit in the chair to a crew that mostly knew him as the guy who cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test, but his relentless and fearless attitude, his never asking others to do anything that he wouldn't do himself eventually won even the most skeptic.
Firm believer that the strength of a starship lies in its crew, he switched from not believing in no-win scenarios out of a way to deal with his childhood trauma (his father's death) to not conceiving no-win scenarios as long as he has his crew at his side. The no-win scenario that will beat him still has to come, not even death - the ultimate no-win scenario - managed to beat him so far.
Diametrically opposite to his first officer Spock, Starfleet thought they did the best thing matching the two; too late they understood how big their mistake had been, for together Kirk and Spock do make an impressive commanding duo, but they also ruin each other and, worst, they back each other up. Whilst they make for an impressive team, according to Starfleet they don't complete each other in the best of the ways.
Despite his brief tenure in Starfleet, he's already built himself a reputation for neglecting protocol. What people tend to forget is that, to break rules, to know protocol first is in order - and Jim knows his Starfleet General Orders and Regulations inside out.
He's the frontman and embodiment of the Hot Shots, a group made of the youngest captains currently serving in Starfleet. Originally a derogatory moniker used by veterans to mock officers who were trust into the chair in a short time, it has been since reclaimed by the younger generations as their proud nickname.
He's best friend with doctor McCoy, the only one who can wield some sort of power over him. With lieutenants Uhura and Marcus they give life to the craziest trio of the whole crew: they are the always the King and Queens of the prom, so to speak, and their costumes skills are already legend.
After The Incident That Might Not Be Named - which, really, cannot be spoken about in presence of anyone of the crew, he got the affectionate nickname "Warpcore whisperer".
First officer and Chief science officer: Commander Spock
Son of Vulcan's Ambassador Sarek and former Earth's teacher Amanda Grayson, Spock was ostracized and bullied all his early life about his dual nature, to the point that he was belittled from the Vulcan Science Academy board few seconds after they announced he was admitted to the institution. As cadet he specialized in computer programming, with tracking toward science officer, and was awarded the title of "Grandmaster" by the Federation's Three-Dimensional Chess Organization.
First Vulcan/human hybrid to serve in Starfleet, he was one of the most distinguished graduates of the Academy when, in 2250, was commissioned as officer and assigned to the USS Yorktown, where he served for five years under Captain Pike. During his tenure on the ship he stroke a close bond with first officer Una Chin-Riley, who helped him learn to work with humans while retaining his Vulcan controlled demeanor.
In 2258, the year in which all his life will be forever changed, he's in his third year as instructor of advanced phonology and interspecies ethics at the Academy, waiting for the Enterprise to be launched and to assume his new position as its first officer.
The death of his mother, on top of the loss of his homeworld and most of his people, left a scar in him that will never truly heal. Leaving command of the ship during the crisis on the basis of his being emotionally compromised, he's the only one of the crew who never thought it was disrespectful that Kirk passed him over for the promotion to captain, nor bore any grudge toward his superior.
As an officer who knows Starfleet General Orders and Regulations by hearth and firmly believes into sticking to those guidelines, Starfleet thought he would be the best choice for Captain Kirk's first officer, sure that the Vulcan would keep in check the unpredictable golden boy, but Spock revealed a new ability to find a way around rules by embracing technicalities to hide behind - an annoying trait that he started to show only after being partnered to Captain Kirk (whose bad habits rubbed on him, according to Pike). Too late Starfleet realized their mistake, and by then Spock was already ruined, proving over and over again he's got no qualm to ignore red tape if life preservation is on the line.
Together, he and Kirk make an impressive commanding duo, but sadly (at least from Starfleet's point of view) they also back each other up with a fierceness only brothers in arms know and there's the general feeling that Spock is by now more loyal to Kirk than to Starfleet itself - that, between adhering to regulations and clash with Kirk and facing even the worst consequences to stick with Kirk, he would always pick the second.
He's an expert in Suus Mahna, a Vulcan martial art that comes in handy during infiltration missions or when he doesn't have a firing weapon, and has also turned the Vulcan nerve-pinch into a brutal move to incapacity enemies.
Involved in a romantic relationship with Lieutenant Uhura since at least 2257, when she still was a cadet and he his former teacher, he recently gifted her with a necklace that belonged to his mother Amanda, a pendant featuring a vokaya, a Vulcan stone.
Chief medical officer: Lieutenant Commander Leonard H. McCoy
Divorced and father of a daughter, Joanna, he's quoted to have joined Starfleet after his wife took everything from him. He hates space with all of himself, so much that at the Academy he organized the first astrophobia seminar, but after Nero he stayed on the sole reason of keeping an eye on his best friend, that bloody lunatic with a suicide streak who goes under the name of James Kirk.
He has his very peculiar way to run sickbay, has mean bedside manners and his hand might be a bit heavy when brandishing the hypospray, but he's a top physician who's ready to drive himself to madness if it will help heal any ill under his watch.
With a penchant for metaphors and a sexy Southerner accent, he's the core of the senior crew, the one who balances the logical approach of Spock with a very human emotional and passionate nature to complete Jim's intuitive one.
He spends too much time on the bridge instead of his natural habitat, the sickbay, and his favorite pastime is grumble and bicker with Mr. Spock, for whom he feels respect but also manages to drive him insane most of the days.
Chief engineer and Second officer: Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott
Brilliant engineer and physicist, Montgomery Scott - "Scotty" for his friends - was an Academy aide for Admiral Jonathan Archer's Advanced Relativistic Mechanics course when he first postulated the revolutionary transwarp theory, a formula that he would eventually successfully perfect in 2258 with himself and cadet Kirk as test subjects by beaming from the outpost on Delta Vega, where he had been assigned as a punitive measure after testing his theory on Admiral Archer's prized beagle, to the USS Enterprise traveling at warp speed.
Recruited as chief engineer by the acting captain right before the Battle of Earth, he saved the ship from being pulled into a blackhole and was rewarded with the official appointment to chief engineer of the Enterprise.
On top of being the inventor of the transwarp beaming formula, immediately confiscated by Starfleet, he has entered in Starfleet's history as the first to successfully beam three people from two different locations onto one pad.
Most of his time in the engineering section is spent making modifications and implementations (not always with the permission of the captain) while also criticizing the quality of the repair and procurement policies of Starfleet Engineering. Under his supervision, the Enterprise constantly outperforms the propulsion metrics for Constitution-class ships and he is by now considered one of the best engineer of all the fleet.
A mix of brilliance and intentionally exaggerate estimations of repairs has won him the reputation of being a "miracle worker".
He prides himself of holding the position of second officer on the only basis that Kirk's out-stubborned Starfleet's HQ, that had put a ban on his head and the veto to ever give him such an important role.
His best friend is Lieutenant Keenser, whom he met during his exile on Delta Vega and managed to bring with himself on the Enterprise.
Chief communications officer: Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
Academy aide for the advanced phonology and advanced acoustical engineering courses and proficient in eighty-three percent of official Federation languages and regional dialects, cadet Uhura proved her skills by intercepting and translating a message from within Klingon territory about an unknown Romulan vessel.
A few days later, during the emergency launch of the Enterprise to Vulcan, she earned her place as communications officers on the bridge when she confirmed that, unlike the ship's assigned chief communications officer, she was fluent in all three Romulan dialects and could therefore distinguish Romulan from transmissions in Vulcan, while her interception of the Klingon message became essential to help Kirk conclude and then convince Captain Pike that the Enterprise was in danger.
Despite her main specialization being xenolinguistics, she's proven her courage and fighting skills on the field plenty of times as well, including by attempting negotiations with Klingons in Klingonese during a retrieving mission on Qo'noS.
Nyota is romantically involved with Spock since 2257, when they started dating after she completed a course Spock was teaching.
After a rocky start, that included a poor attempt at flirting on her followed by bar brawl, she has grown fond of James Kirk, who has eventually become one of her best friend: now they bond over the difficulties to be the other half (platonic for Kirk, romantic for her) of the only Vulcan serving on the Enterprise, and she volunteered to be his PR manager - a duty that comes with both an insane amount of frustration and hysterical laughs. Kirk also officially nicknamed her "Queen of the Enterprise", a title she shares with the third part of this odd friendship triangle made of gossip and shopping sprees, Carol Marcus.
Besides the friendship with the senior crew members she shares most of the shifts with, and her relationship with Spock, she has recently got close to nurse Chapel.
Known among her colleagues for her singing talent, she's learning to play the Vulcan lyre with the tutoring help of Spock.
Senior helmsman and Third officer: Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
Top of his class in Astro-Sciences and Advanced Botany, as well as founder of Starfleet Academy's European Swordsmanship club and skilled fencer, Hikaru had already turned down the offer to join an elite unit of Starfleet and was already considered one of the Federation's best pilots when, still a cadet, took the the helm of the Enterprise in its impromptu maiden voyage in place of the ill Lieutenant McKenna.
His anxiety, that lead to the failure of releasing the ship's external inertial dampener before setting to warp, it's what ultimately saved the Enterprise from destruction, as it delayed by several moments the jump of the ship, allowing it to arrive at Vulcan only after the Narada's assault that wiped out the rest of the fleet. The episode, while becoming a recurring joke, is also officially regarded as one of the reason the Battle of Earth was successfully won and the planet saved.
The tragic events of 2259 had a profound impact on Hikaru, the first of the senior crew to decide to not abandon the damaged ship failing on Earth. Initially committed to wait until a law allowing civilians to join their enlisted partners was finally debated and approved, Kirk's sacrifice and all the lives lost during the battle made Hikaru painful aware that life in his line of work is too short and too uncertain to wait for institutions to move forward and so, as soon as he was allowed to flee from the mandatory debriefings, he proposed to his then-partner Ben.
Hikaru had to leave behind Ben when the Enterprise left for its first five-year mission, but he hopes that soon Starfleet will allow families on starship, as both men can't wait to properly live together like a true family and raise togethere the little Demora, their daughter.
He and his shift partner at the console, Ensign Chekov, are called "The Gossip Queens" of the ship: 90% of any rumor about the senior crew that reaches the ship's grapevine comes from them.
Chief navigator and Tactical officer: Ensign Pavel A. Chekov
Top of his class in stellar cartography and transporter theory, expert in advanced theoretical physics, and the youngest cadet in history to win the Starfleet Academy marathon, Pavel graduated at the age of seventeen, the second-youngest freshman cadet in Starfleet Academy history.
He was still a cadet when Battle of Earth happened and he found himself at the navigation console of the USS Enterprise. Both helmsman Sulu and then-cadet Kirk owe their lives to his superior mathematical skills: by calculating coordinates faster than the transporter computer, he could successfully beam out the two from the disabled Narada probe heading fast toward the ground when the computer was failing to and neither computer nor transporter technician could get a lock on them.
Graduated from command track, in the following year in space Pavel, wishing to learn more about engineering, shadowed chief engineer Scott. Before the Enterprise's departure for Qo'noS, and after the abrupt resignation from the chief engineer, he was temporarily promoted new chief engineer and shown into a red shirt, much to Pavel's chagrin.
His annoying trait is claim that everything eventually has been invented or created either in Russia or by a Russian person; while this has become a recurring joke, akin to a meme, and he plays on it to amuse his peers, from time to time he happens to change details in Earth's history to give more prominence to his motherland.
Until he became legal, right in the middle of the first year of service, he was considered a little brother by most of the crew - something that prevented him to find officers available to a date with him.
While things have been improving for him on that side, he's still considered the ship's mascot and some of the senior officers still like to ruffle his hair and treat him like a cute puppy, annoying the hell out of him.
He plays the guitar, often with the captain, but his favorite hobby is photography, for which he has quite a talent.
He might also hide alcohol in his locker: everyone in the senior crew knows but pretend to not to, especially the captain - who, technically, should confiscate it.
Behind his cute face he's a mean chess player and an even meaner gossip spreader, a diversion he shares with his console mate and partner in crime, helmsman Sulu, during tedious, uneventful shifts.
Engineer: Lieutenant Keenser
Introduced to Starfleet in 2230 by Captain Robau and Commander George Kirk, whom he helped by offering a complete diagnostic of the broken landing shuttle used to bring the party on the planet for the first contact, Keenser left his planet, with the blessing of his parents, for a life in space and, three years later, he was the first of his race to ever graduate at the Academy. Becoming an officer few months after the tragedy of the Kelvin, he dedicated his service to his fallen friends.
His long career reached its peak when, promoted chief engineer, was assigned to what was at the time a new research station, Delta Vega.
It was years later that, in the now abandoned post, he met what would become his closest friend, whom he would follow on the Enterprise. His father once predicted Keenser was destined for great things - little he could know that, thanks to that fateful meeting, his son would become an essential member of a crew that would enter history under the son of the same man who brought him away from a planet he felt too small for him.
Too tall to be accepted on his own homeworld, ironically he's too short to serve on a starship not fitting his size without facing every-day complications, but what he lacks in height he compensates for with his intelligence and engineering skills, putting his unique talent to pinpoint problems to the service of the engineering compartment. Not even being colorblind stopped him from becoming chief engineer Scott's reliable right hand, so loyal that when Scott resigned from the Enterprise he followed suit.
Smart and great thinker, he's not a talker as he rarely speaks more than one word at a time. Despite his small size, he's one of the bravest of the ship, firmly believing that one should always stand their ground - even in front of a lethal hengrauggi.
Security chief: Lieutenant Commander G. P. Hendorff
Burly on the outside but with a hearth of gold and loyal to a fault toward his friends, Hendorff's role in the immense canvas of destiny starts when he was a cadet visiting to Starfleet's shipyard in Riverside, Iowa. Here, at the Shipyard Bar, he bumped into a local guy who was trying to pick up his friend and fellow cadet Nyota Uhura. A three-on-one bar fight ensued and he ended up in trouble with the commanding officer in charge of their group, captain Pike, from whom he received a reprimand.
The guy he assaulted turned out to be James Kirk and Pike had the chance to challenge him into being part of the fleet and prove to be better than his dead Starfleet's hero father. It can be said that, in a way, it's because of Hendorff that Kirk enlisted in Starfleet, and he can also take small credit for everything that ensued - including Nero's final demise and Earth still orbiting around the sun.
Like many of his peers, Hendorff was a four-year cadet when he was ordered to report to the Enterprise where he was assigned to security, one of the many in a crew as large as the flagship's. As part of the young and inexperienced crew that, despite all odds, saved the day in the Battle of Earth, he was awarded with a commission, the rank of ensign and a permanent assignment to the Enterprise.
His relationship with the now-captain was awkward at best, with Hendorff having assaulted him once and then arrested him later, but an awkward official meeting between the two of them settled things: he might've kissed up to his new boss at that time, but he spoke his mind and he relayed the crew's doubts and sentiment about the promotion of their new commanding officer. He eventually got to know the captain both as superior and fellow officer on the field and their relationship became one of mutual respect.
Picked to be part of the small party that traveled to Qo'Nos, he was the only one of the three security officers to survive during the brutal assault from the Klingon party: almost screwed by a bat'leth, he was saved by Uhura, who protected him and kept him alive enough for him to be brought back on the ship. When, almost a year later, the Enterprise left Earth to embark on the five-years mission, he had been promoted to deputy security chief.
Despite Hendorff's repeated reminders to Kirk of his name, the captain at times still calls him "Cupcake", although as of now it has become an affectionate nickname in reminiscence of the old, simpler times.
Very proud of wearing the red shirt, so much that he considers the first time he put the uniform on "the proudest day of his life", he doesn't care about the urban legend that being a redshirt is bad luck or the jokes made about them security: he firmly believes that operations officers are the blood that keeps the heart of Starfleet pumping and that's the spirit with which he dons the uniform every morning.
Despite not seeing each other as much as they did at the academy, he's still close friend to Lieutenant Uhura, so much that she comes to sickbay every time he ends up there after a landing party went wrong.
Recently, after the unfortunate death of his superior officer during a disastrous first contact went wrong, he's been promoted to security chief.
Chief armory and tactical systems officer: Lieutenant Carol Marcus
Daughter of late Starfleet's Commander in Chief Marcus, she lost what was left of her family during the catastrophic battle against the superior USS Vengeance. Now orphan, and with a surname tainted by the terrorist actions of her father, Carol finds on the Enterprise a new family where she's welcomed for what she is, a specialist with impressive credentials that would earn anyone a posting on the flagship, and an officer whose knowledge and courage had dramatically ruined Marcus plans for the Enterprise to provoke the Klingon Empire in a galactic war.
On a ship where the captain is son of a Starfleet fallen hero, the crew has learned to not look at the surname, to judge officers for their own actions and not for their parentage, and so she can shine on her own and make a name for herself.
Drawn together at first because of their shared experience on the Vengeance, she and Kirk find a kinship on carrying the legacy of a surname, the complications and conflicts of growing up with a heavy father figure, on the desperation of getting free from such a shadow and, from there, a true friendship develops.
Passionate about her job, competent, brave, and with a mean wit, she quickly earns her spot in the core crew, a role that is cemented when her expertise as weapons specialist is finally honored and she's promoted to Armory chief officer. Later, Kirk assigns her the Chief tactical systems officer position as well - a position usually reserved to officers with a operation tracking specialization - thus entrusting the care and supervision of all the weapons both carried and mounted on the Enterprise in her capable hands. With the help of Mr. Scott, who (like a true engineer) oversees the practical side, she endlessly upgrades the weapons and designs new additions for the ship's tactical systems.
Navigator: Lieutenant Mae Darwin
Transfer to a starship where the most of the crew had their first testing during the Battle of Earth was cause of great concern for Mae, who had been stuck on a ship in the Laurentian system when the Enterprise left Earth to aid Vulcan.
Senior in graduation to most of the Enterprise more prominent officers, more experienced, promotion earned for her dutiful service and not during an emergency or as a reward for some heroic action, she felt almost like intruding in a tight-knit team that would perceive any outsider a threat. The environment she found was diametrically opposite to the one her fellow officers anticipated when she broke them the news of her new assignment. She didn't find a bunch of lucky newbies with a rush graduation on the shoulders, cadets playing dress up with the uniforms who let fame go to their heads, or any other mean thing Starfleet officers thought about the Enterprise young crew, but a family that had come together in tragedy and is trying to find their feet without a danger to force the better out of them. A family who is desperate to prove that they earned their promotions and their place on the flagship.
And surprisingly she's welcomed, she isn't the intruder but a new transfer and everyone is eager to make her feel home, as if they were all living in a big, happy college campus. Before she knows it, she is cracking jokes and settling in, at ease in the odd bubble lead by Captain Kirk and his unique - and quite orthodox - commanding style.
Her skills and strength of character were tested as relief navigator during the Enterprise most tragic battle, and her abilities to keep a cool head during the crisis has won her a permanent assignment to the bridge.
Despite her imposing looks that manage to scare people away, she's very funny and down to earth and possesses a fine sense of humor. She's a talented dancer and teaches at the tap dance course.
Transporter chief: Lieutenant Commander Christopher Kyle
At first just one of the many transporter technicians embarked on a constitution-class, Kyle's very presence on the Enterprise during its impromptu maiden voyage happened out of sheer chance. Former transporter chief of a decommissioned frigate, he was temporarily working as transporter operator at San Francisco's Old City Station facility while waiting for Starfleet HQ to decide on his next assignment, when every officer available in town was hastily recalled to service to crew the ships that would respond to Vulcan's distress call.
It was sheer luck that he was working alongside the then-transporter chief when the transporter room was twice visited by members of the senior crew and that he was later picked by acting chief engineer Scott as assistant when acting captain and first officer embarked on the extraction mission on the Narada to save captain Pike. Him being part of three rescue missions, albeit just as little more than as a witness, warranted him the chance to be invited to the sober and private gathering held by the senior crew to celebrate their survival against all odds, where he got to know better Montgomery Scott. Having being considered by many senior crew members as one of their own (despite him being already an experienced lieutenant commander and them still cadets) and being taken under the wing of the newly appointed chief engineer, gave Kyle both the courage to apply for the flagship and the clout necessary for his request to be accepted as soon as it landed on brand-new Captain Kirk's desk.
On top of quickly raising to the position of primary transporter chief, he works as engineering assistant.
He is father of two daughters, Susan and Dawn, who live in New Berlin, Luna, with his wife Rebecca. He also has an older twin brother, John, who has recently left his civilian career to enlist and he's now a cadet in the operations track.
Security area chief: Lieutenant Moto
Formerly climate-control officer, Moto were soon assigned to monitoring the brigs. Comfortable with silence and solitude, they prefer night shifts, when the lower lights offer for a more calming environment, so much that Moto had to ask a special exoneration from the captain to not be included in the required rotation of shifts. With the brigs seldom occupied, theirs is a very quiet job and they can enjoy a loneliness that, on a starship as big as the Enterprise, it's hard to find.
After the events that crippled the Enterprise, during which the security area chief died, Moto have been promoted to replace their fallen superior and the brigs are now under their direct supervision.
Chief computer systems officer: Lieutenant 0718
Augmented with advanced cybernetic implants that put him in direct telepathic connection with the ship's systems at all times, Lieutenant 0718 had been for the Enterprise what could amount to a glorified liaison officer, the closest technology could get to a "starship whisperer".
Living on a starship where the first officer is a Vulcan allowed him to find his own place despite his at times apparently emotionless approach to others, and the Enterprise quickly became his home and his adoptive family.
When a series of unforeseeable events lead to the birth of a humanoid embodiment of the Enterprise who took his place at the computer auxiliary station on the bridge, 0718 apparently lost his usefulness on the starship and feared that in his near future laid the order of transfer to another ship.
His dedication and loyalty to the Enterprise and the family she embodies was instead taken into account: his abilities were judged too precious to be wasted and he was granted the right to stay on the starship as long as he wished to. Under suggestion of Commander Spock, Captain Kirk compensated 0718 transfer off the bridge with the relocation to the primary computer access room and the promotion to chief computer system officer. An offer that 0718 gratefully accepted.
Lieutenant 0718 continues to use his augmentations to communicate with the Enterprise's systems and is in charge of the computer systems maintenance. Thanks of his abilities, the efficiency of the whole department increased exponentially since his appointment.
Head nurse: Ensign Christine Chapel
Drawn away from the Enterprise when the man with whom she had a brief relationship with (a relationship that didn't end well) was awarded with a captainship of the ship she had been assigned to, Christine transferred to the outer frontier, where she kept working as nurse.
Close friend of Carol Marcus, Christine returned to Earth to help Carol work through the tragedy occurred in her life. When, half a year later, Carol was officially posted on the Enterprise, Christine found herself in the awkward position of choosing between following her friend out in space and return on the flagship or steer away from serving under a man she feels no respect for.
Carol, wishing the best for her friend (which meant serving on the flagship) but also out of selfishness, called in a favor and Uhura bullied Kirk into sitting down in front of Christine for a face to face; after a promise that their past relationship would not interfere nor taint their professional relationship, Christine applied for a transfer on the Enterprise.
Her competence and matter-of-fact attitude earned her the respect from CMO McCoy and, barely a month into her new position, she was promoted to head nurse.
Despite her gentle and friendly nature, she turns into a very strict officer if necessity requires it and more than often McCoy entrust her the sickbay. She might enjoy it the best when the patient on the bed is one captain and she's been given by the CMO the complete authority over him, but she will never admit it.
Her unrequited crush for Mr.Spock didn't hinder her growing friendship with Uhura, who soon becomes close to her as she is to Carol: they bond over their mostly-fake exasperation about Kirk, and on a ship where most of the crew look up at Kirk as if he were a god walking among mortals and when Carol has become Kirk's partner in crime, it's definitely something.
Senior medical officer and Physician: Lieutenant Joseph M'Benga
One of the first human doctors to specialize in Vulcan medicine and a pioneer of interspecies medicine, he was conducting a medical internship on Vulcan when the Narada appeared in the Vulcan system and he was one of the survivors beamed on the Enterprise during the dramatic evacuation of the planet.
Offering his assistance as medical officer, he caught the attention of freshly promoted CMO McCoy when his Vulcan-like manners proved crucial in a sickbay full of Vulcans who were experiencing the mental backlash of the genocide the Enterprise had been unable to prevent.
After the defeat of Nero, with the Enterprise back at drydock for reparations, officially appointed CMO McCoy approached M'Benga offering him a full-time position aboard the Enterprise on the basis that a medical officer who interned for seven years in a Vulcan ward would be of help on the ship where the only human-vulcan hybrid was assigned.
Since then, M'Benga had proven plenty of times that McCoy's choice had been a wise one, being the primary physician where Spock's health is concerned and, in a couple of times, his extensive knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology saved Spock's life.
In less than a year, before that ill-fated mission on Nibiru was even conceived, he had been promoted to senior medical officer and McCoy's trustworthy second.
In McCoy's absence, he becomes the ranking CMO.
Helmsman and Tactical officer: Lieutenant Gary Mitchell
Close friend of James Kirk at Starfleet Academy, his transfer on the Enterprise was James Kirk's first request as promoted captain.
Apt helmsman, he shares the shift with navigator Lee Kelso, a common friend of his and Kirk.
With a keen interest in studying warp engine design and stellar navigation, he engages in long discussions with chief engineer Scott over improvements and new designs.
His high intelligence quotient makes him a mean adversary in 3-D chess and his higher than average aperception quotient counterbalances the illogical and unpredictable ways in which Kirk usually play. Kirk might prefer to play with Spock for this very reason: he just cannot beat Gary, which doesn't help in curb in Gary's ego.
Boisterous, cocky and confident, fully aware of his charisma and sex-appeal, he is often wrongly mistaken as one of those arrogant officers who feel are entitled to everything they want. He tends to make jokes even under red alarm condition, but overall he is a valid and reliable member of the Enterprise 's crew.
As he is one of the few who knew Kirk before the Academy hearing, he is both the shoulder Kirk turns to when he feels overpressured by the responsibilities of the hastened promotion and the one who doesn't shy away when there's the need to challenge Kirk during one of the captain's obstinate moods.
Computer systems officer: Lieutenant Junior Grade Gaila
After miraculously surviving the destruction of the thrown together small fleet ambushed by the Narada in the Vulcan system, Gaila returned to the Academy to graduate and then was assigned to a survey vessel, the USS Tereshkova. Here, despite her skills leaning toward computers, she spends most of her days holed up in a science lab peering at samples.
It is during a seemingly innocuous rendezvous with the Enterprise, where her brother serves, that in her life return both her academy roommate Uhura and her former lover Kirk. What was supposed to be few hours spent with her brother at the Tereshkova ship bar, turns into an abduction from their very estranged mother and the Enterprise is forced - against all regulations - to cross into Orion space to save the two Orion siblings. At the end, Gaila - following a suggestion from both her brother and Uhura - boldly asks Kirk if he'll accept her transfer request to the Enterprise.
She and Kirk have a sit down and Kirk finally has the chance to apologize to Gaila for deceiving her, specifying that he indeed had initially became involved with her to gain access to the computer for the Kobayashi Maru simulation but that later he had come to really like her, and he's sorry for everything. Gaila accepts the apologies and decides that, with him risking his career by launching the Enterprise to the rescue of her and her brother, they are even. After some weeks of mutual embarrassment (failing to properly address the other by their rank instead of the personal name), they manage to resume a friendly relationship.
Uhura takes her under her wing and soon Gaila is part of Uhura's circle, finding empathy especially in Nurse Chapel, with whom she shares a former lover who is now their commanding officer.
In a blast of the past, she's offered the chance to return to a computer lab and she's assigned to the tutelage of Lieutenant 0718.
USS Enterprise mainframe conduit: Lieutenant Junior Grade 1701
With eyes the shape of the deflector dish glowing its exact hue of blue and the Aztect pattern decorating her pale gray skin, she’s the avatar of the Enterprise herself, self-created to facilitate direct humanoid communication between the computer and the crew - especially the captain. Initially self-named "Enterprise", she picked a form that would conform to the gender the crew assigned to the starship and characteristics from human females of Earth, as her place of birth is Riverside shipyard, Iowa.
Her relationship with the captain is a close one: born out of a joke, from that one time Jim claimed to be married to the ship, she thinks of the captain as her “husband”, although there is no physical nor romantic desire in her, nor she attempts to get involved in Kirk's sexual or romantic life.
Her origins are quite unique and marked strictly confidential.
Unbeknownst to all technicians that worked to purge the computers from any leftover of the faulty M-5 unit, a flicker of that artificial intelligence had taken root in the Enterprise core systems. This presence lays dormant in the main computer for months, running in background, until it’s awakened by the attempt of an alien program to infect the ship. In its need to protect the systems as per its self-preservation instinct, the artificial intelligence merges with the alien program and takes control of the main computer, gaining sentience.
When the crisis is over, and the Enterprise systems are officially clean from any infection, its too late to eradicate this new AI while traveling in deep space. The Enterprise has now a will of its own and it doesn’t want to loose it: desperate to plead its case against the decision to head to the nearest repair base for a full restore of the computers, it hijacks a surgical chamber to create an android body from synthetic tissues and carbon filaments. And thus “Enterprise” is born, a mix of a humanoid version of the hull and an Earth’s female.
Initially she has complete mastery over the ship and all of its systems but she is convinced to relinquish her full control on the computers when she is faced with a complete report of the M-5 unit failure, how much dangerous is to leave command of a ship to a computer and the fact that the human factor is essential in the running of a starship.
The battle against the USS Vengeance, and the following months in drydock for repairs, bring a big change in “Enterprise”, forcing in her the development of a more human-like consciousness in the face of Kirk’s sacrifice and some crew members refusal to abandon the dead ship.
“Enterprise” fully achieves human sentience, discovers empathy and loneliness, pain and happiness, becoming less an android avatar and more a humanoid incarnation of a ship, capable of friendship and even love. The crew to her eyes is now part of herself, a family to protect at all cost, the captain her love to cherish.
Unable to properly survive away from the Enterprise, Starfleet is faced with the ethical and moral dilemma of allowing the first ever android to serve or shutting it down by severing her link with the Enterprise’s mainframe.
With her proving to have developed full sentience and after petition from Captain Kirk and his senior crew, Starfleet grants her a full identity under her chosen name of 1701 (the registry number of the Enterprise), born in Riverside the day of the Enterprise’s fateful christening, and the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade: she becomes the first android to ever become part of Starfleet.
She accepted the moniker “Silver Lady” as the nickname the crew coined for the ship.
Captain's yeoman: Petty Officer Janice Rand
Picking Starfleet over a career in singing, Janice was sent to the Enterprise two months after the starship left Earth for its official first mission in space, as the fifth in a string of failed attempts to assign the right person to the position of brand-new promoted Kirk's personal yeoman - her name suggested by none other than Admiral Pike. Firmly believing that a captain works best if they're shadowed by a yeoman that isn't only efficient and reliable but bold enough to argue and even dig their heels when necessary as well, Pike personally scoured the list of non-commissioned officers in search for the perfect person who could flank the young and inexperienced captain and wouldn't eventually want to punch, strangle or kill him before the end of the first week in the job like the previous four - thus the transfer requests.
Very efficient and with a solid work ethic, Janice isn't one to shy away from danger, always eager to leave the ship for a mission planet side, where she showed plenty of times she knows how to hold her own. Her resourcefulness proved quite useful also to raise spirits, like the instance in which she used a phaser to heat a pot of coffee for the tired bridge personnel when power was out in the galley.
She's also the only one person on the whole starship who managed to make Captain Kirk eat a bowl of salad, where even CMO McCoy failed: the feat, accomplished in her fourth day aboard, has become stuff of legends with time, contributing to building her reputation of woman that isn't wise to wrong, feared even by captain James "I don't believe in a no-win scenario" Kirk.
Behind her fame, she's as sweet as down-to-earth as they could get, and it was with easiness that she quickly developed a close friendship with several crew members; for her, friendship is a high priority and she always looks out for the people she calls friends, to the point of carrying a tray full of food to a friend who missed mess call or checking out a ill colleague as soon as she has few minutes to spare from her duty.
Although she has become the singing partner of Nyota Uhura, her most favorite hobby is painting: her arts hang on hers and some of her friends' quarters, as she likes to personally make the gifts she'll give to the people she's closer to, instead of buying one already made.
Her iconic beehive hairdos have become her trademark: every morning she spends quite some effort into creating new and elaborate hairstyles that agree with her artistic personality, often picking details from her vast knowledge of the history of hairstyles on both Earth and other alien cultures she homages by always showing profound respect. In the rare instances in which she ties her hair up in a simple bun, photos are passed around in the Enterprise internal messaging system as a bad omen, with the level of simplicity used to rate the probability of risk of something bad to happen.
She doesn't try to punch Kirk in the face, like Yeoman Attempt #3 nor she gets a mental breakdown trying to put up with the quirks and that pesky allergy to rules of their Chaotic Good captain, like Yeoman Attempt #1 but, despite Pike's hopes, Janice falls hard for the captain, but she's too professional to let this crush interfere with her duty and has accepted this will be a one-sided interest that will go nowhere.
She's considering enrolling in Starfleet Academy when the five-years mission will end to undergo more training as a yeoman.