Lieutenant Pharos Ventari
Name Pharos Ventari
Position Chief Engineering Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Ventari | |
| Age | 26 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 4' 6" / 1.37 meters | |
| Weight | 126 lbs / 57 kg | |
| Hair Color | Dark Grey | |
| Eye Color | Black (compound) | |
| Physical Description | A humanoid insectoid in appearance, Pharos is possessed of two digitigrade legs, four arms, four membranous wings and an arthropod-type abdominal segment. Additionally, he has a pair of segmented antennae (which add a foot to his height if counted) and large compound eyes that tend to give him a perpetually attentive appearance; unlike terrestrial insects, his eyes are lidded, though he typically only closes them to sleep, clear foreign contaminants, or to emulate humanoid facial expressions. His strength is about approximate to that of a physically fit human, though with his smaller stature and slender build, his physical appearance is deceiving. Pharos' exoskeleton is normally comprised of varying shades and grey and black, however upon being accepted for technical training, he enthusiastically dyed much of his carapace to the gold of a starfleet engineering uniform. It's unclear if it was deliberate or accidental, but the patterning of his gold and black coloration ended up being very reminiscent of a terrestrial wasp; unlike a wasp however, he has no stinger (though it would be little effort to build something that would do the job). Pharos' wings are fully functional and do indeed allow him to fly, though his strengths are at hovering and maneuverability rather than speed; this is accomplished by an average wing speed of 45 beats per second. Pharos typically only flies in environments when he knows food is readily available, as the energy expenditure requires a large caloric intake afterwards to replenish his reserves. Given the nature of his anatomy, Pharos could wear nothing at all and be perfectly comfortable, though he usually wears a uniform top and shorts at least. When off duty, he's known to wear very human-styled jeans and a hoodie (both obviously modified for his anatomy), though it's not clear where or why he picked up that particular fashion choice. |
Family
| Spouse | None | |
| Children | None | |
| Father | Adoptive: Captain Tokar (of Vulcan) | |
| Mother | The Sovereign Qio | |
| Brother(s) | Approximately 4400 | |
| Sister(s) | Approximately 600 |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | In a word, Pharos would be best described as 'Eager'. Enthusiastic with most things, Pharos throws himself into most things with zeal, willing to learn and earn approval. As just one of 5000 siblings in his particular brood, Pharos was bound by the constraints of his caste, and was all but unknown to his Sovereign as anything more than a statistic. When circumstances found him shuttled off his world and into the care of Starfleet, suddenly the castes didn't matter, and he had the almost unprecedented opportunity to expand, to find his own path, be his own person. He followed that path, even as he discovered unknown aptitudes for mechanics and engineering, combined with an almost insatiable appetite to learn. Though never an actual slave himself, Pharos does bear a grudge against those who would deny others the right to choose, and he would happily fight to the death in defense of someone he believed needed rescuing. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Enthusiastic and eager, Pharos is always willing to try and learn new things. However, though he values the lives of those around him, he has very little sense of his own worth; this has nothing to with self-esteem or confidence, but the fact that he's just one out of a brood of thousands, and would normally be easily replaced. He sometimes needs to be protected from himself as he would be the first to volunteer for risky duty, or a so-called 'suicide mission'. | |
| Ambitions | Pharos did not start out with great career ambitions for himself, as the 'liberation' from his homeworld was more accidental than anything. But once given the means and opportunity to learn beyond what would have been considered appropriate for his caste, Pharos did so with a vengeance. When captain Tokar of the Vulcan ship Sekell sponsored Pharos' enrollment in Starfleet, it was undoubtedly the turning point in the young Ventari's life. He has no aspirations to 'prove' himself, or what he can do, to his Sovereign or anyone back home; what he does, he does for himself alone. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | As an insectoid species, it's perhaps unusual that Pharos' hobby seems to be... humanity itself. His knowledge of human culture, even before he ever met his first human, was uncanny (and perhaps a little annoying) to the Vulcan crew who first encountered him, and none could explain why or how Pharos could speak standard so fluently that the universal translator wasn't even required. Once he attended the academy, Pharos was only too happy to live among humans on Earth, picking up what additional culture and slang that he could. |
| Personal History | The Ventari Dynasty is governed by the Seven Sovereigns, each ruling a different planet within the Hromi cluster, which is situated between Federation and Klingon space. Sovereign Qio ruled the second planet in the system designated Hromi Zulu. Born as part of a brood of approximately 5000, Pharos was part of the lowest caste of Ventari society; a necessary role to be sure, but not a position that would foster individuality of any kind, nor aspirations for anything better. In many cases, higher education was deemed unwarranted for an expendable labor force, and pheromonal control on the part of the Sovereign's lieutenants ensured continued obedience and compliance among the lowly workers. When Pharos was twelve years old, a Federation transport ship was passing through the perimeter of the cluster and hit a century old Klingon mine. Off course and crippled, the ship eventually crash-landed on a sparsely inhabited moon of Hromi Zulu II, with a loss of all hands. Two weeks later, the Vulcan cruiser Sekell, answering the automated distress call of the transport, arrived in the system and made peaceful first contact with the Sovereign's government. An accord was reached, and the cruiser was permitted to retrieve the derelict transport, as it is not Starfleet policy to leave technology in the hands of non-aligned worlds. Although an extensive search was made, only a few of the bodies were ever located, and the rest were assumed eaten by indigenous wildlife. The Sekell was able to return the transport to orbit and proceeded to tow it back to starbase 21 without incident. Shortly before arrival, however, repair crews were stabilizing the power core of the transport when they discovered a single young Ventari onboard, having jury-rigged the power systems enough to restore minimal life-support to a single pressurized compartment. Unsure how the Ventari had ended up onboard, captain Tokar contacted Sovereign Qio to arrange for the return of the young Ventari, but was unexpectedly denied. His presence aboard the transport was obviously an accident, and so the Sovereignty would hold no ill-will toward the Federation for the incident. Given his social status, return of the young Ventari was therefore deemed unnecessary, and it could be disposed of as Starfleet saw fit; it was, after all, one of thousands, and easily replaced. Captain Tokar, obviously unwilling to terminate a life simply because there was no tangible benefit to it being returned home, instead kept it aboard his ship. Since its native identifier was a unique pheromone marker that couldn't be translated, the crew named it Pharos Ventari, and proceeded to educate and raise the young being. Pharos turned out to be exceptionally bright, eager to learn, and quite gifted with technology as his actions aboard the transport had already proven. Perplexingly however, was the fact that Pharos could speak perfect earth Standard, and even utilized contemporary slang correctly. Though Pharos himself couldn't explain it, it was finally assumed he had studied records aboard the transport before he was discovered. After several years aboard the Sekell, and having earned the (grudging) respect of his adopted Vulcan family despite his stubbornly emotional demeanor, Pharos' application to Starfleet academy was finally sponsored by captain Tokar himself, and he finally said goodbye to the crew of the Sekell before shipping to Earth and beginning his Starfleet career. |
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| Service Record | Service Record 2371 - Hatched 2383 - Rescued by the Vulcan Cruiser Sekell 2387 - 2390 - Attended Starfleet Academy Rank: Cadet Position: Student 2390 - Promoted to Ensign 2390 - 2392 - Assigned to the Fleet Museum, Athan Prime Rank: Ensign Position: Maintenance Engineer 2392 - 2394 - Assigned to surplus Depot Z15, Qualor II Rank: Ensign Position: Salvage Engineer 2394 - 2397 - Assigned to the Starship Poseidon Rank: Ensign Position: Damage Control Specialist 2397 - Assigned to the Starship Columbia Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade Position: Engineering Officer Current Year - Assigned to the USS Missouri |