Lilith Sullivan
Male

Place of Origin: Earth

Self described as the optimal height for navigating starship interiors, Sullivan has a strong, athletic build. Her medium length hair is off the shoulders in either a ponytail or bun while on duty. Expressive, piercing eyes are the trademark of her facial features. Her nonverbal communication is subtle and relaxed – her movements are best described as graceful and unhurried.

Blurring the line between idealist and pragmatist, Sullivan prefers to lead her subordinates by example. Hardworking and honest, she is a goal-driven individual that constantly feels the need to keep improving. A natural ambivert, she is just as happy to take the lead and carry a conversation as she is to sit back and listen to one.

With three sons and a husband to deal with, it was a poorly kept secret that Miranda Sullivan wanted a daughter to temper some of the testosterone in the house. When the news came that the family was expecting their fourth child to arrive sometime in late 2363, friends of the family began to question the Sullivans about the gender of the baby. The questions became frequent enough that the Sullivan family chose to leave the topic a mystery until birth. The calendar read September 7th on the day a healthy and happy Lilith Evelyn came into the world. After three sons, the family finally had a daughter.

Growing up in the heart of San Francisco, Starfleet was an ever present entity in Lilith’s life, but the Sullivan family had no real record of Starfleet service. The engineering consulting firm that bore the family’s name was always in negotiations with the galactic superpower for contracts related to systems that would eventually find their way into a myriad of space-going craft.

With three older brothers in the house, it was no great surprise to anyone that the youngest Sullivan grew up a tomboy. It was rare when a summer passed in the household without a championship trophy, and more often than not, one or more of the children spending a lengthy amount of time with some limb or minor digit in a cast. There was a healthy amount of inter-sibling rivalry, but Sullivan’s older brothers were thoughtful enough to tone things back enough to keep their younger sister involved.

That being said, one place where Lilith needed no help keeping up was in the classroom. The Sullivans did nothing to try and keep her insatiable curiosity in check. In this regard, both Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan were enablers, allowing all of their children to pursue interests of their own accord. After school, hours upon hours spent on the company’s numerous flight simulators would embed a love of flying into Lilith at a young age.

Most of those who graduated from preparatory school ended up accepting scholarship deals to universities scattered across the solar system. The year was now 2381, and the wounds inflicted from the Dominion War were beginning to fade. Though the oldest Sullivan brother had gone to Officer Candidate School and joined Starfleet six years prior, the rest of the Sullivan children remained in the private sector. Lilith accepted invitation to attend Stanford University with the intent to pursue an electrical engineering degree. She quickly realized that even though she was a great student, everyone else around her was just as special and just as talented. The innate ability was the same across the board, but Lilith understood that hard work could still discriminate among the intellectually gifted.

During her junior year at Stanford, Lilith began dating Peter Strasberg, an instructor pilot with one of Starfleet’s primary training squadrons. The relationship itself was rather tumultuous and short-lived, but it did reignite the passion for flying within a now nearly-graduated Sullivan. She began to take flying lessons in the civilian world, and began to knock out the ratings one by one until eventually, she too was an instructor, albeit a civilian one.

By the time graduation day rolled around in the May of 2381, Lilith’s focus had shifted dramatically away from pursuing an engineering career with the family company to joining Starfleet. Handing her diploma over to her mother for safekeeping, Lilith met with an officer recruiter and added her application to pile of hundreds of others vying for a slot in the competitive Officer Candidate School (OCS). The notification of acceptance that came meant that for the first time, Lilith would be leaving the friendly confines of the San Francisco Bay and spending a significant amount of time away from home.

Sixteen weeks of OCS flew by, and in October of 2385, Ensign Lilith Sullivan had obtained her commission as an officer in Starfleet. The prerequisites for becoming a pilot were complete, but it took a few weeks of agonizing waiting before the rosters were set. Boarding a transport to Mars, Sullivan left Earth for the first time and watched from the observation lounge as the planet she had called home for twenty-two years disappeared. Her path to becoming a naval aviator was beginning.

Upon arrival, Lilith and a group of others who had already completed some civilian flight training were allowed to skip Introductory Flight Screening (IFS) that the other students with no flying experience were required to complete. The next step in the process was Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) under the watchful eye of Captain Richard Townsend. Lilith found herself unlearning some topics that she had learned in the civilian world and relearning them the way Starfleet wanted them to be taught. Townsend made sure that the student naval aviators (SNAs) assigned to him were proficient, just as those who had come before were. Indoc completed, Lilith and the other SNAs were assigned to their training squadrons.

Lilith, along with many of the others that came out of Townsend’s class, made a favorable impression with her instructors as a member of the VT-14 “Legionnaires” during her basic flight training. During training, the instructors made it clear that being on time meant being fifteen minutes early, and showing up on time meant you were late. Early on, Sullivan slept through an alarm and only just managed to make it to a class before the door slid shut behind her. After receiving the appropriate discipline and good-natured hazing to rectify the issue, Lilith escaped with nothing more than a bruised ego – or so she thought. It wasn’t long before the rest of the pilots started to call her “Pocketwatch,” a callsign that has stuck with her ever since.

Basic flight training completed, it was time for the SNAs to move on to their advanced training where they would specialize into the type of craft that they would be serving on during their fleet assignments. Scouts, transports, and starfighters alike all had open positions. On the surface, most of the aviators said the right things about accepting whatever decision was passed down by the instructors, but amongst themselves, the SNAs wanted the opportunity to train in the advanced starfighters. Those in charge of these decisions knew this – after all, they had been in the same situation in the not too distant past.

Sullivan was amongst those assigned to train to become a starfighter pilot. Quietly, she went about her business during training, and others began to follow her example. By the end of advanced training, several instructors marked a noted improvement in the leadership skill and capability of one Ensign Sullivan. Twelve weeks of Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training followed afterward, which tested all new pilots to the extent of their physical and mental faculties. Lilith was integrally involved in keeping the group focused during the most grueling portions of the survival training.

In November of 2386, Ensign Sullivan attended her winging ceremony and emerged through the crucible as a fully qualified fighter pilot. She began her first three-year fleet assignment as a member of VF-141 “Predators” attached to the USS Wesson, patrolling the area around several new Federation colonies. The instructors had prepared her, describing the job as “long periods of boredom interjected with moments of pure terror.” Terror, in this part of the galaxy, was provided by several cartels that were using one of the fringe planets in the Neyarta system to smuggle goods into and out of the Federation. Ensign Sullivan’s performance during this time in defending Federation colonies and the USS Wesson earned her an Air Medal.

Eleven months later in October of 2387, Sullivan was promoted to the position of flight leader. Her element saw a small, but marked improvement in simulator scores and performance in war games, much of which was quietly attributed to her style of leadership. It is worth noting that one pilot requested a transfer out of her element due to leadership issues, but an internal investigation later exonerated Sullivan from any potential discipline.

Continued aggression by the cartels eventually led to an increased Federation presence in the Neyarta system. By December of 2388, Sullivan had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant JG, and was transferred to VF-57 “Fighting Eagles” as a fighter pilot. Personnel decisions required her to give up her lead. Transition training to the Valkyrie-class starfighter and an increased role as a space superiority fighter gave Lilith a chance to grow as a pilot. She quickly recaptured her role of flight leader and performed with great distinction for the remainder of her three year assignment.

In November of 2389, Sullivan had cycled back to the Sol system for the first time since she had left for training. Accepting a two year tour as an instructor pilot, she quickly became a popular instructor at the Academy for her effective, practical instruction. She visited home in San Francisco as often as she could, making sure to stop by and see her family and friends.

During her tenure at the Academy as an instructor pilot, Sullivan became familiar with most of the mainstays in the starfighter fleet, as well as taking time to sit in and observe classes on shuttles and runabouts for the flight control officers. She momentarily considered an offer to return to class for a flight control officer position to fly starships, but after a short talk with her family, she came to the decision that she would miss the type of flying she was doing too much. However, with the extra time she had, Sullivan became qualified as an Officer of the Watch, as well as taking introductory courses in Starship Operations.

The year 2391 rolled onto the calendar, and it was time for the now twenty-seven year old Sullivan to cycle back out to a fleet assignment. This time, the assignment was to VF-50 “Raging Bulls” attached to Starbase 129, flying the recently converted Broadsword-class fighter. Lieutenant Michael “Desperado” Garner was the squadron leader at the time, and Sullivan and he struck up a quick friendship. They were both from the Bay Area on Earth and had many similar stories of growing up on the west coast of North America together.

Patrolling the border with the Cardassian Empire was relatively quiet work, especially with the echoes of the Dominion War quieting down. However, things did not stay quiet for long for VF-50 as the entire squadron was reassigned to Starbase 234, an area of space where the Federation, Romulan Empire, and Klingon Empire all share a border.

Numerous skirmishes with one or both empires, combined with a growing threat from small pirate factions led to an exorbitant amount of sorties being flown. Lieutenant Garner was killed in action by a pirate raid in March of 2392, an event that shook the members of VF-50 to their core. Still grieving in the briefing room with her battle-weary and demoralized friends, the CAG arrived to inform Lieutenant JG Sullivan that she would be filling the void left behind by Garner. At first, she attempted to refuse, but it was made very evident to her that she had no say in the matter. A despondent Sullivan begrudgingly accepted the news, but successfully negotiated a delay of her reassignment to Squadron Officer School until she had a chance to grieve and recover with her fellow pilots.

July of 2392 saw a promotion in rank to Lieutenant for Sullivan after she had completed the twelve week training program. Assigned as the squadron commander of VF-50, she successfully petitioned to have the nickname of the squadron changed to “Desperados” in honor of the late Lieutenant Garner. Garner was posthumously granted the Flying Cross and Medal of Honor for his actions. Together, the squadron continued to be an effective force in the area, thanks in no small part to the leadership of its new squadron leader.

News of the Desperadoes’ effectiveness was starting to make its way around the fleet. When the CAG accepted a position as an executive officer elsewhere, rumors were rampant about who the next selection was going to be. Despite her relative lack of experience, many of the pilots supported Sullivan as their choice. However, a more qualified candidate, LCDR Mason Arenado, ended up with the position.

By November of 2394, Sullivan’s latest fleet assignment had come to an end and her service commitment to Starfleet was over. The difficulty of the past eighteen months had taken a heavy toll, and she was so removed from engineering school that returning to that line of work seemed to be out of the question. Her family extended an unconditional offer of employment to come work for them as a subject matter expert, but she declined. Sullivan eventually defaulted back to accepting another two year tour as an instructor pilot.

By the beginning of 2396, the now thirty-two year old had accrued an excellent service record and, more importantly to her, the respect of her peers. The enthusiasm and excitement shown by many of her students during her instructor stint slowly began to reinvigorate Sullivan’s passion for flying. It was clear she wanted to fly, but her heart was no longer in flying starfighters.

During the early months of 2396, Sullivan reapplied herself as a student, taking the starship flight control classes she had skipped during her last rotation through the pilot academy. Several high ranking officers approached Sullivan, trying to convince her to take another position as a starfighter pilot. Several offers of wing commander and CAG were made, but Sullivan had closed that chapter of her life.

Invigorated and eager to return to the stars, Sullivan entered her preference for a starship assignment with the hope that the Bureau of Personnel would heed her request. In late July of 2396, Sullivan was assigned to the USS Majestic as her Chief Flight Control Officer. Her first mission as a part of the crew of the Majestic involved Starfleet acting as an independent arbitrator during negotiations between the member species of the Claddin Empire.

Education

August 2381 – May 2385
Stanford University
Bachelor of Science – Mechanical Engineering
Magna Cum Laude – 3.81 GPA

Starfleet Academy

May 2385 – October 2385
Officer Candidate School (OCS)
Commissioned into Starfleet
Rank: Ensign

January 2396 – June 2396
Officer Candidate School (OCS)
Starship Piloting Add-On Curriculum

Active Duty

October 2385 – November 2386
Starfleet Academy Flight School, Mars
VT-14 “Legionnaires”

November 2386
SERE Training completed

November 2386 – October 2387
VF-141 “Predators”
Peregrine Fighter Pilot

October 2387 – December 2388
VF-141 “Predators”
Peregrine Flight Leader

December 2388 – January 2389
VF-57 “Fighting Eagles”
Valkyrie Fighter Pilot
Promoted to Lieutenant JG

January 2389 – November 2389
VF-57 “Fighting Eagles”
Valkyrie Flight Leader

November 2389 – November 2391
Starfleet Academy Flight School, Mars
VT-16 “Prowlers”
Instructor Pilot/SERE Instructor
NOTE: July 2391 – Qualified as Officer of the Watch

November 2391 – March 2392
VF-50 “Raging Bulls”
Broadsword Flight Leader

March 2392 – July 2392
Squadron Officer School
Promoted to Lieutenant

July 2392 – November 2394
VF-50 “Desperados”
Squadron Leader

November 2394 – July 2396
Starfleet Academy Flight School, Mars
VF-14 “Legionnaires”
Instructor Pilot/Lead SERE Instructor

July 2396 – Present
USS Majestic
Chief Flight Control Officer