Valerii Anhel Arkhipiv
From Star Trek: Theurgy Wiki
Character Draft Awaiting Approval
Valerii Anhel Arkhipiv was a Petty Officer in Starfleet that Served aboard the USS Theurgy coming abroad the ship after it's time at Qo'nos.
Biography
Valerii's life began in 1928 in Kyiv, the son of Maksim and Irina. Maksim was a professor of Literature and Irina was a mathematician. Both with positions at the local university in Kyiv. The young boy grew up interested in what his parents taught him. And he quickly developed a fascination in flight and aircraft.
After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic war, Valerii's father Maksim was conscripted to fight against the invaders. Shortly after receiving a 'deeply regret' telegram, Valerii and Irina had to evacuate to the countryside due to the invasion of their homeland. As the war progressed the young Valerii sought to fight against the people that had invaded their homeland. In 1944 the young Valerii succeeded in lying about his age signing up for the Soviet Air Force at the age of 15.
Having a small and slender build, the young boy was deemed ideal to fit in the cockpit of the new Lavochkin LA-7 Fighter aircraft. Due to it's introduction late in the war, and the highly abbreviated training that Valerii received at the Flight academy, he was not expected to finish the war with a great number of kills and truly a minimal amount of combat.
Despite expectations Valerii proved to be a capable pilot, and due to quick reflexes and a keen eye the young man, or rather boy finished the war with ten air to air kills becoming one of the youngest 'double-aces' on the Western Front. His action for the battle in which he achieved Ace Status warned him his Order of Glory 3rd class and the Order of Bogdan Khelniksky 3rd Class, in a battle near the Polish border where his skill flying enabled the Soviet forces to breath through German lines without fear of Stuka's bombing them., which earned him a small amount of esteem in the eyes of his superiors. This saw his promotion to Captain, and a transfer to another unit During his time on the Western front he participated in constant combat, slowly earning recognition, rank, and esteem. During the war he participated in the Liberation of Warsaw flying aircover, and later participated in the capture of Berlin doing the same. During the Liberation of Warsaw Valerii scored his 7th and 8th kills on a pair of German bombers that were believed to be targeting the Soviet command post. Through quick thinking and a steady trigger finger Valerii shot down the two Stukas and credited with saving the lives of the targeted Generals was awarded the 'Hero of the Soviet Union.'
While Valerii was not one of the top scoring aces of the war, his slight build and reflexes were deemed ideal to be a test pilot for the MiG-9, which later earned him other opportunities well after the war.
His Service continued after the Great Patriotic War leading him to flying some of the first operational Jet Fighters in the Soviet Union. His skill behind the stick, and performance in the Academy led to his appointment to the Kosmicheskaya programma (Soviet Space program) in 1957 where he'd become one of the earliest Cosmonauts. During this time after the war Valerii was enrolled in Moscow University studying physics and Aerospace Engineering to better understand the mechanics of flight and eventually graduated with his degree to better serve the Soviet Union.
On February 28th 1961 Valerii boarded his rocket with aspirations to be the first man in space. A fate that he would achieve, though on reaching orbit his capsule suffered a full system failure when he encountered an unknown vessel. Unable to report in to Moscow, and with his capsule never reentering the atmosphere he was presumed lost.
In 2368 Valerii was awakened by a Federation archeological team investigating a facility that had been lost to bureaucracy and time. Finding the stasis pod of unknown make it was opened after much study and examination, revealing Valerii to the world. Finding himself in "the Future" Valerii found himself enamored with the idea that "we have done it" and humanity had spread into space. Enlisting in Starfleet in 2369 Valerii found that he was most suited to maintenance and repair of RCS systems due to many of the principles of reaction gas systems being relatively unchanged since his own time as an engineer. His knowledge of basic propulsion systems such as RCS thrusters was little changed since the 20th century, with oly machining tolerances and gas mixtures having changed significantly. This was his lifeline to center in a world that he now found to be 'alien'. This career track fostered his growth and development until he found himself on the USS Centaur until 2379 and later transferred to the USS Oneida. During his time on the USS Centaur Valerii participated in the Dominion War, which firmly established a grim dislike of the continued warfare even in the future. His professional career on the USS Centaur was hampered by having to work slowly and steadily to bring his education up to modern standards. Jumping 400 years into the future had rendered the majority of his education nearly useless save in certain niche cases and basic language skills. By 2379 Valerii had earned a series of mostly pro-forma promotions, and had attained a moderate level of a modern education allowing him to specialize in the maintenance of Impulse engines. As a newer ship in the fleet the Oneida proved to be an attractive posting for him. His hard work and dedication saw a the transfer happen.
in 2381 while in orbit of Qo'nos with the USS Theurgy, Valerii transferred again. The 'old' Veteran sensing that the Theurgy was 'fighting the good fight' resonated with him deep in his soul. Not just a career move, but a reason to serve. And so Valerii found himself perhaps over his head and struggling to swim.
Personality Profile
Valerii was a man that did his best to ignore the ghosts of his past. While affecting a cheerful demeanor in public, which was indeed bolstered by his 'wonder for the future' in private he was a man that sought to stay within his own head. Though self aware enough to recognize his own demons, Valerii was consumed by a battle with alcoholism that he sought to master. He busied himself with many hobbies, and struggled to socialize in the 24th century, a shell he tried to break free from.
Physical Profile
Valerii was an athletic human male of average build and height for a Ukrainian of the 20th century. While short and slight by 24th century standards, in his home time, his build allowed for his selection as a fighter pilot and later, Cosmonaut. His build was wiry and lean with dense muscle and keen reflexes.
Reference Images
Rae's choice
Special Notes (Optional)
Valerii's distinctions and honors earned in the Soviet military and place in the history books were expunged by the State after his disappearance on February 28th 1961. All record of him was removed, and he exists as a 'blank space' in the history of the 20th century, this is due to the desire of the Soviet State to remove any trace that Yuri Gagarin was NOT in fact the first Cosmonaut in space. The Race that he encountered on that fateful flight has never been identified.