Victoria Villeneuve

"You'll never meet a frigate jockey quite like her. Oh, she enjoys Tarrak well enough, but you've never seen her ride the Captain's chair of the Lightning, ducking and weaving through barrages that should have killed her ship, and bring all of her people out the other side of an engagement that too many didn't."

Victoria Villeneuve is one of the younger Starfleet captains, but no less successful for it. She has participated in a number of major Starfleet actions, from the Licori War to the Gabriel Campaign, as well as the Temporal Incident of 2321. First captain of the USS Comet, Victoria was in command for the record-setting Warp Factor 15 sprint during shakedown tests of the prototype at Intazzi Shipyard.

Early Life
Born on Earth in 2284, in Marseilles, France, Victoria grew up with Captain James T. Kirk as a personal hero - even if, personally, she would not end up being much like him. His example led her to apply for - and receive - entrance to the Officer School, Starfleet Academy. She received an approval letter, and not too long before her eighteenth birthday shipped out for San Francisco, there to study subspace sensor engineering. Her grades and aptitudes set her on the path to an Explorer Corps billet.

Early Career
When she commissioned as an Ensign in 2306, she was assigned to Nash ka’Sharren's Enterprise-B, a plum assignment for a new Ensign, where she served as a Junior Officer through her promotion to Lieutenant, Senior Grade, when she was then assigned as the Enterprise-B's Second Watch Tactical Officer.

She stayed aboard the Enterprise for six years, in total, leaving the ship in January of 2313 as a newly-minted Lieutenant Commander, now attached to the Oberth-class USS Torbriel as the Tactical Officer. Initially somewhat disgruntled about being assigned as Tactical for a ship with a single outdated phaser bank, Victoria nevertheless drilled her department into a well-oiled machine, making sure they knew their equipment like the back of their hands. This served them well when, in 2315, Torbriel found herself deployed with numerous other Starfleet units in the Arcadian War. Victoria's drilling of her crew, combined with her own personal skill, led to Torbriel coming out as the victor of a vicious duel with the AHS Signifier. A subsequent hull breach broke her arm and riddled it with shrapnel, but she refused to quit her station, as she viewed her continued presence as necessary to get the ship to safety. Once the Torbriel managed to disengage from the fight, she assisted in rescue and repair efforts aboard the ship until the ship's doctor ordered her to sickbay. Her efforts caught the attention of her superiors, and after the dust had settled, she was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Valor for her actions in the engagement.

During her convalescence and recovery, she was promoted to Commander and assigned as the commanding officer of the Starfleet Tactical Games & Theory Division, where she and her teams devised wargames and stratagems for use in future conflicts by Starfleet. She ended up holding the post for the next three years.

Command of the USS Lightning
Her tour of duty with Starfleet Tactical finished, she received a promotion to Captain and the command of her first ship, the Centaur-A-class frigate USS Lightning in the first quarter of 2318. She quickly fell in love with the ship, and felt that it was all that a Captain could reasonably ask for - fleet, capable, nimble and a joy to fly. Her bridge crew quickly grew to respect her abilities and judgement, and before long all could count themselves amongst her friends and confidantes, even Ensign Tera zh'Taaliq, her Helmszhen, who looked up to the young Captain Villeneuve with something approaching hero worship, only exacerbated by Victoria's patient and welcoming method of teaching her junior officers, driving them all to improve themselves to match the standards she set.

Command of the USS Tarrak

 * Assigned to CO, USS Tarrak in 2322.Q4
 * Surveyed extensive molten magnesite reserves at RVL-7836-VII, tailwards of Canun in 2323.Q4
 * Assisted Captain th’Nolet in bringing trade negotiations at Kelowna to a successful conclusion in 2324.Q4
 * Fleet Command of REDFOR in 2324 specialised fleet Scout Tactical exercises from the SKS Basilica of Lakhept with combined Starfleet, Magen Chalal and Star-Kin forces, 2324.Q4

Command of the USS Comet
In 2325, Captain Villeneuve oversaw the launch of the USS Comet, prototype and name ship of a new class of Starfleet high-speed response and skirmish frigate. Speculation that she couldn't be more thrilled with her new command is entirely justified.