Dante

Early Life and Family
Dante Tarek was born in Utopia Planitia, he grew up surrounded by the constant hum of starship construction. His parents, Liora and Anton Tarek, were both engineers specializing in experimental propulsion systems, contributing to innovative warp efficiency projects. Though brilliant, they were often distant, dedicated to Starfleet’s technological advancements rather than personal attachments. This instilled a deep respect in Dante for precision and excellence but also left him largely emotionally self-reliant from them.

He grew up with an older sister, Ren Tarek, who was a test pilot for warp field stability experiments. Ren was daring, outspoken, and often pushed Dante out of his comfort zone, whether it was forcing him into zero-G sports or challenging him to out think her in tactical simulations. Dante admired her, but he also resented how effortless everything seemed for her while he struggled to prove himself to his parents.

Ren wanted to join Starfleet ever since she was a little girl, dreaming of becoming the pilot of a large starship. Her dream was so powerful that she plotted her entire life around it. By helping her mum and dad as a test pilot, she could gain the background experience and connections needed to join Starfleet Academy and realise her dream.

From a young age, Dante always wanted to be at Ren’s side and so he too set his life path toward Starfleet. In school he showed an aptitude for logic-based problem solving, as he got older and exposed to more mature and realistic education he began gravitating toward tactical simulations rather than engineering unliken to his parents.

When he was 16 He enrolled in Mars Tactical Academy, a prestigious institution that prepared candidates for Starfleet Academy entry, the MTA targeted toward tactical and security fields. While there, his professors noted his rigid analytical mindset and ability to anticipate enemy movements, but he was also criticized for overanalyzing scenarios, sometimes freezing when expected to make rapid decisions.

Though he was often plagued by his dependence on data and collating it all with the answers technology could provide, stymieing his own inner dialogue and instincts. He was found efficient enough to pass MTA and received the prestigious recommendation to Starfleet Academy after his departure.

Dante Tarek at age 18, arrived at Starfleet Academy with calculated confidence. He wasn’t the fastest, strongest, or most charismatic recruit, but he was methodical, always thinking two moves ahead. From day one, his academy instructors too recognized his talent for tactical analysis. His ability to deconstruct enemy movements and build counter strategies was quite remarkable. But theory alone wouldn’t make him an officer.

Despite his earlier stride, Dante would fail his second year. During one of his most crushing failures, he participated in a simulated emergency response drill where cadets had to evacuate civilians a midst an escalating crisis. His methodical approach, meticulously calculating rescue routes to save everyone, his efforts to leave no one behind, led to delays finally resulting in simulated casualties. The aftermath left him shaken, forcing him to confront earlier assessments from his tutors at MTA that questioned whether his tactical precision might one day cost lives.

This setback rippled into his third year, casting doubt on his ability to lead under pressure and suspicion he may not be cut out for the Academy. As frustration mounted, Dante seriously considered withdrawing from the Academy, believing his Starfleet dream might not be meant for him. He hovered on the edge of quitting, until the day he received news that would shatter his world.

His sister, Ensign Ren, serving as helmsman aboard the USS Sovereign, had been killed during the Living Construct incident of 2383 that year. An alien weapon triggered chaos across Starfleet, compromisisng ship’s computer control and exploiting their automation, faking a distress call to lure more and more of Starfleet, turning starships against each other in a catastrophic breakdown of system integrity to the malevolent AI. The Sovereign, caught in the crossfire, was lost, its crew unable to defend themselves or prevent their own ship from firing on their fellow Federation ships.

Dante’s personal grief mixed with his lingering doubts about Starfleet’s reliance on AI. But in his darkest moment he found resolve, this became a defining turning point: rather than walking away, he would master tactical sciences, ensuring he would never let his own indecision or flawed Artificial Intelligences’ cost lives again.

2384-2392 Starfleet Academy Timeline
2384-2388: Standard 4 year Academy program
Core courses: Leadership, Strategy and Tactics, Stellar Cartography, Engineering Basics.
Merits: Excels in tactical analysis, command simulations, and inter-species diplomacy.
Failures: Struggles with temporal mechanics.

2385: Dante is hit with even more crushing news. The Synthetic workers at Utopia Planetia malfunctioned, went rogue and destroyed the facility. 100,000 people perish. His family, and life long friends were among the dead. This further galvenises his distrust in AI and he readily welcomes the Ban on Synthetic Life that followed.

2388-2392: PhD specialization in Tactical Sciences
Focus areas: Advanced Tactical Training, Fleet Engagement Strategy, AI Warfare, Ethics.
Additional coursework: Cybersecurity, Subspace Warfare, Psychological Warfare.
Field training: Simulated command scenarios, war games, and AI crisis response.

Graduation and Rank Progression
2392: Graduates with PhD in Tactical Sciences.
Commissioned as Lieutenant upon graduation due to advanced specialization.

2392-2395 USS Aldrin
Upon graduation at full Lieutenant thanks to the additional specialist courses that he took at the Academy. He was assigned as a Junior Tactical Officer aboard the New Orleans Class starship, Aldrin. A ship with the honor of being named after one of the first Humans to walk on the surface of the moon.

While aboard Dante would quickly rise to the position of Deputy Chief Tactical Officer and from there Executive Chief Tactical Officer. During which Dante gained experience in core world security operations as that was the ship’s primary mission.

While aboard he would develop new tactics and protocols for AI Countermeasures Training, a programme he created in response to both the USS Texas Disaster and the Artificial Construct. Dante thrived while aboard the Aldrin and progressed quickly through positions and the ranks, unfortunately the Aldrin already had a Chief Tactical Officer and the Captain of the Aldrin felt it unfair to Dante to keep him from advancing, so he transferred arranged with an old colleague, the Commanding Officer of the USS Vigilant. A Manticore Class starship whom he knew was looking for a Chief Tactical and Security Officer.

2395-2397 USS Vigilant
The Vigilant was a much newer vessel than the old New Orleans Class Dante had just left, she was afterall a Manticore Class. Pressed into service but only four years ago at the time he reported for duty. He felt honored to be the Tactical Officer for such an advanced vessel. Much like his time aboard the Aldrin he kept mostly to himself save crew functions he couldn’t avoid. His duty was all that really mattered but if he had time to himself he’d do a bit of reading or watch some subspace broadcast shows. He avoided the holodeck unless ordered there for any training or mission briefings.

He’d met his first Holographic Person while aboard. The Vigilant had an AI as the Chief Medical Officer. Apparently it had been granted the right of sentience while serving aboard another vessel. He didn’t know it or care to know it. Avoiding it whenever he could.

The Vigilant’s primary role was to police and stop Orion Syndicate activities across Federation border worlds. Not unlike his core worlds patrols duties aboard the Aldrin. However this new opponent required a lot more nuance and connections in order to combat it effectively. While aboard he learned much about organised crime and made connections across the criminal underbellies of many worlds. As Tactical Officer he was also in charge of the ship’s Security and implemented rigorous training schedules for his staff, and other innovative but strict and arduous tasks.

Whilst often considered a taskmaster, he was still fairly liked and respected by his subordinates given how fair he was.

While serving as Chief Tactical Officer aboard the USS Vigilant, Dante uncovered an elaborate Orion Syndicate scheme involving Starfleet supply routes near the border of the Nyx Expanse, a lawless sector. His investigation suggested the Syndicate was leveraging stolen Federation prefix codes to intercept medical and technological resources intended for Federation colonies, the raids also targeted humanoids for capture as well but the evidence was circumstantial at best.

Determined to expose the conspiracy, Dante proposed a sting operation, a calculated risk that could either dismantle the Syndicate’s operations or cost him his career. With covert Starfleet support, he orchestrated the deployment of false cargo shipments and disguised himself as an independent contractor willing to negotiate with the Syndicate.

Months later at Planet Oriit a Federation world, at Port Kalar, a known Syndicate stronghold, where Dante had been undercover. However, unbeknownst to Dante his cover was already blown and the Syndicate had been feeding him misinformation, and eventually attempted to eliminate him right before their largest deal was struck, and with little time to maneuver, Dante managed to get away and commandeered an Orion raider, using his tactical knowledge and experience at the port to make his escape.

Dante would eventually make it back to the Vigilant. While there he would leverage his criminal informants for information and discovered that there was a large sentient being trafficking deal about to happen.

The Vigilant’s command staff wanted to wait for orders from Starfleet before acting but Dante felt that their mission was clear enough. He tracked down the details for the exchange and began to prepare for it. He asked to take three security teams to the planet surface nowhere near the area and said he was conducting drills. It was a Federation world afterall and he sold the idea to his Commanders as a show of force to threaten the Syndicate that were on world, nothing more.

Though the real mission still remained widely unauthorized, he took the teams in two type 11 shuttles along his own modified runabout which was customised to be a forward operating base during large scale operations. Upon enter the surface he redirected them midflight to a nearby point by the crimescene. After successfully stopping the deal with no casualties, saving the poor souls about to be traded, his security teams secured the area and uncovered classified Starfleet encryption keys within Syndicate systems, irrefutable proof of an inside leak.

Amongst this extensive information found, was documents traced back to the USS Vigilant’s own Executive Officer Commander Arturo Holdman. who had been secretly funneling intelligence to the Syndicate doing his best to compromise Federation security across the sector. Dante withheld telling anyone aboard the Vigilant as he didn’t know how many more were involved and didn’t want to give the co-conspirators if any, the chance to kill the Commander while he was in custody.

When word that the deal had gone belly up reached him in private, the commander went to implement his own plans, false reports to Starfleet, discrediting the Commanding Officer in an attempt to Frame them and Dante, but with the Security Teams backing Dante and the knowledge the Captain had his own misgivings about him, which now undoubtably were logged several times in the past.

Holdman had no choice but to flee. Before he made his escape via an untraceable Transport to the planet surface. He killed two junior officers. There was no real reason to do so, Dante knew it was a message of Spite.

Though unauthorized, his operation led to the dismantling of a major Orion Syndicate faction, exposed corruption within Starfleet ranks, and saved hundreds of lives by restoring vital resources to vulnerable colonies. Recognizing his exceptional leadership and tactical genius, Starfleet Command not only exonerated him but promoted him to Executive Officer and awarded him the rank of Commander.

His time as Commander was short lived however as the Syndicate would get their revenge and the battle to keep the Federation worlds from ruin would sadly end for the Vigilant. She was ambushed by a local gang called the Fervent Wind lead by Holdman, 10 Orion Pirate vessels unleashed their armaments upon her and she was critically damaged. The attack was interrupted by a quick reaction force of Federation starships and the pirates scattered but it was too late for the Vigilant as she went into systems cascade failure, the fleet rushed to emergency transport the crew before the Core overloaded.

The standard crew compliment was 400 but Holdman planning ahead had ensured she was closer to maximum capacity. He got one last bite out of Federation. Under the guise of bringing Security officers over to train in Dante’s anti Artificial Intelligence methods. Of 683 personnel aboard the Vigilant. Only 350 made it off in time. And 333 Security personnel on loan from across the sector were lost. Leaving a large vulnerability for the region. No one discovered why Holdman betrayed his uniform but based on the damage he caused to the Federation and the lives he took in the process, it was obvious he cared little about it.

Recognising Dante’s co-ownership of the blame for this loss. His Commanding Officer thought it best Dante be far away from the Syndicate, Holdman, the Fervent Wind. Against Danet’s will and following his own better judgment he put Dante up for commission as Captain and requested he be sent to Bravofleet. Starfleet weighed all the reports on Dante, his experiences and accomplishments. They agreed with his Commanding Officer’s appraisal and so granted the transfer and promotion.

That same year Dante would also hear that the Federation had lifted its ban on Synthetic Life. A decision he was passionately against.

USS Compton
Dante assumed Command of the USS Compton. A rather meager vessel compared to his last posting given she is an old California class but one that is all his to Command. He implements the same strict command structure he developed all those years ago on the Aldrin and had refined aboard the Vigilant. He finds it a struggle to give up the Tactical Position but eventually settles into his evolution from supporting command to being in command.