M'Lene

Authored by Emily S.

Character Biography

M’Lene was born to K’Tash & M’Nera on Macadarna. As a child, M’Lene had a great aptitude for science and engineering, a fact which got her into trouble several times, the most noteworthy being when she was 11, she built her own sensor array which briefly worked before short circuiting the power to her whole village. Her parents quickly got her enrolled in a school for gifted youngsters, where she continued to excel at science and began to become interested in terraforming. She also took up gymnastics from a young age which became a very important part of her life as she was naturally talented at it. She still practices to this day.

Although her parents had wanted originally wanted her to stay on Macadarna, at 18 years old M’Lene made the decision to enter star-fleet and train as a science officer. Her younger sister, T’Lama, later followed in her footsteps and is currently posted as a security officer on the USS Washington.

M’Lene quickly attracted the attention of her instructors at the academy and was consistently at the top of her class.

Upon graduating, she took a position on the USS Valerian as a junior science officer. She initially had a little trouble adjusting to life on a starship having been used to being in a small village but she focused on her work and became a valued crew member. She became good friends and later was in a relationship with one of her fellow officers, Carlos. Eighteen months after she was posted to the Valerian, Carlos was part of an away team that was assisting in negotiations between two warring factions on a nearby planet. The resources on the planet were scarce and M’Lene was about to utilise her skills in terraforming to increase productivity of the natural resources but before she had a chance, a devastating battle occurred and Carlos was killed in the line of duty. After his death, the Federation withdrew from the planet and M’Lene found it too difficult to stay on board the ship.

Carlos’ death hit her very hard and she decided to resign her commission and take a position back home on Macadarna for a change of pace and although she enjoyed being close to her family again, at work she kept very much to herself, having little in the way of interaction with her fellow colleagues. M’Lene was an exemplary scientist with a keenly analytical mind however her colleagues were a little concerned about her lack of personal relationships and her self isolation. Over the next few years, she slowly began to open up again and developed a new zest for life as she allowed herself to care for others and began to embrace her feline side again. For the first time since losing Carlos she felt like she had found herself again.

Although she loved life back home and being close to her family, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wanted to rekindle her passion in terraforming and helping to create new worlds. She knew that she could make a difference and help bring new life to desolate planets but that wasn’t something she could do on Macadarna. When the Director of Terraforming position opened up on Oed V, one of her ex-crew mates on the Valerian recommended her. M’Lene was initially hesitant to leave home again but with the support of her family, she decided to apply.