Betazoid - Blog Posts

Head communications officer Lt. Velann, read her bio here:

(Ooooh Sopek is so down bad for her)

Lieutenant Lila Velann

Lila Velann was a Betazoid, daughter of diplomatic aides who brought her along travelling with them on various systems. Loving the opportunity to encounter new people, cultures and planets, she began training to enter the diplomatic corps of Betazed. Through these experiences, she learned over 20 languages and came in contact with various cultures. From a young age, she showed signs of intense telepathic and empathic abilities. These abilities caused her to become overwhelmed as she met dishonest, hostile or treacherous diplomats and politicians, and she could not keep the calmness and grace expected of a Betazoid diplomatic aide. Her reactions ruined an important negotiation and she was expelled from the training in the diplomatic corps. 

That event turned her life’s plan upside down, and she quickly had to choose a new career. She entered the University of Betazed in applied politics, but her diplomatic failure became widely known among her classmates, and they began berating her for it, considering how many of her peers had parents or people they knew also involved in that negotiation. Unable to take the pressure of their frequent bullying, shamed and humbled, she transferred to Starfleet Academy to pursue in xenolinguistics and communications. She took a rapid liking to this domain and was at the top of many of her classes, allowing her to get a posting on staships from the age of 18. 

She was assigned as Eridani’s head communication officer in 2293, and was 25 years old at the start of the five year mission in 2296. 

Through her studies and the discipline of the Academy, she worked hard to conform to the genial and unassuming manners that had been expected of her since her early childhood, and by the time she began working on the Eridani, she had become a professional and a much more mild-mannered officer, but the fiery element of her was still vibrant and alive underneath that calmer side she developed. To manage her struggle with her overwhelming telepathic and empathic abilities, she often turned to Betazed religion and meditative techniques.