Renova Exler

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Lieutenant Commander Renova Exler was second officer of Deep Space 3, as well as First Officer, later Captain, of the Oberth-class starship USS Chimera in the mid-24th century. (Star Trek: Outpost)

Starfleet career

Renova Exler's involvement with Starfleet began on her homeworld of Sigma Iotia II. As an adolescent, she was working the streets when she spied a man in fancy clothing carrying a case. She rushed the man and snatched the case from the man and dashed for a hole in a nearby fence. She tried to make her escape through the hole, but, small as she was, she couldn't fit through the hole, and was caught by the man. Renova then turned on him, arguing how the case and the documents within had been within her family for three generations.Then, something unusual happened. The man, Lieutenant Sayzar Tyrellian, burst out laughing. Not at Renova, but at the absurdity of the situation. He saw something extraordinary in the scrappy young girl in front of him. He spent time with her, talking to her about Starfleet, exploring the stars, and discovery of new worlds.

Renova followed Sayzar Tyrellian to the stars, entering Starfleet Academy. Though not a star pupil, Renova did graduate from the Academy, and, at now Captain Tyrellian's request, joined him aboard the Oberth-class starship USS Chimera. Renova remained aboard, working her way up the rank of Lieutenant, and the position of First officer. It was on a mission in the Pinchot Expanse near Deep Space 3 that Sayzar Tyrellian mysteriously disappeared. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance were unknown, and after two weeks of searching, there was no trace. Starfleet assigned a replacement, Lieutenant commander Gregory Torkelson. Renova showed him the ins and out of DS3, including Chimera's eccentric Chief engineer Master chief petty officer Burt Knox. She was the first to caution Torkelson, "The reality of the situation is the Chimera's a good ship, but Chief Knox is the only thing keeping her together." The tour of the Station was cut short when the station recieved a distress call from a Ferengi ship, the Profitable Venture. After the Chimera arrived on scene Exler led the away team to search the ship for survivors. During the search, she received an electrical shock. With recovery of the survivors complete, and ship facing imminent destruction, she was the last living soul aboard. It was then that she clearly heard the disembodied voice of the missing Sayzar Tyrellian. With no time remaining before complete structural failure of the Profitable Venture, Commander Torkelson ordered her beamed back immediately, a decision which did not set well with her, despite there being no other options. Further searches of the debris area were inconclusive.

Following the rescue of the Ferengi, Deep Space 3 was visited by a Vulcan Captain from the Starfleet Judge Advocate General's office, Captain Taldeen. His attempt to solicit information from Renova regarding station operation, as well as Chief Knox's use of unauthorized technology engendered a significant level of animosity from her. Exler got defensive and stormed out before the interview was complete. When informed Captain Buchanan ordered Knox's incarceration after (wrongly) concluding that Doctor Winston had told the Captain about Knox's implant, both Renova and Dr Winston wanted to accompany Commander Torkelson to confront Captain Buchanan. All three agreed that if they all went, it would make Buchanan more defensive and dangerous. Still, both Winston and the Doctor had their doubts that Commander Torkelson was up to the challenge of facing down DS3's Station Commander. Following the decision by Captain Buchanan to conduct a forensic exam of the Chimera, Knox berated Torkelson as "Just another up and comer buckin to make pips." Exler exploded on him. "He's right, Chief! You are a pain in the ass! And why he's doing anything for the likes of you is beyond me! Tyrellian wouldn't have! Don't fool yourself, Chief! He only tolerated you because you kept the ship together! And Buchanan ........... when Sayzar was here, Buchanan covered your back, but now he's slipping the knife in, Chief, and giving it a good, hard twist! One of these days, when you pull your head out of your ......... Jeffries tube, you might see that not everyone is a self-centered ass like you!" Following the accidental weapons discharge during the forensic exam, Torkelson told Renova he was going to "save our ship. And I'm going to have to make a deal with the devil to do it." Shortly thereafter, Chief Knox was out of the brig, and the forensic teams were reassigned under Chief Knox, to repair the Chimera.

Renova was reunited with the missing Sayzar Tyrellian following a covert mission to the Enclave, a trading post located on the outskirts of the Pinchot Expanse. She, Dr Winston and Goshen were enroute DS3 in an antiquated Antarean shuttle named Successful Negotiations when they came under attack by the Pirate vessel Solar Winds. retreating to a type 7 ion storm named "The rough seas", they managed to get off a distress call to DS3, but they were unable to elude their attackers. Just before Succesful Negotiations' destruction, Winston and Goshen were beamed aboard Chimera, and Exler was beamed aboard Solar Winds, where a mysteriously reappeared Sayzar Tyrellian was present. Both were locked up in the ship's brig. The two were transferred to pleasure liner, the Glaminfo, for delivery to Mr Big and "The Core". They were rescued by a Ferengi Daimon named Yurrel, and smuggled to his ship, Another Profitable Venture, for return to DS3. Fate intervened when Mr Big discovered the presence of Tyrellian aboard. Big remote activated the ship's auto-destruct. He tried to make it a silent countdown, but the computer alerted the Daimon. Complicating matters, Britarra, Captain of the Solar Winds had dispatched her First Officer, a Klingon named Jenneth, to kill Yurrel and steal the ship and its cargo. Jenneth killed Yurrel, and had wounded Tyrellian. When they discovered the auto destruct command, Jenneth escaped on the sole operational escape pod. Improvising, Renova and Tyrellian were able to escape using another pod with minimal power. They made their escape, and were rescued by the Chimera. Captain Tyrellian succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. Renova has had great difficulty coping with loss, trying to balance her desire for revenge against his murderer, with the pain of his passing, going so far as to call up the documentation to resign three times, filling it out three times, and deleting it three times.

Relationships

Tirgil and Vurk

Exler's introduction to Goshen's brothers, Tirgil and Vurk, did not go well from the start. Shortly after dressing down Ensign Thomas for his emotional outburst on the bridge, while docking the Chimera following its mission to the Planet Melnora, Exler spotted their Kish-Tek class Klingon shuttle moored in docking bay 27. Leaving completion of docking procedures to Ensign Kyle, she and Chief Knox beamed over to the station. After getting the identity of the owners from Yeoman Burghoff, she confronted the brothers in Lounge area Alpha. When she failed to get their cooperation through sheer force of will, she tried to prevent their attempted exit by grabbing Vurk's collar, starting a brief, though not overly violent scuffle. The incident was broken up by acting station commander LCDR Torkelson, who promised to inquire about the history of the shuttlecraft. Because of her involvement in the lounge incident, Torkelson placed Exler on restricted duty for two days.

Lieutenant Owen Kyle

Owen Kyle had been Renova's second officer and Flight controller onboard Chimera. He had shown wisdom and leadership way beyond his rank. Both Renova and Torkelson came to rely on this capable young officer as one of the go-to guys. With Commander Torkelson's reassignment to DS3 as fulltime Station XO, Owen replaced Renova as First Officer and was promoted to Lieutenant.

Ensign Randy Thomas

Exler had been saddled with trying to make a capable officer out of Ensign Randy Thomas. Despite numerous opportunities, Thomas had not shown any kind of noticeable progress, though he had shown brief flashes of insight and potental. Renova eventually felt she may have been too hard on him, and delegated his day to day training to Lieutenant Kyle.

Dr Rachel Winston

Rachel Winston was Renova's closest friend and confidante. She was the only one whom Renova had confided regarding her troubles regarding Sayzar's death. Renova was the only one that knew Rachel's origin as Waychel of the house of Ranston on Betazed.

Salvatore Exler

Being Renova's Grandparent, Salvatore raised Renova from a very early age. The reasons behind this were unknown, but the two formed a very strong bond. Salvatore hoped that when Renova reached adulthood, she would stay in the neighborhood and "make a living doing some honest grifting".  Renova adored her grandpa, but they did not see eye to eye on her future. Following her first run-in with Starfleet Officer Sayzar Tyrellian, Renova's eyes turned to the stars, and to Starfleet Academy. Whether Salvatore was still alive back home was unknown, but he did serve as a sounding board, along with Captain Tyrellian in Renova's Holodeck therapy program following Tyrellian's death.

Captain Sayzar Tyrellian

Mentor, friend, family. All of these words describe the level of loyalty and devotion Renova has for the man that brought her into Starfleet. She was the only one that refused to accept that he was dead. Her faith was proved when they reunited aboard the pirate vessel Solar Winds. The reunion proved to be tragically brief, as Tyrellian was mortally wounded by the Klingon, Jenneth while making their escape aboard the transport ship Another Profitable Venture. Renova was at Sayzar's bedside when he passed away. She has found it difficult to deal with her grief, not to mention her desire for revenge against his murderer. She had called up paperwork to resign three times, filled it out three times, and deleted it three times. She had also priced a ship to go after Jenneth with.

Captain Montaine Buchanan

Like a majority of station personnel, Renova held an intense dislike for the station Captain, as well as his policy of austerity.  Until recently, Buchanan made no secret of his belief that he did not consider her ready for command, despite the fact that she commanded Chimera following Captain Tyrellian's disappearance. Irregardless of his obvious disdain, he did allow Renova to deliver the eulogy at Sayzar Tyrellian's funeral, abeit with a warning not to use to use it as an opportunity to spread discontent among the crew, or sermonize his paranoia and conspiracy theories. During Buchanan's convalesence, Exler volunteered to be the Captain's escort during his walks. Despite his assurances to Dr Breetal, Buchanan refused to accept the limitations of his condition during recovery, and browbeat Exler into subourning herself to the Captain's indulgences. His desire to investigate the site where Goshen's body was found, combined with his refusal to be "nannied", resulted in the two of them being cornered in a dark, and unmonitored portion of the station, by an infestation of insectoid lifeforms. Their forced confinement created the opportunity for the unprecedented. Captain Buchanan and Renova opened up to each other. Captain Buchanan opened up over his time on Kalimor, along with Emily and the Mahr, Renova shared her frustration over Sayzar Tyrellian's murder and her obsession to bring his killer, the renegade Klingon, Jenneth, to justice. As they were being rescued, Buchanan elicited a promise from Exler that she would not continue her pursuit, along with an agreement not to repeat the substance of their discussion to anyone else. Renova lamented, that after sharing with her superior officer, there wasn't anyone else that could be worse. Still their relationship may have achieved a new level of understanding. Captain Buchanan ordered LT Exler to assume permanent command of the Chimera, a result of LCDR Torkelson's injuries during the battle with the arthropods. The Captain wanted Torkelson focused on his project to reopen the plaza, along with supervising the repairs and upgrades to the station. Buchanan also recommended Exler for promotion to Lieutenant Commander, despite Torkelson's apprehensions regarding her recent behavior.

Lieutenant Commander Greg Torkelson

Skeptical at first, Renova warmed to Chimera's new captain, and considered him a trusted friend. Torkelson impressed her with his loyalty and selflessness regarding the station and the crew's well-being. A measure of the level of trust and confidence she has in him is her relentless use of idioms, or slang from her homeworld of Sigma Iotia II. She seems to delight in confusing him with them. In the words of Commander Torkelson, "I have found Lieutenant Exler to be a fine Officer."

Their relationship took a hit following Chimera's return to DS3 after its visit to the Planet Melnora. As Chimera was entering Spacedock, Renova spotted A Kish-Tek class Klingon shuttlecraft docked at bay 27. Believing it to be connected somehow to Jenneth, she beamed off Chimera prior to docking to interrogate the owners. When she caught up with the two, a pair of Ferengi named Tirgil and Vurk, they were uncooperative. When they attempted to leave before Renova was finished, she grabbed Vurk by the collar. A scuffle ensued, which was broken up by the timely arrival of LCDR Torkelson. When he finally got Renova back to his office and calmed down, she tried to explain her reasoning, Torkelson responded that the connection was too thin, if it was there at all. He then placed her on restricted duty for brawling. Matters didn't improve when Renova confronted him later about being passed over. When Exler curtly asked, "What's the matter . . . ? Are you afraid that I won't cut it as a Lieutenant Commander?" Torkelson responded just as honestly, "To be blunt, Lieutenant, that's exactly what I'm concerned about! . . . You were ready to cut out of here the moment you saw the Klingon shuttle, like a . . . a . . . slug from a cat."

Despite the setback in their relationship, Torkelson still held Renova in high esteem. As a colleague, a shipmate, and a friend.

During the station's battle with the infestation of arthropods, it was Renova that rescued the Commander after he was injured defending life support from a swarm of the bugs. She told Rachel Winston, "I can't lose him too, Rachel. I just can't."

Chronology

• 2365 - Reassigned as Captain of the USS Chimera, replacing LCDR Gregory Torkelson
• 2365 - Promoted to Lieutenant commander

Memorable quotes

"Captain, one word to the wise. Starfleet says this is your ship. Knox knows that Starfleet says that this is your ship. But he doesn't really care. As far as Chief Knox is concerned, this is his ship, and all of us mugs are simply necessary evils he has to tolerate."

"This isn't a matter of the two of you marking out your territories. Both Knox and Captain Buchanan know that he is irreplaceable. You, Gregory Torkelson, are _very_ replaceable. There are literally thousands, maybe millions of officers who would love to be in your place as Captain of a ship. There isn't a single engineer in starfleet that would want to touch this ship."

"Aw, cram it, Chief! The Commander is a stand-up guy, not the jingle-brained jobber you take him for! He's trying to keep your can from getting the boot, and all you can do is give him lip! You know, he's your last line of defense, Chief, and if he can't help you, you're done for!"

"You hide down in the Jeffries tubes all day and do nothing but run your mouth, complaining about everything that doesn't go your way, and you and your damned ship!"

He had his own life before! He had his own mob, and a moll! He's certainly been exchanging subspace chatter with some twist! The point is the Commander gets here, and from the get-go, without knowing any of us, he's put the ship, the station, and the crew ahead of everything else! He's thought of nothing else since he's arrived here! In fact, he hasn't even had time to unpack yet!

Background

Renova Exler is played by Katie Gomez in all her appearances in Star Trek: Outpost.