Commander Leo Carpegiani
Name Leo Carpegiani PhD
Position First Officer & Science Officer
Rank Commander
Core Statistics
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Date of Birth | 8 June 2117 | |
| Marital Status | Divorced | |
| Affiliation | United Earth |
| Height | 177cm | |
| Weight | 70kg | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Grey |
| Pre-Starfleet | Leo excelled in school and frequently topped his classes, particularly in science and mathematics. When he completed his schooling he attended the Università degli Studi di Firenze (University of Florence) to study Physics and Biological Sciences. He completed his initial three year degree in two years (2135 – 2136) and continued on to study Master of Science in Astrophysics. Although his primary field was in astrophysics, he had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and frequently attended lectures he wasn’t enrolled in. Some of the professors disliked this, but others nurtured his inquisitive mind. His favourite extra-curricula was exobiology and he developed a close friendship with the university’s head of that discipline, Professor Mercedes Garcia. Following completion of his Masters Degree in 2137, he accepted the chance at undertaking a doctoral dissertation sponsored by the United Earth Government, under the auspice of Starfleet. He joined a team of researchers investigating some of the microbial life found on the Argo Islands of Deneva. During this time, Leo caught the attention of those he worked with and was regarded as a very promising young man. He worked studiously and developed a reputation as a workaholic. But he also developed some very close friendships, in particular with one Madeline Garcia, who was the daughter of his mentor in exobiology back at the University of Florence. After almost two years on Deneva, Leo finished and published his dissertation (“The Adaptability of Argo Prokaryotes (Daiglemales) in the face of Terran Colonisation.”) and was offered a position in Starfleet. The initial offer, made by the head of the Argo Team, was for a non-commissioned specialist position, but Leo turned it down explaining that he wanted to be a Starfleet officer. Instead, the head of the team sponsored his application to Starfleet Training Command. Leo packed up and left Deneva, heading for San Francisco. |
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| Starfleet Career | Leo excelled as a cadet and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Obviously, he was on a science track and decided early on that he wanted to be on the frontier of science as mankind ventured out into the galaxy. He was excited by the opportunities that a career in Starfleet would present to him and he worked hard at every subject. He even completed a second doctoral dissertation, this one in astrophysics and his findings aided in Starfleet’s understanding of warp field dynamics. But it wasn’t all clear sailing through in San Francisco. Leo had always been a perfectionist and he expected perfection in those around him, but in training he was surrounded by cadets from non-scientific tracks who had to complete required courses in subjects like exobiology and astrophysics. He developed a reputation among some of the other cadets as being elitist and aloof and once got in a very public fight with another cadet over a misunderstanding (theirs) about the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. This incident, and a few others similar, led to Leo excluding himself from the campus social life and focusing solely on his study and research. He graduated in 2143 as the highest scoring science cadet and was immediately assigned to the Intrepid-class Apollo as science officer. The Apollo was undertaking a survey of the Tau Ceti System and Leo was involved in tracking and predicting the trajectory of erratic objects. Aboard the Apollo he was also reunited with Madeline Garcia and the two immediately struck up a relationship. After the social difficulty of San Francisco, he was excited to be around somebody who wanted to be with him. The Apollo returned to Earth in early 2144 and Leo and Madeline rushed off and got married. They honeymooned in France before both accepting positions at the Starfleet Research Institute in London. They bought a little home in London and lived in domestic bliss for two years. But soon, things got difficult. Leo tells it that Madeline became less interested in the relationship and seemed like she was never there. Madeline tells the same story about Leo. In the end, the enmity grew between the two and they frequently argued about minor things. In 2146, Madeline and Leo divorced. It was not an amicable separation and, in the end, Madeline got everything but their cat. Leo decided that he wanted to get off world again. His work at SRI-London reminded him too much of what he had lost and so he requested transfer back to space duty. He remained very much in demand, so it was not issue finding a new position for him. In 2146 he accepted a position on Jupiter Station leading a team of researchers conducting in-depth study on recently discovered species. He served on Jupiter Station for three years until he was once again posted aboard a starship. Once again, it was an Intrepid-class, but this time he was posted to the Eagle. The Eagle was undertaking a survey mission to Tau Ceti and Leo was requested for by the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Jiao. The mission was a simple one and Leo’s help was – apparently – instrumental, though Leo himself found it rather dull. When the Eagle returned to Earth in 2150, Leo was feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. Ever since the Apollo returned to Earth six years earlier, he was stuck in positions that failed to challenge him. He started to blame the fleeting infatuation – as he now called it – with Madeline for trapping him in this dead end career. He entered a dark period in his career and considered resigning from Starfleet altogether. He took a brief leave of absence and returned to his childhood home in Florence. He spent almost six months holed up in his parents’ home, mired in depression and refused contact with anybody from outside. Until one early winter’s day when he received an unexpected visitor. The visitor was Commodore Xavier Menard, Starfleet’s Head of Exploratory Planning and the man who led the Argo Island Expedition and recommended Leo for Starfleet Training Command. Menard was disappointed to hear that his would-be protégé was on the cusp of resigning his commission when he knew that he had so much more to offer Starfleet. He visited the Carpegiani home in Florence on a rainy day and insisted on seeing Leo. Leo acquiesced and Menard offered him a position on his staff. It took some cajoling, but Menard succeeding in getting Leo out of his funk and back in uniform. A week later, Leo was back in San Francisco as a Scientific Advisor to Commodore Menard. He would spend the next two years in this role and played an important role in planning Starfleet’s exploratory efforts including some of the mission plans for the first of the new warp five ships, the Enterprise. When Leo had a chance to go aboard the Enterprise with Menard a few weeks prior to her launch, he knew where his destiny lay. From that point on, he made it clear to anybody who would listen that he wanted a posting aboard an NX in the future. In 2152 he transferred to the NX Program as a Mission Advisor and was in line for the position of Chief Science Officer on the NX-02. However, that soon fell through when an officer with more field experience was chosen in his stead. His younger self might have raged against such a development, but Leo decided instead to address the issue. In 2153 he secured a position as Chief Science Officer aboard the Constellation, an NY-class ship. He served aboard the Constellation until he received news that his NX dream was coming true and that he was being assigned to the NX-04, Discovery. |
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| Service Record |  – Civilian – 2117-2139 – First Year Cadet – Starfleet Training Command – 2139-2140 – Second Year Cadet – Starfleet Training Command – 2140-2141 – Third Year Cadet – Starfleet Training Command – 2141-2142 – Fourth Year Cadet – Starfleet Training Command – 2142-2143 – Science Officer – Apollo (NV-04) – 2143-2144 – Research Officer – Starfleet Research Institute, London – 2144-2146 – Exobiology Team Leader – Jupiter Station – 2146-2149 – Science Officer – Eagle (NV-08) – 2149-2150 – Leave of Absence – 2150-2150 – Scientific Advisor – Starfleet Exploratory Planning – 2150-2152 – Mission Advisor – NX Program – 2152-2153 – Chief Science Officer – Constellation (NY-03) – 2153-2155 – Chief Science Officer – Discovery (NX-04) – 2155-Present |
| Family | Leo has a close relationship with his parents – Cosimo and Lucinda – and often goes to Florence to visit them whenever he can. He considers the family home to be his sanctuary and his parents his greatest supporters. Both Cosimo and Lucinda are school teachers and they nurtured their son’s natural curiosity, opening up new worlds to him and ensuring he had every opportunity to learn. |
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| Romance | He has had a few romances in his time, but none were as whirlwind or life-altering than with Madeline. It was an intense year of his life that quickly turned sour and ever since he has been cautious with getting involved with anybody. |
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| Friendships | Leo’s closest friendships are those forged with the people he has worked with. He still ranks his fellow scientists on the Argo Island Expedition as among his very best friends (except for Madeline, of course). It’s not an easy thing to make a friend of Leo Carpegiani, but once you do he is a very loyal and generous friend to have. |
| General Personality | Although Leo is constantly working and is more comfortable with his head in a textbook or studying some new specimen or phenomenon, he can be sociable and can find it easy to make friends. That being said, he sets very high standards for himself and for those around him, which can lead to conflict and alienate some people. There are many who consider him to be aloof. He is generally an optimist and has a positive outlook on life, but this is offset by occasional dark moods particularly when he fails to live up to his own standards. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | He is a perfectionist and has high standards of himself. He is a hard worker with an exceptional intellect and a rare ability to absorb information. A very quick learner, he is also able to adapt to different situations quite well. His greatest weakness, however, is his anger. When he fails, or perceives that he has failed, or when others do not live up to his standards, he can fall into a spiral of rage and even depression. |
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| Ambitions | Leo wants to keep learning and discover new things. He knows that humanity’s knowledge runs only so deep and he wants to make his mark in furthering their understanding of the universe. In practice, that means being on the frontier of human exploration, going bravely where no human has ever been. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Leo has few hobbies and interests outside his scientific pursuits, but he does take time out every now and then for his music. He enjoys two kinds of music – classical orchestral music and twentieth century heavy metal rock music. He plays the violin with passable skill, though he would never make the ship’s band. He also has a pet cat – Lorenzo. Lorenzo is the only matrimonial possession he received following his divorce from Madeline. He has been a faithful companion ever since, but he doesn’t like strangers and has been known to bite. Lorenzo is old, grouchy and well-fed, but Leo adores him. |
Family
| Father | Cosimo Carpegiani | |
| Mother | Lucinda Wellesley | |
| Brother(s) | None | |
| Sister(s) | None | |
| Other Family | Married to fellow scientist, Madeline Garcia, from 2144 - 2146, but the marriage ended in divorce. It did not end well. |
