Erica Ortegas

Erica Ortegas's History

Lieutenant Erica Ortegas was a female Human Starfleet operations division officer who lived during the mid-23rd century.

Ortegas was born in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia, on Earth, on May 23rd, 2233. She had one sibling, Fabola. She attended a middle school with a gym named for legendary pilot Travis Mayweather of the Enterprise NX-01, and considered herself a fan of his. During her time at Starfleet Academy, Ortegas would brag that she was going to be the best pilot ever to graduate the academy, a sentiment that would come to be heard by Captain Christopher Pike. She would also invent her own maneuvers, like "evasive pattern Ortegas Gamma Three".

Sometime after graduating from the Academy, Ortegas would go on to serve aboard the USS Palenque. For Starfleet Remembrance Day in 2259, she wore a pin memorializing the crewmates she had lost from this ship. During the Klingon War, Ortegas served with distinction on the front. She was stationed near the Prospero system.

By 2259, Ortegas was serving as the alpha shift pilot aboard the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. Ortegas' quarters were located on Deck 6, Section G, Room 629. Ortegas also took command of the Enterprise when Pike, Una, Spock, and La'an were not on the bridge. As the Enterprise's most skilled pilot, Ortegas was not often deployed on away missions.

Ortegas' deft piloting skills were called upon when Enterprise was attacked by the Shepherds, their vessel proving to be far more powerful and well-armed. Ortegas was able to evade incoming fire, and maneuver the ship between the Shepherds and M'hanit, an ancient asteroid that they considered sacred and would not risk harm to.

When Enterprise was ambushed by the Gorn near Finibus III, Ortegas was required to take the Enterprise into the atmosphere of a brown dwarf which was itself orbiting a black hole. Ortegas would later execute a dangerous high-speed maneuver around the black hole that allowed the Enterprise to escape, using gravitational redshift and an ejected atmospheric processor to trick the Gorn into thinking they had perished in the attempt.

When an alien consciousness from the Jonisian Nebula brought the fairy tale The Kingdom of Elysian to life on the Enterprise, Ortegas was used for the character of Sir Adya. Ortegas didn't remember the events after the ship was returned to normal.

Ortegas was a willing participant in acting Captain Spock's plan to steal the Enterprise from Starbase 1 to answer a distress call from La'an Noonien Singh, which warned of an anti-Federation threat on Cajitar IV.

Along with the rest of the crew, Ortegas lost her memories during a survey mission to Rigel VII. However, Ortegas was able to learn her name and role with the help of the main computer, and used her instinctive piloting ability to navigate the Enterprise to safety through a dangerous asteroid field.

Ortegas finally got her wish to join a landing party by piloting a disguised shuttle through a debris field to evade a Gorn attack ship over Parnassus Beta. In order to trick the Gorn into believing them to be space debris, Ortegas waited until the freefalling shuttle had descended to within 1500 meters of the planet's surface before restarting the shuttle's engines, a maneuver she had completed many times during the Klingon War. Ortegas was amused by Captain Pike's discomfort, as he had once been a test pilot himself.