Sylvia Tilly's History
Sylvia Tilly was an ambitious female Human Starfleet officer who lived during the mid-23rd century. She served aboard the USS Discovery while still a cadet in 2256, later commissioned as an ensign.
Tilly was born in 2233 on Earth. She was raised by her mother Siobhan, a member of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, whom Tilly described as a "hardass" who refused to compromise, and whose presence was infrequent during Tilly's childhood. Siobhan had planned for her daughter to join the Diplomatic Corps as well, but Tilly ultimately chose to join Starfleet instead.
Tilly attended Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, and used to study under a particular tree popular among cadets. She rated herself as the best theoretical engineer at the Academy, and was fast-tracked in order to serve aboard the Discovery, where she served in engineering.
Tilly initially had quarters of her own due to her "special needs", since she was allergic to polyester and viscoelastic polyurethane foam, which caused her to snore.
In November of 2256, she participated in her first away mission, investigating the crew's deaths aboard the USS Glenn.
Although often socially awkward, Tilly came out of her shell in certain settings, such as the party held on Discovery, even showing aptitude at 20th century beer pong. During the event, Tilly rebuked romantic advances from Lieutenant Rhys. Paradoxically, Tilly also became a social mentor of sorts to Michael Burnham and facilitated her introduction to future romantic interest, Ash Tyler.
In 2257, in recognition for her role in ending the Federation-Klingon War, Tilly was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor. She received her officer's commission as an ensign and was placed on the command track. Tilly continued to serve on the Discovery, under the temporary command of Captain Christopher Pike. She participated in the Command Training Program during this time, a "terrible mistake" according to her mother. Later the same year, Tilly volunteered to stay on the Discovery and accompany Burnham when she took the ship forward in time to the 32nd century, with no chance to return. She recorded a farewell message to her mother before she embarked on the journey. Tilly, along with the rest of the volunteering Discovery crew, was presumed dead by Starfleet, based on the testimonies of the USS Enterprise senior staff.
During the 32nd century, when the Discovery first arrived, Tilly went on an away mission with Saru to find components needed to repair the ship at The Colony. After Burnham was demoted due to insubordination by Saru, Tilly was offered the job of first officer and expressed her worried about taking the job to Stamets. At first, Stamets was not very reassuring to her and later gathered several members of the crew to express their support for her taking the position.
Following the hijacking and retaking of Discovery, Tilly continued as the ship's first officer under Captain Burnham and was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade for her actions. Several months later in 3190, Tilly and Ensign Adira Tal were sent to assist Commander Nalas and his crew aboard Deep Space Repair Beta Six.
Under the guidance of Dr. Hugh Culber, Tilly began exploring outside of her "comfort zone", such as eating foods she disliked (particularly macaroni and cheese and Rigelian rutabagas), sleeping in different positions, and taking longer walks to the bridge, as well as volunteering to help Saru water the plants in his quarters. Motivated by a desire to help her find something "meaningfully unusual" to do, Saru recommended that she accompany Captain Burnham on a mission with the Qowat Milat to track down the rogue nun J'Vini. She later related these activities to Culber as "baby steps", wanting something more challenging.
Culber had been approached by Dr. Kovich, working as a consultant for the newly-reopened Starfleet Academy, looking for a member of Discovery's crew to lead a group of cadets in a team-building exercise. Culber recommended Tilly, with Adira Tal accompanying her at his suggestion in order to work on their own team-building skills. Despite initial resistance by the cadets and being stranded on a dangerous Class L ice moon, Tilly was successfully able to convince the cadets to work together and survive. Upon her return to Federation Headquarters, Kovich offered Tilly a teaching position at Starfleet Academy. Re-examining her career path and the events that had occurred in her life, Tilly chose to accept.
When debris from the DMA began to hit Earth, Tilly and several cadets assisted Admiral Vance and the crew of the USS Federation in evacuating the planet. Tilly stayed with Vance aboard the Federation and reinforced Earth's shields. Fortunately, Discovery was able to convince Species 10-C to stop the DMA. Tilly later returned to Discovery to celebrate their mission's success in the crew lounge.
