Naomi Sakura (D5)

Naomi Sakura is the Commanding Officer of the Battlestar Helios in Wes Imlay's 'Battlestar Victorious' series.

Naomi Sakura was not even supposed to be in command of the Helios. Shortly before the secret weapons tests were to begin the commanding officer of the Helios, Commander Isaac Gates, died of a sudden heart attack. With little time to spare before the tests began, Admiral Scott Tolan promoted Sakura to Commander and brought in Colonel Jose Cordova of the battlestar Asgard to serve as her Executive Officer during the tests.

In the events of the Victorious series Sakura has shown that she is both a competent officer and a skilled leader. Tolan was so impressed with her that he promoted her to the rank of Rear Admiral and selected her to take over command of BSG-66 should he killed or incapacitated. Such a statement says plenty of the trust Tolan has in Sakura to lead should he be unable to.

Personal Life
Naomi Sakura was born Naomi Kanon forty-two years BTF on the colony of Picon, the second of four girls. Her father was a firefighter in the city of Kios while her mother was an accountant with the Gawain Financial Group. Sakura possessed a keen analytical mind, and a higher than average IQ. She excelled in school, and graduated top of her class at Morgen High School.

Sakura has a husband, Caprica City architect Ken Sakura, and a son named Chandler. It is revealed in Volume II that they are alive in the Galactica Ragtag Fleet but she has yet to discover this. Another thing learned about Sakura is that she is a workout warrior, stemming from an ankle injury suffered while a cadet at the Colonial Fleet Academy.

Military Career
Sakura did not attend flight school while at the Academy, instead she focused on Tactics. Her initial posting was not to a battlestar but instead to the light cruiser Pelagiad, holding the position of Tactical Officer until the cruiser was taken out of service the next year. Her next posting would be to the heavy cruiser Shyama, once again as Tactical Officer.

Her first tour on a battlestar would come when she was promoted to Lieutenant. She was assigned to the battlestar Archon as its Tactical Officer, during which she would earn her first commendation when the battlestar engaged a group of pirates from the Erabea. This mercenary group was under the command of its leader, Admiral Pierre Renoir. Sakura pointed out a tactic the pirates were using to attack the Archon that the commanding officer had missed, therefore keeping the battlestar from being damaged further.

Sakura would have an uneventful career as she moved up to Captain and was assigned to the battlestar Stryker and then the battlestar Triumph. When promoted to Major, she was assigned to the battlestar Jupiter.

She was stationed on the Jupiter when it had one of many fateful accidents. In this case, a collision with a tylium supertanker that left the Executive Officer unconscious and the Commander trapped and unable to get to the CIC. Sakura took command of the Jupiter and managed to direct the Jupiter away from the tanker and prevented further damage to both vessels.

Once again, she was given a commendation and this time was promoted to Colonel and given the position of Executive Officer of the Mercury-class battlestar Helios.