Captain V'Rel was a Vulcan who served as the commanding officer of the Federation starship USS Farragut during the mid-23rd century. She was skilled at three-dimensional chess and played ongoing games with her first officer, Lieutenant Commander James T. Kirk, who was often frustrated by her "by-the-book" command style.

In 2261, the Farragut was assigned to conduct a planetary survey of Helicon Gamma. V'Rel rejected Kirk's proposal to send an away team to the surface, as she believed that geological instability posed an unwarranted risk. Before the debate could go any further, the planet was suddenly devastated by a powerful gravitational beam from a massive scavenger ship. The Farragut was heavily damaged by planetary debris; V'Rel suffered a cranial contusion when she was thrown from her command chair and was taken to sickbay, leaving Kirk in command. This experience gave Kirk a new appreciation for his captain, knowing her refusal of his earlier proposal had saved the lives of the crew.

After the USS Enterprise arrived to render assistance, Nurse Christine Chapel had V'Rel evacuated there for an emergency craniectomy. However, this meant that she was aboard the Enterprise when it was taken by the scavenger ship, leaving Kirk as acting captain. Doctor Joseph M'Benga later reported that she would make a full recovery. (SNW: "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail")

After the Farragut was fully repaired, V'Rel permitted Kirk to take the ship to Skygowan and aid the Enterprise against the Vezda, despite Starfleet's orders not to interfere. Kirk explained that V'Rel believed she owed the Enterprise crew for saving her life, noting that it was "not very Vulcan of her, but she's learning", suggesting that V'Rel had begun to learn to relax her by-the-books command style. V'Rel watched as Kirk and Spock used a Vulcan mind meld to control their two ships with perfect synchrony. (SNW: "New Life and New Civilizations")