Niali Cri'oses

Niali Vastre Cri’oses was born in 2368 and lived in the Betazed sector for much of her life. She and her family were on Betazed during the Dominion Occupation. She was six at the time, and her parents spirited her away to safety before they joined the resistance. She was born and raised by natural fighters, and it was only inevitable that she become one herself.

A gifted student, Cri had dreamed of joining Starfleet since seeing the Fleet retake Betazed. The heroics she personally witnessed left an indelible mark on her. One that would last a lifetime, and she put all of her natural talents into achieving that goal. Though there came a time when she felt her skills needed to be put into use immediately, that she could not wait any longer. She decided that she would join the Evacuation fleet as soon as possible.

In 2385, she enlisted as a shuttle pilot in the Evacuation Fleet. She was aboard a transport ship on Federation Day when the Synth Attack on Mars occured. By all accounts, she was as swift in action as any of the officers aboard the transport vessel she was restocking that day. Her quick action enabled her to personally save five crewmen from the disaster, and she was able to open sealed hangar doors that would have condemned the small crew to certain death. Her co-pilot was able to beam her to safety as the shuttle escaped the carnage – but not before Cri was critically wounded.

The young woman, not even eighteen yet at the time, gained the attention of Starfleet immediately – though she spent nearly a year in a coma afterward. When she woke up, she was a different person. Much of her left arm and left leg had been destroyed, along with parts of her back and torso, and additional damage to other parts of her body. She didn’t remember what happened during the rescue – but she was close to a blast from a Synth commandeered fighter when it hit her transport. While the shuttle and crewmembers were able to beam her safely aboard – a lot of her never made it.

She spent nearly two years in recovery at Starfleet Medical – long enough that her family packed up and moved to Earth to be closer. To her credit, Cri never seemed to give up any sort of her personality due to the trouble. Her entire stay, she was more worried about Romulus and the Evacuation Fleet than she was with her own recovery, all but demanding to get back to help.

As she recovered, Starfleet offered her a place at the Academy – a chance to be an officer rather than her original enlisted ranking. She jumped at the option, and as soon as she recovered, she went straight into training.

In 2389 she officially enrolled in Starfleet Academy. She chose to take a long course. She originally planned on going into science and medical – likely due to her time in rehabilitation – but after a couple of years studying there a professor noticed her constant fascination and tinkering with her cybernetics and asked her to audit a new professor’s engineering course with him. The professor’s instinct was right. She had a natural talent for engineering, and a fascination with it she hadn’t admitted to before.

It was 2391 when she shifted to Engineering, and she never looked back. She finished her primary engineering training in 2394, served aboard her cadet vessel, and then spent the next few years jumping to ships that needed her as a junior engineer – earning a reputation for determination above and beyond most in her situation, and a refusal to give up on a ship even in the worst situations.