Keziah Nazir

‘Nazir’ – Symbiont Historical Data

The Nazir symbiont has lived for a total of 169 years in four previous hosts and is now with its fifth, Keziah. Nazir was first joined in 2225 to a male called Toran (20). Toran was an incredible athlete and spent a lot of time running and taking part in different athletic sports. He won many interplanetary competitions until he was beaten in his prized event, the 5000 meters by a young upstart in 2250 at the age of 45. Toran spent the next fifty-three years as a relative recluse, turning his hand to writing about the many events he had participated in. Toran died in 2303 at the age of 98, a bestselling author several times over and a father to two children.

The Nazir symbiont took the life experiences of Toran with it being transferred to its second host, Jennica, in 2303 when she was only 24. Jennica remains the youngest of the female hosts to date. Jennica was a Science Officer in Starfleet at the time of joining, one of the first few Trills to have been accepted to the Academy and graduate. She spent thirty long years travelling the stars and developing a keen understanding of astrophysics and quantum chemistry until her death in 2333 at the age of 54. Jennica died after being struck by an energy surge in the main Engineering bay of the Excelsior class USS Potemkin. The energy surges caused an isoboramine imbalance that put the Nazir symbiont at risk. The symbiont was removed and kept stable as it was returned to Trill for re-joining, but this resulted in Jennica’s death – a selfless act that Nazir has never forgotten.

By the time Nazir was joined with its third host in late 2333, the symbiont had already lived for 108 years years. The symbiont was transferred to its second female host, a short woman named Anya. Anya provided the Nazir symbiont with a strong sense of morality, but at the same time, every host since Anya has commented on how feisty and confident they have become after being joined with the symbiont. Anya and Nazir were joined for only 19 years, the shortest of all Nazir hosts. Anya was a trader, serving the trade routes near to Cardassian space when a deal with a Cardassian Gul went sour. Her ship was chased into the Badlands and once there, it was struck by an energy stream. The stream resulted in significant damage to the freighter and she limped out of the Badlands, only to run into a Federation Starship, the USS Manchester. The Freighter crew had suffered with injuries and Anya had been struck down by an exploding console. Her injuries were quite severe and the Manchester returned her to Trill. Whilst on Trill, the Cardassian Gul she had had problems with turned up and held her hostage at her home, refusing to let her leave. Anya was stabbed during an altercation and died instantly. The Nazir symbiont was close to death when it was eventually rescued and returned to the Caves of Mak’ala and the care of the Guardians.

After a few months of recuperation with the Guardians of Mak’ala, the symbiont was joined with its fourth host, Simen in 2352. The second male host for the symbiont, Simen was a quiet, tolerant man who enjoyed painting and the arts. He loved to dance and entertain people and in later life, he served as a composer of music and a choreographer. In his spare time, Simen would frequently visit the famous Hoobishan Baths and could be found hiking along the Tenaran Ice Cliffs. Simen Nazir died of heart complications in early 2376 at the age of just 48.

‘Keziah’ – Host Historical Data

In the year 2348, two unjoined Trill named Toran Desai and Malika Soren became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl they named Keziah. Both parents served Starfleet, some of the first Trill to do so, with both keeping the joining process secret from their colleagues due to the incredibly secretive nature of their species, despite having been members of the Federation for a number of years. Whilst Malika stayed at home to bring up the couple’s child, the Cardassian Border War threatened the Alpha Quadrant and saw Toran travel to the front and serve in most of the major engagements throughout the conflict.

By the time Keziah was nine, she had only seen her father four times. Not only did her relationship with her father suffer, but her parents’ relationship did too. The final straw came in 2358 as Malika finally had enough and left her estranged partner, taking Keziah with her to the Trill homeworld when she was accepted for a sought-after role with the Symbiosis Commission. Neither parent had ever been joined with one of the Trill symbionts, but both had always hoped that Keziah might become the first in their respective families to do so. Malika used her experience at the Commission to get information and share that with Keziah from a young age. The girl was seen to be quite happy at the idea, but deep down, she was quite apprehensive at the prospect of becoming joined. When she was old enough to fully understand the process of joining and what it meant to Trills in particular, Keziah’s apprehension grew further. There were only three hundred symbionts available most years and over five thousand people would apply to become a host – she faced an uphill battle to even be considered.

In 2361, for the first time in three years, Keziah saw her father again. A newly minted Lt Commander, Toran Desai was on the verge of completing command school. The meeting was tense, with the relationship between father and daughter having suffered greatly with the absence of her father over the previous years, so much so that when he eventually left for Starbase Four-Eleven, Keziah told her father she intended to be known as a Desai no longer and would take her mother’s name of Soren. On top of that, she announced that she wanted nothing more to do with him. It was a bittersweet moment for a such a grounded, well-educated child. Together with her mother and now using the name Keziah Soren, the young Trill plotted her future.

Shortly afterwards, Starfleet was rocked by news of an attack on a Federation colony at Setlik III. The Cardassian’s had attacked the colony under the belief that it was a staging ground for an attack on Cardassian territory, when in reality it was simply a home to civilians. The attack sparked massive protests against the Cardassian’s and calls for all-out war. During a near two-year lull in the conflict, Starfleet began beefing up defences and increasing the number of Starships at its disposal. It was during the early months of 2363 that Keziah learnt that her father had been given command of the USS Solaria, assigned very close to the Cardassian Border. At the same time, Starfleet morale was boosted by news that a new Starship Enterprise had been commissioned and would soon be among the stars. For Keziah, she made it her ambition to one day serve on the Enterprise but, at just 15 years of age, she still had some way to go. Inspired by her single mother who had managed to maintain a career and raise a child, Keziah worked diligently in her studies and the youngster began to pursue a career in Starfleet and practically put aside the idea of applying for joining.

As Keziah had grown up around Starfleet officers, it was only natural that she submitted her application to join Starfleet in 2364 at the age of 16. Whilst she encouraged her to reject enlisting in favour of joining the Trill science ministry, or even the Symbiosis Commission itself, Keziah was determined to pursue a career of choice and take her own path into adulthood. Her application was successful and she started her studies in the summer of ’64. Over the four years she served at the Academy, Keziah proved herself to be an able Cadet. Her studies included gaining a thorough understanding of atmospheric craft; a major in subspace field geometry and complex mathematics; a passable knowledge of space sciences; excelling in astrogation and system operations of flight consoles, and lastly, systems repairs at the level of a technician. Upon graduating in 2368, Ensign Soren joined the Nebula-class USS Sutherland whilst she was docked at Starbase 234 for repairs. Just weeks later, the young Ensign got her first taste of real action when Sutherland was attached to a blockade group under the command of the famous Jean-Luc Picard. The ship was one of twenty-three assembled for the fleet and was one of the seventeen chosen to form a tachyon network in an effort to detect cloaked Romulan vessels suspected of supporting the Duras family in the Klingon Civil War.

During the blockade, the Sutherland was hit by a massive tachyon pulse caused by the Romulans, which disabled the tachyon detection grid in a radius of ten million kilometers around the ship. Acting Captain Data disobeyed Captain Picard’s orders to regroup at Gamma Eridon and modified the Sutherland’s sensors to detect a residual tachyon signature around the cloaked Romulan ships. He then exposed the ships using modified low-yield photon torpedoes. It was an intense learning curve for the youngster, and she was fascinated by the Android during his short tenure on the ship.

In 2370, Keziah was serving as the Assistant Flight Operations Officer on the Sutherland under Captain Shelby, when news reached her of the destruction of the USS Odyssey in the Gamma Quadrant, with a powerful new foe known as the Dominion responsible. Aboard the Odyssey was her mother, temporarily assigned to the ship to support a Trill who had undergone the joining process. Keziah was heartbroken at the loss of her mother. Alone in a vast galaxy, the tragedy helped the Ensign to see that it was time to heal old wounds and reach out to her father aboard the Solaria which was still operating near the Romulan Border. Whilst their reunion meeting was ultimately postponed, the two began to share regular correspondence and both shared the desire to make amends for the events of the past.

In 2372, Keziah transferred to the USS Pittsburgh as the ship’s Chief Flight Controller, with the ship assigned to the fifth fleet near Vulcan. The Pittsburgh was soon reassigned, however, upon the outbreak of the brief, yet brutal Federation-Klingon war. As the Pittsburgh was re-assigned to DS9, so too was the USS Solaria. Biting the bullet, the junior Lieutenant finally reunited with her father for the first time since the age of thirteen. Their relationship went from strength to strength in the intervening months to the point that when the Solaria was re-assigned in late 2372 following the outbreak of the Dominion War, the two said an emotional goodbye at DS9.

Several months later, the Pittsburgh received word that Captain Desai had led a Battle Group against the Dominion with the Solaria and several other vessels engaged in combat, allowing several civilian transports to flee the Minos Korva system. The remnants of the Battle Group had retreated to DS9, bringing news that contact had been lost with Captain Desai, the Solaria and the colonies on Minos Korva. With all presumed lost, Keziah, now the only surviving member of both the Soren and Desai families, found it increasingly difficult to cope. After many sessions with the ships Counsellor, the youngster decided that it was time to honour the legacy of both her parents – she finally applied to the Symbiosis Commission for joining. Weeks passed before the Trill heard anything from the Commission, so long in fact that she had prepared herself for rejection, so she was pleasantly surprised to hear that she had been accepted. The decision panel at the Commission believed Keziah to be a more than suitable host, having shown great skill and dedication to her career and having graduated with honors in three subject areas.

With the war in full swing, Starfleet couldn’t afford to grant the young Trill leave to undergo the usual training at the Symbiosis Commission, so instead, she was transferred to the Akira-class USS Kensington. There, she worked under the tutelage of the ships XO, Commander Tolen Dar who had previously worked for the Commission as a Field Docent. For months, she underwent an intense series of exams and evaluations, both mental and physical, in order to determine her suitability for the joining process. It was ultimately determined that she was a calm, collected individual who had clearly thought of all the consequences of joining, despite the trauma of recent times. Tolan and Keziah spent several hours a night discussing different matters and why she wanted to be joined. Eventually, when the time was right, he was happy to give his recommendation that Keziah be joined. It was a massive relief to the youngster, but it would be a while before her dream became a reality.

The Kensington was involved in several engagements throughout late 2374 and early 2375 which kept the Trill away from the homeworld, and any hope of being joined for a while. Determined to go on the offensive following several demoralising defeats, Starfleet forces captured the Chin’toka system only to lose it again months later. But with a Cardassian rebellion going strong and threatening the Dominion stranglehold, the Federation Alliance pushed on and eventually, the Alliance succeeded in ending the war at the Battle of Cardassia. During the battle, the USS Kensington was heavily involved and destroyed over ten Cardassian and Dominion vessels before the Cardassians opted to switch sides. As the Dominion retreated into orbit of Cardassia the Kensington joined the allied fleet and engaged their enemies. After hours of fighting and with well over forty percent of the allied fleet lost, the Dominion surrendered and war was at last over.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Bajor several days later, the Kensington was one of several dozen Starships that remained in Cardassian space as an Occupation force. She searched for survivors and rendered aid and assistance on Cardassia itself. For Lieutenant Soren, the war had been costly and had left her without a family but the one thing she did have was a renewed sense of purpose. The end of the war finally presented her with the opportunity she craved; a symbiont was available and, due to her proximity to Trill, Keziah had been identified as the perfect host candidate.

Following a trek on the Tenaran Ice Cliffs, a Trill man named Simen Nazir was taken to the Symbiosis Commission suffering from heart pains. It was a worrying time for both Simen (the host) and Nazir (the symbiont) as heart problems couldn’t be linked to either being and were rare. The doctors at the Commission did as much research as they could, but fearing the worst, they began the process of identifying a new host – identifying Keziah as the prime candidate. Keziah was immediately sent for and she requested a leave of absence from the Kensington, which was granted. The next time she would set foot aboard the ship, she would, to all intents and purposes, be a different person.

Keziah spent two anxious days at the Commission, visiting her family home whilst she waited for news of the symbiont. Sadly, just as the doctors had anticipated, Simen’s host body began to reject the Nazir symbiont. The surgeons removed Nazir and returned the symbiont to the Caves of Mak’ala whilst the Guardians ascertained if Simen’s medical problems had affected the symbiont at all. It didn’t take long for the symbiont to be given the all clear and Keziah’s bittersweet journey neared an end. The joining process was relatively simple for the two beings and upon waking up, Keziah Soren ceased to exist, and in her place, Keziah Nazir was born.

At first, Keziah struggled like most newly joined Trill. Under the watchful eye and tutelage of the Guardians, she was taught how to control the memories and experiences she had inherited and was helped to come to terms with the changes in her personality. A once quiet, kind individual, Keziah had become a feisty, confident young woman who was not afraid to stand up for herself and others. After a month of work with the Guardians, Keziah was freed to go back to her duties and explore what it meant to be a joined Trill – but not without instructions to report in every two weeks for the first six months to ensure that everything was progressing as normal. With a full set of medical notes for the Medical staff on the Kensington, Keziah returned to the ship a new woman.

The first few months back on the Kensington were somewhat difficult as the crew, and Keziah herself, had to grow accustomed to the new personality traits she exhibited. Once things had settled, she found herself to be an even more competent officer, earning plaudits for her work and being granted promotion to full Lieutenant at last in mid-2377. With the rebuilding effort well underway within Cardassian space, and the 4th Fleet tasked with exploring abandoned territories, Keziah was later transferred to the USS Ushiro, a Saber-class escort assigned to patrol trade routes in Cardassian space alongside vessels of the Cardassian 7th Order. Whilst serving on the Ushiro, Lieutenant Nazir was tasked with preparing for the trials of command, assuming the role of Second Officer whilst waiting to return to the Academy to take part in the Advanced Command training program.

Her return came in mid-2379, with Keziah studying for several months, taking simulation after simulation and exam after exam until she faced the final challenge – the age-old Kobayashi Maru simulation. Like countless people before her, Keziah failed in saving the lives of those in her simulation, but ultimately proved herself worthy of command. A chance meeting at Starfleet Command gave Keziah the chance to follow in the footsteps of her father at last. Learning that the newly commissioned USS Thesis was at Utopia Planitia Fleetyards without much of a crew, Keziah put herself forward for the position of Executive Officer of the Intrepid-class vessel. Captain Noah Ramsey, a former colleague of her father, agreed to a meeting with the now Lieutenant Commander out of respect for her family. At the meeting, newly minted Lieutenant Commander Nazir acquitted herself admirably, vowing that if she were to be given the opportunity, she would prove herself to be just as worthy of the job as she had proven herself when applying for the joining process. Impressed, Ramsey appointed the Lieutenant Commander as his new Executive Officer and began tutoring the the woman for command.

Thesis was assigned to Task Force 21 of the 4th Fleet and carried out a large number of border patrol and convoy escort duties along the Chakilian Border of the Beta Quadrant. The Intrepid-class starship played a significant part in the rescue of survivors from the destruction of the USS Miranda at the hands of Chakilian forces in 2382, and Keziah herself was instrumental in the rescue of the ship’s Captain, James Ryan. For her efforts, Keziah was promoted to the rank of Commander.

In 2383, Thesis was part of a joint Federation-Klingon Battle Group that was tasked with defeating a Chakilian House that had been evicted from their government. In the battle that took place, reminiscent of something out of the Dominion War, the Thesis crew acquitted themselves well, but eventually, the ship succumbed to the wounds sustained in combat and was lost. Nazir and many of the ship’s crew were rescued by Captain Ryan of the new USS Miranda, a role reversal from just several months earlier.

Following the customary inquiry regarding the loss of a starship, Captain Ramsey and Commander Nazir were both cleared to return to duty and, after a short period of shore leave, they were soon back in the command seat, this time aboard the USS Victorious, a Galaxy-class explorer. The Victorious was a significant step up in terms of the Commander’s career, but no one could predict the tragedy that would shape her career path moving forward. Together, the pair would oversee the ship’s latest refit at Earth’s Spacedock.

In 2385, it was discovered that a Romulan sun would soon become a supernova, destroying the planets Romulus and Remus as well as other planets, and killing at least nine hundred million Romulans. After a series of tense negotiations, the Romulan Star Empire requested aid from the United Federation of Planets, and Admiral Jean-Luc Picard convinced Starfleet to mobilize a massive rescue armada — “ten thousand warp-capable ferries” — to aid in the evacuation efforts. The armada was being constructed at Utopia and in orbit of Mars when, on First Contact Day, multiple A500 synthetic androids at Utopia Planitia, suddenly went rogue. They lowered the deflector shields protecting the shipyards and the planet itself and hacked the Martian defense net. Moments thereafter, numerous synth ships began targeting the rescue armada, the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, and the Mars Orbital Facility. The satellite network surrounding Mars was turned against the surface and the synths began bombarding the surface, igniting flammable vapors in the stratosphere and causing massive damage to the planet’s infrastructure.

Keziah could do nothing but watch from her place aboard the Victorious whilst Starfleet dispatched a task force to Mars at high warp in response to the attack, the Galaxy-class ship in no state to render any assistance.

With the destruction of the Romulan rescue armada, the operation was in tatters. Admiral Picard submitted a plan to replace the lost ships with mothballed vessels from Beta Antares Shipyards and the 40 Eridani Starfleet Construction Yards. Instead of pushing forward with a revised operation, the Federation abandoned its promise to aid the Romulan evacuation, a decision that shocked Picard, and caused dozens of resignations. Many aboard the Victorious felt the new, inward focused mandate Starfleet and the Federation adopted was required for the dangerous times they now found themselves in, but not Keziah. Naturally, as XO of the Victorious, she supported Command and her commanding officer, but in private, she gave serious consideration to resignation herself. Starfleet had changed, and the Trill wasn’t sure she wanted any part of it. 

Eventually, Victorious returned to space and began a tour of duty near the Romulan border. Even at her age, such a vessel showed the strength that Starfleet was willing to exert to defend their borders, whilst showing the importance they placed on the situation that threatened to blow up in everyone’s faces. And blow up it did, as just over a year later, Keziah and her friends watched on in horror once again as the disaster that had been predicted unfolded much sooner than anyone could have possibly anticipated.

In mid ’87, the Hobus Star, located deep into Romulan Territory, did indeed go supernova, causing a massive shockwave that destroyed several key planets, effectively decimating the entire Empire. Despite a lack of appetite from the Romulan government, Victorious was involved in several early relief missions along the former Neutral Zone until the Romulans ordered Starfleet forces assisting them to leave Romulan space. With relations at an all-time low, and the Empire in tatters, Victorious was briefly reduced to border patrols and escort duties in a move that felt like a return to the 2360’s when the Empire first came out of isolation. In just shy of two decades since the war, the quadrant had changed beyond recognition.

The Cardassian Union and the Federation were becoming close friends and tensions were rising with the Klingons, who were desperate for a return to the old ways and thus, had begun a conflict with the Gorn. The Romulan Empire had been replaced by the Free State, yet factions continued to vie for power in different sectors of Romulan space. All the while, Starfleet exploration operations had become limited, and in less scope than before as the great union of planets threatened to tear itself apart from within.

Thankfully, by the time her tour on the Victorious had come to a close, Starfleet seemed to believe that the Commander had done enough to warrant a position as Captain of her own vessel. Transferring to Starbase Four in the Mellstoxx system, Nazir was pleasantly surprised to find that she had the privilege of commanding one of the brand new Inquiry-class starships. In a twist of fate, the ship she was to command had been named Thesis, with her predecessor retired following clashes along the Klingon border.

Thesis remained in construction until the end of 2391. After a brief ceremony, the ‘pocket battleship’ as she had been called, launched for her year long shakedown cruise. Although officially still undergoing testing, Thesis would spend an inordinate amount of her shakedown operating along the Romulan border. Whilst many refugee ships (and even some military) tried to enter Federation space, the presence of the Thesis caused them to tuck tail and run in the opposite direction.

Officially designated as in ‘active service’ by the end of 2392, Thesis spent almost seven years seemingly travelling across the length and breadth of Federation space, visiting every hotspot, every pirate haven, every potential danger zone. Along the way, Nazir continued to cement her own reputation as an effective leader, trusted with some of Starfleet’s most dangerous missions. Where there was a fire to put out, or embers threatening to combust into something bigger, Thesis would often show up. It was this legacy that saw the Captain headhunted for a new posting some eight years later.

In the weeks following the Blood Dilithium crisis in the Delta Quadrant, Nazir was summoned to Starbase 38 where an inquiry was taking place into the death of Captain Tharia sh’Elas of the Starship Ulysses. sh’Elas had apparently been murdered by a refugee rescued from a Devore prison camp. Intelligence obtained from the crew of Ulysses, coupled with data gathered by Starfleet Intelligence itself, pointed to a possible identity of the Captain’s murderer, or their species at least. With a probable location identified as some distance beyond the Typhon Expanse, Starfleet planned to dispatch the USS Hathaway, a newly complete Sagan-class starship to investigate and, if possible, make proper first contact with the species. Starfleet Starfleet Intelligence wanted a commanding officer in place who could make tough calls if first contact was the failure many predicted, with Keziah as their preferred choice, but her appointment was witheld, with Command opting instead to appoint Captain Vasoch Gor to command the ship.

Unwilling to accept any sort of demotion or posting she felt ‘beneath’ her, and fuming at the mere insinuation that she should take on a desk job, Keziah was all set to be granted a period of leave, when a last minute adjustment to her plans saw the Trill dragged to the offices of Starfleet Intelligence on a unique assignment.