Kira Nerys

Kira Nerys was a female Bajoran in the 24th century. Kira lived on Bajor in the Cardassian occupation and was a member of the Bajoran Resistance. When the Cardassians withdrew she joined the Bajoran Militia and when Bajor joined the Federation in 2376 she transferred to Starfleet at the rank of Captain, in command of Federation Starbase Deep Space 9 and the Starship USS Defiant.

Childhood and the Resistance
Kira was born in November 2343 in the Dahkur Province of Cardassian occupied Bajor to Kira Taban and Kira Meru. Kira and her brothers were often cared for by Tir Ramara a woman Taban took into the family after her own family were killed by the Cardassians. The Kira family received extra rations to compensate for Meru being taken to Terok Nor to serve as one of Skrain Dukat's comfort women. When Tir Ramara found out about these extra rations (but not why the family was receiving them) she stole them and gave them to the resistance to be given to those more needy. When Taban caught her, she accused him of being a traitor and ran away. The Kiras were subsequently forced to give up their additional rations to avoid being hounded as collaborators. Nerys held this against Tir for years to come. Growing up, Nerys learned about the Bajoran Prophets from close family friend Prylar Istani Reyla. This was beginning of Kira's life-long faith in the Prophets and their love for the Bajoran people. Kira joined the Shakaar Resistance Cell when she was only twelve, and spent most of her early time with the cell running errands and cleaning weapons. In 2357, just after her fourteenth birthday, Nerys and the Shakaar cell liberated the labor camp at Gallitep before the now-depleted mine laborers could be slaughtered by Gul Darhe'el, the Cardassian overseer. Nerys and her cell accomplished this infiltrating the Bajoran science ministry and accessing their transporter system, allowing the cell to bypass the camp's formidable security system and later transport the Bajoran laborers out. While at the ministry, Nerys managed to destroy the files on a prototype defense system that would allow the Cardassians to track and destroy any unauthorized Bajoran air-traffic. (TLE - Terok Nor novel: Night of the Wolves) In 2366, she snuck aboard the quarantined space station Terok Nor to gather information on the Double Helix virus that was infecting the station. She later assisted the Starfleet medical team, which was allowed to travel to the station by the station master, Gul Skrain Dukat, by finding the source of the virus on the surface of the planet Bajor. In 2367, she infiltrated the Plin Syndicate criminal organization at the Doblana Arctic Base on Bajor in order to kidnap Cardassian Glinn Gundar. The operation cost the life of Kira's brother, Kira Reon, whose sacrifice gained the resistance a chip which enabled them to monitor all Cardassian communications on Bajor.

The Emissary and the Federation
After the Cardassian withdrawal in 2369, the Bajoran Provisional Government asked for relief efforts from the United Federation of Planets, who took over command of Terok Nor and re-christened the station Deep Space 9. Kira was assigned to the space station as first officer under the command of then-Commander Benjamin Sisko with rank of Major. At first, Kira did not care for Sisko or the Federation, believing them to be no different from the Cardassians. It was only after the discovery by Sisko of the Celestial Temple of the Prophets (also known as the Bajoran Wormhole), and the revelation from Kai Opaka Sulan that Sisko was the foretold Emissary of the Prophets, that Kira warmed up to the Federation. In 2370 Kira commanded the runabout USS Amazon on a mission to rescue a Horta, Ttan, who had been kidnapped by the Cardassians. Kira used her knowledge of Cardassian tactics to great effect on the mission, but also had to adapt her techniques to Starfleet team functions, working hard to be less impulsive. In 2371, Kira helped her old resistance cell leader, Shakaar Edon, ascend to the office of First Minister following a brief civil uprising when kai Winn Adami threatened to plunge Bajor into a civil war in a dispute over soil reclamators. When the war with the Dominion and their new allies in the Cardassian Union started in late 2373, and the Federation was forced to evacuate the Bajoran sector, Kira stayed aboard the station and started a new resistance movement that helped the Federation retake Bajor and the station. In late 2374, Kira was promoted to colonel and given command of Deep Space 9, when Sisko took an extended leave of absence on Earth. Kira learned about the responsibilities of the captain's chair by standing down a Romulan fleet, intent on placing weapons on a Bajoran moon. Kira resumed her duties as first officer when Sisko returned. In late 2375, Kira was granted a Starfleet field commission to the rank of commander. Along with Constable Odo (with whom she was having a romantic relationship) and the Cardassian exile Elim Garak, she traveled covertly to Dominion -occupied Cardassian space in order to help Cardassian Legate Corat Damar form a Cardassian resistance to Dominion occupation. The group eventually found itself on Cardassia in the final days of the war. After the war, Captain Sisko ascended from linear existence and joined with the Prophets and command of DS9 was again granted to Kira.

Commander of DS9
In April of 2376 the station was attacked by a group of rogue Jem'Hadar. The ships were destroyed in battle but several Jem'Hadar were able to beam aboard the station. One, Kitana'klan, was discovered by the station's science officer Shar, and claimed to have been sent to the station by Odo as an envoy from the Dominion. This was not the case, an envoy had been sent, Taran'atar, but he remained shrouded so that he might track down the rest of the rogues to prevent them destroying the station. Kitana'klan's lies were eventually revealed when he attacked his guards and made his way to the stations fusion core to try and destroy Deep Space 9. Kira and a security team followed close behind and in the ensuing conflict Kira was severely injured by Kitana'klan - she broke two ribs, fractured her humerus and received a severe concussion which bruised her right temporal lobe, she was fortunate not to have suffered any permanent damage. Kira managed to stay conscious just long enough for Taran'atar and Elias Vaughn to help her get to a station and issue the command to separate the fusion core from the station, just in time to prevent its explosion from destroying the entire facility.

Ohalu and Attainment
Also in April of 2376, Istani Reyla was murdered aboard the station after removing a book of prophecies from the ancient ruins of B'hala. The prophecies, written by the heretic Ohalu, were more accurate than any accepted prophecies, but were considered heretical by the Vedek Assembly for their description of the Prophets as teachers rather than Gods. The Vedek Assembly wanted the book suppressed at any cost. Kira, believing that the Bajoran people could handle another interpretation of the Prophets' teachings, uploaded the entire book onto the Bajoran comnet. The next day she took an Orb experience with the Orb of Memory which inspired her to visit B'hala where she uncovered a massive tomb, the proof of one of the prophecies. Despite her finding this tomb the Vedeks still considered the prophecies heretical and for her act of defiance, the Assembly, at the behest of Vedek Yevir Linjarin, had Kira Attained. As such, Kira was forbidden to enter any Bajoran temple, read any prophecies, look into an Orb, pray with other Bajorans, or even to wear her earring. During the Gateways Crisis, Kira lead the evacuation efforts at the world of Europa Nova when a Gateway leading to the Delta Quadrant emitted a radiation that was poisoning the planet's atmosphere. She and Taran'atar then traveled through the Gateway to encounter the Malon tanker that was dumping radioactive waste through the portal. There, she and Taran'atar found the Malon crew dead, killed by a Hirogen hunter. While Taran'atar battled the Hirogen, Kira erected a force-field generator that protected Europa Nova from further pollution. After being forced to travel through another Gateway, Kira received a vision of ancient Bajor from the Prophets, which further convinced her that releasing the Ohala prophecies was the right thing to do, and also allowed her to step out from Captain Sisko's shadow as station commander. Kira's Attainder created a schism in the Bajoran religion, with a new religious sect, the Ohaluvaru arising under the leadership of Vedek Solis Tendron. The Ohalavaru attempted to recruit Kira, but she retained her own faith. It was only after Kira saved the Orbs of the Prophets from alien Parasites at the monastery at Ashalla, and after former Kai Opaka Sulan appealed to Vedek Yevir on her behalf, that Kira was welcomed back into the Bajoran faith. ===Federation Membership=== In June, Kira was contacted by First Minister Shakaar during a tour of Federation worlds about the renewed efforts for Bajor being admitted in into the United Federation of Planets and formalizing peace with the Cardassian Union. When the peace process with Cardassians was seemingly being blocked by Shakaar's Second Minister Asarem Wadeen, Kira learned from Asarem that it was Shakaar himself, behind the scenes, that was preventing the peace proceedings from succeeding. Both Kira and Asarem found Shakaar's behavior puzzling and out of character, and could not explain his actions. In August, as Shakaar prepared to thumb the agreement that would bring the world of Bajor into the Federation, he was murdered on the station's promenade by Trill security officer Hiziki Gard. It was soon discovered that Shakaar's psyche had been consumed by an alien parasite that was hoping to use Bajor as a base in their species aggressions toward the planet Trill. Kira's Starfleet rank of Commander was re-activated by Admiral Leonard James Akaar, and she was attached to the USS Gryphon in pursuit of the killer. Soon after, the ship was commandeered by a parasite that inhabited the body of the ships first officer, Commander Alejandro Montenegro. The Montenegro-parasite killed Captain Elaine Mello, and set course for Trill. Before dying, Captain Mello transferred command of the Gryphon to Kira. Kira then took command of the ship, and defeated the parasite before the ship could launch an attack on Trill. During the Parasite crisis, Kira tracked the Parasites to the monastery at Ashalla, home of former Kai, Opaka Sulan. With aid of Odo, who had recently returned to the Alpha Quadrant, Kira infiltrated the monastery and confronted the queen parasite in the vault containing the Orbs. Kira flung open all of the Orbs' arks at once, unleashing the power of the Celestial Temple on the queen which acted to defeat the queen by removing her from the linear plane and assist in the return to linear existence of Captain Sisko. Bajor finally officially entered the Federation a few weeks after the Parasite threat was ended on September 29th, 2376. Kira was prepared to relinquish command of the station to Sisko, but Sisko refused, opting instead to take a leave of absence and spend time with his wife, son and new daughter on Bajor.

Captain Kira
Kira Nerys became a Starfleet captain, in command of Federation starbase Deep Space 9 and the starship USS Defiant, after the integration of the Bajoran Milita by Starfleet after Bajor's induction into the United Federation of Planets. On the final day of the year, Kira was stabbed through the heart by the Jem'Hadar observer, Taran'atar, who was being controlled by an outside force. As Dr. Julian Bashir struggled to save Kira's life by replacing her destroyed natural heart with an artificial replacement, the comatose Kira experienced another vision sent to her by the Prophets. The vision foretold of the coming threat of the Ascendants and of Bajor's need to find allies in the coming battle with them. Kira also gained insight into the minds of the Eav'oq, a race from the Idran system on the other side of the wormhole that also had a relationship with the Prophets. In the end, Kira accepted her role as the Hand of the Prophets and her place in the coming ordeal.

Vedek Kira
Kira resigned as commander of Deep Space Nine in 2378 so she could join the Bajoran Religious Order following her experiences with Iliana Ghemor and the Ascendants. During her studies, Kira quickly rose through the ranks and reached the level of Vedek in only three years, which was previously considered to be impossible. In 2381, Kira met with Benjamin Sisko following his visiting a monastery on Bajor to consult the Orb of Prophecy and Change. Kira spoke with him about his decision to rejoin Starfleet following his retirement, Elias Vaughn, and her appointment to the rank of Vedek. Kira commented that many felt she had achieved so much so quickly because of her close association with the Emissary of the Prophets, which upset Sisko. Benjamin revealed to her that he felt that the Prophets had abandoned him because he left the Celestial Temple. Kira assured him that the Prophets still walked with him and that he had to have faith, but he rebuffed her and said that he had to walk alone. He informed her of his decision to leave Kasidy Yates and she told him that she would be there for him whenever he needed to talk; however, Sisko had resolved himself to cut his attachment to others including Vedek Kira.

Alternate versions
In the mirror universe, Kira Nerys was the Intendant of Terok Nor. In the "Track A" universe, a Bajoran woman "named Kara, or something like that" was the cellmate of Lieutenant Commander William T. Riker, at a joint Romulan/Cardassian prison colony. In an alternate universe, accessed by an interdimensional Androssi device, Kira Nerys was commander of the Bajoran assault vessel Li, who solicited the help of Starfleet Captain David Gold of the USS Gettysburg in finding the prophesied Celestial Temple, in hopes its discovery would preclude a formal treaty between the Bajoran Assembly and the Cardassian Union.