Tahna Meru
| USS Gorkon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tahna Meru | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Science Officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Species | Bajoran | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Female | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DOB | 237510.10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age | 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace | Deep Space Nine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
“Somewhere in space hangs my heart, shaking in the void.”
| ||
Lieutenant Commander Tahna Meru is currently serving as a Science Officer aboard the USS Gorkon.
Personal Details
- Full Name: Tahna Meru
- Date of Birth (Age): 237510.10 (24 years)
- Species: Bajoran
- Gender: Female (she/her/hers)
Appearance
- Height: 5'5" // 1.65m
- Weight: 132lbs // 60kg
- Hair Color: Dark brown (almost black), shoulder-length and wavy. Usually braided when she's working, loose when she's off-duty.
- Eyes: Dark brown
- Build: Fit
- Voice: Gentle, soft-spoken. Her Bajoran is marked by a provincial Kendra accent.
- Scars: Small scar on her right middle finger from a mishap on her uncle’s farm when she was 10.
- Handedness: Right
- Taste in Clothing (when off duty): Comfortable, loose-fitting "rustic" clothes in muted colors. Still dresses like she's out in the Bajoran countryside, probably always will.
Personality
- Habits/Mannerisms: Fidgets with things around her to stay focused.
- Religion/Spiritual Devotion: Follower of the Prophets, but not the best at it. The Bajoran religious tradition means a lot to her, but she has less faith in the Prophets as deific beings than she used to.
- Mental problems (complexes and phobias): Dyscalculia.
- Personality: Generally optimistic, somewhat introverted.
- Hobbies and Pastimes:
- Reading: She has a growing collection of physical books she studies and rereads regularly, however she typically reads on her PADD for convenience’s sake.
- Botany: She has time spent on her uncle’s farm growing up to thank for her love of plant life. She cultivates several species of native Bajoran flowers and other plants in her quarters.
- Likes:
- Flora and fauna: She grew up on a farm but was never allowed to have pets, so she's got a fondness for plants and animals that extends beyond her scientific interests.
- Coffee: "Raktajino, extra sweet with kava." ...so maybe she doesn't actually like coffee, she just likes sugar, but there's nothing wrong with that!
- Literature: Especially poetry, from all around the galaxy.
- Bajoran folk music: In another life, she might have been a singer. In this one, her serenades are confined to the walls of her sonic shower.
- Speed: Alieth took her racing once, and the experience was both terrifying and invigorating.
- Dislikes:
- Crowds: She's never been fond of them, she finds them overwhelming.
- Public transportation: She was caught in a bus bomb on Darime IV, instilling an extreme distrust of similar public transit systems.
- Loud noises: Surely this has nothing to do with all those explosions she's been caught in.
Background
Meru was born in 2375 and spent her early childhood on Deep Space Nine where her mother was posted with the Bajoran militia, though her family made frequent visits and eventually moved to her uncle’s farm in Bajor's Kendra Province to accommodate her father's progressing disability. Meru had no siblings so she cherished time spent with her two younger cousins on the farm. She spent her spare time reading about distant planets and pestering her mother into letting Meru shadow her on her visits to the space station, solidifying her desire to one day join Starfleet despite her parents' reservations.
Meru has dyscalculia and as a result, failed the math portion of the Starfleet Academy entrance exam the first time she took it. She retook it the next year after more intensive study and passed, entering the Academy at age 19. At the Academy, she was a bit of an overachiever (and more than a bit of a troublemaker). Initially, her track was pre-med, and she planned to continue on to Starfleet Medical Academy and become a doctor. In her final years at the Academy, she realized she was too impatient to stay planetbound for another four years. She did not apply to the medical academy, and graduated with specialties in exobiology and astronomy, before taking her first assignment on the USS Gorkon.
Relationships
| Starfleet | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Family |
|---|
|
Mission History
USS Gorkon 
Upon graduation from Starfleet Academy, Ensign Tahna Meru was posted to the USS Gorkon as a science officer.
- Operation Q-Ball - Stardate 239801.20 to 239802.02
Her first mission on board the Gorkon, she was ordered to stay with the shuttle and keep an eye out. What could go wrong? Theeda. Theeda could go wrong. After being drugged and spending a brief stint as a prisoner of war, she was rescued (and further drugged) by Lieutenant Commander Jocelyn Marshall and Ensign Sarah Phillips. Their attempts to distract Theeda from the Latinum Beluga resulted in the first of many explosions that would haunt Tahna's career. Her capture and feeling of relative uselessness on this mission caused her to begin questioning her decision to join Starfleet.
- What Do Boys Dream - Stardate 239803.23 - 239806.18
Waking up in a Cardassian prison cell, Tahna "Greenhorn" Meru joined her maquis compatriots in finding a way out and back to the Skarbek. Her team retrieved manual actuators, attempted to remedy a problem with the power supply, had the floor cave in on them following an explosion, and eventually befriended a sentient slime they named Roomba (after an old folk character) before they were rescued. Upon waking to reality, and learning of the Gorkon's history of shared Skarbek delusions, she joined many of the crew in seeking mental health treatment on Deluvia IV. She struggled with guilt and post-traumatic stress, and considered resigning her commission after two terrible experiences in one year. Her therapist and superiors convinced her to give it another go before leaving.
- The Pelian Brief - Stardate 239808.28 to 239811.18
Ensign Tahna Meru, Commander Samira Neathler, and Lieutenant Cory Stoyer joined Agent Lynas to investigate when Bisul, a Pelian religious leader, was found murdered in his study. They discovered a hidden grotto, mysterious scrolls, and a forbidden love triangle. During their investigation, they were caught in a bus bombing, before they uncovered and put a stop to a massive conspiracy. Meanwhile (unbeknownst to her) Tahna's best friend, Cadet Ico Ena, was trapped in a cave under the very same planet. The successful completion of this mission convinced Tahna to retain her commission in Starfleet, as she realized that she was really in Starfleet to help others, not to help herself.
- Shadows of the Rift - Stardate 239901.27 to 239904.22
The USS Gorkon picked up garbled distress signals from the USS Triumphant with their last known location attached, located deep within a subspace bubble—possibly a Tyken's Rift. Lieutenant J.G. Tahna Meru joined Lieutenant Commander Samira Neathler's team to investigate a drifting escape pod for clues, but she and her team were thrown around the cargo bay by a mysterious force that forced them to confront their fears. She was first reassigned to Commander Jona ch'Ranni's team, which attempted to fix the power drain in engineering. They were reassigned to a search and rescue mission and joined by Ensign Bryce Tagren-Quinn when a hole was blown in the side of the Gorkon. Despite extensive damage to Deck 8 and unreliable sensors, her group was able to rescue several survivors, including Ensign Tzim-Shah, Lieutenant JG Vorin, and Lieutenant Valesha Sienelis.
- Rogue World - Stardate 239908.15 to 239911.26
A rogue moon mysteriously appeared in the Tyrellian system, on a collision course with Palanon. Freshly-promoted Lieutenant Tahna Meru joined Admiral Quinn Reynolds's team on the Bridge in investigating the rogue moon and its origins. They were investigating the possibility that the moon might be sent back through a transwarp conduit via a series of tachyon pulses when the USS Kerla returned to the Gorkon with inconclusive lifesigns. Admiral Reynolds, Lieutenant Commander Ayiana Sevo, and Lieutenant Gnaxac were investigating the runabout when they were thrown back in time to the Gorkon's time "Over There." They devised a plan to inject the ship's bio-neural circuitry with a chroniton-infused serum in order to return to the present. Upon their successful return, were able to send the tachyon pulses necessary to send the rogue moon home, while shielding the inhabited planets in the system from further damage.
- Fight the Power - Stardate 240002.05 to present
TBA. Skarbek!
Service History
| Service History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | Rank | Dates | Posting | Assignment |
 |
Cadet, Fourth Class | 239409.01 - 239508.30 |
Starfleet Academy 
|
Science Major |
 |
Cadet, Third Class | 239509.01 - 239608.30 |
Science Major Helm/Nav Minor  
| |
 |
Cadet, Second Class | 239609.01 - 239708.30 | ||
 |
Cadet, First Class | 239709.01 - 239801.12 | ||
|
239801.13 - 239801.19 |
 USS Centris-A NCC-72913 | ||
 |
Ensign | 239801.20 - 239812.27 |
  USS Gorkon NCC-82293 |
Science Officer |
 |
Lieutenant JG | 239812.28 - 239907.19 | ||
 |
Lieutenant | 239907.20 - 240009.01 | ||
 |
Lieutenant Commander | 2340009.02 - Current |
Awards and Ribbons
- For award descriptions, see: Awards and Service Ribbons
| Awards and Service Ribbons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery
Ensign Tahna Meru
Ens. Tahna Meru at the 2398 Fleet Awards Ceremony
Lt. JG Tahna Meru at the 2399 Fleet Awards Ceremony
Lieutenant Tahna Meru
Lt. Tahna Meru at the 2400 Fleet Awards Ceremony
Illustrations
Cyberpunk Tahna Meru for the 2398 Halloween Avatar Contest
Gorkonbumps Tahna Meru for the 2399 Halloween Avatar Contest
Chibi portrait
Funny Business
Plaque commemorating Tahna's extensive experience exploding (credit to Jocelyn Marshall)
239806 Quote of the Month
239907 Quote of the Month
239910 Quote of the Month
SIM Archive
- Phone Home - A conversation with her parents at the conclusion of her first mission.
- Counseling Session, Stardate 239806.29 - Meru deals with the emotional fallout of her time in the Skarbek universe.
- Time to Explore! - Exploring Deluvia IV while on medical leave.
- (Backsim) Shezara: Part 1Part 2 Part 3 - Meru meets fellow Bajoran cadet Ico Ena when they accidentally register for the wrong class.
NPC Listing · USS Gorkon Crew Manifest · Crew History
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
