Lieutenant Commander Dara Jax
Name Dara Jax
Position Chief Operations Officer
Second Position Second Officer
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Character Information
| PNPC By | (Cipriani) | |
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Joined Trill | |
| Age | 36 |
Starfleet Identification
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'9" | |
| Weight | 134 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Blonde | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | Dara cuts a composed, quietly capable figure. Of average height with an athletic build earned through long hours of running and station-side work, she carries herself with an ease that suggests confidence rather than display. Her blonde hair is typically worn at shoulder length, practical and unobtrusive, and her blue eyes are observant, often tracking systems readouts or the subtle movements of the people around her. The faint Trill spots that trace her temples and neck mark her as joined, though she makes no effort to draw attention to them. She favours Starfleet regulation attire worn neatly and with care, and is rarely seen without either a PADD tucked under one arm or a mug of tea close at hand—small, habitual tells of a mind that is always working. There is an underlying warmth to her expression that softens her otherwise professional bearing, making her approachable even in the middle of controlled chaos. |
Family
| Father | Yaran Melad | |
| Mother | Kola Melad | |
| Brother(s) | Naadul Melad Tonem Melad |
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| Other Family | Sasrau Melad (sister-in-law) Jumblaal Melad (nephew) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Dara serves as Chief Operations Officer and Second Officer on Empok Nor, where her calm competence and methodical leadership provide stability in an environment defined by age, history, and constant strain. A joined Trill, she carries the weight of the Jax symbiont with quiet respect, drawing on its accumulated experience without allowing it to overshadow her own judgement or identity. Dara is deeply systems-minded, approaching both technology and people as interconnected parts of a larger whole. She believes strongly that efficiency is meaningless without trust, and that leadership is demonstrated through preparation, consistency, and care rather than volume or force. On a station where improvisation is often unavoidable, she serves as a steady anchor—balancing adaptability with structure and ensuring that small failures never become systemic ones. Professionally, she is organised, observant, and exacting, holding herself to high standards while gradually learning to extend the same patience to others that she grants herself. Personally, Dara is warm but reserved, more comfortable in quiet company than in the spotlight. She values routine, shared work, and small rituals, and struggles most when cut off from connection or forced into prolonged isolation. At her core, Dara Jax is an officer shaped by responsibility rather than ambition alone. She is still growing into command, still refining where control gives way to trust, but those who serve with her quickly learn that she is someone who notices effort, protects her people, and takes the weight of failure onto herself. On Empok Nor, that makes her not just effective—but dependable in ways that matter. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Dara Jax is exceptionally organised, with a mind well suited to complex operational environments. She processes information quickly, retains technical detail with near-eidetic precision, and excels at seeing how disparate systems and departments interlock. On a station like Empok Nor—where nothing behaves quite the way the schematics promise—this makes her invaluable. She leads with calm consistency. Dara does not raise her voice or posture for authority; instead, she earns it through preparation, follow-through, and a genuine investment in the people under her care. She believes deeply that a station is only as strong as the crew maintaining it, and she actively mentors junior officers, trusting them with responsibility while ensuring they have the support to succeed. Her joined Trill perspective gives her emotional breadth as well as institutional memory. Dara draws on the Jax symbiont’s accumulated experience to inform her judgement, particularly in moments of pressure or uncertainty. This lends her decision-making a steadiness that others often find grounding in crises. Dara’s greatest vulnerability lies in her relationship with control. Under stress, her instinct is to compensate by tightening her grip—double-checking work, taking on too much herself, or hesitating to delegate when she should. While this rarely leads to outright failure, it can exhaust her and unintentionally undermine those she is trying to support. She is not a natural combatant. Dara’s physical self-defence skills lag behind her operational competence, and she is acutely aware of this imbalance. In dangerous situations, she relies on planning, positioning, and others’ strengths rather than force of her own—a practical approach, but one that can leave her feeling exposed. On a more personal level, Dara struggles with prolonged isolation. Long hours alone, or the sense of being emotionally cut off from those around her, can erode her focus and confidence. She has also found romantic relationships difficult to sustain, often placing duty and structure ahead of vulnerability, which reinforces a quiet fear of being alone even while surrounded by people. |
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| Ambitions | Dara Jax is not driven by rank for its own sake. Her ambition is rooted in competence, trust, and legacy—both her own and that of the Jax symbiont. In the immediate term, she wants Empok Nor to function smoothly and safely under her watch, despite its age, history, and constant technical friction. Making a station like this work is, to her, a quiet but meaningful proof of leadership. She aspires to become an executive officer who leads through stability rather than force of personality. Dara is keenly aware that she is still learning where authority ends and trust must begin, and she actively works to refine that balance. She wants to be the officer a commanding officer can rely on without needing to look over their shoulder—and the one junior officers feel confident turning to when things go wrong. On a deeper level, Dara feels a responsibility to honour the Jax symbiont by becoming more than just an efficient officer. She wants to grow into a leader who understands people as well as systems, who can weather moral uncertainty as well as operational failure. Her long-term ambition is command, but only if she feels she has earned it not just through flawless performance, but through empathy, judgement, and the ability to carry others with her. |
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| Hobbies & Interests | Dara maintains a small but meaningful collection of routines that help her stay grounded. Running is her primary release; she favours long, steady routes rather than sprints, using the rhythm to clear her head after demanding shifts. On Empok Nor, this often means treadmill time or mapped maintenance loops, turning even exercise into something structured and familiar. She sketches whenever time allows, keeping a slim pad close at hand. Her drawings tend toward technical spaces—corridors, consoles, silhouettes of stations or ships—capturing places rather than people. It’s a quiet habit, rarely shared unless asked, and serves as a way to process her environment without needing to verbalise it. Dara enjoys holo-programming in a practical, almost methodical way. She designs simulations for training, problem-solving, and stress management, often refining them long after they are “good enough.” While she’ll occasionally indulge in recreational holodeck time, she prefers programs with purpose, structure, or a clear end state. She has a fondness for tea, treating it as both comfort and ritual. A mug nearby is as much a signal of focus as relaxation, depending on the moment. When she can afford the time, she enjoys mud baths and mineral soaks—an indulgence she half-jokingly frames as “maintenance,” but which genuinely helps her disconnect from constant operational noise. Socially, Dara prefers small, familiar company. She’s content observing holodeck combat programmes with friends, even if the spectacle itself doesn’t fully engage her, valuing the shared time more than the activity. Left alone too long, she’ll seek out these low-pressure interactions, even if only to sit quietly alongside someone else. |
| Personal History | Dara Jax was born Dara Melad on Trillius Prime, the eldest child in a close and supportive family. From an early age, she gravitated toward structure and responsibility, often acting as a quiet stabilising influence among her siblings. Academically gifted and highly disciplined, she developed a natural aptitude for systems management and coordination, drawn less to theory than to how complex operations succeed or fail in practice. Her desire to join Starfleet was matched by a long-held ambition to be joined. Dara approached both paths with seriousness rather than idealism, understanding the demands and sacrifices each would require. After excelling at Starfleet Academy, she was commissioned into the Operations track, where her organisational skill and attention to detail quickly distinguished her from her peers. Dara’s early career unfolded across a series of starship postings, each contributing to her growth in different ways. Serving initially as a junior operations officer, she gained hands-on experience in logistics, power distribution, and crisis response aboard front-line and support vessels alike. These assignments exposed her to a wide range of command styles and operational cultures, reinforcing her belief that a crew’s cohesion mattered as much as the technology they relied upon. Her performance led to appointment as Assistant Chief Operations Officer, and later Chief Operations Officer, on successive ships. In these roles, Dara refined her leadership style, learning how to balance precision with adaptability. While her drive for perfection occasionally created tension, it also earned her a reputation as an officer who could be trusted to keep a ship functioning under pressure. Each posting added layers of experience, confidence, and perspective, preparing her for roles beyond the purely technical. It was during this period of professional advancement that Dara was accepted into the Trill Symbiosis programme and joined with the Jax symbiont, becoming its sixth host. The joining marked a profound personal transition. Integrating the memories and instincts of previous hosts required discipline and introspection, and Dara leaned heavily on routine and work to maintain her sense of self. Over time, the joining deepened her judgement and emotional awareness, while also reinforcing her instinct toward control and self-reliance. A defining moment in her development came during a mission involving the Mirror Universe, where Dara confronted a counterpart shaped by ruthless efficiency and moral compromise. The encounter left a lasting impact, forcing her to reflect on how easily competence can be twisted when empathy is abandoned. It became a quiet but powerful touchstone in her understanding of leadership. Her eventual transfer to Empok Nor marked a shift from starship operations to station command dynamics. As Chief Operations Officer and Second Officer, Dara now oversees a sprawling, aging Cardassian-built facility whose systems resist simplicity and whose history demands care. The posting draws on every phase of her career—technical mastery, leadership under strain, and personal growth as a joined Trill. Empok Nor continues to challenge her assumptions about control, trust, and connection, shaping her into a more balanced and self-aware officer with each passing day. The Jax Symbiont – Previous Hosts Jax is an old and well-regarded symbiont, known less for notoriety and more for consistency, competence, and quiet service. Dara Jax is the sixth host. 1. Pel Jax First Host A Federation-era explorer and cultural liaison, Pel was defined by patience and curiosity. They spent much of their life travelling between worlds, establishing early diplomatic and trade relationships. Pel’s influence remains strongest in Dara’s instinct for observation and her respect for cultural context. 2. Toren Jax Systems Engineer Toren brought a deeply technical mindset to the symbiont’s lineage. Known for problem-solving under pressure, Toren specialised in large-scale infrastructure and starship systems integration. Much of Dara’s comfort with complex, ageing systems can be traced back to Toren’s pragmatic legacy. 3. Selan Jax Starfleet Operations Officer Selan was the first host to formally enter Starfleet, serving primarily in logistics and fleet coordination roles. Their career emphasised preparation, redundancy, and procedural clarity. Selan’s influence is most evident in Dara’s organisational habits and belief that prevention matters more than heroics. 4. Mirea Jax Educator and Civil Administrator Mirea stepped away from Starfleet service, instead focusing on governance, training, and civilian administration on Trillius Prime and nearby worlds. This host introduced a people-first philosophy to the symbiont’s memory, shaping Dara’s approach to mentorship and crew welfare. 5. Aven Jax Starfleet Tactical Planner Aven served during a period of sustained conflict, specialising in operational planning and risk assessment. While not a frontline combatant, Aven’s experiences with loss and moral compromise left a strong emotional imprint. Dara draws from this host when weighing difficult decisions and resisting purely outcome-driven thinking. 6. Dara Jax Current Host Dara represents a synthesis of the symbiont’s history: technical competence, operational discipline, and a growing emphasis on empathetic leadership. Unlike some previous hosts, she is acutely aware of the balance between control and trust, and actively works to define herself alongside the memories she carries. |
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| Service Record | Aug 2375 - Jun 2379 Starfleet Academy, Cadet, Operations Division. Jun 2379 - Mar 2380 USS Atlantic, Ensign, Operations Officer Mar 2380 - Aug 2380 USS Atlantic, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Operations Officer. Sept 2380 - May 2382 Trill Symbiosis Commission, Initiate, ELOA from Starfleet. Jun 2382 - Jan 2383 USS Harmony, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Assistant Chief Operations Officer Feb 2383 - Apr 2383 LOA as Dara Melad is joined with the Jax Symbiont. May 2383 - Nov 2383 USS Sovol, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Assistant Chief Operations Officer. Nov 2383 - Sept 2386 USS Sovol, Lieutenant, Chief Operations Officer. Oct 2386 - Jan 2389 USS Nodachi, Lieutenant, Chief Operations Officer. Feb 2389 - Oct 2393 USS Nodachi, Lieutenant Commander, Second Officer/Chief Operations Officer. Nov 2393 - USS Fearless, Lieutenant Commander, Executive Officer. |