Miles O'Brien

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Background
At the age of 18, Miles joined Starfleet as an enlisted crewman. His father had wanted Miles to take up a place at the Aldebaran Music Academy and become a concert cellist, but he chose a life in Starfleet instead.

One of his first assignments was aboard the USS Rutledge, under the command of Benjamin Maxwell, where he served as junior tactical officer during the Cardassian War. A year later, O'Brien was present at the aftermath of the Setlik III massacre, where his technical skill was useful in repairing a field transporter, allowing himself and thirteen other Starfleet personnel to escape a Cardassian patrol. This earned him a promotion to primary tactical officer.

O'Brien also served as part of a squad to aid the survivors of the massacre as Cardassians were still patrolling the settlement; he helped a group of women and children but was ambushed by two Cardassians. He was able to incapacitate one of them but he got into a fight with the other and accidentally killed his assailant when a Phaser passed to him was set to maximum. Until then, O'Brien had never killed anything or anyone and the incident left him with a deep-seated resentment towards Cardassians, bordering on outright racism on occasion. He often referred to them by the derogatory term "Cardies". He later came to see that it wasn't the people he hated, but the person he'd become through their actions.

O'Brien transferred to the USS Enterprise-D in 2364, with the rank of chief petty officer, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. During the Farpoint Mission he was assigned as relief flight controller. He also stood duty in the security department, but was most often seen filling duty as transporter chief, where he was involved in, among other events, the rescue of Captain Picard from the Borg in 2367.

In 2367, Miles was forced to confront his former commanding officer, when Captain Maxwell went rogue, launching attacks on Cardassian outposts and ships in spite of a peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassia. It was O'Brien's knowledge of transporter systems that allowed him to beam aboard Maxwell's ship, the Phoenix, while her shields were up, giving him a chance to reason with Maxwell, ultimately preventing further bloodshed.

During the Klingon Civil War, O'Brien also made use of his training as a tactical officer, following Lieutenant Worf's resignation from Starfleet. As a result, he was heavily involved in the deployment and maintenance of the tachyon detection grid that ultimately decided the conflict.

In 2368, Miles, along with Deanna Troi and Data, was taken over by an alien life-form, which forced them to take hostages to use as a bargaining chip in negotiating with Picard. Among the prisoners were Molly and Keiko O'Brien. Eventually, the life-form left when it was discovered that the moon was actually a 'penal colony' and that this was an attempt to escape.

Rank: Lieutenant Places Served: Rutledge and Enterprise

Personality
O'Brien was raised on real food; his mother believed that replicated food was less nutritious. She even handled and cut actual meat. His mother passed away in 2368 and his father, Michael, remarried a year later. His relationship with his father had been a somewhat rocky one during Miles' adolescence; Michael was the one who had pushed Miles to pursue his music career, making him practice at least once a day, and was somewhat upset by his son's enlistment in Starfleet. The two later reconciled, however, and the elder O'Brien was eventually extremely proud of his son and his accomplishments.

Romantic
While Miles has had a few semi-serious relationships, much of his life has been dedicated to his Starfleet career. This changed, though, when he met Keiko Ishikawa through their mutual friend, Data. Later, they were wed aboard the USS Enterprise.

Children
Miles has two children with his wife, Keiko. While on the Enterprise they had Molly, and later while on Deep Space 9, Kira Nerys was a surrogate mother for Miles and Kira, giving birth to Kirayoshi. He’s better known as Yoshi.

Family
Miles’ father is Michael O’Brien. His mother, Shannon, died when Miles was 20. He has a step mother, Julia, and a total of five siblings.

Played By
This character is played by Amy.