Natasha Yar

Natasha "Tasha" Yar was a Human woman from the failed Turkana IV colony, who became a Starfleet officer and chief of security aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2364. She was killed in the line of duty by a creature known as Armus.

Early life
She was of Ukrainian/Lithuanian ancestry. 

Her name was only assumed to be "Natasha" in later records, but she only ever remembered being called "Tasha". 

Natasha was born in Turkana City on Turkana IV in 2337, the same year that government and social cohesion broke down in that failed colony. 

Sadly, Tasha was born a drug addict due to her mother's joy dust addiction. Her mother continued to feed her own baby the drug to keep her quiet, until she couldn't afford enough for the both of them. Tasha's earliest memories were of withdrawal pains. 

In 2341, Tasha's mother cut off her knee-length braid of hair in an attempt to disguise her femininity from the rape gangs plaguing Turkana IV ; Tasha later kept it short so it could not be easily grabbed by an attacker. 

Her sister, Ishara, was born in 2342. 

They were abandoned soon after by their mother when Tasha was aged five. 

But aged six, Tasha saw her parents killed after being caught in crossfire between opposing cadre forces. She came to despise the cadres as a result. Some people cared for the two of them for a few months, but they also abandoned them. 


 * The Naked Now and Legacy disagree over whether Tasha and Ishara were abandoned by their parents or whether their parents were killed in crossfire. Survivors, meanwhile, has Tasha not know her mother's fate and speculate that she died of her joy dust addiction no more than a year after abandoning her. Survivors was written prior to Legacy, which elaborated on Tasha's background with canonical details and gave her a sister. As such, there are number of contradictions and Ishara Yar is not present in this account of Tasha Yar's early life. In a merged account, it may be presumed that Ishara accompanied Tasha through most of these events and that the old woman also cared for Ishara. Alternatively, as Ishara was a baby, she may have been cared for by another woman.

An old woman named took Tasha under her wing for company and taught her the skills of a petty thief and how to read signs around the city and make her way around its dangerous ruins, and kept her away from joy dust. Seven years later, around 2349, Tasha found Yar dead one morning, and dutifully took her knife to defend herself as she set out on her own. But only two days later, at only twelve years old, she was caught and gang-raped by one of the gangs plaguing the city. The terrible experience drove Tasha to train to fight and defend herself, learning to throw her knife and kill rats. She survived by stealing food, and twice killed rapists before they could get her again. 

Two years later, Tasha rescued a ginger cat from feral children trying to set fire to its tail. Though she never named it, it became her closest companion. It once attacked a man attempting to kill her and steal her food; Tasha killed him. 

At some point, Ishara joined the cadre as soon as she was old enough and left Tasha alone. 

Finally, in 2352, Tasha decided to join the Hellcats, one of the all-woman gangs, for protection. She planned to offer her combat skills and her cat as a rat-hunter and mascot. But before she could contact them, she was again chased by a rape gang. They killed her cat after it attacked one of them, then captured her, intending to sell her to one of the powerful drug lords now that she was grown. 

Fortunately, she was rescued by an away team from the USS Cochrane (24th century), led by Darryl Adin. She gave her name as Tasha Yar, adopting the old woman's name as her own, and was taken to the Cochrane and treated for her injuries and deprivation by Doctor. 

Meanwhile, Turkana IV's Colony Government had expelled the last of the Federation delegation. 

Tasha, now aged 15, tried to get Ishara to come with her, but she chose to stay with the Coalition. Tasha left along with the departing diplomats. 

She spent two months aboard the Cochrane learning new skills and receiving counseling, and came to hero-worship Adin. She was determined to join Starfleet and become a Chief of Security out of gratitude and respect toward Starfleet and Darryl Adin for rescuing her. 

After reaching Earth, Adin organized care and education for Tasha Yar. However, Federation Immigration remembered that Turkana IV had formally seceded from the Federation and wished to send her back; the effort failed when the most powerful drug-lord representing the planet didn't want her. Yar spent three years in intense catch-up education and study in preparation for entering Starfleet Academy, and maintained only sporadic communication with Adin. 

Starfleet Academy
Yar entered the Academy circa 2354 on a probationary appointment. She struggled in the first year with her uncivilized ways and failed the Ethics and Moral Principles course, being unable to accept that life wasn't cheap. Around 2358, Yar passed the Priam IV test with an excellent grade, thus gaining admission to the graduating class. At this time, Adin returned to Starfleet Academy for a refresher course in Advanced Security Techniques, a course which Yar also took. The pair began a relationship while studying together, and fell in love. Yar graduated with honors. 

Early career
Following her graduation from the Academy in 2359, Ensign Yar planned to marry Adin and for the two of them to be mutually assigned to a starship and raise a family. However, she first had a training voyage on the USS Starbound, under the command of Adin as Chief of Security. Carrying out an inventory, Yar helped discover that a saboteur had damaged the ship's hand phasers. Shortly afterwards, Orion pirates attacked the ship and stole its secret cargo of dilithium. Every officer died in the incident except for Adin and Dr. Trent, so as the ship limped home, Yar served as its de facto first officer under Acting Captain Adin.

But when the Starbound arrived at Starbase 18, Adin was arrested, accused of the sabotage and of conspiring with the Orions. After being found guilty in a court martial, Adin turned his wrath on Yar, believing that she was responsible for framing him, while Yar felt betrayed by Adin. Adin escaped before he could be sent to a Federation Rehabilitation Facility and disappeared. 

Afterwards, in 2359, Yar was assigned to the starship USS Bellerophon (NCC-62048), as a junior security officer. 

From 2361 to 2363, security teams trained by Yar won all the seek-and-protect exercises in The Fleet Championships. 

By 2363, Yar was serving aboard the USS Victory (NCC-9754) as assistant chief of security. She was awarded a citation for bravery following a mission to Kirishia, where she entered a Carnellian minefield in order to rescue several colonists. During the mission, Captain Jean-Luc Picard observed her bravery and vowed to have Yar aboard his next command, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). 

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
Newly promoted, Lieutenant Yar was assigned to the Enterprise-D in early 2364, and one of her first assignments was to pilot the shuttlecraft Galileo and transfer Captain Picard to the Enterprise, which was docked at McKinley Station. Shortly after, the Enterprise set out for Farpoint Station to collect further crewmembers and to investigate the station. 

On stardate 41187.5, Yar was part of the away team when the Enterprise when it made first contact with the Theluvians of Syntagus Theluv. She was able to stop the children from hurting the away team with the Tripolian hellblazer.

On stardate 41590.8, Tasha was part of an away team to the planet Tigan. After uncovering a global conspiracy, the team were attacked by security forces and Yar and Commander Riker were taken into captivity. By reprogramming her combadge to emit a high-pitched whine, the two were able to escape using the noise to confuse and induce pain in the guards, giving the pair sufficient advantage to fight their way out. 

On a mission to the planet Treva, Yar was kidnapped by followers of Darryl Adin, who was now a mercenary and freelance freedom fighter aiding the rebels on that world. He'd ordered her capture to explain the truth of what was going on Treva and attempted to enlist her aid. Though conflicted by her duty to the Prime Directive, Yar participated in planning for the liberation of Treva, and in the defense of the rebel stronghold of Warrior's Rest. However, after working with Adin again, and learning how he'd changed as a result of his court martial, she struggled to decide whether to let him go or turn him in. Eventually she was forced to arrest her former lover, taking him into custody aboard the Enterprise. Fortunately, Lieutenant Commander Data discovered that Orions had framed Adin in 2359. The revelation exonerated Adin, but he declined Starfleet's offer to return to duty. Instead, he invited Yar to join him, but she chose to complete her Starfleet career. He and Yar parted on good terms. 

In late 2364, the Enterprise traveled to Vagra II in order to rescue two crewmembers who had crashed there. They encountered an entity known as Armus, which slew Yar when she attempted to assist her crewmates. 

Legacy
After Worf was paralyzed in an accident and contemplated suicide, William Riker brought up Yar's name in a list of examples of comrades killed in action who fought for life to the end. 

In 2370, Miles O'Brien thought to himself that Moru, a member of the Bajoran Militia, looked harder than Kira Nerys and tougher than Tasha Yar. 

Yesterday's Enterprise

 * ''Most of this Tasha Yar's early life should be identical to that of the "main timeline" Yar, but after leaving Turkana IV she would have matured in a Federation engaged in active warfare with the Klingon Empire and likely additional military pressures on the Romulan and Cardassian fronts.

In a timeline where the Federation and the Klingon Empire went to war, with different events taking place in her career, Tasha Yar never encountered Armus and did not die in 2364. By 2366, she was an officer in a far more militarized Starfleet than that of the standard timeline.

This Tasha Yar traveled back in time aboard the Enterprise-C and was captured shortly before the ship's explosion. She agreed to become the consort of General Volskiar in order to save the lives of the handful of her fellow prisoners. She gave birth to a half-Romulan daughter, Sela, and died in 2349 while trying to escape back to Federation space. 

Last generation
In a timeline where Starfleet ceased to exist after the late 23rd century, Tasha Yar was in a romantic relationship with Ro Laren. 

Background

 * The name "Yar" was used as a false identity for the brainwashed James T. Kirk, under Romulan manipulation, in the . This is possibly for her role in their history during the 2340s.
 * According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, Tasha Yar and Deanna Troi were the amalgamated revisions of Gene Roddenberry's originally written security chief Lt. Macha Hernandez.