- See Ro for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.
- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Ro Laren (mirror).
- "You know me, I enjoy a challenge."
- —Ro Laren to Jean-Luc Picard, 2370 [src]
Ro Laren was a Bajoran woman in the 24th century, born on January 17, 2340 on Cardassian-occupied Bajor to Ro Talia and Ro Gale. She later joined Starfleet and served aboard the USS Wellington and the USS Enterprise-D, before joining the Maquis. Following the Dominion War, she returned to Bajor and joined the Bajoran Militia. Ro served aboard starbase Deep Space 9 as the security chief and eventually rejoined Starfleet with Bajor's admittance into the Federation. Ro was the commanding officer of DS9 and the USS Defiant as a commander in 2379 and as a captain in 2382. After Deep Space 9 was destroyed following Andorian sabotage and a battle with a Typhon Pact task force in 2383, Ro took command of the second Deep Space 9 which became operational in 2385.
Biography
Early life
Ro was born in Jo'kala on Bajor, but was raised in Bajoran resettlement camps under the watchful eyes of the Cardassian overseers. When she was seven, a Cardassian named Joer Varc lured her into a tent with a piece of milaberry candy, then she was forced to watch as the Cardassians tortured her father for hours until he died.
After Ro Gale's death, Ro's mother fell into such a state of despair, that she was no longer able to watch after Laren and Laren was sent to live with her uncle.
Eventually, Ro struck out on her own and quickly learned how to avoid Cardassian orphan catchers and pick their pockets at the same time. She picked up a skill with computers and was able to manipulate security systems and other Cardassian systems.
She lived on the streets of Bajor until she was taken in by a man named Bram Adir, leader of the Bram resistance cell, who was impressed with Ro's talent with Cardassian computers. In 2353, Bram took the teenaged Ro on a salvage operation, in an attempt to bring a derelict Ferengi vessel into the resistance's armory.
Instead, they discovered a Bajoran refugee named Darrah Mace on board, who lived at the Bajoran refugee camp on Valo II. Darrah took Ro and Bram back to Valo, where she was recruited to hack into a Cardassian computer system on Valo VI. Ro successfully infiltrated the Cardassian facility, but was unable to secure the information that she had been sent to retrieve as she again encountered Joer Varc, the man who killed her father. Ro killed Varc and another Cardassian, but left behind the data rod that was her objective.
By 2357, Bram had been killed by the Cardassians, and the rest of the cell, who never cared for Ro in the first place, eventually asked her to leave.
She returned to Valo, where she joined up with a resistance fighter named Akhere Bis, who had a plan to destroy the Cardassian ore processing center on the space-station Terok Nor. At first, Ro went along with the plan, even going so far as to plant a bomb on a ship heading from Valo to Terok Nor. However, upon considering the Bajoran lives that would be lost in the attack, Ro warned the vessel's captain of the plan.
Realizing that she would not be welcome back with Akhere's cell, Ro took one of the Valo settlement's warp-capable shuttles and headed for space beyond the Bajoran and Cardassian sectors. (TLE - Terok Nor novel: Night of the Wolves)
Starfleet
Ro eventually made her way to Federation space where, in 2358, she entered Starfleet Academy hoping for a career in Starfleet. She graduated from the academy in 2362. Her Starfleet service serial number was HL-2133-8947 (APL). (TNG episode: "The Next Phase")
Ro's Starfleet career turned out differently than expected. Her time as an ensign aboard the USS Wellington was riddled with disciplinary measures. After disobeying orders on the planet Garon II, eight members of an away team were killed. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro")
In a later reconstruction of the affair, it was accounted that Ro was sent with an away team to help catch a Seriphami freedom fighter cell. She secretly sympathized with the goal of the revolutionists. When a deadly weapon fight occurred between the away team and the cell, she was the first who realized that the wounded Seriphami could have fallen into a healing stasis, which they could be mortally wounded by accident even with a phaser set on stun. She wanted to warn her teammates about this, thus giving away their hiding place. In the end, it was a Seriphami deceit, and a wounded-looking Seriphami shot Ro's teammates. (TNG - Special #2 comic: "The Choice")
Ro was subsequently court-martialed and imprisoned at the penal facility at Jaros II. One of the officers presiding over her court martial was Admiral Leonard James Akaar. (DS9 novel: Lesser Evil)
In 2368, she was offered a deal by Admiral Kennelly; her freedom in exchange for her assisting the USS Enterprise-D in finding the Bajoran terrorist Orta, who was believed to be responsible for attacking Federation targets.
When Ro discovered that the attackers of the Federation facilities were actually Cardassians, she turned to Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard to uncover the truth. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro")
Ro was at the conn when the Enterprise discovered the nature of a temporal causality loop and escaped from a predestined collision with the USS Bozeman. Due to the repetitive effects of the temporal distortion, Ro was killed and the Enterprise had been destroyed numerous times before this. (TNG episode: "Cause and Effect")
Later in 2368, (stardate 45934.7), Lieutenant Worf requested that Ro join him on an away team to Votar VII, to settle a conflict between the colonists there, due to her experience with insurrections. She assisted Worf and participated in a failed, non-lethal assault on a Kaylar-held dam. (TNG comic: "A Matter of Dates")
Ro and Worf fighting the monks.
In early 2369, Ro, Geordi and Worf took the shuttlecraft Goddard to receive Starfleet briefings. On their return journey, the shuttle was forced to drop out of warp, due to solar flare activity and crash-landed on the planet Riat. The shuttle, damaged beyond immediate repair, the planet inhospitably cold, the away team sought shelter in a nearby Dracon monastery. Unfortunately, the order of monks in the monastery had become violent and cannibalistic, due to radiation from the solar flares causing a mutation in an algae in their water supply. The team was forced to fight the monks off, several times, before another shuttle from the Enterprise arrived to rescue them. (TNG comic: "Light of the Day")
Also in 2369, Ro was the acting first officer of the Enterprise-D, while Will Riker was in command, due to Captain Picard having been transported into the past. She suggested abandoning the search, to ensure that the Enterprise arrived at the Gorn Summit in time. Once Riker showed his determination to continue, she would suggest asking the Bon Amar for help in the search. (TNG novel: Requiem)
After the encounter with Orta and the Cardassians, Ro served aboard the Enterprise for over a year (it's closer if we say, two years), before returning to the Academy for Advanced Tactical Training. (TNG episode: "Preemptive Strike")
Her final mission on the Enterprise-D, before the Advanced Tactical Training, was a flight with a shuttle to transport an ambassador to a near starbase. Her shuttle was shot down by raiders. She awoke in a "fairy castle" with a mysterious landlord, the "Beast," who gave his life for her, when the raiders arrived once again. After Ro was rescued by the Enterprise-D, she found out that the mysterious "Beast" was a Cardassian war criminal in exile. (TNG comic: "The Bajoran and the Beast")
At the Academy, one of her instructors was Lieutenant Commander Chakotay, who told of her of the resistance movement known as the Maquis. (TNG reference: Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion; ST website : StarTrek.com)
The Maquis
Ro working for the Maquis.
Upon her return to the Enterprise in late 2370, Ro had been promoted to full lieutenant. She was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis, a group of Federation citizens and former Starfleet officers. The Maquis were fighting off the Cardassians in the Demilitarized Zone, in defiance of a recent Federation treaty with the Cardassian Union.
Ro found that she both sympathized and fit in better with the Maquis more than she ever did in Starfleet, so she once again defied orders, betraying Starfleet and joining the Maquis. (TNG episode: "Preemptive Strike")
Ro quickly became a legend among the Maquis, with even the senior members of the organization looking upon her with awe. The reclusive figure who had abandoned Starfleet and who went on to join their hopeless cause led many to see her as the Maquis' greatest hero. (TNG - The Dominion War novel: Behind Enemy Lines) As of stardate 47891.1 (late 2370), Ro had been given the codename Architect and was the leader of New Hope's Maquis. (TNG novel: Rogue Saucer)
Ro snuck aboard Deep Space 9 in mid-2371, in order to prevent Aela, a Maquis extremist, from assassinating Gul Engor and destroying the station, in an attempt to destabilize the peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassians. (DS9 comic: "Friend and Foe Alike")
- Note that this incident may not be consistent with the DS9 relaunch continuity.
Later that year, Ro joined Kira Nerys in her search for mapping the black market routes of Bajor, in the hopes of finding the origin of the Wrath of the Prophets epidemic.(DS9 novel: Wrath of the Prophets)
- Note that this incident may not be consistent with the DS9 relaunch continuity.
With the relative peace that was granted to the Maquis in 2372, following the start of the war between the Klingon Empire and the Cardassians, Ro was offered the opportunity to move up the Maquis ranks. She turned down the opportunity, instead settling on the Maquis colony on Galion, where she built a small house and a vegetable patch where she grew tomatoes. Despite settling down, she did occasionally leave Galion to perform missions for the Maquis. (TNG - The Dominion War novel: Behind Enemy Lines)
In the year 2373, Ro and her Maquis cell joined forces with Will Riker, who had apparently turned renegade, but who was actually on an undercover mission to find a group of Klingon weapons dealers. These weapons merchants wanted to make a business with Genesis technology, which had been forbidden for the better part of a century. (TNG comic: "The Enemy of My Enemy")
- Note that this incident may not be consistent with the DS9 relaunch continuity.
In the same year, the Maquis received information about a secret Dominion plan to construct a second artificial wormhole, in the heart of Cardassian territory, which would allow the Dominion to bring fresh reinforcements in from the Gamma Quadrant and bypass the Bajoran wormhole, which had been mined. Making contact with the crew of the Enterprise-E, a joint mission between her cell and Enterprise personnel brought about the end of the project. (TNG - The Dominion War novels: Behind Enemy Lines, Tunnel Through the Stars)
- Note that this incident may not be consistent with the DS9 relaunch continuity.
Later in 2373, before the near-eradication of the Maquis by Cardassia's new allies, Ro found herself injured and alone on the planet Sindorin. She was nursed back to health by a tribe of Ingavi that had colonized the planet, after escaping the Cardassian occupation of their own world. (DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss)
Destiny timeline
Soon after Cardassia's entry into the Dominion, the Maquis were hunted down almost to the last man by the Jem'Hadar, as a favor to their new subjects. Although the Maquis were dead for all intents and purposes, this did not deter Ro and a few survivors from waging their own private war against the Dominion and its allies. After the war ended several years later, Ro returned to Bajor, where she was given the rank of Lieutenant in the Bajoran Militia. Starfleet had originally wanted to have her arrested; however, she was not, due to the behind-the-scenes urging of Jean-Luc Picard. (DS9 novels: Avatar, Book One, Avatar, Book Two)
Deep Space 9
Ro in 2376.
Upon receiving her commission in the Militia, her new superiors ordered her to Deep Space 9, under the command of Colonel Kira Nerys. In late February of 2376, she was assigned as the station's new chief of security.
In April of that year, Istani Reyla and Gamon Vell were found dead on the Promenade. In the course of the murder investigation, Ro discovered a book of prophecies that had been written by the heretic Ohalu, some 20,000 years previously, which had been removed from the ruins of the city of B'hala by Istani.
Shortly after the discovery, Ro was injured falling from the stairs in Quark's when the station shook, as DS9 was attacked by a group of rogue Jem'Hadar, hoping to restart the Dominion War. Fortunately, Quark witnessed her fall and took her to the infirmary, later sending her a bouquet of Argelian flowers.
Recovering quickly, she got back to work, discovering that Reyla was killed because several members of the Vedek Assembly, led by Vedek Yevir Linjarin, wanted the book suppressed. Stating the book was evidence in Istani's murder investigation, Ro refused to turn it over. Kira interceded by giving the book back to the Vedek Assembly, but uploaded its contents to the Bajoran comnet, making them public. (DS9 novel: Avatar, Book One)
A few weeks later, she then returned to Sindorin, when it was discovered that a rogue agent of the independent intelligence agency Section 31, named Ethan Locken, had refurbished a Dominion Jem'Hadar factory and was creating his own army. Traveling with Dr. Julian Bashir, Ezri Dax and the Jem'Hadar observer Taran'atar, they put a stop to Locken's plans and rescued the Ingavi tribe from Locken's Jem'Hadar troops. (DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss)
Soon after, Ro went undercover as a Dabo girl when Quark found himself in over his head with the Orion Syndicate on the world of Farius Prime, managing to bring down the entire organization of the Orion crimelord Malic. She also freed an Orion slave girl named Treir from servitude. (DS9 - Gateways novel: Demons of Air and Darkness)
Ro in 2376
When it was announced that the documentation admitting Bajor into the United Federation of Planets would be signed on the Promenade of Deep Space 9, Ro was put in charge of the security arrangements.
A member of the Trill contingent named Hiziki Gard was assigned to assist Ro and she gave him full access to her security plans. When Gard assassinated Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon before the documents could be signed, there was nothing Ro could do to stop him. (DS9 novel: Cathedral)
Ro eventually brought Gard into custody, only to find out that the creature that Gard had killed wasn't Shakaar at all, but an alien Parasite that had consumed his psyche. Shakaar had already been long dead. (DS9 novel: Lesser Evil)
Return to Starfleet
After the resolution of the parasite crisis, Ro was prepared to resign her commission and leave DS9 with Quark, with whom she had developed a friendship. Neither of them felt that there would be a place for them in the Bajoran sector, after the planet's admittance to the Federation. It was only after the persuasion of Captain Picard, that Ro stayed with the Bajoran Militia, as it was integrated into Starfleet, with Ro once again being given the rank of lieutenant. (DS9 novel: Unity)
Later, she accompanied Quark and his nephew Nog to Ferenginar, helping them maintain the rule of Grand Nagus Rom from a takeover attempt by Congressman Brunt. (DS9 novella: Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed)
On 31 December 2376, Ro was attacked and critically injured by the Jem'Hadar observer Taran'atar, suffering spinal injuries and for a brief time, facing the possibility of spending the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair. Fortunately, Dr. Simon Tarses, a doctor in the station's infirmary, had developed an innovative technique that combined several experimental medical theories, which allowed her to return to duty in a matter of weeks. (DS9 novellas: The Dominion: Olympus Descending, Warpath)
Despite her injuries, Ro led an investigation into Iliana Ghemor. (DS9 novel: Fearful Symmetry)
By December of 2377, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. (DS9 novel: Ascendance)
In the year 2378, Elias Vaughn was promoted to the position of commanding officer of Deep Space 9 and invited Ro to become his executive officer, which she accepted. When Captain Vaughn moved on, to command the starship USS James T. Kirk on an exploration mission, Ro was assigned to the position of commanding officer of the station. Ro was the commanding officer of the USS Defiant in 2379 and in 2382. She was officially promoted to the rank of Captain in 2382. Shortly afterward, she authorized Doctor Bashir to accept a mission from Starfleet Intelligence to destroy a prototype Breen slipstream vessel. Ro was in a romantic relationship with Quark. (ST novels: Zero Sum Game, Rough Beasts of Empire)
The following year would prove to be eventful in the life of Captain Ro and the rest of the Federation, as they all adapted to the threats proposed by the Typhon Pact. While Ro was able to maintain relationships with many of her friends, she was constantly challenged by Prynn Tenmei and her new Security Chief Jefferson Blackmer, whom she did not trust. Further, Ro had to contend with threats levied against the station by the Andorians and the decision to allow Typhon Pact vessels access to the wormhole. The threats came to a head when the Typhon Pact launched an unprovoked attack against the station, to hide the theft of Dominion equipment in the Gamma Quadrant. As the Defiant was attacked, several charges were detonated in the fusion core of the station causing severe structural damage and running the risk of reactor breaches, as the ejection systems were offline. Ro remained in Ops, directing the battle and trying to save her station. (ST novel: Plagues of Night)
Mere moments later, the station was confirmed to be destroyed, having been largely evacuated before the reactors went critical. The new Deep Space 9 became partially habitable and operational in September 2384, with Ro taking command. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Raise the Dawn)
Deep Space 9 was due to be fully operational and officially opened on August 27th, 2385. When President Bacco was assassinated, Ro immediately ordered a lockdown and communications blackout of Deep Space 9. She attempted to find the one responsible for the president's death within the allotted time of three days, at which time she was to directed to lift the lockdown and let the other delegates (who had arrived for the dedication ceremony) to leave. Her security chief determined the assassin was still at large and not the individual who was left behind at the scene. Before they had come to that conclusion however, the lockdown had been lifted and the assassin disappeared. (ST - The Fall novel: Revelation and Dust)
In September of 2385, Ro was made aware of Doctor Bashir's research into the meta-genome on Bajor, after it was revealed a Breen spy attempted to destroy the building with all four of the Federation's leading scientists in genetic research. Upon arriving, Ro questioned Bashir about his reasoning and decided not to immediately inform Starfleet Command, but would tell them if or when they contacted her. When she found herself being contacted by President Pro Tem Ishan Anjar, she put together a security team and went to arrest Bashir, on orders from the president. She and the security team boxed up all information regarding the meta-genome and the research into curing the Andorian fertility crisis. Upon her attempted return to Deep Space 9 in the Defiant, Bashir made his move and escaped Federation custody, heading for Andor. The Runabout USS Tiber attempted to pursue, but Bashir had disabled it before leaving. At that, it was up to Ro to stop him in the Defiant, but even that had been disabled due to sabotage from Prynn Tenmei. (ST - The Fall novel: A Ceremony of Losses)
Online timeline
On stardate 58370.4 (in 2380), Ro turned herself into Starfleet custody. She pled guilty to desertion charges and was sent to Earth to spend time in a penal colony. In 2382 she completed her sentence and was granted a commission in the Bajoran Militia. She was assigned to Deep Space 9 as chief of security. (STO website : The Path to 2409)
Ro the Bajoran
Ro was a Bajoran, but often stood out of the crowd, due to her determination to be herself and not just another member of the flock.
Ro believed in the Prophets as entities, and believed they were involved with the Bajoran people. However, she did not believe that beings living in a wormhole and occasionally interfering with a people was reason enough to worship them as gods. Nor did she appreciate that most Bajorans frowned upon any other Bajoran who did not follow the faith to the letter. (TNG episode: "The Next Phase")
Her father was proud to be Bajoran and in a way, so was she and to that end, she wore a Bajoran earring. She did not follow the Bajoran faith, so wore the earring on the wrong ear to discourage vedeks from trying to feel her pagh, which was normally done by squeezing the left ear. (DS9 novel: Avatar, Book One)
On the Enterprise-D, she celebrated a Bajoran holiday once, but it was a kind of national holiday commemorating a local freedom fight based on the traditions of Ro's area of origin, and not a religious/spiritual holiday. (TNG comic: "Restoration")
By 2386, Ro was comfortable enough with her religion that she had given up wearing her earring entirely. (DS9 novel: Ascendance)
Alternate timelines and realities
When Elias Vaughn was having his second orb experience, he became Eli Underwood, a patient at the same insane asylum as Benny Russell. While there, he interacted with a nurse named Lauren, who was the representation of Ro. (DS9 novel: Unity)
In an alternate timeline in which the Cardassian Union never withdrew from Bajor and discovered the Bajoran wormhole, Ro became Chief of Security aboard the Enterprise-D and later the first officer of the USS Enterprise-E. (TNG - Myriad Universes novel: A Gutted World)
In another alternate timeline, Ro never joined the Maquis and replaced Worf as chief security officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D. She rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and continued to serve aboard the ship into 2378. (TNG - Myriad Universes novel: Brave New World)
In another alternate timeline, the Klingons conquered Earth when the Khitomer Conference failed in 2293. Ro was involved with the resistance on Earth and engaged in a relationship with Tasha Yar. She later sacrificed herself to save Yar and the rebels, when they were betrayed by Wesley Crusher and his followers, who preferred to try and destroy the Klingons instead of negotiating peace. (TNG - The Last Generation comic: "What Happens Now")
In an alternate reality, Ro was the flight controller of the US Enterprise, which was under the command of Wesley Crusher, in 2380. (TNG novel: Q & A)
Service record
| location | assignment | dates | rank or rate | assignment insignia | rank insignia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starfleet Academy | student officer | 2358-2362 | cadet |  |
|
| USS Wellington | junior officer | early 2360s | ensign | 
| |
| Inmate at Garon II | until 2368 | Rank and position revoked | |||
| USS Enterprise-D | flight controller | 2368–2370 | ensign | |
|
| Advanced Tactical Training | 2370 | ||||
| USS Enterprise-D | tactical officer | 2370 | lieutenant | 
| |
| AWOL (defected to Maquis) | 2370–2376 | Rank and position revoked | |||
| Deep Space 9 | security chief | 2376 | second lieutenant |  |
|
| 2376-2377 | lieutenant |  |
| ||
| 2377-2378 | lieutenant commander | 
| |||
| first officer | 2378-2379 | commander | 
| ||
| Deep Space 9/USS Defiant | commanding officer | 2379-2382 | |||
| 2382-2383 | captain | 
| |||
| Deep Space 9 (II)/USS Defiant | 2384 onwards | ||||
Appendices
Background information
The 2001 promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro.
Ro Laren was portrayed by American actress Michelle ForbesMA in Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1991-1994.
In 2001, Pocket Books released a promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro and the caption "Given time, anyone can change. Almost anyone."
Connections
| USS Wellington personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Caputo • Connors • Thomas Pucer • Ro Laren • Waid | 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) flight control personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
Allenby • Anaya • Brooks • Calan • Clancy • W. Crusher • Dern • Farmer • Felton • Foch • Gates • Gawelski • Gibson • Graham • Halloran • Haskell • Jae • Karp • La Forge • Lavelle • Lin • McKnight • Monroe • O'Brien • Reel • Ro • Rager • Solis • Torres • Vasquez • Wallace • Worf • Wright |
|
| see also: engineering personnel • medical personnel • operations personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • senior staff • unnamed | ||
Images
Appearances
External link
- Ro Laren article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.