Nexus

Nexus is a Stellar foxtaur, the only genetically engineered breed of taur or morph to have been developed since the creation of the skunktaurs. Shi also happens to have inherited the Starwalker variant of the genome, which was designed to be particularly adapted to space and it's dangers. Like all stellars, shi's also a natural fully-functional hermaphrodite, able to sire or bear children as shi wishes; a trait that was carried over from the development of the chakats due to its success. One big difference between hir and most of hir kind however, is that rather than showing the usual inclination to socializing and gathering in groups, shi's rather introverted, with a slight touch of social anxiety only adding to that. Hir reluctance to socialize hasn't hampered hir career however, as shi managed to land a berth as chief engineer of the FSS Excalibur after proving hirself an expert with troubleshooting stardrives and power systems. When it comes to work, shi has few problems with dealing with others, often using it as a shield of sorts. Off-duty, however, is another story.

Hir reluctance to socialize has not prevented hir from finding relationships with others, thankfully. Shi has even managed to find a Companion and lover; a snow-leopard-patterned chakat named Swiftwind, who shi met during hir career in Star Fleet. While the two taurs do care deeply for one another, they tend to be opposites in quite a few aspects. For example, Swiftwind is a bit of an extrovert and show-off, as opposed to to Nexus's preference to avoid attention. Similarly, Nexus prefers practical clothes rather than outfits that show off one's body, and usually ends up wearing printed or plain t-shirts when in civilian attire. On the other paw, shi does like to paint hir nails occasionally, a practice Swiftwind does not typically share in.

Outside of hir duties managing hir engineering department and assisting technically where shi can, shi finds hir joys in some other unexpected ways. One of hir favorite past-times is holo-novels revolving around what used to be called giant robots, or mecha. Though mostly impractical in the real world(even with Stellar Federation technology), the image of giant metal gladiators striding across worlds or dogfighting in the vastness of space has never truly died in some corners. After discovering the concept during hir time at the Academy, shi has come to enjoy the many stories about such creations; even dragging hir chakat lover into the occasional simulation.

Hir other passion besides technology is a genre of classical music called "metal." While shi has taught hirself to play the bass guitar, anxiety keeps hir from performing publicly, usually limiting hir playtime to either holodeck simulations of what were once called "karaoke bars" before the eugenics war, or in soundproofed rooms where shi wouldn't bother anyone playing along with hir favorite songs. This is also one of the few times shi will dress in a flashy fashion as well, because from hir studies, it's practically required for a musician in the genre! Also, though shi rarely admits it even to hirself, shi does like looking pretty sometimes. Not even for Swiftwind, just for hirself.

Born at Alpha Centauri Starbase to a Starwalker sire and a baseline foxtaur mother from the Star Corps, Nexus grew up traveling from station to station. Spending most of hir time space-side while hir mother performed her duties as a molecular biologist, Nexus was often left to hir own devices and occupied hirself with learning how things worked. Shi had a natural gift for analysis and improvisation, which shi turned to the systems surrounding and supporting them aboard the ships and stations shi travelled on. By the time hir primary education was completed, shi was able to earn a sponsorship for Star Fleet Academy's engineering track, despite only recently having reached the age of majority.

During the course of hir studies, shi ended up taking the MOS for power systems and spacedrives. Hir final year found hir taking hir Midshipman's cruise on the FSS Potemkin, an older destroyer of the Resolute class, where shi ended up meeting a recently transferred chakat pilot ensign by the name of Swiftwind. The "snow leopard" patterned 'kat was passing by while shi was working on a particularly ornery relay, and immediately spotted the issue. Nexus was put off at first until Swiftwind explained that shi had trained in engineering before transferring to Ops, as flying had been hir true dream, and offered to take hir for a ride the next time they had some off-duty hours lined up. The two hit it off famously after that, and kept in occasional touch once the tour of duty ended.

After a piloting incident that led to Swiftwind being grounded, they were able to reunite on Earth, as Nexus was between assignments hirself. By the luck of the draw, both were selected to serve together on one of the first of the new Moebius class long-range cruisers, the FSS Excalibur. In the ship's first engagement Nexus proved hirself invaluable keeping engineering running and restoring power from a faulty core while under fire, which allowed them to capture a pirate Q-ship that Federation forces had been tracking for months. Shi was made acting Chief Engineer, a position shi proved hirself more than capable of during the ship's time on the frontier. Due to this, Nexus has become something of a subject matter expert on tuning and balancing multiple warp cores together due to the Moebius class's unique warp core layout - at least unique among official Federation ships - and hir procedures have since become part of the standard for maintaining them.

When they returned to Stellar Federation space, Swiftwind left to chase an opportunity in the private sector as a test pilot, but Nexus instead chose to remain on the Excalibur. Though the two followed different career paths, they continued to remain in touch, and get together anytime their schedules allow them to meet up.

Nexus was originally created for the story I wrote for M'Rel as Swiftwind's Companion. Originally I did not have any supporting characters for Swiftwind when shi was created, as shi was just a fursona back then, but shi has been an independent OC for a long time now. Given that situation, and after some discussion around a Star Trek AU timeline in one of the chakat communities, I felt I should revive Nexus and flesh hir out further. Stellar foxtaur characters are also a rarity given the timing of their debut to the chakatverse, so adding another one to the mix certainly can't hurt!