Daniel McKnight

Early Life (2363-2381)

Daniel was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Earth in 2363 to loving parents who were absolutely thrilled to welcome him into the world. His mother and father served in Starfleet, which meant that Daniel was moved all over from assignment to assignment during his younger years. However, thankfully, Starfleet usually assigned both of his parents to the same posting so they could all stay together as a family. When Daniel was old enough to being school, his parents realized that he needed a stable environment to learn and grow and unanimously decided to transfer back to Earth, with his mother taking a teaching position at Starfleet Academy and his father a position with Starfleet Security. Over the next few years, Daniel was joined by four other siblings, one brother and two sisters, and couldn’t be happier his family was growing. Most kids don’t usually get along with their siblings when they’re younger, but Daniel, being five years older than his oldest sibling, always longed to have brothers and sisters to play with and spend time with. He was a great kid and was always eager to help his parents in any way he could with his little brother and sisters.

When it came time to enter school, Daniel didn’t initially take the commitment very seriously. Instead, he was frequently in trouble from his professors for talking and carrying on with his friends. It wasn’t one day, when his class hosted a career day and a speaker came from Starfleet, that he started to take his schoolwork seriously. He was absolutely enthralled listening to the man speak about his previous postings and what he did out there among the stars, exploring and discovering new worlds and species. It was from that very moment that he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Sure, his parents were both in Starfleet and he had heard stories about what they had done in their past, but to a kid, hearing it from a stranger versus your parents really made a difference in Daniel’s life. He worked extremely hard and turned all of his grades around in the coming months, continuing this trend throughout the rest of his school years.

When it came time to take the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, he was so extremely nervous, but also excited at the same time. It was the joy of his life to be accepted into the academy, and he vowed that he would go as far as he could with his career, potentially commanding a ship of his own some day.

Starfleet Academy (2381-2385)

Upon entrance into the academy, Daniel was just in awe that he was finally able to live his dream and one day be out among the stars exploring new worlds and stellar phenomenon. Initially, his passion was to become a pilot. He always thought how cool it would be to be able to helm a starship. After taking a few courses, he discovered he had a talent for flying, but not really a passion. His professors reassured him and told him there was so much to do under the Starfleet umbrella and not to worry, but instead to take some additional electives to try other career paths and see which one he could find a passion for. Daniel always had a lot of support from his professors; he was such a bright student and always put in the extra effort on every assignment, and taking additional work wherever possible. He always heard whispers behind his back that he had become a suck up to gain favor, but he honestly didn’t care. Joining Starfleet was a lifelong passion since grade school and he knew he wanted to do it for the rest of his life. Whatever he could do to give himself an edge and become more prepared, he did.

After taking several different electives, he eventually found a talent for sciences. He discovered he had a unique way of looking at and analyzing the material and, as such, science courses and material seemed to come very easily to him compared to his classmates. He was so excited about his career choice, even bragging about it to his parents on several occasions, not necessarily because it was something that he loved, but rather it was something that he was very good at and could excel at. He was all set to graduate with honors in sciences with a posting as a science officer until the unthinkable happened: the attack on Mars. Everyone was so completely devastated by the attack, with several of his classmates either having family or knowing someone that was killed during the attack. Seeing the grief that his friends were going through, not even being able to imagine losing the loved ones that so many of them had lost, he made a choice to apply for Starfleet Intelligence. His parents assumed he was doing it out of guilt of the attack and urged him to think through his choice, but Daniel was determined to do all he could to prevent such attacks from happening in the future, and in his mind, Starfleet Intelligence was the best place to do that. He submitted his application and, after a short review and interview process, his entrance was accepted.

Starfleet Intelligence (2385-2395)

During his tenure with Starfleet Intelligence, Daniel held several different postings and assignments, most of which were in and around Romulan activity in the wake of the attack on Mars. Though he was usually stationed in an office setting on Earth, he did occasionally take undercover assignments, undergoing cosmetic alterations to fit in wherever his postings took him. Daniel was heavily tasked with obtaining information regarding the several different Romulan factions that splintered in the aftermath of the supernova of the Romulan star. He was even set in undercover for several months into one of the factions in an attempt to obtain additional information. He and his colleges would pursue the Romulans for several years until he was reassigned to face the new threat of the Sovereignty of Kahless ion 2388.

Daniel had went undercover several times in different areas within the Klingon Empire and learned that something was happening, and was happening soon. He was still on assignment when the Sovereignty attacked and annexed multiple worlds on the Klingon-Federation border. He was devastated, believing he had failed to accomplish his goal and preventing the attacks. Upon his return to Earth from his last undercover assignment, Daniel rode the rest of his time in Intelligence at Starfleet Command, running operations from Earth rather than being there himself. He loved his career in Intelligence and initially planned on staying with it, but the more time that went by, the more that Daniel realized that he still longed to serve on a starship and explore what was out there, thinking back to what that officer said in his classroom. In 2395, Daniel put in his transfer request into Starfleet and was granted the rank of Lieutenant and was transferred to Starbase 234.

Starbase 234 (2395-2398)

Initially being assigned to Starbase 234 because of the continued tensions with the House of Mo’Kai and remaining loyalists of the Sovereignty, Daniel spent the next several years here as Strategic Operations Officer, and eventually being made chief of the department for all of the good, hard work he put in. As the Strategic Operations Officer, it was often his duty to coordinate all Starfleet activity within the sector and act as the liaison officer to Starfleet Intelligence. Given his past, this posting was an easy choice to assign to Daniel and he excelled at it.

Over the next few years, Daniel would often find himself working heavily with tactical and security, and given his background in intelligence, he was already very familiar with the operational procedures of the departments. He eventually had an opportunity to apply for Chief Tactical Officer onboard the U.S.S. Avalon, and after carefully considering his options with his commanding officer on the starbase, he decided to apply for the new position.

U.S.S. Avalon (2398-2400)

Daniel was absolutely thrilled to have been accepted as the new Chief Tactical Officer onboard the U.S.S. Avalon. It was always his passion to serve on a starship and, though a much different department that he originally intended to work in, he finally made the dream a reality. The Avalon took him all over the alpha and beta quadrants, exploring new worlds and regions of space. He couldn’t have been happier in his new post, and knew from that day forward that serving on a starship was where he was meant to be. It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of his superiors and, through his excellent performance, was recommended for the executive officer position on board the U.S.S. Pathfinder, which Daniel graciously accepted.