Maze Heinz

EARLY LIFE

Maze was born on Terra Nova, one of Earth’s oldest and tumultuous colony worlds of the 22^nd century. By his time, the quality of life was closer to what one would expect on Founding Federation Planet, rather than a frontier colony world, with all basic needs met. This led some colonists to become complacent, such as Maze’s family growing up. However, Maze was always seen as the overachiever, and strived to better himself and others around him.

In 2378, when he was 12, Maze begged his family to make the trip to Sol, to watch the returning celebration of the USS Voyager, and got to stand on the Golden Gate Bridge when the starship made its iconic return fly-by. This further inspired him and put him on the path of space exploration.

STARFLEET ACADEMY

At 18, Maze enrolled in Starfleet Academy. Because of his less-than-active upbringing, he struggled with the more physically demanding aspects of the academy, but always managed to push through and apply himself, refusing to quit or give in. Academically, he excelled, majoring in Astrophysics and Minoring in Military Science (Due to his fascination with fabled heroes such as James T. Kirk) It was because of this near obsession, he had a hard time accepting the lesson of the Kobayashi Maru test, hoping to ‘outsmart’ it as it was rumored to have been done in the past. He was temporarily conscripted mid-sophomore year, with most of the cadets, following the attacks on Mars. However, he graduated in the top 98^th percentile of Class 2387 and engaged his career at warp speed.

STARFLEET COMMISSION

The start of his career was frantic, following the destruction of the Hobus Star, and the relief and recovery missions that followed. He then rose in ranks, serving aboard a Starfleet Medical Frigate, providing aid and care to various worlds in the beta quadrant, as well as responding to one of the last formal Borg contacts in 2390. In 2397, he assisted in helping coordinate the evacuation of Kaelon II, following the expansion of the system’s Red Supergiant, which was rendering the world uninhabitable. In 2399, he partook in the standoff above Coppelius and the following diplomatic relief and Borg Cube cleanup on the planet’s surface. He was not present for Frontier Day, as he was on shore leave with his family back on Terra Nova, but the absence (for what little it would have done) weighs heavily on his heart. In 2401, he was re-assigned to Deep Space 47 and subsequently the USS Typhon, as Chief Logistics Officer.

FAMILY LIFE

In 2398, his ship responded to a distress call from a Bynar Exploratory vessel. Many inhabitants were injured, and while aiding in evacuation efforts, he was struck in the head by falling debris and gravely wounded. His ship’s medical officer could not manage to wake him from his coma, but a recovered medical officer from the Bynar ship was able to perform an elective operation, installing a synaptic processor into his parietal lobe, which helped restore brain function. This also inadvertently linked him with the Bynar’s Master Computer, though the connection was not as strong as it was to native Bynar.

The Bynar doctor who saved him, Six-Five, was one of the refugees he had helped save, and had also suffered the loss of their binary partner. This, along with their unique connection (they had used their prior partner’s synaptic processor), had blossomed into a unique pairing and conjoining of cultures. Six-Five enrolled in the Officer Candidate School to try and secure a posting with Maze (whom they affectionately refer to as Eighty-Seven), to maintain their cultural ‘closeness’ while also modifying their body to be more in line with human coupling norms. In 2401, Maze took a posting at a Starbase to ensure that he and Six-Five could serve together, despite the ‘downward step’ in his career.