Editing Nolen Xel (section)

== Background ==
Ensign Nolen Xel is a slim, tow-headed young Trill. Slight of frame, he seems almost too fragile and youthful to be wearing the grey uniform of a Starfleet intelligence officer. He recently graduated from the Academy and at the tender age of 21, he has come aboard the Eclipse on his first assignment as the ship’s cryptography officer and resident mathematician.

He grew up on Trill, where his parents were both professors (his mother, a mathematician; his father, an engineer). At an early age he displayed a formidable aptitude for STEM disciplines, further enhanced by parents eager to nurture their son's abilities. He surprised his parents by his application to Starfleet Academy, but they supported his decision, and he remains close to them.

He is the seventh host of the Xel symbiont. When its previous host, Lenara Xel, died, Nolen – then a nineteen-year-old Academy cadet – was recalled to Trill for the Joining. It was felt that with the previous host having been a Starfleet officer who had been joined at a similarly young age, the two would function well together. Following the Joining, Nolen Xel returned to the Academy.

He was assigned to the USS Haller for his midshipman’s cruise. While serving, Nolen developed a new EPS power distribution algorithm for the ship’s computer. Although only applicable to ships the size of a runabout or smaller, it was a change easily implemented to all Starfleet ships that increased their available power by seven percent. He received a commendation for his work. (Life Events: Breakthrough or Invention; Special Commendation)

During the same training voyage, he worked with Miki Shimizu and programmed a holodeck simulation for her so she could test her hypothesis about the origins of an unknown disease impacting Federation colonists. This required him to disable the holodeck’s safety protocols to test Miki’s theory, leading to a (mis)adventure for the two.

Miki was reunited with Xel in the final part of her cadet training – a practice military exercise in the wilderness lands outside Outpost 7, on planet Perse. This was cut short as the outpost was attacked by what appeared to be Orion mercenaries. The Starfleet marines were quickly overrun, and the base captured. But a small group of cadets, led by Miki and Xel, with a mixture of bravery and cleverness, managed to board and disable the enemy starship, uncovering a Cardassian plot to foment disunity between members of the Federation.

Nolen Xel has graduated as an ensign and a well-rounded officer. He can be shy and quiet around others, though he becomes animated when discussing the things that are of interest to him – mathematics, cryptography, and his other cerebral interests. He is intensely curious and will inject himself into as many projects involving science, engineering, computers, or mathematics that he can. He also has a passion for flying, particularly shuttlecraft, though it is one he rarely gets to indulge outside of the holodeck. He has an almost freakish ability to spot and decipher patterns in numbers. To Nolen, mathematical constructs - codes, manifolds, equations - are a language, one he can easily understand. He is the most gifted natural codebreaker Starfleet has seen in a generation.