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La'an Noonien-Singh is one of the main characters in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds television series. She is the security officer of the U.S.S Enterprise during Christopher Pike's second five year mission with a grudge against the Gorn.
She is portrayed by English actress Christina Chong.
Biography[]
Noonien-Singh was born on the colony world Alpha I on December 8, 2228 to Sa'an and Ronu Noonien-Singh. She had a brother named Manu. Noonien-Singh and her family were descendants of the Augment tyrant Khan Noonien Singh, who had fathered at least one child prior to leaving Earth in the 1990s. Noonien-Singh had a difficult childhood, being bullied by others due to her connection to Khan. When her family was traveling on the SS Puget Sound the ship was captured by the Gorn. She and the other passengers were taken to a Gorn nursery. Her family, including her brother, and the other passengers were all killed and used as nourishment for Gorn hatchlings. Noonien-Singh was set adrift in a small spacecraft, which was rescued by the USS Martin Luther King Jr., although La'an was felt understandably traumatised by her experiences, developing a hatred for the Gorn. She became friends with Ensign Una Chin-Riley, who helped her through the ordeal. Inspired by Chin-Riley, Noonien-Singh joined Starfleet herself.
In 2259 she was posted to the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike as the ship's acting first officer. At the time she held the rank of Lieutenant. The Enterprise traveled to Kiley 279 to rescue Chin-Riley, who had gone missing during a mission to make first contact with the Kiley people. After rescuing Number One and Pike got the different factions on the world to make peace with each other, Noonien-Singh remained on the Enterprise, and became the ship's new security chief.
Later in 2259 her knowledge of the Gorn was crucial to ensuring the survival of the USS Enterprise after the Gorn attacked a colony and then the USS Enterprise. When a young colony survivor named Fig described the clicking noises made by the aliens who had invaded their colony La'an realized the attackers were likely Gorn and signaled the bridge. When the Gorn ships revealed themselves Enterprise was heavily damaged with seven crew and three civilians being killed in the attack. With assistance from Mr. Spock she was able to retrieve memories that helped her decode messages sent between the Gorn and fake a message that caused one of the attacking Gorn ships to turn on the other one and destroy it.
While the Enterprise was being repaired at Starbase 1 and the crew off on shore leave, she and Chin-Riley were among the few crew not to go on shore leave. Discovering a game called "Enterprise Bingo" that junior officers and enlisted people played where they had to perform certain tasks without getting caught the two decided to play the game. The pair one-upped the unsanctioned space walk on the list by extending a forcefield and atmosphere over the hull of the Enterprise so they could walk on the hull without spacesuits, and both signed the oldest hull plate attached to the ship.
After another harrowing encounter with the Gorn that led to the death of chief engineer Hemmer, Noonien-Singh took a leave of absence from Starfleet. However, she would soon contact the Enterprise crew to assist her in stopping a plot to reignite the Federation-Klingon War. Afterwards, she rejoined the Enterprise crew and played a pivotal part in defending Una from a Federation tribunal after Una was exposed as an Illyrian.
