Sito Jaxa Ensign Sito Jaxa was a 24th century Bajoran Starfleet officer . She was believed to have been killed in the line of duty in 2370 , while on a secret mission as a member of the crew . Nova Squadron incident . While in Starfleet Academy in 2368 , Sito Jaxa was a member of Nova Squadron , along with Wesley Crusher . Under the direction of Cadet Nicholas Locarno , Nova Squadron attempted the dangerous Kolvoord Starburst maneuver during a flight exercise – an action that resulted in a collision and death of fellow cadet Joshua Albert . Sito and her fellow cadets lied about their flying of the illegal maneuver to a board of inquiry led by Rear Admiral Brand and Captain Satelk . When the crew of the " Enterprise " - D discovered inconsistencies in the report , Captain Jean - Luc Picard reprimanded Cadet Crusher and threatened to go to the board of inquiry himself , but Crusher eventually decided to reveal the true cause of the accident . Locarno took the blame and was expelled from the Academy , while Sito and the other cadets had their academic credits from the past year canceled . ( ) Sito remained at Starfleet Academy , despite the stigma attached to the cadets involved in the cover - up . Sito had to take her flight test with the instructor because no other cadet wanted to be her partner . ( ) Career on board the " Enterprise " - D . After graduating the Academy , Sito was assigned to the " Enterprise " - D at the request of Captain Picard because he wanted to make sure she had a fair chance to redeem herself , although she did not realize that at the time . Sito worked in the security department under Lieutenant Worf , and developed close friendships with fellow junior officer s Sam Lavelle , Nurse Alyssa Ogawa , Taurik , and Ten Forward waiter . Sito found a mentor in Worf , who suggested her for promotion to the night duty operations officer position , in competition with Sam Lavelle . She was also a student in Worf ' s " mok ' bara " class . ( ) Covert assignment . Seven month s after her assignment to the " Enterprise " - D , Picard called Sito to his ready room , knowing that she was a certified pilot , and chastised her for involvement with the cover - up at the Academy . He said she demonstrated a lack of character and that he was surprised she had been able to acquire a posting on the " Enterprise " - D . Sito tried to defend herself , but did not feel confident enough to express her opinion to the captain . She left his ready room upset and doubtful of her abilities . Later , Worf informed Sito that he wanted to recruit her for an advanced " mok ' bara " class , which required her to pass the " gik ' tal " challenge , an unfair test which required a student to defend him or herself while blindfold ed . The test was actually made up by Worf , who wanted to teach Sito to stand up for herself . Sito returned to Picard and told him that it was not his place to punish her for her past mistakes , and that she would work to be the best officer possible in the future . Picard then revealed to her that his harshness was actually designed to test her ability to carry out an important mission in Cardassian space . Picard also admitted that he had requested her assignment to the " Enterprise " - D . Sito was to assist a Cardassian defector , Joret Dal , return to Cardassia Prime by posing as a Bajoran prisoner captured as part of a bounty hunt , which would allow Joret to cross the border without difficulty . She would then be returned to Federation space in an escape pod , after Joret reached Cardassian territory . Sito freely volunteered for the mission , and was surgically altered to appear as if Joret had abused her . Joret was shocked that she was so young , but was grateful that she risked her life in order for the mission to succeed . The " Enterprise " - D waited thirty - two hour s for her to return , but only detected debris consistent with that of a destroyed escape pod . Eventually , a Cardassian communique was intercepted indicating that the escape pod was detected and destroyed after escaping . The pain over her loss was felt by both her friends and her superiors . Picard noted that she was the finest example of a Starfleet officer and a young woman of remarkable courage and strength of character . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Sito Jaxa was played by Shannon Fill . Originally , based on the suggestion of a friend , she auditioned for the part . Fill was highly surprised when she ended up winning the role , which marked her professional acting debut . In retrospect , she said , " " It was a small role and , having it be my first professional experience , there was so much to learn from it . I had no idea how complex it was . I had never , for example , had to be on a mark [ . . . ] It was really exciting and who could have asked for a better place for a first experience . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , p . 79 ) Following Sito ' s debut in " The First Duty " , the writing staff of spent years wanting to bring her back to TNG . ( " Lower Decks " audio commentary , TNG Season 7 Blu - ray special features ) It was Jeri Taylor who suggested reusing the character of Sito Jaxa in " Lower Decks " , which established Sito ' s first name , but Ron Wilkerson and Jean Louise Matthias , who wrote the episode ' s story together , also wanted to use Sito for the installment . Killing off a much - liked character , initially unspecified during the development process , was one of the writing duo ' s primary objectives for the outing , inspired by the death of Robert Tomlinson in . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , pp . 78 & 79 ) René Echevarria , who scripted the episode , likewise approved of Sito returning and being killed off . " " It was nice [ . . . ] to give her another story , " " he commented . Considering Sito ' s death , Echevarria observed , " " This is , of course , occasionally the price that gets paid . " " ( " Lower Decks " audio commentary , TNG Season 7 Blu - ray special features ) While " Lower Decks " was being written , Sito Jaxa ' s death underwent revision . " " In the early drafts of the script , " " remembered Jeri Taylor , " " we left her death somewhat ambiguous because we thought we might pull her back in to help us out in some stories that were happening further on down the road . " " ( " " , p . 298 ) Taylor specifically wanted Sito Jaxa to return in later TNG Season 7 stories , at the end of the year . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , p . 80 ) " " When I mentioned that to Michael [ Piller ] , " " continued Taylor , " " he said , ' Absolutely not , she ' s dead . She stays dead . That would undermine the whole episode . ' So I said , ' Fine . " " ( " " , p . 298 ) The final draft script for " Lower Decks " describes Sito as being in her early to mid - twenties at the time of the episode ' s setting . The same teleplay additionally comments , " " As we ' ll see , the Nova Squadron incident has left Sito a little unsure of herself ; determined to get her career back on track but desperate to avoid making another mistake , she ' s become very cautious , very by - the - book . " " Shannon Fill was even more surprised to be asked to reprise the role of Sito Jaxa in " Lower Decks " than she had been upon initially being offered the part . " " I couldn ' t believe this character who had just been introduced was going to be developed and I was the one who could develop it . When I received the script , I had to pinch myself , realizing this was a significant role for this episode . " " Performing alongside Picard actor Patrick Stewart had an effect on how Fill portrayed her scenes as Sito , two of which were one - on - one scenes with Picard . " " To be able to speak with him on camera , to actually have dialogue and a relationship with Captain Picard , was extremely intense [ . . . ] I ' d been rehearsing alone , knowing these were major chunks of speech and I could blow it really easily . " " Fill was consequently not satisfied ( at least , not immediately ) with her filmed performances in the two scenes . " " Inside , I ' m dying , saying , ' Please let me do it over again . I can do a better job . I ' m certain of it . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 25 / 26 , No . 6 / 1 , pp . 79 & 80 ) However , Visual Effects Producer and martial arts consultant Dan Curry was impressed with how Fill , a trained dancer and acrobat who was new to martial arts , managed to pick up the Klingon moves for Sito ' s combat with Worf . " " I ' ve never seen anybody learn it that quickly and so convincing , " " Curry said of the actress . ( " " , 3rd ed . , p . 282 ) Following the initial broadcast of " Lower Decks " , plans were made to reuse the Sito Jaxa character once again . Recollected Jeri Taylor , " " The morning after Michael [ Piller ] saw the episode , he came in and said , ' We can ' t let her stay dead . We ' ve got to bring her back . She was wonderful . " " ( " " , p . 298 ) René Echevarria explained , " " There was a lot of talk about bringing her back , but we never got around to it . " " Though there was no time to have Sito rescued on TNG , there may have been on spinoff . ( " " , p . 337 ) Almost immediately after the first airing of " Lower Decks " , Piller arranged to have Sito turn up alive in an for DS9 . His intention to return the character to " Star Trek " was partly influenced by fan mail which lamented Sito ' s death . Shortly after devising the plan to reuse the character on DS9 , Piller remarked , " " I think that the character was so good , and Jeri in her wisdom allowed there to be a loophole , and we got some very good ideas of why it will be successful to bring her back . " " ( " " , p . 298 ) Subsequently , Ronald D . Moore stated , " " We talked about this for quite awhile , but then decided that bringing Sito back would rob ' Lower Decks ' of a great ending . " " The proposed story would have found Sito in a Cardassian prison and would climax with her killing her own cellmate . Elements of the story were ultimately adapted into the DS9 episode . ( " " , p . 326 ) Steven Scott Ripley , who wrote the short story " Change of Heart " for " Strange New Worlds II " , nominated Sito Jaxa as his favorite " Star Trek " character . He noted , " " Her character was unforgettable . " " ( ) Sito Jaxa ' s uniform from the fifth season episode " The First Duty " was later sold off on the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay . Apocrypha . Sito also appears in the " " novel " Dawn of the Eagles " , which mentions that Sito ' s father was a cousin of Mora Pol . Her biography in " " ( written by Mike Okuda and Denise Okuda ) states that she was rescued . In " Saturn ' s Children " , her mirror universe counterpart was depicted as a Klingon - Cardassian Alliance spy who was infiltrating the Terran Rebellion in 2375 . Her true loyalties were discovered by and she was killed by Keiko O ' Brien ' s counterpart Keiko Ishikawa .