Maria was born on the New Brasil Colony, a colony near the Breen Border, in the capital Rio De Janeiro. Not the big city like its destroyed predecessor on Earth was, it was still the largest city on the colony. Her parents followed the old custom of giving her, besides her given name, also the names of her two godparents.

Because building a colony is not that easy, everybody had to help. The children got the basic education everybody in the Federation got, but they also got a lot of hands-on experience. Maria showed an aptitude for repairing stuff, and because she was a child she could crawl into spaces adults couldn’t get into, she was frequently asked to do so.

She was 12 years old when the Breen attacked the colony. The small group of soldiers couldn’t do much but holding them off untill the rest of the colony had ran away into the jungle. The Breen didn’t stay long, as the temperature of the jungle colony was too high for them, and Starfleet was also reacting, but they did try to get to the colonists. Everybody had to help with the defense, and Maria, who liked running around in the jungle and therefore knew her way around in it, was assigned to one of the raiding parties. It was there that she got her first Breen disruptor, a weapon she still has today.

After the Breen retreated and Starfleet arrived, the colony tried to rebuild, and Maria helped where she could, but she started to feel there was more out there, and she wanted to know what. Because her parents wanted her to stay on the colony, the result was a number of arguments. As soon as she turned 18, she left the colony, managed to get to Earth, and applied for Starfleet Academy.

Wanting to protect people, she chose security as major, and engineering, her first love, as minor. She was a good student, and got good grades, but she was also a pationate woman, and there were quite a few reports of fights between male cadets because of her. One time it wrecked a whole bar, and she was on the verge of being expelled. Only her good grades saved her. It was also on the Academy that she got into contact with 20th century cars, and she still likes them, racing on the holodeck, which she does whenever she can get away with it.

After graduation she was placed on the USS Merrimac, a Nebula class right out of overhaul. The first years went by quickly, with simple missions, as Maria learned the real life of a security officer. She still had quite some adventures onboard, but when another fight broke out, the XO called her to his office and told her that since she had fault to the fight, next time she'd be kicked out of Starfleet after a court-martial. Especially the way he said it made her take the advice to heart and while still hot-blooded, she took care not to let it come too far.

She was just promoted to chief security, and still adapting to the new job, when the call came for all ships to head to Wolf 359. The Merrimac also headed that way, and Maria was one of the five survivors of that ship. After extensive counseling, she was placed as chief security on the USS Spector, a newly commissioned Akira class cruiser. She took pride in building a security team up to specs, and luckily she had the time to do a good job out of it. In 2368 the Spector was relocated towards the Cardassian border, to keep an eye on the Bajoran sector.

In 2369 Maria was promoted to Lt. Commander and appointed chief security of the USS Magelan, a Galaxy class ship. This ship was also placed near the Cardassian border, having starbase 375 as home port. When the problems with the Maquis started, the Magelan frequently patrolled the Badlands. Maria didn't really like fighting against former friends, but the way she saw it they had abandoned Starfleet and the UFP, commiting terrorist acts, so they were enemies. Not everybody saw it that way, and she had to sit in on a court-martial were three security officers under her command were accused of transmitting secrets to the Maquis.

The newly discovered Dominion was also reason for worries in Starfleet's high command, and the USS Magelan got a new role, as deterrent. This proved rather unsuccesfull when the Dominion war started. Starfleet had heavy losses, especially in the security departments, as the Dominion could beam through shields. Maria quickly got her second purple hart (the first was from Wolf 359) when Jem'Hadar boarded the Magelan. They were thrown of the ship, but at a 60% cost to security. During this action she fought brilliantly, which earned her the Starfleet cross. Knowing they couldn't fight many more battles like that, Maria started a program to get her security department back in shape. This program proved so succesfull, that it became standard for the entire fleet.

In 2373, in the middle of the Dominion war, the Borg attacked again. The Magellan, currently near Vulcan, raced to aid in the battle of sector 001. Maria had studied the Borg well after the defeat at Wolf 359, and this time the ship survived, with only minor damage. After a short refit, it was back to the Cardassian front. During an action the Magellan came to the assistance of the USS Venture and the USS Sutherland, attacked by a group of Jem'Hadar attack craft. The Venture was destroyed, and both the Sutherland and the Magellan suffered heavy damage. Maria took a skeleton crew to the Sutherland and managed to bring it on it's own power to a spacedock. Those were hectic days for Maria, with almost no sleep, and constant worries about Dominion patrols, even though the Magellan travelled with them.

In 2375 she was again promoted, before what was normal, but Starfleet was suffering heavy losses. After many years of war, she was assigned to the newly commissioned Starbase 380, a Spacedock class base near the Breen border. Because she had proven to be very good at building up departments from scratch, she could prove it again, but this time on a far larger scale, as security on this large base had over 1000 people. An added bonus was that for the first time since she went to Earth Maria could visit the New Brasil colony again, situated not far from the base. She made up with her parents, and Maria could go home often, renewing her old friendships. But that didn’t prove all that simple, as she had seen a lot more then her friends, and had been away for quite some time.

With the Breen-Dominion alliance being announced as she was still building up the department, it were very tricky times. But the Breen concentrated on Earth, and left the station alone. They did a couple of attacks, but nothing seriously, and a base of that size could handle a lot, but giving and taking. After the Dominion war, Starbase 380 became the headquarters of 8th fleet, tasked to keep an eye on the Breen. That made a bunch of admirals come to the station, and Maria now also had bodyguards under her command. The next year went smoothly, with work on the station being finalised, and more ships being assigned to the fleet.

In 2376, she was transferred to Earth to study at the Advanced Tactical School in Glasgow, a course for promising senior officers. She really liked being on Earth again, even if it was in rainy Scotland, and made the most out of it. She ended in the middle of her class, and was assigned as XO on the USS Dallas-A, an Intrepid class.

She's always full of life, sometimes too much. In her youth, she often got in trouble because her flirtatious nature, and although she doesn't do that anymore (at least, not so much it causes fights), she still is a beautifull woman who turns many heads. Her temper however is something to be avoided, as is her wrath. While normally quite laid back, she can be like a fury when provoked.

She likes going out, and will do so as much as time allows. Another of her passions is streetracing, which she enjoys on the holodeck.