A lone T'liss Warbird limps toward the Romulan Republic Flotilla, the name "Pyrimidas" written along its hull. It is met by a D'Deridex Warbird, a ship nearly three times its size, and there is a moment of pause. Space hangs heavy with tension for a moment, until the larger vessel turns about and leads the Pyrimidas toward the center of the flotilla, where she's brought up alongside the Republic Flagship. Inside the transporter room of the Ha'apex Warbird R.R.W. Deihu, roughly two dozen Romulans are beamed over, group by group, from the Pyrimidas. Relief is seen among many, while others finally take the chance to grieve those lost from the destroyed colony they fled. Among them is a young woman, no older than 35 years of age, with crimson hair and piercing purple eyes. She's wearing a pair of loose fitting black pants, a pair of black and red combat boots, and a simple black sleeveless top. She marches toward the transporter officer, followed closely behind by a man who appears somewhat older, though not by more then 10 years. , she asks. The transporter officer is taken somewhat aback, but remains firm, The young woman's eyes squint with determination, She states her goal as if it's already been accomplished. The man behind her steps forward slightly, now standing alongside the red-haired woman. The officer looks to both the individuals stood in front of him, noticing the sharpened teeth in the red-haired woman's determined scowl which betray her half-Klingon nature. The officer was hesitant to allow this temperamental Klingon to join the ranks of the Republic, but ultimately it wasn't his decision. He was told to send potential recruits to the Commander regardless of his feelings, and he would perform his duties as required. Another individual, an older woman, leads the two young Romulans deeper into the flagship. ****** Commander Temer, a middle-aged Romulan man with slick black hair and a scar above his left eye, sits in his office awaiting the reports from the latest batch of rescued refugees coming from the vessel Pyrimidas. He begins to wonder if this vessel is the only one that survived the attack on Morla, but that thought is cut off as the ship's computer beeps at him, indicating a request for entry into the room. The door opens and three individuals step into his office. One he recognizes as one of his lieutenants, but the other two he does not. A crimson-haired woman, clearly part Klingon, and a man with short dark hair not unlike his own. They are wearing civilian clothing, and looks as though they've been on a battlefield. His face moves from curiosity to remorse as he realizes where they must have come from. The woman steps forward, the tension in her face loosening as she hears the Commander's words and attempts to collect her thoughts. She's here now, where she can be heard. There's no need for the anger still boiling inside. she gestures to herself, She states her intent matter-of-factly. The Commander looks to her ally. The man adjusts himself slightly, The Commander sits back in his chair. It wasn't unusual for survivors of attacks such as these to wish to join the fight, but these two have made the request much more quickly than others. Usually, survivors take some days to collect themselves, and only come to him once they've found the time to grieve. Then again, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. Passio's second and third names, along with her age, paint a quite clear picture of her upbringing. She has seen battle, and seeks more. Her friend, S'Ten, appears to have been dragged along. She must be rather convincing for him to have joined her here this quickly. Temer looks to the both of them, and allows a grin to form on his lips, Passio seems taken aback, Both of the young Romulans in front of the Commander stand still for a moment, the shock of the ease of joining the Fleet still sinking in. Passio especially expected to have to fight much more to find a position. Even in the Republic there are still those distrustful of other species. And that's before considering the fact that her mother wasn't just alien, but Klingon. Finally, S'Ten speaks, Passio snaps back to reality at S'Ten's statement, and affirms, Temer's eyebrow raises. This girl took command of a T'Liss? She was no older than 33, perhaps 34 if he was being generous. She was practically a child. His curiosity now peaked, he speaks, Temer then looks towards Passio, Passio's eyebrow now raises, Her voice is thick with irritated confusion, and she takes a breath to rephrase, He takes note of Passio's demeanor, but says nothing on it, instead explaining Passio's tension lessens once more, Temer takes note of her phrasing as she exits. She even speaks like a child. Once the door has closed, he turns toward S'Ten. S'Ten corrects his posture, and begins, He pauses. He pauses again, somewhat lost in thought until Commander Temer instructs him to continue. It was clear to Temer that Passio wasn't the only one affected by her mother's passing. S'Ten must have been close to the family. Commander Temer sits back, ****** The man is cut off by Passio, screaming at her in response, Her eyes scan to the empty Captain's chair. The irate communications officer starts to respond, but he's cut off by the tactical officer, an older Romulan man with greying black hair, currently struggling with the helm, the officer looks down at the helm, Passio moves towards the Captain's chair, The crew goes silent. The communications officer speaks, notably more restrained, The tactical officer now moves back to his station, and his eyes go wide, As described, two Dhelan Warbirds of Imperial design appear on the view screen. As the crew begins shouting at each other with conflicting orders and questions, Passio's eyes narrow. She glances around at the chaos and analyzes the situation. Her mind works quickly, and she stands in front of the captain's chair and shouts with her whole voice, cutting through the cacauphany. Everyone turns their attention to her, and the noise stops. Only the communications officer objects, "_Vah-udt_?! " Passio cuts him off, Temer looks towards her, Passio shakes her head violently, she mutters quietly, Temer's tempered formality softens for but a moment, He readjusts and returns to his formal tone, Temer pulls out a PADD and enters a few commands, He then hands Passio the datapad, Passio takes the pad and looks over the list. It's…shorter than she'd expect. Passio nods and leaves the office, still lost in thought. She shakes her head once the door closes and tries to focus herself. She has work to do, her first responsibility as a Commander. She walks towards the turbolift when she hears her own stomach growl. She suddenly remembers that the last time she ate was before the attack. She asks the nearest crew member for directions to the mess hall, and heads off to get herself something to eat while she chooses her crew. ****** Passio sits at the mess hall table, staring at the datapad in front of her. She reads through personnel files and after action reports, trying to get a sense of who she was selecting. She's lost in the screen when a voice startles her back into awareness. Passio jumps and snarls slightly, a habit she wishes she didn't still have. She looks up at the surprised Romulan woman who asked the question. Her hair is a bright pink, clearly dyed, and her eyes are a deep green. Passio can't help but take note of the woman's physique, as well. She was muscular, though no body builder, and her build was accentuated by the tight purple uniform she was wearing. Clearly a warrior, or at the very least had learned a few martial arts given the way she carries herself. Passio finally stops staring long enough to respond, Passio gestures to the seat next to her. The pink-haired girl sits down with her food. She wasn't much older than Passio, maybe by a year or two. Passio looks back to her PADD, Ruby starts eating as Passio continues her research. The red-haired Romulan reads ever more files and reports, her brow furrowing more and more until she even begins growling lightly, the stress of the decisions she had to make starting to show. The gutteral growl catches Ruby's attention. Suddenly, the tension Passio was under finally causes her mental rubber band to snap, Passio puts her head in her hands for a moment and takes a deep breath before picking it pack up again and looking towards Ruby, As Passio speaks, she wipes tears away from her eyes. In her mind, she can cry once she's all done picking her crew. Mostly because she's worried that once she starts, she won't stop until she's asleep. She turns her attention back to the PADD, desperate to ignore her own outburst. Ruby's warm, sweet tone recaptures Passio's attention immediately, Ruby's face lights up, Passio trails off, staring back to the pad. She doesn't have a good answer. Ruby's communicator suddenly starts beeping loudly. She bolts up from her seat and starts cleaning her place in a panic, Passio sits there, staring at her datapad. The list just blends together as Ruby begins to leave, until a name jumps out at her. Passio looks towards the hastily leaving pink-haired girl, and shouts to her, She cries as she rushes out of the mess hall, Passio mutters to herself, Passio continues her research with renewed enthusiasm thanks to her new friend. A smile creeping onto her face every now and again as her mind returns to the chipper voice of the pink-haired girl. ****** After a good night's sleep, and a bit of breakfast, Passio stands in front of Commander Temer's office door. He'd already informed her that her new position had been approved, and she'd even been given her uniform. She'd stood alongside the others among the crew of the Pyrimidas who saught to join the Fleet the day before, and received her new rank alongside all of her fellows who helped her escape. Now all that remained was to give Commander Temer her crew requests. Her first assignment in her new role, ready to report as complete. She presses the button next to the door, requesting entry. As she hears him call out, she steps through the door. Commander Temer looks towards Passio and smiles, Passio says as she hands him the PADD. There's a moment of quiet as Commander Temer reads over the list. None of it was unexpected by this point. Cadets S'Ten, Chavek, and Dhileav were quite predictable choices. The others were also rather logical, but then he reaches her final request. The request for her first officer. Temer pauses a moment before asking, Passio's mind turns to the conversation she had yesterday and Ruby's advice, which allowed her to remove the blocks in her own mind. Commander Temer sighs. He can't help but worry that she was already taking risks, and she wasn't even technically in command of a ship, yet. But, he gave her this authority, and he would honor it. Passio can't help but chuckle, Passio leaves the room, still smiling. She can't believe he accepted her request to have Ruby as her first officer, but she couldn't be happier that he did. She's quite excited to see Ruby's face when she walks onto the bridge tomorrow. ***** The turbolift doors open, and Passio sees the bridge of the R.R.W. Burning Passion for the first time. She steps forward, tugging at her new Republic Fleet uniform. She was excited to be a part of the Fleet, but hated the uniforms. They were very much not her style. They had sleeves. Passio was ecstatic to hear Ruby's voice say those words for the first time. She smiles wide as she watches her hand selected bridge crew look towards her and stand at attention. S'Ten just smiles and rolls his eyes as he sits back down at the helm, Passio speaks with authority as she steps towards the commander's seat, As she sits herself in her command chair, she can't help but notice Ruby picking at her uniform, like she's trying to peel it off of herself. She looks to Ruby, and speaks more pointedly and quietly to her, Ruby looks askance, She looks Ruby in her eyes. God that green was cute… Ruby looks forward, her confidence somewhat renewed. For now, at least. There's an element of playfulness in Ruby's voice as she uses Passio's rank instead of her name, like she's using it as a nickname and not an acknowledgement of rank. Passio simply looks forward, a smirk on her lips, The warbird leaps into warp. And into the great unknown. ***** _This is the legacy of the R.R.W. Burning Passion Her mission, and that of her crew, is to explore the unknown Face strange new foes And to bravely defend those who cannot defend themselves._

A Burning Passion Lit

optoprime101

A lone T’liss Warbird limps toward the Romulan Republic Flotilla, the name “Pyrimidas” written along its hull. It is met by a D’Deridex Warbird, a ship nearly three times its size, and there is a moment of pause. Space hangs heavy with tension for a moment, until the larger vessel turns about and leads the Pyrimidas toward the center of the flotilla, where she’s brought up alongside the Republic Flagship.

Inside the transporter room of the Ha’apex Warbird R.R.W. Deihu, roughly two dozen Romulans are beamed over, group by group, from the Pyrimidas. Relief is seen among many, while others finally take the chance to grieve those lost from the destroyed colony they fled. Among them is a young woman, no older than 35 years of age, with crimson hair and piercing purple eyes. She’s wearing a pair of loose fitting black pants, a pair of black and red combat boots, and a simple black sleeveless top. She marches toward the transporter officer, followed closely behind by a man who appears somewhat older, though not by more then 10 years.

<“Where is the commanding officer aboard this vessel?”>, she asks.

The transporter officer is taken somewhat aback, but remains firm, <“Why do you want to know?”>

The young woman’s eyes squint with determination, <“Because I’m joining the Republic Fleet.”>

She states her goal as if it’s already been accomplished. The man behind her steps forward slightly, now standing alongside the red-haired woman.

<“Please forgive her…attitude. We’ve had quite an experience, as I’m sure you can see.”>

The officer looks to both the individuals stood in front of him, noticing the sharpened teeth in the red-haired woman’s determined scowl which betray her half-Klingon nature.

<“Very well. I’ll send Commander Temer a message to expect a pair of recruits.”>

The officer was hesitant to allow this temperamental Klingon to join the ranks of the Republic, but ultimately it wasn’t his decision. He was told to send potential recruits to the Commander regardless of his feelings, and he would perform his duties as required.

<“I’ll have someone show you the way to the Commander’s office.”>

Another individual, an older woman, leads the two young Romulans deeper into the flagship.

Commander Temer, a middle-aged Romulan man with slick black hair and a scar above his left eye, sits in his office awaiting the reports from the latest batch of rescued refugees coming from the vessel Pyrimidas. He begins to wonder if this vessel is the only one that survived the attack on Morla, but that thought is cut off as the ship’s computer beeps at him, indicating a request for entry into the room.

<“Enter.”>

The door opens and three individuals step into his office. One he recognizes as one of his lieutenants, but the other two he does not. A crimson-haired woman, clearly part Klingon, and a man with short dark hair not unlike his own. They are wearing civilian clothing, and looks as though they’ve been on a battlefield. His face moves from curiosity to remorse as he realizes where they must have come from.

<“You must be from Morla. I’m sorry for your loss.”>

The woman steps forward, the tension in her face loosening as she hears the Commander’s words and attempts to collect her thoughts. She’s here now, where she can be heard. There’s no need for the anger still boiling inside.

<“Yes sir. We’ve come for aid, but more importantly,”> she gestures to herself, <“My name is Passio Bajor Tar’nin. And I want to join the fleet.”>

She states her intent matter-of-factly. The Commander looks to her ally.

The man adjusts himself slightly, <“S’Ten Morla, sir. I share Passio’s goal.”>

The Commander sits back in his chair. It wasn’t unusual for survivors of attacks such as these to wish to join the fight, but these two have made the request much more quickly than others. Usually, survivors take some days to collect themselves, and only come to him once they’ve found the time to grieve.

Then again, perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised. Passio’s second and third names, along with her age, paint a quite clear picture of her upbringing. She has seen battle, and seeks more. Her friend, S’Ten, appears to have been dragged along. She must be rather convincing for him to have joined her here this quickly.

Temer looks to the both of them, and allows a grin to form on his lips, <“Very well. I’d like to speak to the captain of the Pyrimidas before I assign you both to a vessel, however.”>

Passio seems taken aback, <“Wait. That’s it? Just…‘sure, lemme figure out where to put you?’”>

<“You can see for yourself that we’re rather short-staffed Ms. Tar’Nin. There will certainly be a more official ceremony, but for now what is important is that I am accepting your offer. Now, returning to my question, who is the captain of your ship.”>

Both of the young Romulans in front of the Commander stand still for a moment, the shock of the ease of joining the Fleet still sinking in. Passio especially expected to have to fight much more to find a position. Even in the Republic there are still those distrustful of other species. And that’s before considering the fact that her mother wasn’t just alien, but Klingon.

Finally, S’Ten speaks, <“Ah. You’re speaking with her currently. Sir.”>

Passio snaps back to reality at S’Ten’s statement, and affirms, <“Oh, yeah. I took command of the Pyrimidas when we fled Morla. The original captain was killed before he could board.”>

Temer’s eyebrow raises. This girl took command of a T’Liss? She was no older than 33, perhaps 34 if he was being generous. She was practically a child.

His curiosity now peaked, he speaks, <“Well. That’s rather surprising. In that case, I would like S’Ten to quickly provide me an after-action report.”>

Temer then looks towards Passio, <“Passio, may I ask you to step out for a moment.”>

Passio’s eyebrow now raises, <“Why?”>

Her voice is thick with irritated confusion, and she takes a breath to rephrase, <“Er, May I ask why, sir?”>

He takes note of Passio’s demeanor, but says nothing on it, instead explaining <“I intend to ask S’Ten for his opinion regarding your command. I’d rather he feel able to speak freely.”>

Passio’s tension lessens once more, <“Oh. Yeah, sure, totally.”>

Temer takes note of her phrasing as she exits. She even speaks like a child. Once the door has closed, he turns toward S’Ten.

<“Now, Cadet S’Ten, full after-action report.”>

S’Ten corrects his posture, and begins, <“I boarded the Pyrimidas with Passio while evacuating Morla shortly after the attack began at roughly 04:00 hours. I assisted her in bringing her mother, Em’La, aboard the vessel and into the ship’s medbay. Em’La had been wounded defending Passio from one of the invaders.”>

He pauses.

<“She. Passed away from the injury soon after.”>

He pauses again, somewhat lost in thought until Commander Temer instructs him to continue. It was clear to Temer that Passio wasn’t the only one affected by her mother’s passing. S’Ten must have been close to the family.

<“Ahem, of course, sir. After Passio performed the Klingon death ritual for her mother, she demanded to be shown to the bridge. When those around her refused, she stormed past them and found her way there herself. I followed closely behind.”>

Commander Temer sits back, <“Do you know what her intent was?”>

<“I believe it was to lend assistance, sir. It was rather clear that not all of the ship’s crew had arrived before we were forced to take off.”>

<“Hm. Seems to be a habit, then.”>

<“Yes, sir. It’s…something I respect, in truth.”>

<“Interesting. Go on.”>

<“When we arrived on the bridge, it was in chaos. No one had yet taken the Captain’s chair, and the tactical seat was unmanned. The man at the communications console turned around and shouted at us-”>

<“Who the hell are you?! And what are you doing on the bridge, get your civilian asses down to the lower decks, n-!”>

The man is cut off by Passio, screaming at her in response, <“Like hell am I cowering in the hold while you all fuck this up and get us killed!”>

Her eyes scan to the empty Captain’s chair.

<“Where’s the captain of this ship?”>

The irate communications officer starts to respond, but he’s cut off by the tactical officer, an older Romulan man with greying black hair, currently struggling with the helm, <“He’s dead,”> the officer looks down at the helm, <“Didn’t even make it on the ship…”>

Passio moves towards the Captain’s chair, <“Then who’s in command?!”>

The crew goes silent. The communications officer speaks, notably more restrained, <“We’re figuring that out. XO is in sick bay.”>

The tactical officer now moves back to his station, and his eyes go wide, <“Everyone, there’s hostile vessels on the sensors!”>

As described, two Dhelan Warbirds of Imperial design appear on the view screen.

As the crew begins shouting at each other with conflicting orders and questions, Passio’s eyes narrow. She glances around at the chaos and analyzes the situation. Her mind works quickly, and she stands in front of the captain’s chair and shouts with her whole voice, cutting through the cacauphany.

<“ALRIGHT, ENOUGH! You want a CO? Well now you’ve got one!”> Everyone turns their attention to her, and the noise stops.

Only the communications officer objects, “Vah-udt?! <To place yourself in-?>”

Passio cuts him off, <“SHUT IT. S’Ten, get your ass to the helm! You!” She points to the tactical officer, <“Status of the enemy vessels! And your name! In any order!”>

The tactical officer turns toward her, <“Closing in fast, bearings 322 by 22 degrees and 34 by 300 degrees! And it’s Chavek, ma’am.”>

<“Damn, they’re close. S’Ten, evasive maneuver Tar’Nin Beta! Ops, damage report, name, make it snappy!”>

S’Ten takes the helm and follows Passio’s command, performing the maneuver created by her mother. The T’Liss they were using wasn’t exactly a Bird of Prey, but S’Ten was confident it would pull through, regardless.

As he performs the maneuver, the woman on the operations console looks up, <“Erm, right. We suffered minor hull damage on takeoff, and our shields aren’t fully powered, but everything is operational. We also have 2 plasma torpedoes on board and ready to load. Oh, and the name is Dhivael, captain.”>

<“Didn’t even ask about the weapons, nice work! Alright, get those torpedos loaded and power the cannons!”>

S’Ten swears suddenly, followed by Chavek shouting, <"Captain, they’ve moved to our aft, and they’re firing!>

The ship shakes as plasma blasts impact its shields, easily dropping the rear shield and causing a series of explosions across the rear hull.

Passio opens her mouth to ask for a damage report, but Dhivael preempts her, <“Hull breaches on decks 6 and 9! Rear shields down and port and starboard shields at 30%! Casualty reports are coming in now!”>

Chavek follows up, <“Captain, the enemy vessels are readying weapons again! They’ve closed up and wrapped their shields around each other!”>

Passio thinks for only a moment. The dual shielding is clever, and makes the Dhelans effectively immune to their cannon fire. But despite their closed formation, the enemy vessels are just far enough from each other that the Pyrimidas could fit between them, if only it could get there…

She looks to her science officer, <“What would happen if a ship at warp slammed into a deflector shield?”>

The officer looks shocked, but hastily answers, <“The subspace field would likely warp the graviton field generated by the shield array. Theoretically, you could even penetrate it if the field were large enough.”>

<“Good enough for me!”> Passio turns forward and issues her commands, <“S’Ten! Reverse impulse, immediately! No slow down, just current impulse to full reverse! Dhivael, once we’re in reverse, I want Warp 1! Just long enough to jump us backward 450 meters!”>

Chavek interrupts, <“But that would put us…”>

<“Exactly where we need to be! Chavek, get ready to fire those torpedos on my command!”>

<“Yes, ma’am!”>

The crew executes Passio’s plan in perfect sequence. The ship lurches as it pushes itself into an immediate reverse, and the momentary warp surprises the captains of the enemy vessels. They don’t have time to react as the Pyrimidas’ warp causes it to appear between them, inside of their shared shield.

Passio screams, <“FIRE!”>

The plasma torpedoes fire, slamming into the hulls of the enemy warbirds, blowing them apart. The crew cheers as the debris slams into the Pyrimidas’ shields, which only barely hold firm. All except the communications officer, at least…

Commander Temer sits forward, his attention well kept by S’Ten’s tale.

<“That’s quite the maneuver. A rather risky one, though. If she’d been wrong you would’ve slammed your vessel into a wall of gravitons at light speed.”>

S’Ten responds, <“Yes sir, it was, and we could have. But even so, we only made it out thanks to Passio. I doubt we would have even had the chance to consider such an option if Passio hadn’t taken control of the bridge.”>

<“Hm. Interesting. Well then, I only have one question. If you were in my position, having experienced what you have with her, would you grant her a command position?”>

S’Ten thinks for a moment, <“Sir, I believe that with the correct crew, Passio could be the best damn commander in the entire Republic Fleet.”>

<“And with the wrong crew?”>

<“I’d rather not think about that, sir.”>

Temer stands, <“Well, that’s all I needed. Thank you, S’Ten, you’re dismissed. Please send Passio in as you leave.”>

<“I will sir, thank you.”>

S’Ten can’t help but slightly smile as he turns and exits the commander’s office. As he does, he notices Passio still standing outside the door, just out of the way enough to prevent herself from blocking the hallway.

<“You’re up.”>

Passio’s tension returns, <“Alright. What’d he think of my…tactics?”>

<“To be honest? I don’t know.”>

<“That’s…reassuring. Well, here goes nothing.”>

Passio steps through the door, and stands before the commander. There’s a stillness in the air as the door closes and Temer sits back down at his desk, and Passio nervously crosses her arms.

Temer starts typing something into his computer screen, <“Passio Tar’Nin, I am sending to Proconsul D’Tan my request to immediately instate you as a Commander in the Romulan Republic Fleet.”>

Passio’s arms fall limp at her sides, and she stares at Temer, dumbstruck.

<“Wh-what?”>

Temer continues, <“Upon approval, you will be placed in command of the Dhelan Warbird R.R.W. Burning Passion, and deployed with her crew to explore the sectors surrounding Dewa III.”>

<“Wait, stop!” Did. You just say I’m going to be in a command position?">

Temer looks towards her, <“As I understand it, you already were.”>

<“Well, I mean, sure, but-”>

<“But what? I assumed this was your aim, to some extent. Am I mistaken?”>

Passio shakes her head violently, <“No! I just. Assumed I wouldn’t really be, well…”> she mutters quietly, <“accepted.”>

Temer’s tempered formality softens for but a moment, <“Passio. I do not care about your heritage, nor your appearance. By the account I have been given, you are a skilled commander. I would be a fool to ignore that simply because of your parentage.”>

He readjusts and returns to his formal tone, <“Now. What I am about to do is highly unusual, but given the opinion of your colleague, I am inclined to make an exception. Normally, I would assign you your crew. However,”> Temer pulls out a PADD and enters a few commands, <“I am instead going to allow you to select them yourself.”>

He then hands Passio the datapad, <“This is a list of officers without any current assignments. Please look over it and select your officers. I’ll need your choices by the end of tomorrow.”>

Passio takes the pad and looks over the list. It’s…shorter than she’d expect.

<“Um, alright, I guess. I’ll, uh, look this over…”>

<“Good. You’re dismissed.”>

Passio nods and leaves the office, still lost in thought. She shakes her head once the door closes and tries to focus herself. She has work to do, her first responsibility as a Commander. She walks towards the turbolift when she hears her own stomach growl. She suddenly remembers that the last time she ate was before the attack. She asks the nearest crew member for directions to the mess hall, and heads off to get herself something to eat while she chooses her crew.

Passio sits at the mess hall table, staring at the datapad in front of her. She reads through personnel files and after action reports, trying to get a sense of who she was selecting. She’s lost in the screen when a voice startles her back into awareness.

<“Um…is this seat taken?”>

Passio jumps and snarls slightly, a habit she wishes she didn’t still have. She looks up at the surprised Romulan woman who asked the question. Her hair is a bright pink, clearly dyed, and her eyes are a deep green. Passio can’t help but take note of the woman’s physique, as well. She was muscular, though no body builder, and her build was accentuated by the tight purple uniform she was wearing. Clearly a warrior, or at the very least had learned a few martial arts given the way she carries herself.

Passio finally stops staring long enough to respond, <“Um, no. No, it’s not.”>

<“May I?”>

Passio gestures to the seat next to her.

<“Awesome, thanks!”>

The pink-haired girl sits down with her food. She wasn’t much older than Passio, maybe by a year or two.

<“I’m Ruby, by the way.”>

Passio looks back to her PADD, <“Passio.”>

Ruby starts eating as Passio continues her research. The red-haired Romulan reads ever more files and reports, her brow furrowing more and more until she even begins growling lightly, the stress of the decisions she had to make starting to show. The gutteral growl catches Ruby’s attention.

<“Are you…okay?”>

Suddenly, the tension Passio was under finally causes her mental rubber band to snap, <“Honestly? No. Not at all. My home was blown up, my parents are dead, I had to get what was left of my colony here because the crew of the ship we fled with couldn’t agree on a damn backup captain, and upon offering my help to Commander Temer, he proceeded to tell me that I’m gonna be in charge of a ship, and that I had to pick my own officers sight unseen! I’m scared and sad and tired and I can’t slow down or I’ll have to start thinking about all of it!”>

Passio puts her head in her hands for a moment and takes a deep breath before picking it pack up again and looking towards Ruby, <“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”>

<“No, no, I get it. I’m…sorry that happened. It’s been all too common of a story around here…”>

<“Thanks…”>

<“Do you…want to talk about-?”>

<“No. No, not right now.”>

As Passio speaks, she wipes tears away from her eyes. In her mind, she can cry once she’s all done picking her crew. Mostly because she’s worried that once she starts, she won’t stop until she’s asleep. She turns her attention back to the PADD, desperate to ignore her own outburst.

<“Did you say something about being given command?”>

Ruby’s warm, sweet tone recaptures Passio’s attention immediately, <“Yeah, I did. Apparently the story of how I took command of the Pyrimidas convinced Commander Temer to give me my own ship. And now I even have to pick my own officers…”>

Ruby’s face lights up, <“Wow, really? Must’ve been some story. So…what’s the trouble?”>

<“I just…don’t know what to do. How the hell do I pick my crew sight unseen? How do I pick my own XO without ever meeting them? I need someone skilled, smart, and probably way older than me, who’ll be able tell me I’m being an idiot-”>

<“Why?”>

<“What?”>

<“Why does your XO need to be…well, better than you?”>

<“Because…”> Passio trails off, staring back to the pad. She doesn’t have a good answer.

<“I mean, sure, they need to be able to challenge you, but they should bounce off of you, right? You need someone who can help you, not just someone who’ll call you an idiot. Someone you can trust to help you steer true, not someone who’ll just take the wheel.”>

Ruby’s communicator suddenly starts beeping loudly. She bolts up from her seat and starts cleaning her place in a panic, <“Oh, man! Thank God I set that alarm. Sorry, Passio, I’ve gotta go! But you’ll make the right call, I know it!”>

Passio sits there, staring at her datapad. The list just blends together as Ruby begins to leave, until a name jumps out at her.

Passio looks towards the hastily leaving pink-haired girl, and shouts to her, <“Hold on! What’s your last name?!”>

<“My? Er, Valiens!”> She cries as she rushes out of the mess hall, <“It’s human! Wild, right?”>

<“Heh, yeah. Wild…”> Passio mutters to herself, <“Almost as wild as if it were Klingon.”>

Passio continues her research with renewed enthusiasm thanks to her new friend. A smile creeping onto her face every now and again as her mind returns to the chipper voice of the pink-haired girl.

After a good night’s sleep, and a bit of breakfast, Passio stands in front of Commander Temer’s office door. He’d already informed her that her new position had been approved, and she’d even been given her uniform. She’d stood alongside the others among the crew of the Pyrimidas who saught to join the Fleet the day before, and received her new rank alongside all of her fellows who helped her escape. Now all that remained was to give Commander Temer her crew requests. Her first assignment in her new role, ready to report as complete. She presses the button next to the door, requesting entry. As she hears him call out, <“Enter,”> she steps through the door.

<“Commander, I’m ready to give you my crew requests.”>

Commander Temer looks towards Passio and smiles, <“Excellent. May I have them?”>

<“Of course, sir,”> Passio says as she hands him the PADD.

There’s a moment of quiet as Commander Temer reads over the list. None of it was unexpected by this point. Cadets S’Ten, Chavek, and Dhileav were quite predictable choices. The others were also rather logical, but then he reaches her final request. The request for her first officer.

<“Commander…you do realize that Ruby Valiens is a cadet, correct?”>

<“I do, sir.”>

<“And you also understand that she has yet to be granted any assignments.”>

<“Yes, sir. Although I did look into it. And I couldn’t help but notice that every time she was assigned to a vessel, the CO would immediately request her removal. Often before the ship even left the flotilla.”>

<“Which is to say?”>

<“No one has given her a chance, sir. I intend to.”>

Temer pauses a moment before asking, <“Commander. Are you absolutely sure about this?”>

Passio’s mind turns to the conversation she had yesterday and Ruby’s advice, which allowed her to remove the blocks in her own mind.

<“Yes, sir. Absolutely positive.”>

Commander Temer sighs. He can’t help but worry that she was already taking risks, and she wasn’t even technically in command of a ship, yet. But, he gave her this authority, and he would honor it.

<“Very well. I’ll ensure your candidates are informed and promoted where appropriate.”>

<“Thank you, sir. And I appreciate you accepting my request for Cadet Valiens. I know it sounds like a jump.”>

<“It is a jump, Commander. A risky one. But considering why you’re here, I suppose it’s appropriate.”>

Passio can’t help but chuckle, <“Yeah, guess it is.”>

<“You’re dismissed, Commander.”>

<“Thank you, sir.”>

Passio leaves the room, still smiling. She can’t believe he accepted her request to have Ruby as her first officer, but she couldn’t be happier that he did. She’s quite excited to see Ruby’s face when she walks onto the bridge tomorrow.

The turbolift doors open, and Passio sees the bridge of the R.R.W. Burning Passion for the first time. She steps forward, tugging at her new Republic Fleet uniform. She was excited to be a part of the Fleet, but hated the uniforms. They were very much not her style. They had sleeves.

<“Commander on the bridge.”>

Passio was ecstatic to hear Ruby’s voice say those words for the first time. She smiles wide as she watches her hand selected bridge crew look towards her and stand at attention.

<“At ease, everyone. No need for the formality around here.”>

S’Ten just smiles and rolls his eyes as he sits back down at the helm, <“Oh, here we go…”>

Passio speaks with authority as she steps towards the commander’s seat, <“I don’t wanna hear any ‘yes, sir’ or ’no, ma’am’. My name is Passio, you’re allowed to use it. ‘Commander’ is fine if you absolutely must, I guess.”>

As she sits herself in her command chair, she can’t help but notice Ruby picking at her uniform, like she’s trying to peel it off of herself.

<“Oh, and don’t feel the need to be in uniform all the time. I know who you are, and who you work for. Long as you keep your rank markers on, go ahead and wear whatever you like.”>

She looks to Ruby, and speaks more pointedly and quietly to her, <“Don’t be so nervous. You’re here because you aught to be, just like everyone else.”>

Ruby looks askance, <“Are…you sure about this? I’m not exactly-”>

<“Ah! None of that. You helped me figure myself out when you barely even knew my name. ‘Someone who will steer you true.’ Your words. Not mine.”>

She looks Ruby in her eyes. God that green was cute…

<“You already did that once. So I know you will again.”>

Ruby looks forward, her confidence somewhat renewed. For now, at least.

<“Well then, you may give the order when you’re ready. Commander.”> There’s an element of playfulness in Ruby’s voice as she uses Passio’s rank instead of her name, like she’s using it as a nickname and not an acknowledgement of rank.

Passio simply looks forward, a smirk on her lips, <“S’ten? Let’s jump.”>

The warbird leaps into warp. And into the great unknown.

_This is the legacy of the R.R.W. Burning Passion

Her mission, and that of her crew, is to explore the unknown

Face strange new foes

And to bravely defend those who cannot defend themselves._

optoprime101

A Burning Passion Episode 2: “Ghosts”

<"Commander’s Log, Stardate 87340.7.

Three months ago, the Republic asked both the Federation and the Klingon Defense Force to partake in an officer exchange program. Given the conflict between the two powers, it was left to us Commanders who we choose to ally ourselves with. In the end, I elected to take aboard a cadre of Starfleet officers, including two new Senior Officers. Things have settled since, and we are now en-route to the K’lias system in the Ha’atoria Sector. Rumors have spread about a Federation vessel randomly attacking other ships, ally and foe alike…">

Passio stood in her ready room, staring out her window at the passing stars. While the integration of Federation officers has gone well, she worries about the implications of having to hold the crew together when dealing with a rogue Federation ship. The crew had been together for a few months, but the Federation officers were only just settling in. Passio couldn’t shake the feeling that one wrong move during this mission could disrupt what comraderie they had managed to build this far.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the entrance of her first officer, Ruby Valiens, entering the room and speaking, <“R-Rio? You’re needed on the bridge. We’ve almost reached the K’lias system.”>

Passio can’t stop herself from gritting her teeth and quietly growling as Ruby uses the playful nickname. It was getting harder and harder to control herself around the first officer, especially whenever that name came up. She takes a deep breath and turns back towards Ruby with a soft smile.

<“Well then, lead the way, Subcommander.”>

Passio follows Ruby out onto the bridge, where her senior officers were waiting. Her helmsmen, S’Ten, doesn’t even bother to look up from his console to address her as she takes her place in the Commander’s chair.

<“Arrival in about 5 minutes, Commander. If you’ve got any thoughts about how threatening we wanna be once we drop out of warp, now’s the time to share ’em.”>

Passio thinks a moment before answering, adressing her tactical officer, Chavek, <“Shields up the second we get there, just in case. Keep the weapons dark for now. We’ll be prepped to defend but not to attack. Not immediately, anyway.”>

Chavek keeps his eyes forward, paying close attention to the viewscreen as he confirms, <“Noted, Commander.”>

Ruby stands next to her commander as the ship drops out of warp and is met with a grim sight. A field of debris that seems to have once been a Republic T’Varo warbird. The image pulls Ruby out of the silent thought she had been stuck in for the past few minutes, eliciting a gasp for her lips.

<“C-Commander Edelweiss?”>

Ruby’s voice is hesitant with concern, and a touch of fear. She just hopes the answer from their new Senior science officer isn’t as horrid as the sight before her…

The officer in question, a Vulcan woman of about 80 years with long white hair and wearing a white and blue over shirt with a long white skirt, looks back from her console to respond.

<“I am picking up fifteen escape pod signatures, holding several dozen of the ship’s crew.”>

Passio speaks, <“That’s…less than I’d hoped.”>

She turns towards her operations chief, <“Make sure they get aboard, Dhivael.”>

Ruby simply looks towards the screen, lost in thought once more. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen such a thing, but still it never got any easier. Would the needless loss ever end? There were hundreds on that ship, and now…

She’s brought back once again from her own thoughts, but this time by Passio lightly squeezing her wrist.

<“Hey, I need you here, Ruby. What do you think?”>

Ruby looks to Passio, slightly confused, <“U-um…about?”>

<“Chavek’s tactical assessment. I want your opinion.”>

Passio turns to Chavek, <“Could you repeat for our first officer?”>

Chavek nods, <“I had suggested that the culprit could be around the area. Sensors indicate that there are still latent heat signatures coming from the debris field. Whatever destroyed this T’Varo did so quite recently.”>

Ruby puts her hand to her chin, <“Hm…interesting. Warp signatures?”>

Chavek shakes his head.

Ruby hums in response, her mind now operating in tactical mode. It was her responsibility, not just to the crew of the Ishae-ahn Sahe, but to the crew of the ruin in front of it. She turns to Corowyn once more.

<“Commander Edelweiss, can you check for traces of nadion particles?”>

Corowyn raises an eyebrow, <“Phaser fire, sir?”>

Passio closes her eyes and nods, <“I hadn’t thought of that. I guess we are potentially looking for a rogue Federation ship…”>

Ruby nods, <“Figure we should take the opportunity to check if those rumors hold water.”>

Corowyn looks to her console and does as she’s told. Eventually, the results are returned and her brow furrows.

<“Nadion traces are positive, and consistent with the output of Federation starship phaser banks.”>

Passio looks forward, <“And now the question becomes why?”> She sighs, <“Chavek, see if you can figure out where this mystery phaser-firing ship went. Ruby, head down to the transporter bay and meet with the crew of that T’Varo. Hopefully someone down there was on the ship’s bridge.”>

Ruby nods and starts moving toward the turbolift, <“Will do, Rio.”>

As the turbolift doors close, she hears the sound of Passio’s low growling again.

Did she do something wrong?

S’Ten turns towards Passio after the turbolift doors close and Ruby has left the bridge.

<“Are you…sure you’re okay with her calling you that, Passio? It seems to be agitating you lately. I don’t hear you growl like that a lot.”>

Before Passio can respond for herself, Corowyn interjects, <“There are many reasons Klingons perform such vocalizations. Perhaps irritation is not the cause…”>

She looks towards Passio with a raised eyebrow.

Passio looks incredulous, shouting her response, <“Are you implying something Corowyn?! You can’t possibly suggest I’m attracted to Ruby! That would be a…a grievous violation of the chain of command! It could get Ruby taken off the crew!”>

Corowyn simply looks back to her console, <“And yet, the nature of your protest notably lacks a denial of the initial suggestion. A suggestion you were quite quick to create a defense against despite my observation only implying that you were not angry with the Subcommander.”>

S’Ten couldn’t help but notice that Commander Edelweiss was right. He knew Passio, and he knew that look she often gave Subcommander Valiens. Though there was something…different about this. The way she interacted with Ruby was…soft, gentle, and quiet. The exact opposite of how she normally approached a potential partner.

Meanwhile, Passio is still shouting, <“Oh yeah?! I’ll show you irritated Commander Prying!”>

S’Ten stands at this moment and puts a hand on Passio’s shoulder.

<“Passio, c’mon. Corowyn isn’t insulting you or anything…”>

Chavek and Dhivael take the moment to exchange a pair of looks as S’Ten continues.

<“Whatever this is about, I know it isn’t her comments about-”>

Passio shakes off S’Ten’s hand from her shoulder, <“Stop. S’Ten just…just stop.”>

She takes a deep breath, <“I’ll be in the ready room. Notify me if we find our missing culprit.”>

She storms out of the bridge, ensuring the door to her ready room locks behind her. S’Ten simply looks to the closed door with concern.

Corowyn speaks, <“I believe that leaves Subcommander Chavek in charge of the bridge.”>

She looks to the closed door as well, <“Did I say something out of turn?”>

S’Ten shakes his head, <“Passio and I used to tease each other about personal stuff like that all the time. I guess this is just a touchy subject…”>

Corowyn’s face exposes concern for but a moment before continuing, <"It seems the possibility of jeopardizing Subcommander Valiens’ position by making her feelings clear is what has been preventing her from “making a move”, as some say. I had assumed that it was only the standard apprehension many have in regards to romantic relationships.">

<“Were you…trying to help?”>

<“Of course. She is my Commander, after all. I hypothesized that forcing her to confront her feelings may cause a reaction. The one we received was…not the one I expected.”>

It wasn’t what S’Ten would’ve expected, either. He’s about to continue when he’s interrupted by Corowyn’s console.

She speaks, <“It seems my modified scans for an impulse wake has born a heading. Subcommander Chavek, may I send this data to the helm?”>

Chavek responds, finally taking his place in the Commander’s chair, <“Ah, yes, Commander Edelweiss, please do.”>

S’Ten sits back down at the helm, pushing the ideas to help his friend to the back of his mind for now. Passio’s love life will have to wait for whatever is at the coordinates on his console…

Passio sits at the desk in her ready room, her head in her hands.

<“Why? Why’d it have to be her?”>

She could never let herself love Ruby. She had to stop these feelings. But she couldn’t. To her, Ruby was perfect in every way.

Passio stands and begins pacing across her office space, occasionally rubbing her forehead with both hands. She races through every way she could possibly let herself be in love with her first officer, all the ways they might be able to keep things secret, all the ways she could have everything she wants.

And yet, her mind always delivers the same grim ending. Ruby taken from her ship, assigned to the other side of the galaxy, only getting to see each other once every several years. Herself, stuck with a first officer who can’t understand or work with her. Not like Ruby can, at least.

It’s nearly enough to cause her to start crying.

<“Elements, get yourself together! You have a mission to perform, you can’t be getting worried about dumb love life shit!”>

She’d been telling herself that for months but, as demonstrated by her outburst to Corowyn, bottling her feelings of resentment towards her situation wasn’t doing her any favors. She clearly couldn’t continue like this, but moving forward wasn’t an option either.

She places her back to one wall, her head flopping back and slamming into it.

<“I just have to forget about it. About her.”>

She looks to the ready room door.

<“And also apologize to Corowyn at some point…”>

Passio takes a deep breath, readjusting her tank top and fiddling with her the pauldrons denoting her rank. She opens the door to the bridge, and steps forward.

Ruby walks through the halls, slowly making her way back towards the bridge. The information she gleaned from the T’Varo survivors wasn’t much more useful than what was gathered on the bridge. The bridge crew of the T’Varo had apparently gone down with their ship, leaving the survivors light on proper information. The attack being a surprise was all they really knew.

As she moves towards the turbolift, she can’t help but wonder how she would feel if she survived something the other members of the bridge crew hadn’t. Her first thought is that she doesn’t know if she could live without Passio again…

Only after the turbolift door closes, and she is totally alone, does she confront that thought.

<“Oh…oh no. I’m not…I mean, I don’t- no. Nononono!”>

She couldn’t have feelings for the Commander. She’d be reassigned if she tried to pursue that relationship! But she couldn’t deny it. The thought had presented itself, clear as day.

She couldn’t live without Passio. She wanted to stay by the Commander’s side for the rest of both of their lives. To grow old together, to keep each other company in the hardest of nights…

Ruby sighs.

<“Maybe…maybe I can talk to her about it. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll just. Explain. It’ll be fine…probably. I’ve just gotta wait till after the mission, then tell her I like her. No big deal. Easy. Then we ignore it, and move on. No problem.”>

Yet there’s a thought which assaults her mind. Passio seemed to be irritated with her lately. Ruby couldn’t figure out why, but nearly every interaction they’ve had in the past month ended with Passio clenching her fists and growling.

<“God, but what if this is just the excuse she needs to get rid of me?”>

This post had, somehow, lasted longer than all the others. Ruby even thought it was going particularly well. But now this wrinkle throws it all into jeopardy. She had no idea what to do.

Passio and Ruby step onto the bridge at the same time, prompting an improvisational call-out from S’Ten, <“Senior-est officers, on the bridge.”>

They all stand as Passio raises an eyebrow.

<“Senior-est?”>

Ruby laughs, and Passio once again has to exhibit her control. That laugh being all it took now was a big problem, and one that currently had to wait.

S’Ten responds, <“Well, y’know, both of you showed up simultaneously. Had to figure out something…”>

<“Was both our positions in order too much thinking?”>

S’Ten smirks, <“More too many words, honestly.”>

Passio laughs slightly, <“Of course, how could I be so silly?”>

The lightness was a welcome change of pace for the crew, but even moreso for Passio specifically. She looks to the viewscreen, showing the ship now navigating an asteroid field.

She speaks, <“So, this where we think they went?”>

Corowyn responds, <“Correct. An impulse wake seems to suggest a damaged vessel fled the previous scene and in this direction. I hypothesize that they’ve saught cover among the debris.”>

<“Makes sense. Let’s keep our eyes open for any vessels hiding in the-”>

She’s cut off as a Federation Intrepid-class starship comes into view from behind a nearby asteroid.

Ruby is the first to speak, <“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.”>

Passio responds immediately, <“Hail them.”>

Her communications officer makes the attempt, staring at the console for a second. Eventually, he turns around, <“No response, Commander.”>

<“Shields up.”>

Chevek looks to his console, <“They’re powering weapons!”>

<“Then power ours in response! Fire to disable!”>

As the weapons of the Ishae-ahn Sahe go hot, the ship takes phaser fire from the Federation vessel now presenting itself as their foe. The Romulan vessel’s shields hold strong as they return fire, dual plasma cannons rocking the Intrepid-class ship before them. Damaged from its skirmish with the Romulan T’Varo, the Intrepid stands little chance of bringing down Passio and her crew. It did not take long for the Ishae-ahn Sahe to disable the Intrepid ’s weapons and engines, along with its shields.

On the bridge of the Romulan ship, Passio stares at the viewscreen. She sighs.

<“Well, that was strange. Any ideas so far? Corowyn?”>

Corowyn simply stares at her console, seemingly confused.

<“Commander Edelweiss?”>

Corowyn turns to her superior, <“I apologize. I performed a scan for life signs during our battle and…the results confuse me.”>

Ruby walks towards the science console, speaking along the way, <“Why? What could be so-”>

She stops suddenly upon reaching the console and reading the scans present on its screen.

She shakes her head, <“Yeah. Okay. That’s confusing.”>

Passio looks impatient when she speaks again, <“Either of you wanna tell me what’s going on?”>

Corowyn responds, <“There are no life signs aboard that ship, sir.”>

<“Er…none?”>

<“Not one.”>

Chevek chimes in, <“That’s impossible, they were just firing on us.”>

Corowyn states, <“Be that as it may, running the scans again continues to produce the same results. There is no one aboard that vessel.”>

Passio places a hand on her chin, <“Well, that sounds like something that needs investigated.”> She stands next to her command seat and presses a button on one of the arms while speaking, <“Tick, Ecurai, I need you two in the transporter bay. We’ve got a mystery on our hands.”>

Passio moves to the turbolift, speaking as she goes, <“Subcommander Valiens, you have the bridge.”>

Passio arrives in the transporter bay, the two officers she’d called already standing on the pad. One, an insectoid individual with a black, ant-like carapace and four legs. They’re stocky and short, with a head befitting their ant-like exoskeletal frame.

To the individual’s right stands an older Romulan woman, roughly in her hundreds, with short black hair and wearing a doctor’s coat. She speaks first, <“Hello Commander. Would you care to brief us on our mission?”>

It’s said with an air of annoyance. Passio was well aware of her own tendency to ask for help before saying what she actually needed the help for, but somehow the usual tone she’s met with from her officers has failed to stop her.

Passio says, <“Oh, right, duh. So, the ship that just engaged us is…empty. Like, life signs null. No one’s on board.”>

The insectoid speaks, <“No one? No signals at all?”>

The older woman responds, <“That’s quite odd. And also makes me question why I’m here.”>

Passio responds, <“Well, if everyone’s dead I’ll need you to figure out why, Ecurai. But if it’s a signal block or something, and everyone’s fine, I need Tick to solve that issue. And I’m here for violence reasons. Just in case.”>

She grins and brandishes a weapon, a Klingon staff rifle which used to be her mother’s, and continues, <“Also to talk this out of that can be arranged.”>

Ecurai sighs, <“Another day aboard the Ishae-ahn Sahe, I suppose…”>

As Passio moves into place on the transporter pad, the transporter officer presses a series of buttons on the console in front of him, as he says, <“I’ll have to put you in the ship’s shuttle bay to avoid any risk of beaming you into a damaged section. Don’t want to transport the Commander into a big fire.”> He laughs as the energizer whirs to life, and a flash of light causes the three officers on the pad to vanish.

In another flash of light, the three now find themselves aboard the Intrepid-Class vessel, inside the shuttle bay as warned, the ship’s alarms still blaring a red alert. The first thing all three notice is the complete lack of any crew. No one seeking to use the shuttles or worker bees to repair the ship or evacuate. Not a single person to be seen anywhere.

Passio is the first to speak, <“Huh. No one’s home. That’s…kinda ominous.”>

Tick speaks next, <“So, I ain’t a detective but uh. It’s weird there’s no bodies, right? Living or dead?”>

Ecurai adds, <“Yes. Yes, it is.”>

Passio looks around again to confirm, and indeed there aren’t any indiciations of hurt or dead crew. She un-holsters her rifle as her expression changes to a determined grimace.

<“Keep alert, then. The ship was firing on us somehow…”>

The three venture deeper into the corridors of the vessel, moving past the engineering department and transporter bay to make their way towards the bridge. Along the way, they see not a single sign of the crew. An eerie air hangs over the team as they move, pushing forward through the silence and emptiness.

Passio speaks as they finally reach the ship’s turbolift, <“Okay. So there’s still no crew…”>

Tick adds, <“Yeah, but the ship’s automated systems are working fine. Fire suppression and isolation is operating it should be for a ship like this.”>

Ecurai says, <“Right. Except there’s no crew to be found anywhere. So why is the ship operating at all?”>

Passio responds, <“Heh, maybe it’s ghosts. Oooooh.”>

She takes one hand off of her rifle, waving the now free hand performatively as she makes the noise.

Ecurai’s expression changes from confusion to unamused distaste as she responds, <“Please keep your suggestions to genuine possibilities, Commander.”>

Tick looks to the two with a thoughtful gaze, <“This is startin’ to sound like something Discordance would pull…”>

Passio raises an eyebrow, <“Wait, I was joking, do you guys actually have myths about rogue, self-piloting starships?”>

<“Not specifically, no. Just feels like an old story, is all.”>

Ecurai frowns further and sighs, <“May we please continue instead of speculating ludicrous answers to our problem?”>

Passio turns towards the turbolift, <“Right, right, guessing’ll get us nowhere right now…”>

The three venture into the turbolift, and make their way towards the bridge.

The turbolift door opens to the bridge, and the three step out, once again greeted with emptiness. No crew at the consoles, no bodies on the floor, no signs of a fight. Just the expected scars of the energy feedback occasionally caused by external damage to the ship.

Passio lowers her weapon and walks towards the nearest console, the computer still humming with life.

<"What…?>

Ecurai moves towards the science station and begins attempting to use it as Tick does the same with the operations console. Passio moves to the tactical station to attempt the same. They all slowly begin to realize the same thing, Passio acknowledging the problem first, <“Hey…can you guys use these consoles?”>

Tick responds first, <“Nope. Not at all.”>

Ecurai turns towards the others and nods, <“No, I cannot. It is as if the computer itself is…fighting my attempt to use it.”>

Passio responds, <“Cool, so it’s not just me. Tick? Thoughts?”>

Unlike the other two, Tick seems to not be giving up, his fingers moving across the console at great speed as he responds, <“Hold on, trying to run computer diagnos—-”> he pauses a moment, taking in the screen before him, <“tics…”>

Passio raises an eyebrow, <“Erm, Tick?”>

<“You two are gonna wanna see this…”>

Passio and Ecurai walk over to the operations console, and Ecurai’s expression becomes inquisitive as she first sees the information on the screen.

She manages to speak, <“Those…are brainwave patterns.”>

Passio’s face contorts with shock, <“Wh-What?”>

Tick simply sits back and looks towards the ceiling, <“Good, I’m not crazy, that is what I’m lookin’ at.”>

Passio’s shock turns into confusion, and finally manages to shift into somber realization as she speaks up, <“I promise, we’re not here to hurt you. Can you show us what happened to you?”>

Ecurai looks inquisitively towards Passio, <“You’re asking the computer that as if it’s…”>

Passio looks to Ecurai with a pained expression.

Tick sighs, <“Oh, boy…”>

Passio speaks, <“Ecurai, could you head back to the science station? Hopefully if we ask nicely they’ll share their data related to…whatever this is…”>

Ecurai nods and does as she’s asked, moving to the indicated station. She stands there, staring at it, until it sends a single message.

IT WAS YOU. IT WAS YOU. IT WAS YOU.

Then, the message repeats, again and again and again.

Ecurai repeats the phrase to the others, <“It was you? What does that mean?”>

Suddenly, the alarms shift. The sound changes and a chorus of voices erupt from the ship’s intercom, repeating the message over and over.

IT WAS YOU. IT WAS YOU. IT WAS YOU.

Passio’s calm shifts to anger, <“Excuse you, we didn’t do anything! You fired on us!”>

The message stops for a second, before changing.

LIES. LIES. SEE YOUR LIES.

Suddenly, the bridge viewscreen shifts to the image of a Romulan Imperial D’Deridex. A scene plays out of the vessel firing on what is presumably the Intrepid in which the team now stands. The battle rages, until the D’Deridex suffers a strange singularity collapse. The screen finally shifts the image to the bridge, as the explosion occurs. In a moment, the determined crew of the Intrepid simply vanish. After this, the image returns to the view of the Ishae-ahn Sahe.

Passio looks aghast, <“What…did we just see?”>

The alarm changes once more.

YOUR SINS. YOUR SINS. YOUR SINS.

OUR FATE. OUR FATE. OUR FATE.

Tick puts a hand beneath his mandible, <“I guess…the singularity collapse created an electrical… or maybe dimensional anomaly…”>

Ecurai continues for him as he trails off, <“It’s…possible that such an anomaly removed their bodies while leaving imprints of their brain signals in the ship’s computer. Or at least, most of their signals…”>

Passio looks to the operations console, <“Like a corrupted file. But with a whole crew…”>

The alarm changes once more.

YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL PAY.

Passio looks somberly to Tick, <“Is…there anything we can do?”>

He sits back in the chair, with sadness in his eyes, <“I…could try saving the data but…there’s so much of it. Too much, if I’m honest, to keep in anything except the Ishae-ahn Sahe's computer systems. Which…probably isn’t a good idea.”>

Ecurai adds, <“As well, we have no way to return them to the way they once were.”>

Passio grimaces, <“And if we don’t do anything…”>

The voices grow louder.

DIE. DIE. DIE.

Passio looks to Tick once more, <“Can you…?”>

She trails off, but doesnt need to finish. Tick responds, <“I should be able to purge the system by resetting it, yeah. It’ll delete the…invading code.”>

The alarms change once more.

WE WON’T LEAVE. WE WON’T LEAVE. WE WON’T LEAVE.

<“Do it, Tick.”>

As ordered, Tick begins to fight against the console, fingers moving at speeds that make them difficult to see. His eyes move across the screen, following his own movements as the alarms grow louder and louder. Until finally, Tick manages to input the last command, saying, <“Computer, initiate reset.”>

The ship’s systems begin the reset and the voices in the alarms begin to fade, one by one. The last voice fades with a final new message.

THANK YOU.

Passio let’s our a sigh mixed with relief and sorrow, <“Let’s get back to the ship. This report’s gonna be a long one.”>

<"Commander’s Log, Stardate 87349.5.

It’s been three days since the incident in the K’lias system, and we’re now headed back to New Romulus for repairs and debriefing. In the meantime, we’ve alerted the Federation to the location of the now disabled Intrepid and I explained the situation as best we could. They were quite grateful for our willingness to save the vessel instead of simply blowing it to pieces. With the matter settled, I now find my mind wandering to other matters…">

Passio finishes the log, sitting back in her ready room desk chair and staring to the ceiling. Her mind was focused now on only one thing, and that was how she should handle the Ruby situation. She didn’t get much time to contemplate, however, before the subject of her thoughts entered her office.

Ruby speaks, <“You wanted to see me Commander?”>

Passio raises an eyebrow in confusion, <“Erm, no? I didn’t call for anyone. Did I forget a meeting?”>

Ruby steps back in surprise, and tries to hide her face as she stammers, <“Wha-? N-no, S’Ten just told me you wanted to talk…”>

Passio’s brow creases.

<“Ruby. Could you please try to leave?”>

<“Try to? Do you think I won’t…?”>

Ruby trails off as she steps into the door frame, and the door fails to open the way it should.

Passio sighs, <“Assholes…”>

Ruby simply looks down at Passio’s comment, <“Yeah…I guess I’m the last person you’d wanna be stuck in a room with…”>

<“What makes you say that? …Does this have anything to do with why you’ve stopped using that nickname?”>

<“Oh. You noticed…yeah. Yeah, I guess.”>

Ruby folds her arms, sadness written on her face as she sheepishly asks, <“Passio…do you hate me?”>

<“Hate yo-? What?! No! Ruby, you’re the best XO I could possibly ask for! I don’t think-”>

She almost finishes her statement with ‘I could live without you’, but she’s terrified how that might be taken.

Ruby responds, <“But…you always got so mad when I used that old nickname. And when I’d offer ideas on the bridge. And then there was the time-”>

<“Ruby, I’m not mad at you. I loved that nickname.”>

<“No, you didn’t! You always got mad when I used it!”>

<“I never got mad at you, Ruby!”>

<“Yeah, you did! You’ve been growling at me every time I use it for months!”>

<“That’s…that’s not anger, it’s…”>

<“It’s what?! Just say you hate me and want me off the ship, already!”>

Passio finally stands, slamming her hands on her desk, <“I don’t hate you, Ruby, I want to fuck you!”>

There’s a moment of silence as Passio’s last sentence hangs in the air. The two simply staring at each other as the shock settles.

Passio is the first to speak, <“That…I didn’t…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”>

She’s cut off as Ruby walks over to her and forcefully grabs her shoulders, pulling the two close.

Passio’s surprise is plain in her voice, <“Ruby, what’re you-?”>

Ruby cuts her off again, <“This is how I say yes, right? Like, to a Klingon? I take them and make them mine. That’s how it works, yeah?”>

<“Ruby, I can’t. We can’t. I want to, Elements, I want to. But if we get caught, then… you’ll get transferred. I can’t have that…”>

<“I don’t care anymore. I really, really like you, Passio. More than anyone I’ve ever met. And if we have to play secrets or be careful or whatever for us to have this, than so be it. I’ll do it. If it means being with you.”>

Passio sighs, <“Alright. We’ll try to keep this from the higher ups. But you should know something. If we’re going to do this.”>

She grabs Ruby’s shoulders, with greater force than Ruby grabbed hers.

<“It’s gonna hurt. A lot.”>

<“Worth it.”>

With that confirmation, Passio throws Ruby onto her desk, and her mind is overtaken by lust. The only rational thought she has before she can only focus on Ruby being to hope that the bridge crew were smart enough to activate the sound dampeners on her ready room before locking the two in together…