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._