A Ship Reborn

Posted on Tuesday August 10th, 2021 @ 2:11pm by Niyahra Riohn & Lennox & Tiandith 'Tia' Tobru & Cleo Ortega & Wraet tr'Melanth & Adam Rayner

Mission: Marauder's Map
Location: Ship's Lounge
1711 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Having passed into Romulan space a full day ago, some of the tension aboard had eased though only by a small measure, like the small relief of a slight breeze on a scorching hot day. Wraet had lived through worse; indeed he expected that everyone on board had, but over the years he'd learned that it was important to take what brief moments one could when one could. With engines and most systems operational (or as close as they would get with the resources currently available), it seemed as though they could afford an hour to celebrate that success.

The Romulan nodded to Riohn, offering a rare smile. "I am told we have achieved a level of readiness we had hardly dared to hope for when we began this venture. Though resources are limited," he pulled two bottles of Romulan ale from behind the bar, "I believe there is enough for a toast. But there is one item of business first: we should have a new name for the ship before we toast her."

"It has definitely been a long road, getting for there to here." Tia said as she both welcomed and begrudged the sight of the Romulan ale. Fixing the ship had been difficult with limited resources but they had made it. Wraet was right, a celebration was needed even if it was small. A small morale boost would work wonders. "Could always do with more torpedoes though..."

A name for the ship, Niyahra hadn't even considered that yet, "What's wrong with the name it has?" Sure it was a little hard to pronounce, and it meant nothing to her or possibly any of the people there, but it was a tool for them. A means to an end. She remembered running her hand over the console at the bridge, the memories of her time in Starfleet. Not hers, of course, Riohn's. The lines were blurry and with Romulan ale they'd possibly get a bit more blurry.

"Nothing in itself, but it is one that could be found in records if someone had cause to look. Which we intend to give soon enough," Wraet explained with a slight smirk. "The less can surmise about our capabilities from old shipyard specs and the more mysterious we can appear, the better chance we have to sow confusion among our opponents and spark a certain wonder and curiosity among potential allies." He poured a a small glass of ale. "Besides it is tradition to take a new name when reborn."

"Alright then," She looked around the group, "I'm guessing we have to dig into our collective memories here a bit, things that were reborn. Wasn't there one of those firebirds in human history?" Niyahra had some trouble remembering the proper name for the creatures.

"Phoenix." Tia said as she sipped her drink then cradled it a bit against her chest. Her time amongst Humans before the Dominion had taught her much about them. "Although Firebird has a nice ring to it as well. If we are sticking to a resurrection theme Humans do have other God's such as Odin, Persephone or Osiris... or Nemesis, she was the Goddess of divine retribution and revenge. Plenty of that to go about."

Tia looked young enough to have never seen any wars in her lifetime. One could mistake her for innocent, inexperienced but her over 2 centuries of life were unknown to most.

Wraet internally kicked himself for the reborn remark - he should have known where that would lead and he it would be best to steer them away from it. The Alth’Indor, very similar to earth's phoenix, had become a symbol of the Romulan Empire following Hobus and even if Romulan backing might be assumed it would be better if it were less obvious. "I rather like names that reference retribution," Wraet remarked. "Or chaos. 'Chaos to our enemies' was a popular toast during the war. Perhaps a god of chaos, or one of earth's trickster gods. I admit a certain fondness for that aspect of their mythology."

"Well Loki, they were the Norse God of Mischief. Eris was the Greek one." Tia offered. "I read a lot and remember a lot of random information." She shrugged.

"Mischief," Niyahra liked the sound of that, the name itself didn't really mean anything to her but they were certainly going to be up to no good, "I mean, slap a 'USS' in front of it and it sounds like something Starfleet would've christened themselves. This is the USS Loki of the United Federation of Planets, and we solemnly swear we are up to no good." with that she raised her glass.

Having quietly listened to the crew go through names, the Captain of the Latinum Guard aboard the ship liked the meaning of the name. Adam decided now was as good of a time as any to chime in. "Mischief is a great name for what you intend to do. From what I remember from mythology, Loki wasn't the most feared in battle or fearsome of the gods but he was responsible for Ragnarok. Broken from his chains, Loki returned. We've all broken from the chains of the Dominion and hope to bring about their destruction." A slight grin crossed his face as he said, "I also heard a saying from somewhere I don't remember. I aim to misbehave."

Cleo kept her head down throughout most of the discussion, literally, so that her hair swept forward and obscured much of her face. She appeared to be focused on her drink, or perhaps deep in thought or even resting her eyes. What she was really doing was minding her own business... a tried-and-true tactic for staying out of trouble while in prison. She was also kind of embarrassed. She knew that they were looking to rename the ship, but other than that Cleo had no clue what any of them were talking about. Her education had consisted primarily of biology, chemistry, anatomy, and anything else strongly related to the field of medicine. She'd learned early in her childhood not to ask the hologram for extraneous informatio0n, and no one else in her life had been anywhere near as helpful, where her education was concerned.

In truth, the doctor was also a little concerned that this was apparently the most pressing issue. Or at least the most pressing issue that she'd been involved with. The name Loki was short and memorable, but to Cleo it sounded rather brutish and unrefined. But maybe that was the Betazoid in her, as her mother had been so find of saying when she complained of all the patchwork situations and solutions in her life. Were Betazoids an an orderly and refined people? Maybe. But Cleo didn't know any Betazoids, and she didn't believe in cultural diffusion as a part of biological instinct. What she did believe in was imprinted behavior derived from an obsessive-compulsive holographic mentor. They could call themselves the USS Ship of Fools for all Cleo cared. That seemed just as appropriate, but Cleo kept the thought to herself. Somehow she doubted the others would be impressed with neither the suggestion, nor her taste in anachronisms.

Wraet tipped his head to Rayner, handing him a glass. "From the Dominion's point of view, we certainly will." He poured, passing out more glasses, though couldn't help thinking how much aiding these people from the former Federation would have been serious misbehavior when he had entered the Galae. Now it was service to the Empire, but he had no illusions that should fortunes change his close association with them would make him suspect in some circles. But it was mnhei'sahe, his personal honor, that mattered and he had seen enough of the events in the alternate timeline to have no difficulty casting his lot with this crew. "This god of mischief's name is not far from a Romulan word: lhiukhe. It translates roughly as to persist, to never stop. That indeed fits my intention for causing trouble for our adversaries."

Taking the glass, Adam tilted it slightly to acknowledge Wraet's point. He too had much resting on this mission. He had the last name of a former war hero of the former Federation, as well as Captain Aaran Rayner's blood running through his veins. If things went the wrong way for this resistance, the Dominion would love to get their hands on Adam. "To never stopping our mischief," he said to his glass.

Tia raised her glass to Adam's toast. It was half a raise as she recognised him as someone she once knew, or someone similar. It had taken getting a little closer, seeing him in better light and finally having a chance to stop and take stock.

Captain Aaran Rayner, of the USS Challenger. He looked just like him.

She'd been in the fleet that protected Earth in their last line effort to stave off complete surrender. She had seen the extensive damage the Challenger was taking and in talking with Aaran previously they had set out a plan if one of their ships were to fall first. The other would cover.

The Cavalry moved in between the Challenger and the attacking Dominion fleet and she watched as they evacuated before the eventual destruction of the Challenger not long before her own ship, the Cavalry began to take on excessive damage that forced her to evacuate and save her people just so she could form some sort of resistance in the Sol System. It was in her position as the cell leader, as The Listener as she soon came to be known as, she released information about the last battle that cost them so much, as such she released data about ship losses and officers unaccounted for.

She still kept a lot of information to herself.

Niyahra drank the content of her glass in one fell swig, "alright then." She gave a bit of a cough, she didn't remember Romulan ale being this strong. It took a moment to sink in that she never had Romulan ale before, "I'm sure we all have more important stuff to do to prepare for our rendezvous." She started to walk away before turning, "you're all dismissed, or something."