Meeting the Romulans

Posted on Wed Jun 4th, 2025 @ 11:00pm by Liha t'Ehhelih & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya

Mission: Shackles
Location: Rec room
Timeline: TBC
1290 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Will stepped into the room, and looked around. She still struggled to find her way around the new ship, an irony that was not lost on her. Ironic in that she was a navigator, and that this was hardly a new ship. But it seemed the crew worked well together, at least from what she had seen aboard so far. As she looked for the two people who she was supposed to be meeting she tugged the toothpick out of her mouth, slipping it into her pocket to dispose of later. Best not to land her more annoying personal habits on her new colleagues all at once.

*Thwack!*

"Ha! Aimehn rahaen [Romulan: High score]!" Liha crowed, grinning smugly at her companion as she nodded to the knife that had landed almost square in the center of a target propped against the far wall.

Kali decided against a verbal reply and instead let action do the talking; taking a trio of the little Orion throwing knives in her boots and briskly burying them around Liha's in quick succession in an elegant, evenly-spaced triangle which, while technically not quite as high a score as the exact center, demonstrated a clear accuracy and control that rivaled it in a different sense.

Will paused a moment, and assessed the scene. As each knife hit its target Will could feel her smile widen. Romulans, go figure their hobbies were as sharp and dangerous as their words could be. With an easy smile she slouched a little and headed over to the two. “If you both fly with the same accuracy you throw sharp pointy things, I can see we will be in safe hands.” She grinned and then gave a little wave. “Hello, I am Will, the new navigator. And I am hoping you are the helm team? It’s nice to meet you both.” She hadn’t been aboard long, her bag still resting on the bed where it had been dumped. The fly away lavender hairs, which were escaping from their buns, spoke to the fact she had barely had a moment to really rest, freshen up and settle in. However if that fact bothered her, it didn’t seem to show.

"Great!" Kali grinned, but paired it with a little head-dip as a greeting instead of a handshake, and gave the version of her name that she knew a human could pronounce, rather than the longer form. "I'm Kali. How long have you been on board?"

"Liha," the other Romulan replied with a somewhat more formal and precise dip of her head. "I'm engineering, but I've been a pilot and can still fly. I take it you just arrived."

Will withdrew her hand and slipped it into a pocket with an easy smile and returned the small nods of greeting. “That I have, joined up in Freecloud. Here on as part of a skill exchange with the FCA. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. If there is anything I can do to make your lives easier please just let me know. I’m assuming fuel efficiency is a consideration for your routes but is there anything else you would like me to account for?”

"Honestly...the main thing to account for is that she's - with no insult meant - kinda ancient. There've been some upgrades made here and there but I had to spend a fair amount of time pouring over the manuals when I first arrived. That and the charts in this area of space are....incomplete isn't quite the right term; but half of 'em used to belong to the RSE and aren't around to access reliably anymore; and half of 'em really don't exist because they used to be part of the Neutral Zone. Plus who technically owns what lately is prone to changing on a weekly basis, or a constant matter of active dispute...." Kali shrugged.

"That pretty much covers it," Liha agreed. "Except that the Fenris Rangers have some of their own charting that's available to us now. Parts of it are coded, but if you have any trouble with the key, come ask me."

“Coded… huh, how fascinating. I always did enjoy a puzzle.” She then looked around the room, as if she could imagine the Rosie’s hill and upgrades by doing so. “And she is well experienced, but I do not think that should be a problem. Compared to some freighters she is practically top of the line.” Will said with a teasing grin. “But I will certainly make use of her specifications regarding upgrades, as you suggest. The incomplete charts are a harder problem to solve, but that is partially why I am here.”

"You got quarters and stuff yet?" Kali stalked over to the target she and Liha had been using and pulled her knives out, stuffing them back in her boots.

Will watched the woman tug out the knife and stash it in her boot. She kept a placid,e asy smile on her face but made a mental note not to piss off the Romulan with pointy things in her footwear. "Ahh, I think they have been assigned, but I have not yet had time to find them. I wanted to find my bearings and meet people before unpacking."

Liha's eyebrow edged up. Not securing your stuff first was weird. But then, the new navigator was human. She'd long ago come to expect that humans were weird. Proceeding to retrieve her own knives, and stow them far more discretely into sleeve, bodice, and boot, she returned to the throwing line. "We were just having a bit of friendly competition. Do you throw?"

Will looked at the board and then back at the two Romulans. “Uh sort of.” She hesitated a moment. Her and her sister hd often played a similar game but it tended to be with objects they had to hand. The sleek shiny throwing knives of the Romulans were not commonplace on the farms of Earth. “Do we have any axes? The kind you cut wood with?” She thought it unlikely. There was not practical reason to have those aboard. Will was also eyeing the board, not sure it would hold up to heavier weight. “Ah actually, perhaps that should wait until we have access to a tree or a stump.”

"I've tried axes before," Liha said. "Takes a bit of adjustment, but nice satisfying crack when you hit. We tend to stick with practicing knives because knives are easier to carry and conceal."

"I'm definitely too small to hide an ax, yeah." Kali shrugged. "Though for once that goes for most people, actually, with those...You'd have to be damn near Gorn size to do that effectively."

Will laughed and gestures to herself. “Ah well, I am not exactly an instrument of subtlety myself.” She grinned, knowing with her size and general presence there were somethings beyond her. Concealed knives were likely one of them. “I will leave the concealed cutting edges to you ladies, although, you ever need a woman to move haybails or lob something heavy in a general direction in your woman.” She winks and eased back into a lazy posture. “So apart from performing long distance surgery on unsuspecting targets, what else do you both do for fun?”

"We spar with knives too. And swords, and hand-to-hand," Liha cast a brief teasing grin toward Kali, "though I have a size a weight advantage on that one." She gave Will a speculative once over. Humans were weaker, but matching against someone larger could be interesting, especially if they'd been trained in a style she didn't usually practice against. "I don't suppose you have any hand-to-hand training?"


[truncated]