Greetings Marine

Posted on Sun Sep 12th, 2021 @ 5:30pm by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Master Sergeant Kieran Fredericks

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Lounge
Timeline: Current
926 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Kieran sat at a table near the viewport. His son Jack sat across from him, munching on a hamburger that they had ordered.

"That good huh? " asked Kieran as the boy ate.

"Yes sir. " said Jack. The boy, though he was half Bajoran, didn't like most Bajoran food, though Kieran tried to get him to eat it as often as he could. Kieran's late wife, Elana, had no family on Bajor. While she was alive she had tried to teach Jack as much about that side of his heritage. But he was still very young when she died. So Kieran tried to keep it going as much as he could. Already he had found a Bajoran crewman whose family would take Jack to temple when they went. That part, the boy didn't mind. He wanted to know about the history of his mother's people. He just didn't like the food.

Lady Vanessa entered the room. She was busy all day long aiding the Vulcan Ambassador with damage control over some kind of customs dispute between the Bolians and the Andorians. Bolians tended to get too cozy with those they made contact with, and the Andorians often so distant, they seemed cold in more ways than one.

She almost didn't see Kieran. It was interesting. She had him as a bodyguard during her tenour as the Alindari Ambassador to Bajor. One of the more enjoyable assignments she had. Both Alindari and Bajorans were survivors. One survived a brutal Cardassian occupation, and her people survived a borg holocaust."

Vanessa walked up to Kieran and his son. "Master Fredricks. I'm delighted to see you again." Vanessa had not lost any of her elegant and refined poise and bearing." She always called him Master Fredricks. It was part of the way Alindari often addressed each other. Sometimes Master and Mistress for a younger age group Sometimes Lord and Lady for the Mid to Late age groups.

Kieran looked at the woman who had approached their table. He took a second and then he recognized her. He'd acted as her diplomatic bodyguard on Bajor a few years ago. He smiled.

"Lady Vanessa. " he said, standing and bowing his head slightly. Though he remembered she didn't stand much on such protocols, she had been pretty nice when he'd been guarding her. He looked up at her. She was still stunning. She looked as if she hadn't aged a day since he'd last seen her.

"Ah come now Kieran. We can dispense with the formalities for once, How are you doing?" She looked at Jake. "Greetings Jack."

Jack smiled shyly. "Hi. " he said.

"We're both good, thank you. Just having dinner. Care to join us? " Kieran asked.

"Sure." Vanessa sat down.

"So how long have you been aboard? We just got here the other day. " said Kieran as she sat at the end of the table between the two of them.

"One, two months.. It's not always been wine and roses here, Kieran. Suffice to say I'm glad someone taught me how to shoot.

Kieran nodded. "I've already gathered that. I'm just glad that there are a couple of friendly faces aboard. " he said. He couldn't stop looking at her; it was funny. He'd felt some chemistry when he was guarding her, but he'd been a married man at the time and had shrugged it off. Now, though, she was here. Was it fate? Granted, she was nearly ten years his junior, but he knew her well enough that to her, age was just a number.

"Kieran, this ship has been through things that would make lesser people cry. My first assignment We were captured and pulled into the Mirror Universe. I had to hide on this ship with almost fifty frightened children while their parents were being enslaved.": Vanessa mentioned. "Now I am more glad than ever you taught me how to shoot."

"If you're interested, I teach Jack here self defense sometimes. I'd be happy to include you in the lessons. " said Kieran.

Vanessa spoke. "I would like lessons. Though the my people have different ways of defending ourselves."

"We usually meet on a holodeck every Tuesday and Thursday after school for an hour or two, depending on the lesson. He's pretty good with the basic hand to hand forms I'm teaching him. Is there any particular discipline you're interested in?

"The Alindari are not the strongest race, Kieran. Humans can overpower us. But in combat, what we lack in physical strength, we compensate with our intelligence." Vanessa mentioned. "In combat, it's not the Alindari you see that is the danger, its the Alindari on your sides that you don't see. Simply put. We will not fight the battle on the front lines, we'll instead penetrate weak positions in an enemy's defenses and wreck havok behind enemy lines, leaving our enemy's fleets and armies to wither on the vine.

"Sounds like what I normally do. " He said, impressed.

"The Alindari are still rebuilding from the destruction of the Old Imperium. We've had enemies in the past, Kieran, Who have tried to absorb us as a scientific and labor caste, and if we did not learn how to fight in the years after the searing of Alindar. We, and our incredible skill as scholars would have been enslaved long ago." Vanessa mentioned. "Many covet the minds of a race of Scholars for their own ends."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. That story's played out plenty of times in the histories of many races. Doesn't usually end well for the oppressors. " said Kieran.