Guess Who's Coming To Dinner... (Part 3 of 4)

Posted on 13 Feb 2023 @ 6:29pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror
Edited on on 13 Feb 2023 @ 6:37pm

3,726 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 10, 2041 hrs

Previously, on Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (Part 2)...

The Klingon commander's eyes narrowed with precision, now entirely focused at Mimi. "I remember your people. Your leader, Hikay. I was the commander who ordered your people to surrender your mines and refineries. Then, I watched the slaughter when your kind proudly chose to sacrifice your lives instead of sharing your resources."

KehG leaned forward, his elbows and forearms resting on the table before spreading wide. "I am the one responsible for your colony's fate. Will you kill me, now? Here, as you declared? To avenge your family?" challenged KehG.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

As KehG spoke about remembering her people Mimi got more tense, memories flooded her head. The colonies excitement at the Klingons landing and hopefully new trade agreements to be made, the horror as KehG's bat'leth sliced down through Hikay's back, the panic as the Klingons opened fire on the gathered crowd who quickly began to flee. Her lips slowly curled back into a snarl exposing her long canine teeth as she slowly stood, her body coiled up ready for action claws coming out fully.

The teeth and claws of the ensign were signal enough to Naime to know that this was about to happen right now. She wasn't going to leave Mimi to fight alone against these monsters and so in a single motion she was on her feet eyes locked with Brin't'a still sitting across the table.

Jeysa gasped, she had heard Mimi's story and couldn't believe her ears as the Klingon commander told her he was responsible for the massacre, she was struck by a desire to pick up the nearest piece of cutlery and stick it in the nearest Klingon.

In an instant Mimi was up and over the table throwing herself at the still-seated Klingon, an intense hiss coming from her wide open mouth all thought of the repercussions gone from her mind, her intent only on punishing this Klingon for murdering her people.

Tarin's eyes had quickly widened, first at KehG's open admission of his brutality, then at her officer's new deadly posture. The Nekomi was fast. Too fast for her to get an order or cautionary rebuke out before the felinoid was flying across the table. The dining platform shuddered and delicate ceremonial goblets fell over, spilling their contents across the white tablecloth and onto its occupants. A cacophony of clinking plates and cutlery drowned out the ensign's hisses while much of the well-prepared food trays on the table were pushed to the floor with loud clangs and slops. "...Ensign Mimi!!" yelled Tarin at her highest voice, with implicit urgency and anger. She quickly rose to her feet.

Mimi was fast, fast enough that Naime had hardly moved before she saw the ensign flying across the table like a furry cannonball. Naime could guess how this would go, four Klingons and one cat, so as she moved into action she aimed to put herself in position to distract at least two of them. She might not be as fast as the Nekomi but Naime still didn't waste a moment in following her over the table.

The Nekomi's physical impact with KehG elicited a loud, audible thud then grunt from the older man when their two bodies collided. The Klingon commander flipped over backwards from his chair as a result of the ensign's flying charge. A prominent thud ensued when they hit the ground, accompanied by gutteral hissing. KehG reached up to grab the slim alien's throat with his half-gloved hands, his eyes now wide and full of adrenaline.

Already moving up to her feet Mimi batted away KehG's arm and still hissing frantically took a swipe at his face with her claws.

Several sharp digits raked the Klingon commander's cheek and drew pink blood. Seeing her position, he followed her posture and returned back to his feet, albeit slower and with more bulk. His right hand reached behind his belt to retrieve a small object which clicked open as he brought it in full view. His d'k tahg glinted with a shiny blade, ready to disembowel his opponent upon the next strike.

Though she knew it was a bad idea given KehG's size advantage over her, Mimi let the Klingon commander get up to his feet. She moved into a traditional Nekomi combat stance, tail tucked in close against her slightly spread bent legs whose muscles were primed to leap at her opponent, wicked sharp claws ready to tear more deep gashes into his flesh. "Anda anka marw de dampris Klingon" she called out before leaping at the Klingon again though wary of the knife he now wielded.

Aria watched with a tense jaw, her eyes narrowing. The Klingon's revelations was one thing, one to put aside to process, but the fight was doomed. And there was so much more at stake. They were outnumbered, in a place dangerous enough, with the majority of their senior or experienced crew on an away team. This was also a diplomatic nightmare just staring her in the face. Mimi was her friend. KehG had revealed something abhorrent that, under normal circumstances would have made Aria draw a phaser. But this was bigger than that. Bigger than that moment.

Aria Rice really hated herself right now, and felt responsible for bringing it on them. But she also knew that standing on the sidelines was going to do nothing. She took a deeper breath, more to calm herself than anything else, before she walked over to them, eyes narrowing. "Enough!" she shouted and, perhaps stupidly enough, got in the space between the Nekomi and the Klingon warrior, ignoring the knife or Mimi's clear I am going to murder you claws. She looked at KehG first, meeting his eyes before she looked at Mimi. "Ensign Mimi, stand down!" she snapped, teeth bared, her back straight as she watched the other woman. "That is a direct order. Stand. Down."

Despite her rage Mimi saw Aria step between her and KehG, she didn't want to hurt the woman but kept looking for ways to get past her and at KehG. "Aria, saada fora saya nacin." she said, her mind to focused on KehG to compose English.

"I said, stand down, Ensign Mimi," Aria repeated, her voice steady but firm. She moved her head to meet her eyes, to force the other woman to hold them. To make sure she saw her. She knew Stark was just outside the doors, she could call him in to escort Mimi out. But she hoped that the Nekomi would stand down by herself. "Now."

Having o'er-leaped the table to Mimi's aid, Naime placed herself as best as she could to block the path of Brin't'a and Torn to the Ensign's melee with the Klingon Captain. Though the chief didn't know Mimi as much more that John's lost cat in the Jeffries tubes, hearing her story had moved her and so long as the ensign was looking for revenge Naime was going to do her best to protect the fierce Nekomi. "Both of you stay sat down." Her eyes darted between the two warriors.

T'Lin stood as well. She glanced over to the Lieutenant before making a pinching motion with her hand.

Both Torn and Brin't'a were now face-to-face with the Engineering chief. They had both moved forward to confront the other respective Federation members at the table when the challenge had been accepted. Brin't'a stared down Naime with intense dark eyes and terse body language to ensure she knew her place to not intervene. Or say another word. Torn diplomatically double-teamed Naime but also kept a close eye on the blond Vulcan who he knew probably possessed surprisingly discreet strength and hand-to-hand tactics for her slim physique.

And then there was Kuran, who had simply crossed his arms over his chest with satisfaction at the ensuing brawl. He cast a cursory glance to Rice, his counterpart, and tried to talk sense into her. He shook his head once, firmly. There could be no diplomatic solution once the challenge was accepted -- which Mimi had. It was now a fight to the death. "Let them fight!" he instructed. "You must allow this combat to continue."

Back at the heart of the brawl, Captain's KehG's lips spread into a satisfied and devious smile upon hearing his first officer's endorsement. His long, graying hair was slightly disheveled and the pink blood dripping from his cheek highlighted his wide and spirited demeanor. The imposing Klingon captain slowly circled Mimi in a confined left-hand radial. Probing and judging her defenses while anticipating her next strike. It would be her last if she tried. "Yess..." hissed KehG, seemingly enjoying the experience. "Do as your commander tells you and stand down. Like a good Nekomi," he taunted. "Be a coward, like the rest of your kind who ran away and refused to fight back on Ra'chal'ka..."

Though Aria being between then limited both views, Mimi watched KehG's movements just as intently as he watched hers. She knew speed and flexibility was on her side but the Klingon warrior no doubt had much more combat experience than she did. She hissed at him as she looked for an opportunity to get past Aria.

Commander Morgan Tarin had viewed the initial combat with a sense of dread. Not simply because of her crew member's actions, but also due to the ramifications of the peril Ensign Mimi was creating for her fellow shipmates. And yet, when her acting first officer stepped forward in an attempt to halt the violence, Tarin looked around the table. Not just to her own people, but those on the other side. To the Klingon delegation who wanted -- needed -- to see this blood feud play out in all of its brutal glory.

Morgan was an unorthodox CO who utilized a combination of traditional Starfleet procedures coupled with her own legacy views of personnel management. That much was clear to anyone aboard the Galileo who'd served under her command for more than a day. And so, here and now, she realized the opportunity in front of her. Allow her officer to fight KehG, or potentially (and most likely) lose all Klingon diplomatic support and intelligence from the battlecruiser and its crew. There was no right or wrong answer to the situation. But one thing was certain -- Ensign Mimi had started it. This was the hardest judgement call Tarin had been forced to make in her career.

"Lieutenant Rice," Morgan firmly spoke to Aria, "step aside...." She held the short woman's blue eyes with her own hazel ones and gave a curt nod, knowing all of the Klingons in the room were watching them. Judging. And whatever transpired here on Galileo, they would report back to their crew mates on Praxis and then to the greater Empire. Starfleet's pride and integrity was on the line, whether or not anyone knew it. This was now Mimi's fight.

Aria watched her, her own eyes cold and angry as she watched Tarin. She clenched her jaw, because her Commanding Officer had given her an order. She stepped aside and out of the way, retreating a few steps with the feeling of something shattering inside of her. This was a Starfleet vessel, and a member of Starfleet had attacked a Klingon. The Captain had now given the order for the fight to continue. She looked around, taking in the crowd, her heart racing in her chest. This was wrong. This was so wrong.

T'Lin remained standing. She turned toward the captain. "Captain, I must protest this course of action. This is not how a Starfleet vessel conducts itself. Section..."

"Ensign Mimi can handle herself!" interrupted Tarin back to the NCO who'd questioned her orders. She wasn't sure if she believed it entirely. But she hoped as much, and she didn't mean to express anger at the Vulcan science officer. However, between the looks Rice and the others were giving her in front of the Klingons, she needed to present a firm front. Her rebuke was performative, not judgemental.

"That's right ensign, you've got this." Naime called out over her shoulder without letting her eyes move from the two Klingons in front of her. "You wipe that smile right off his idiot face."

Jeysa quickly grabbed one of several PADDs she'd placed around the room just in case she was needed to take notes and used it to alert sickbay to have a team on standby to come and help if either side was wounded.

The second a reasonable gap appeared Mimi bounded forward towards KehG, one clawed hand ready to strike while the other was readied to potentially grab or deflect his knife arm if he swung for her.

Captain KehG watched the felinoid come. Fast. Hard. Like a young targ determined to spear its unsuspecting handler. But a veteran Klingon warrior and battlecruiser commander was a far cry from any faunal lifeform or combatant which Starfleet could muster. He watched the Nekomi bounce toward him at great speed, her claws extended. Then he feigned a shuffle to the right then quickly shifted his feet to the left, side-stepping the momentum the woman had built.

Stopping her momentum quickly moments after passing him Mimi lashed out with her leg aiming a kick at the Klingons knee.

The Klingon captain stood upright and stoic as he deflected Mimi's kick off of his shin with a slight leg raise. He chuckled at her in a mocking demeanor. "Come now, young Starfleet warrior. Is this your best?!" He continued to circle her and look down upon the inferior species.

Mimi lowered her stance a little, her legs muscles ready to leap forward in an instant. Unconsciously her mind calibrated the optimum moment and angle; slight moves of her feet and minor repositions of her tail altering her approach angle to counter KehG's movements. Then she leapt claws ready to sink into his chest.

KehG deviously grinned when he witnessed the Nekomi commit to her attack. It had been telegraphed from afar; by her eyes, body and tail posture...and her uncontrolled emotions. Mimi's claws were no doubt ferocious but he was a Klingon! A large one with a naturally-reinforced skeletal structure and redundant organs. One who weighed at least two times the mass of his opponent. I have won he revealed to himself, lowering his crouch as he anticipated her strike. He expertly twirled his d'k tahg in his right hand, flipping the blade over the back of his palm and back into his fingers' grip. When he saw her attack, he quickly tossed the sharp knife to his other, left hand and braced for the impact.

Once again, an audible thud sounded when Mimi collided with her opponent. Only this time, the Klingon warrior remained standing after his robust frame absorbed her impact like a rock. He grunted and grabbed the woman by the back of her neck while her claws penetrated his armor and flesh. And then his left arm swiftly came up from below his waist with the force of a targ, toward and into the Nekomi's midsection.

Having successfully taken down a Klingon before with a similar pounce Mimi was somewhat surprised when she almost bounced off of KehG's body, she felt her claws pierce through his clothing and deep into his flesh before another feeling overtook it, a feeling of extreme pain as the knife sliced through her sandy toned skin deep into her belly. She let out a silent scream as her blood began to flow around the blade but forced herself to keep going pulling a hand free and swiping at his face.

The Klingon captain pushed his knife deeper into Mimi's abdomen until the bladed hilts were also starting to penetrate through her belly. The d'k tahg's tip softly burst through her back, eliciting a small explosion of feline blood across the floor behind her. KehG opened his mouth to goat in triumph and started to lift her off her feet using his bicep's leverage. But suddenly, several of the Kekomi's sharp claws struck his face and embedded themselves into his cheek. With no remorse for his pretty flesh, they tore downward and deep into the side of his upper jaw, severing two of his teeth and cutting deep into the bone; breaking his facial features. He cried out in pain, attempting to curse her in Klingon while his voice became garbled at the sudden influx of pink blood pouring into his throat and mouth.

Aria had watched the fight with cold disbelief that it was taking place, her breath steady. The gore she was seeing, the amount of pain and damage...someone was going to die. And it would be on her watch. She moved her hand to her phaser, a calm movement that barely registered as she pulled it. It was already on stun. She took the firing stance in a split second, aiming first at Mimi and firing, before doing the same to KehG, if only to prevent him from pulling the knife out of Mimi's body. She kept her phaser out, but lowered her arm as she watched calmly. "Doctor Wylde, please check on them and beam them to sickbay," she said, her voice oddly detached.

Her claws retracting the moment she was stunned by the phaser beam Mimi fell backwards off of KehG landing with a thud on the deck, the d'k'tagh still firmly embedded in her belly.

Wylde threw his napkin on the table, sighing heavily as he moved to the now prone brawlers. He crouched, reaching out to touch an arm of each, shaking his head tersely. "Well, I suppose that's my meal cut short..." he muttered, never having seen anything quite like it on a Starfleet ship before. "They will probably live, but they will know about it," he added, shaking his head as he ordered site to site transport, disappearing with them.

T'Lin was still standing. In her mind the whole thing had been highly illogical and now had resulted in the injury of a crew member along with a supposedly diplomatic party. "As before, captain. This violated regulations. You may suspend me, but I am going to file a formal protest when we return." She didn't add her final thought, *If we return at all*.

"There are some things more important than regulations." Naime half growled her response. Though she had to have looked back to see what happened she was doing her best to keep her eyes on the two still-conscious Klingons in front of her. Though the fight had ended Naime remained tense. The fight had not been to the death and the chief worried that these two might be about to start trouble if they weren't didn't consider the job done. "Is honour satisfied?" She called out "Are we done here now?"

Torn and Brin't'a both snarled at the engineer's confrontational attitude. They'd witnessed the battle between the weak ensign and their captain, only to be proverbially stunned by the final outcome: an incapacitated draw when the small security officer had phasered both of them at the last moment.

"No it is not!" declared Brin't'a who put her hands on Naime's shoulders and violently shoved her backwards. With Torn on her heels, she stormed into the center of the makeshift combat arena then spread her arms wide. "This is what you call honor?" Her boiling eyes locked with Rice and Tarin, then turned back to Kuran and Torn. "You denied our captain his victory when you saw your precious officer being defeated!"

Commander Tarin stepped forward and straight into the Klingon woman's chest. She clenched a fist then brought it up to the taller woman's chin. She'd watched the brutality Mimi and KehG had engaged in. Watched one of her own miscalculate while not being able to help her, then saw her become impaled on the blade of an old warrior with too much pride. Morgan had taken a gamble and had lost. And she wasn't happy. Her fist raised to the Klingon security officer's chin then remained there for several long moments. Inches from touching her. "You are the coward, Brin't'a. Standing in the distance and waiting for your chance. Like a small person. A house cat," she rebuked, using Klingon phraseology.

The shove had caught Naime off guard with how forceful it had been but she was back on balance in a moment and popped up right next to Tarin "If honour isn't satisfied..." she mumbled, rolling her shoulders "Then we can rectify that situation right here." There was blood on the carpet where Mimi had briefly laid before dematerialising. The thought of the blood, of the ensign now fighting for her life down in sickbay, made Naime feel like maybe honour really hadn't been satisfied, maybe a little more blood needed to flow.

Commander Kuran stepped forward and finally uncrossed his long arms. The tall first officer had, too, witnessed the combat between the one called 'Mimi' and his captain. He'd seen his commander fight her the way he'd responded to dozens of challenges throughout the time they'd served together. Always, KehG had been victorious. Always he was the supreme persona aboard Praxis. But now...a new opportunity presented itself.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

LT Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer/Acting First Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

CWO3 Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

Captain KehG
Commanding Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Commander Kuran
First Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Commander Torn
Chief Tactical Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Lieutenant Commander Brin't'a
Chief Security Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

RSS Feed