Back aboard the Valiant
Posted on Sat Feb 28th, 2026 @ 5:11pm by Colonel Galen & Commander Rhupert Tyree & Senior Chief Petty Officer Harriet Hastings & Chief Petty Officer Biv Th'shrolneq
Edited on on Sat Feb 28th, 2026 @ 5:11pm
1,527 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Operation Kakori
Location: Deep space, rendezvous point.
Timeline: after Along Comes a Romulan
Transporter beams wrapped Rhu and Galen as the USS Astrea Imprimatur dropped out of Warp, having finally closed with the Valiant. The familiar, if small, number one transporter room aboard the Valiant came into view and Rhu CO was used to the gruff Andorian and said, "Nice to be back home, Chief. How's our lady?"
Biv eyed Valiant and said, "Half scandalized by the rough treatment those yard birds on DS5 gave her, Captain. Might not be their fault but the way they put her back together, we've got more than a few power issues and bad sensor relays, among other things. So, welcome back to the shi.."
"As you were, Chief," Rhu said cutting him off. "There are Romulans present. This is Colonel Galen. He'll be joining us for the duration. And for the Chief's rumor mill, that duration is classified. The official line is he's an advisor."
Turning, Rhu. said "Colonel, this is Chief Th'shrolneq. Best transporter Chief in the fleet. Also the grouchiest so, don't hold it against him too much. Before I drafted him for Valiant, he thought he was destined for bigger and better ships. Until an unfortunate matter with a Dabo girl on Deeps Space five and a false letter of credit. We kept him out of the brig and he kept his rating. He's just not allowed to disembark on that station for a couple of years."
"That was a frame job, Commander," Biv said slightly offended. "And I still think you shanghai'd me."
"It was that or a general court, Biv," Rhu said. "Well, probably a general court. JAG and Bajoran courts could have gone either way. You tore that Dabo machine out of the floor and smashed the bar..."
The stoic, tall Romulan raised an eyebrow in the fashion of his Vulcan cousins. His Fleet uniform stood in contrast to the Starfleet uniforms of the Chief and Commander. "Chief I think you may be lucky to be alive. If this were the Romulan Fleet you would have either been in prison for the rest of your natural existence or dead. However, I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Yes sir, that's me. Lucky Biv...," the Chief grumbled good naturedly. He rather liked Romulans. Most of his remarks would likely go right over this ones head. Welcome aboard Colonel. Hope you're not claustrophobic."
Galen was a Colonel in the Tal Shiar, he was used to a lack of comforts. So, the Chief's hope landed on somewhat deaf ears. Galen simply nodded in response and turned to follow the Captain out of the transporter room.
Rhu walked briskly to the bridge, taking in the sites, smells and general feel of his command. . Even though it had only been two weeks, it felt longer to him. Harriet turned to greet him.
“Welcome aboard, Captain,” The COB said, smiling and brushing a stray lock of her black hair back behind her ear.
“Thank you, Hasty,” Rhu said as he said, “Glad to be back. This is Colonel Galen of the Romulan Star Navy. He’ll be joining us so set him up in quarters please. I have the con.”
“Captain has the con,” Harriet intoned and the bridge running lights paused, then flowed as the computer registered the command change. “I’ll see to those quarters, then sir. Welcome aboard Colonel.” She was mystified by the addition of a Romulan to the ship, but nothing really surprised her aboard this ship anymore.
Rhu stepped over to the bridge center and said, “Communications. Send a thank you to Captain Bowie aboard the Stray for me. Leaning past Ensign Pettimore, who was manning the helm, Rhu punched in a set of coordinates and said “Mr. Pettimore. Get us to those coordinated expediently. Redline the drive. We’ll be there for about two minutes, then we’ll be headed for Earth at best speed."
Galen stood next to the Command chair and observed the Commander as he ran the vessel. For the Romulan this allowed him the opportunity to see how the crew reacted to his presence and the way the ship ran. So far, he was slightly impressed.
As both Ru’fallo and Pettimore acknowledged his orders, Rhu stripped off the operations tunic he was wearing and said, “Get us underway as soon as, Jon. Don't wait on ceremony. Harriet, before you get the Colonel settled, give me a quick update on Valiant. That stay in the yard…”
Harriet had waited, knowing the Captain would want that and said, “We’re buttoned up and spaceworthy, sir. Engineering has been hard at it running diagnostics and they’ve had to shore up a couple of spaces that just didn’t have time to get filled.” She paused, wondering if she should hold off on parts of the update, then decided if the Romulan was going to be aboard, then he’d likely get a hold of most of it anyway. “The vertical launch mortars didn’t get fully installed, so those are offline. The hull plating was placed right back over. Our ablative armor is good to go as is the updated shield matrix. Operations is mainly chasing power issues and what they think are bad sensors. But I won't trust that the ship won't come apart until we look at them all."
“Very well,” Rhu said. “Thanks Hasty. Get me a must do list when you get a minute. Once we pick up the rest of the Command staff, we’ll get dug in. Join the Colonel and I in engineering in an hour or so.”
Looking over his bridge, Rhu said “Computer. Update the log to show Colonel Galen as a member of the crew and list him under our Security/Tactical manifest please.” Turning to Galen he said, “You’ll have quarters shortly. We’ll pick up the rest of the Command staff in about ten hours and I’d like to have my Chief Engineer aboard before installing the cloak.”
On the main viewer, the Valiant edged away from the Reliant class then jumped into Warp as Ensign Pettimore pushed the Valiant toward her maximum warp speed.
“I need to spend some time on my bridge. You’re welcome to tour the ship. Lieutenant Ruffalo,” he said indicating the Bear who was manning Tactical. “Can see to that.”
"Thank you Commander. I will take you up on that offer shortly. However, if it meets with your approval I would like to be shown my station. I can begin the configuration. So, that it is ready for when your Chief Engineer arrives." Galen was not one to stand on ceremony or waste time.
Gesturing to the secondary tactical station, Rhu said "We'll be configuring this for your use. Since the Star-Fire tubes didn't get put in, we won't be using it right off. After that, Harriet will show you to Engineering and you can get tucked in. She's a structural/environmental systems engineer as well as my Chief of the Boat. She's one of the best."
Harriet tried not to let her cheeks burn at the open praise, but didn't try to downplay it either. She had a reputation and hearing the Captain tout it, wasn't the worst thing.
Turning to Galen, Harriet said, "Tell me what you need Colonel we'll see it gets done."
"Very well. I will need an engineering kit. As well as someone who can show me how the interface works on a Federation Starship. While I am familiar with same technology, I am not familiar with others. I would much prefer my console to be in Romulan while I am at my station, for example." Galen looked at the panel that was to be his bridge station. He instantly realized that there was not a way to conceal much of what he did. So, anything that the Empire needed would have to be done
from his quarters.
Harriet stepped next to the Romulan, keyed in a command to the console's Master System Display, tapping into LCARS and the readouts switched from Federation basic to Romulan. "You're authorized to configure the station to your liking, Colonel," she commented, stepping away again a few paces. "The console will recognize you as after you first set your personal settings, then switch in the future when you sign in. That customization should follow you through to any station you deem to work at while aboard. I can walk you through the interface and what I can't, I'm sure Commander Dalziel, our Chief Engineer, can handle.
"Yes. Most efficient. Thank you." It did not sound like it but this was the closest Galen came to complimenting someone. He sat at the console and began to configure the screens. At the moment there were no readouts as the cloak was not installed. However, the Romulan knew enough to get the ball rolling.
A joint post by:
Commander Rhupert Tyree
Master and Commander
USS Valiant
Senior Chief Petty Officer Harriet Hastings
Chief of the Boat
USS Valiant
Chief Petty Officer Biv Th'shrolneq
Lead Transporter Tech
USS Valiant
Colonel Galen
Romulan Cloak Operator
USS Valiant
RSS Feed