After Action/Avan's Colony
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 5:18am by Commander Daynah Ral & Commander Rhupert Tyree
2,500 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Operation Kakori
Location: XO's Office, USS Valiant
Timeline: Day after Dayna's return to the Valiant
Rhu sat on the corner of his desk in his ready room, listening to the audio-log Dayna had posted and it sounded like his XO had gotten a little stretched on that mission. He had certainly asked a lot of her and the rest of his Department Heads and they’d done very well.
But after greeting Dayna and the others in the transporter room, he could tell there was stress there and before they arrived at Earth for the next charming mission handed down by the Admiral, it would be best to get any steam blown off by Dayna.
The next mission would likely be just as stressful. Checking his computer, he saw Dayna was in her small office. Standing, he walked the short distance and hit the annunciator.
“Number one, if you have a moment, I thought we could have a chat,” he said, trying for a disarming announcement of his arrival.
Daynah prided herself on an open door policy when she was on duty. It was her way of making sure somethings ran the way she felt Starfleet should. At the moment she stood before her desk and ruminated as she looked at the blade sealed in its clear coffin. When the Captain spoke she turned with her trademark ethereal smile. "For you Captain, I have time come in and have a seat. It's not much but I call it home."
Stepping through the hatch, Rhu nodded and smiled to his XO, taking the proffered seat easily, slipping one knee over the other and letting an arm hang over the back of the chair. With the minimal space allowed for a work area aboard the Valiant, tight quarters were the go word in almost every compartment.
He wasn't quite sure what he was reading from Dayna as he regarded her. Some anger brewed slightly, but he read that more around her eyes and mouth than from her mind. "Avan's colony," he said deciding to jump right to it. "We're about to jump into another stressful mission I think. Operating under cloak somewhere that doesn't impede on Romulan interests, narrows the field somewhat. I've listened to your mission logs off Adelaide. Now tell me what wasn't in the mission log?"
"You're not going to like what I have to say. And you're going to have to not hold it against me." Daynah began as her face dropped the pleasant pretense. Fact was she had a lot on her mind, and none of it would be good for the Captain.
Reaching back, Rhu cycled the hatch closed and said, "Computer. Activate Hush field. Hold all communications for the XO and myself save bridge notifications." Once he'd gotten the corresponding tones indicating they'd have a private conversation, he made a give it to me gesture with both hands and said, "Things need to be said and I can take it. Let me have it Dayna."
"Let me start with the bloody idea that they can pull this ship's commanding officer mid mission to get some knew orders. Come on Rhu, I get the immediate need, and the cloak and dagger when it comes to The Cure's mission. But I guarantee that whatever meeting you had could have been a comm. They installed a cloak, the ship could have come to us while hidden." Daynah rose from her seat and began to pace. She allowed Tyree a moment to speak. But one could tell that she had only begun.
Rhu nodded and gave it a few beats and said, "The Admiral prefers these things face to face. Plus, theres an expectation that senior Commanders can handle things. It wouldn't be much different if I'd been killed and you needed to take over, you know. What they really needed me for was to deal with the Colonel and set that particular stage. Having him meet up with Harriet wouldn't have worked, nor one of the junior officers either for that matter. And Jayden's on sabbatical."
Daynah practically turned beet red with anger. "I never said I couldn't handle it. In fact I did handle it. Under your philosophy what the hell are you even here for? I mean I can just run this place. Do you even know? Even know what the hell happened down there. Two of ours get infected with this unknown virus. Zuub took care of them. There was almost a riot of civilians who wanted aboard the ship because they thought this place was some sort of miracle. Speaking of Zuub I had to tell her that patients have a right to their own decisions. Even if the decision is to kill themselves. So, I bore witness to the Klingon kill themselves right on our transporter. But you know a goddamned meeting with an Admiral is more important than the safety of this ship, its crew and the mission. I didn't even sign up for this." Daynah was shouting. Which from a person with her personality seemed more like a mother scolding her child. She paused and caught her breath. As her breathing slowed she began to speak again this time calmer. "You asked me to stay, asked me to be your conscious and the conscious of this crew. In that capacity I am telling you that what transpired here was wrong."
Folding his arms and watching as Daynah had her say, Rhu nodded and said, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that mess. mind, A Captain's roll is to get things done while an Exec gives him the ship and crew to do that. I do my best to shield the crew from the foibles of the Admiralty and get them back alive if at all possible while accomplishing a mission. You do an excellent job as Valiant's exec and I believe you're the best person for the job."
Rhu took a breath, pausing for a few beats before continuing in a reasonable voice, "Intel work isn't for the weak hearted and yes, being called away mid-crisis wasn't ideal. But, if I had been there what would have changed, Dayna? What part of all that would have made any of the away team do anything different or keep anything else happen differently?"
"You don't get it. Do you? It's not that you would have done something different, or better, or anything of the sort. It is that you don't carry the weight of what happens when ships like this, people like us, people with positions such as these drop the ball. We died because somewhere, there was a Captain like you, a ship and crew like this that made the absolute wrong decision. They live with that decision and its repercussions. You can live with a decision like that. I don't know if I am ready to live with a decision like that." Daynah paused and exhaled sharply through her nose. She sat with her arms folded across her stomach. This was a joined Trill's way of hugging the being that lived within them. "Now they add a Romulan to this mess. Like that is going to help. Do we even know which faction his allegiances lay with?"
"His own, or at least the powers that sent him this way of course," Rhu responded. "That's to be expected and if you read between the lines, our Colonel Galen is a spy. Probably an affiliation with the Tal'Shiar, if not a member himself. That's why we're keeping an eye on him. His being here is political, but that's fine. The Romulans need to have a credible source of information and mis-information that we want them to have so we get the nod. And the cloak will come in handy."
After a few beats, he said "Life and death decisions always weigh the heaviest. We can only do the best and can't let the weight of what could be drive us to uncertainty hesitation. The fact that you're agonizing over command decisions means you're well suited. In my experience, those who have no consideration for what might happen and use that to measure their actions are fools."
"So, we just practice the oldest of professions in the newest of ways..." Dayanah had calmed somewhat. She knew that none of this was in fact Rhu's fault. However, he did represent everything that she did not like about this ship, about Intelligence about everything. "...Do you know what makes a decision livable for me? The idea that I took all of the information available, weighed it all and decided the best course of action for everyone involved. That method does not work here. Because, the general idea there is that you may not have all the facts, you may have to shoot from the hip or go with your gut. But, here we know it all, we know everything. So there is no emotion, no instinct. That is a problem."
"It's murky, but we're here to wade through the muck and get to the truth of things, cutting past all the bureaucracy and politics. At least thats what I see from my window. In Valiant's case though" Rhu said as he kept his eyes on hers, "We're problem solving and gathering intel, keeping the white washing from others to a minimum. That gives the President the ability to make the best decisions for all of the Federation. He's decent and has good intentions, from all I can tell. So do Tess and the Admiral." Running fingers through his hair, Rhu said, "This all could get shut down in a year or whenever the next President gets elected. Then we're likely back to the Fleet and guarding convoys. The Universe is fickle. I am sorry you got stuck in the muck on Avan's Colony...but we learned a lot while there and you saved lives. Good work, Daynah."
Daynah sighed, calmed and smiled. Almost as if that was all she wanted to hear. She placed her hand on her stomach. "You know one of the reasons that I am here is him. When I was eighteen I was given a sacred charge, one that I adhere to even above Starfleet oaths. I was charged with giving Ral new experiences, a new lifetime of memories to learn from and bring to the next host when I die. He has already been a scientist, Eliza was exceptional at that. He has already been a Starfleet Captain, Alaryc was one of the best. Alaryc is studied at the Academy. But, Ral has never been a spy. So, we are here, and we will try to be the light in this darkest of places." The Valiant was an example of what the Trill Commission had warned Daynah about. A moment in time when the will of the symbiont is in contradiction with the will of the host.
Rhu could feel the change just as much as he could feel it within his XO and he relaxed too. For months he'd felt like he was walking a tightrope with his XO and in his mind, he saw maybe that rope was widening to a wider, if winding path. "In Betazoid History, before they joined the Federation, the understanding was there that as peaceful as their intent was, there are bad people out there. So, they maintained the Pelta or shields. The great ancestors to the BDF's now. One of their motto's was that they stood between the Dark and the Light, walking in that grey area between."
Tipping his head back against the bulkhead, he said "If you've ever wondered why I do this. It's more than a job. It needs doing and I saw what happened up close when Betezoid trusted to StarFleet and the Federation to keep them safe. Things happen. I know. But they don't have to happen twice." He met her eyes and said, "Which is why I need your help. You're one of the best people I know to stand walk in those grey areas."
Daynah returned the look with her head cocked to one side. "You have it, like I said I am here, and here to stay. It is just not something I ever thought I would be doing. For what it is worth he likes you. Thinks that you are of the same ilk as Alaryc, not like most of the senior officers in Starfleet. You take no nonesense, and look to get the job done so long as it is for the better. Ral means more to me than anything, and his opinion is one I value, his praise does not come lightly. So, take it for what its worth. Despite all this sometimes I boil over and need to let it out."
Daynah went quiet for a moment as Jazra spoke up internally. Jazra knew of the Pelta, of the BDF. She had learned about all that while studying on Betazed. These thoughts made Daynah realize exactly why Tyree was here and why he felt this job to be so important. "I am sorry if I have been wound tighter than a drumhead. Sometimes it takes time for me to work out all of these opinions."
"It's fine Daynah," Rhu said as he felt more emotions from his exec ripple, but then start to settle. "As important as this work is, it's not easy. And most of the crew hasn't been trained for it. I've let the Admiral and Earth Station know that, barring emergency, I want to stand Valiant down for two weeks when we drop off the Pioneers. Give everyone a chance to un-wind, see Sol system and or travel. The Betezoid mission on Earth will sponsor a few parties and the like. What do you think?"
"I think you may be bucking for the CO if the year award." Daynah smiled, laughed, and took a sip of her drink. "Seriously though, that is a brilliant idea and I am sure the crew will love it. "There are times when I may question our mission, and why I am here. But, I want you to know I am here because I want to be. Because I have to be. I am not sure why but there is some sort of unwritten reason that I must be here. For what it is worth Ral agrees. We joined Trill have a number of opinions that are constantly in our head. So, I need to work those out and sometimes it spills out there. Thank you for putting up with it. For what it is worth you have a number of friends here in this one body."
Bowing slightly, Rhu said "Shore leave it is then. And to one and all, I thank you." Straightening, he said, "Now we just pick up the Pioneers and not die. Piece of cake. And I like cake."
A Joint Post By
Commander Rhupert Tyree
Master And Commander
USS Valiant
Commander Daynah Ral
Executive Officer
Chief Science Officer
USS Valiant
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