Welcome to Klingon 201 (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Sep 30th, 2026 @ 11:36pm by 2nd Lieutenant Uni Miralen & Lieutenant Colonel Ashok 'Ash', Son of Norath & Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine
Edited on on Wed Sep 30th, 2026 @ 11:36pm

2,433 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: Temporary Marine CO Office on Starbase 43
Timeline: After: More Than Meets The Eye

Previously...

Ashok looked to Nyx and leaned down giving her a kiss. He finally stepped back, tapping his combadge, while walking back around to his chair. "Lieutenant Miralen, please report to my temporary office on the double." He looked back to Nyx and let out a deep breath, adding softly to her. "I know your Betazoid senses aren't on point, but if you get the feeling she's going to be an issue or not getting it, let me know. I pair of outside eyes might be helpful."

“I don’t need my senses to be able to help you out with that,” Nyx gave a slight smile, reaching up to rub Gigi behind the horns gently, “I have taken a brief look at her file, along with the others you sent me, so I’m up to speed.” The smile faded into a neutral mien.

And now the continuation:

A few moments later, Uni arrived. She walked in swiftly and came to attention in front of the colonel. "Reporting as ordered sir."

"Thanks for coming, Lieutenant Miralen." Ashok said as he stood up with a stern look on his face, Nyx shooting to her own feet as well, "Can I offer you something to drink before we begin?"

Uni was a little surprised at being offered a drink. She was expecting a dressing down after what had occurred earlier. Hell, she even expected the colonel to assign her to the nastiest or most boring job he could find. All which she was willing to accept and do for her stupidity. Her eyes looked over at Nyx. She knew that the doctor was a Betazoid too, maybe she could give her some prior warning.

'Doctor. Am I in shit here?' she projected her thoughts towards the other Betazoid before answering the colonel.

Nyx’s eyes were sharp and met Uni’s as if she was trying to gauge the young Lieutenant to get a baseline. There was no response from her, nor any indication she’d even heard the younger Betazoid. One facial muscle twitched, however as Nyx felt something, maybe like an echo from far, far away.

Uni gave Nyx a look of confusion. Either the doctor wasn't picking up her telepathic thoughts, or she was ignoring her. Regardless she turned her attention back to the Colonel. "Water is fine sir."

Ashok turned and walked to the replicator. "Nyx? Anything?"

“No, sir, I’m good.” Nyx has fallen back into an at ease position, still casually eying Uni up as if evaluating her.

As he approached the replicator, he commanded firmly. "Computer: Glass of Water and a pot of warm Bahgol Tea with three cups."

The replicator lit up, producing a black square tray with a black tea pot like holder in the middle with Klingon symbols engraved on it and three small handless tea cups surrounding it. On the other side of that was a glass of chilled water. There was still some slight steam coming out of the small spout of the Bahgol teapot.

Ash took the tray in one hand and the glass in the other. Even with one hand holding the tray, he kept it balanced, the pot and small cups hardly moved an inch. As he placed the tray on the desk, he put the glass of water down on the table in front of a chair. As he gestured to it, he said. "Please sit, Lieutenant. Major, seats opened for you too."

Uni wasn't sure exactly what was occuring. So she opted to sit in a seat opposite the colonel.

The Klingon Colonel remained standing, lifting the Bahgol teapot up, before pouring some into one of the small cups. "Baghol tea. Best served warm and with more than one cup in case you have company. My Grandmother would always say. In the event they wanted to join you, and they always would, because it would be considered a great insult to not partake when an Elder serves a pot of Baghol Tea." He chuckled slightly before placing the pot back on the tray. "I am no Klingon Elder, so don't feel obligated to join, but I can't help but repeat it."

As he sat down, Ashok looked over to Uni, as he held his handless teacup in both hands. "I can't sense things like a Betazoid, but I can sure tell you are in a bit of a panic." He took a sip and smiled as he brought it back down to his lap. "No need. I just felt it necessary to try clarify some things and maybe answer any questions you were scared to ask in front of the others. Although, what you did say, seemed to get your point across clearly."

“Which is in part where I come in, Lieutenant.” Nyx stated as she leaned back in the chair, this time reaching up to play with the tail of the drakeling across her shoulders, “I was briefed on the meeting the rest of you had and I have a perspective that may shed some additional light on things.”

Uni nodded in response. "I apologize for what I said in that meeting." She told them both. She tried to calm her mind, putting up her own empathic barriers, the last thing she wanted was another overwhelming wave of emotion. "I gave it a lot of thought. I misunderstood and may have not expressed what I wanted to say clearly." She looked at Ashok. "Sir."

"No need to apologize, Lieutenant. You said so yourself, your knowledge of Klingon ways and traditions is small, so I can't expect you to understand everything you are walking into." Ashok replied as he took another drink from his tea mug. "That's why I wanted to bring you here. Answer questions. Provide more of an idea what you can expect and why, despite this being a training operation, it has shades of a diplomatic one."

"Yes sir. I understand sir." Uni responded quickly.

“To that end, Lieutenant, I’d like to open the ball by telling you a little bit more about myself.” Nyx said, glancing at Ashok briefly and getting a slight nod, “I started out as a combat medic even during boot camp after I enlisted in the Corps, no fancy Academy for me at the time. I worked my way up and joined Special Operations Command as a part of the Third Divisions Recon unit as a Staff Sergeant, when the Corps had an idea that they wanted full medical support on the teams themselves and sent me along with three other SpecOps medics to the Academy rather than try to teach Fleet doctors how to operate within the teams. Came back, kicked more ass before they decided the project wasn’t as useful as they thought and shunted us off to billets on hospital ships. Since then I’ve been on starships until the Colonel here got me off the shortlist and back into this uniform. Part of being on the Teams is researching potential adversaries, so I’ve got a fair grasp on one we’re facing on this mission as well. Any questions for me so far?”

Uni pondered for a moment. "None at present ma'am." She said. Indeed she wanted to know why a fellow Betazoid couldn't telepathically communicate with her, however that was usually a delicate subject not to mention a deeply personal issue amongst their race. Uni knew that in her cultures past Betazoids with no or little empathic abilities had been pushed out of positions, had their lives ruined or even driven to taking their own lives. This was not the time or place to be asking those sort of questions.

"Very well, Lieutenant." Nyx nodded, though she could tell there were questions behind the facade of Uni's eyes and she suspected what one of them was. She tugged gently on the tail, which twitched out of her hand as the annoyed drakeling objected with a grumble and resettling of the head and tail. "Because this mission is going to be relatively delicate. We can't be seen as weak, but we can't be disrespectful. Insulting a Klingon or suggesting dishonor is going to cause issues we don't need, especially since every one of our actions is going to reflect upon the House of Naroth. You and I are at a disadvantage to Major Jah or Sergeant Sina in strength, so you can bet that we'll get picked on just as much as the Major and the Colonel for their perceived faults. We're going to get questioned why we're there, bumped, blamed for being in the way or useless. And what are we going to do about that, Lieutenant?"

That felt like a trick question to Uni. Instead she took a deep breath. "We do not antagonise them. We are there to train their warriors how to fight Heralds," She finally responded. She turned her attention to Ashok. "Any incidents should be reported to the Colonel."

“You don’t antagonize, but first you push back. They bump you, you bump back, they knock your plate in your lap, you make a calculated response to stand up to them, but you don’t go beyond their offense.” Nyx reached out and punched Uni on the shoulder none too gently to try to make her point.

Uni looked down at the doctors hand. "Understood." She said in response.

"Let's be clear about something." Ashok spoke up as he placed the tea cup on the tray. "Like The Major said. If they try to provoke you, you show them you aren't going to take the bait. However, if they go to attack you? Knock them on their ass. If they pull a d'k tahg on you, a Klingon warrior's knife, you disarm them and knock them down. If any of your fellow marines are with you, at the time, they won't hesitate to remind them you didn't come alone. Refresh their memory, Lieutenant, that you are a Starfleet Marine. While, we do not start fights, we sure as hell know how to finish them."

"Understood sir." Uni replied. She had hand to hand combat training as per requirements of being a Marine. "If they start a fight. End it, show them we mean business." She paraphrased the colonels words. "Got it sir."

“I think you need some work on it, Lieutenant, but we’ll do that”. Nyx looked to the Colonel, “Sir, you and Cirilla together obviously, put Jah with Sina for the trip and I’ll bunk with Uni here and give her a crash course in Klingon 201. I can also use her as my med kit handler in a pinch.”

Uni nodded in response at the doctors suggestion. "I do have basic medical training." she added. Once again it had been a required course during her training, however it was mainly basic first aid to keep someone alive until a doctor or trained field medic could attend to them. She was lucky enough to have not needed the use of that training yet, although she knew there will be a time, likely sooner not later.

Ashok nodded his head, agreeing with the bunk suggestions, before replying. "Of course, we don't know if the Klingon ship will consider those arrangements. They may empty out some rooms to keep you all split up. They may bunk you all together. We can't control what happens on the ship, but we can control our actions. Klingons, as far as hospitality and comfort, are not what would fall under Starfleet standards. Comfort, to a Klingon, is seen as a weakness. If you're too relaxed you are likely to become complacent and lazy. So, expect rough accommodations and food specifically chosen to get under your skin."

“I guarantee that I’ve slept in worse and while I can’t stand gagh?” Nyx shrugged, “I’ll live, it won’t.” She gave a sly smile to Uni, “How strong is your stomach, Lieutenant?”

"I've had Klingon food before. Just nothing that moves." Uni replied simply. "I'll pack some rations just in case."

“And insult them that way?” Nyx shook her head, “Nope. We are there as their guests, we eat what they serve us, drink what they serve us, sleep where they provide us space. We don’t antagonize them over little things like this.”

Uni gave it a little more thought. "Yes sir." she replied simply. She made a mental note to pack a few emergency ration packs anyway, but keep them at the bottom of her bag. If anything they were always handy to have, especially if she wanted a midnight snack, or if something went wrong. Uni was the type who liked to be prepared as best as she could for any possible situation.

"If you find yourself struggling to keep something down, do your best to keep from throwing it up in front of them. That will be looked on as an insult as well." Ashok said as he leaned back in his chair. "Now, as far as the Bloodwine." He said before a heavy sigh escaped his lips. "There will be plenty of it. Starfleet offers pills that help dull the effects, but they will expect you to drink. They won't force it, but they will heavily imply it is a tradition and would be an insult to decline. Don't by it. It's just a means to get you to drink to excess and possibly do or say something to embarrass yourself. So, use precaution. You are welcome to try, but be aware of your tolerance."

"I tried it when I was younger. It... didn't agree with me." Uni said. "However, I will try my best sir."

"Then, Lieutenant, I suppose we should let you go get yourself all packed up." Nyx gave a slight smile, leaning forward with her hand outstretched, "I'm sure you and I are going to get to know each other really well over the next couple of months."

"Yes sir." She looked briefly over at Ashok. Uni rose back to her feet, gave them both a formal salute and made her way out of the office. She had a lot to think about now. She knew that this wasn't going to be easy, however she was looking forward to experiencing the Klingon culture and way of life.

Posting by:

Lieutenant Colonel Ashok 'Ash', Son of Norath
Marine Commander
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine
Chief Medical Officer
USS Tokyo

2nd Lieutenant Uni Miralen
Marine
USS Tokyo

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