The ‘Trials of Ash and Leaf’ was an ancient rite in Klingon history. Thousands of years old, and steeped in much lore and tradition. It had originated during the Second dynasty. And had once been used as a training regimen for guards of the imperial house, but for the past several centuries, it had been somewhat relegated in importance. Nowadays, most Klingons completed the trials during their final years of primary education, during their mid to late teens. The Klingons were planning to use this fact to help accentuate their victory when they deflated the Starfleeters.

Lady had been on perimeter watch and fire picket duty all night long. She had diligently performed her rounds and stoked the fire or added a log whenever it was needed. She had softly hummed along to some of her favourite pop punk ditties as she went about her tasks.

A few hours before first light, she even ‘caught’ 2, what she thought, would be murderers, in the act. But it had just been 2 fellow officers beaming down from orbit to join them.

‘You’ve got the weight of the world, upon, youre shoulders…’ Lady sang softly as he noticed the distinct sound of transporter beam near the camp. Lady quickly loaded a quill in her improvised dart gun and hovered back to the camp.

‘Halt, who goes there!? This is a starfleet camp and we are on a cultural exchange program, violators will be shot’ she exclaimed as she zoomed towards shadowy figures on the far side of the fire.

Near the platueas jagged rise at the campside’s edge, Lieutenant Ay’dar stepped from the shadows, firelight tracing the ridges of his brow and the bulk of his frame. Gravel crunched beneath his boots. He fixed his gaze on the ecocomp by the gear pile and let out a low, guttural grunt.

‘Eeep!’ Was Ladies only response.

Captain Jinaril Miller stepped into the firelight from behind Ay’dar, he dryly said, “Stand down, Lieutenants. Ay’dar, how many times have I told you—stop scaring the bejesus out of other officers?”

Ay’dar gave a curt nod, his expression unreadable. “Sorry, sir,” he rumbled, the apology more ritual than remorse.

Captain Miller stepped past him, the firelight catching the four silver pips on his collar. He studied the ecocomp, which hovered slightly above the ground, its lights blinking in a cautious rhythm.

“We’re from the Medea,” he said with a calm voice. “Got pulled into an escort mission with the Io, something high-priority for the Brass. You know how it is. Orders come down, and suddenly your quiet survey run turns into a week of dodging debris and bureaucracy, but we’ve made it!”

‘Well welcome then fellow Fleeties. Make yourselves at home. I was redirected here while on route to my new assignment myself. The orders mentioned a cultural exchange…but this seems more like a Klingon Bro Hazing ritual to me…let me know if you need anything, Ill head back out on anti-beasty partrol’ she began to hover off, back to her circuitous patrol route around the camp.

Miller nodded, “We could eat, yeah?”

During the evening, Lady had only had to tranquilize, kill, and disembowel one 2-metre Gunzark(a large predatory lizard native to Khitomer). She caught the creature creeping towards the Starfleeters shelter several hours before sunrise. Instead of leaving it, she decided to have her comrades honor the beast by eating it. It was roasting over the fire on a spit now, and was likely medium rare.

‘Go right ahead Cap’n, I’m cooking it for you all anyway, I dont have a digestive tract….’ he voice trailed off as she floated away.

As the sun began to creep above the horizon, Pretty Lady finished her perimeter circuit and then returned to shelter and fire. Captain Thorn had already awoke and was exiting the shelter as Pretty hovered over.

‘Morning, boss…’ She saw the Captain staring wide-eyed at the large lizard roasting on an improvised spit over the fire as she spoke. ‘Oh, that, yeah, I caught this little beastie creeping towards the shelter last night. I figured I’d chop him up and cook him for breakfast for you all. I read that they are quite high in protein and omega fatty acids.

“Good Morning, Pretty Lady,” Jaya said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Thanks for breakfast.” She sat down at the fire’s side and took the piece of charred meat that Pretty Lady had offered. It was still hot, which was pleasant in the cool morning air. “Hey, this isn’t half bad,” she said, finishing the piece. “Go ahead and recharge, I’ve got it from here.”

‘Aye aye ma’am. I’ve read that Gunzarks taste a bit like a ‘gamey crocodile’, enjoy.’ She hovered off, humming a little ditty, and found a rock whose top face was pointing at a favourable angle towards the rising sun.

The little robot began singing the first verse of the song she had been humming as she came to a rest on the rock, ‘I don’t miiiiiind. Letting you down easy, just give it tiiiiime, if it don’t hurt now, just wait, just wait awhiiiiile, you’re not the zuuuuuuurp’ she had shut down her power banks and went into recharge mode.

Jaya rooted around in the crate until she found what she was after: a bag of Raktajino. Bless those Klingons. She pulled out a small percolator from the bottom of the crate and set to work making the notoriously strong coffee.

Reade poked her head out of the shared tent with Ford when she picked up a scent of coffee. “I smell Raktajino!” She said, and then Ford’s head poked out of the tent.

“So do I,” He said before he looked over to see that Thorne had the percolator out. It wouldn’t be long until both Reade and Ford were out of their tents and patiently waiting for a cup of coffee. Reade had seen the breakfast that was prepared for them, and she had nudged Ford about it, but it was something.

Jaya poured them each a cup, then poured one for herself. “Hey,” she said over the rim, “Did anyone else notice the extra tent this morning? I wonder who that is?”

A voice floated out from the tent, light and laced with mischief. “It’s us, Captain. Ran a little late.”

The tent flaps stirred, then parted with a quiet swish. Jinaril stepped out, his hair was tousled and he shrugged into his jacket as the cold bit at his sleeves. His eyes were still a bit drowsy from the short night, but his smirk was fully awake as he said, “I’m not usually one to point fingers, but let’s be honest, it’s all Crowe’s fault, wherever he’s managed to wander off to.”

Behind him, Ay’dar ducked through the opening, broad shoulders brushing the canvas as he emerged without a word, scanning the treeline like he expected it to blink.

A few hours after she had shut herself down to restore her power cells in the morning sunlight, Captain Thorne had decided to send Lady ahead of the group to scout for a new overnight camp location. They had estimated that the journey to the summit would take another day and a half. Lady, even thought she had throttled her repulsor speed down and had agreed not to fly above 6 feet off the ground, would not succumb to heat stroke or suffer any fatigue. And was therefore the perfect choice for this mission.

She was jaunting through the jungle, singing another one of her pop punk favourites as she hovered along. ‘ …you’re trying to be cool, you look like a fool to meeeee yeah. Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated, I see you acting like somebody else gets me frustrateeeeed…..whooop’ she shut down. Here, repulsors and lowered herself into the tall grass on the edge of a clearing. She could hear Klingons in the distance, presumably they were on the far side of the grass knoll in front of her. ‘Hmmm, I wonder if that Klingon that I tagged is gonna hold a grudge,’ she thought to herself.

After a few moments listening to Klingons, Lady had overheard they planned to move on and camp near the base of the mountain and begin their ascent to the Summit the next morning. She then decided she would head west around the Klingons and hopefully scout a parallel path that the Starfleeters could follow.

((Back at the first RON camp))

Lady came hovering back up to the group as they were packing up camp. She found themselves each loading up with what was left in the crate and quickly offered to go help, and she soon found herself carrying nearly a dozen ration packs, using one of her arms as a sling under her landing pads.

‘I found the group of Klingons as they were on their way to the base of the mountain. They were talking about beginning their ascent tomorrow morning and beating us to the summit… but I scouted a route through a ravine and up the spine of the ridge line to the left… if we go and make camp at the end of the ravine. We could wake up at first light, and make it up the ridge and beat those big meanies to the top,’ she gleefully explained to Thorne.

Jaya nodded her head. “That sounds like a good plan, Lady.” She downed the rest of her cup of Raktajino and finished stuffing her belongings into her backpack.

Later, as they were making their way towards the ravine, Pretty Lady noticed the other teammates who had joined them during the night ‘Greetings, sorry I almost tranquilized you 2 last night. Did you try the lizard meat after all, I’d love to hear reviews on my neeew culinary concoction?’

Ay’dar dipped his head toward the exocomp, and the corners of his mouth tugged upward, yet, just barely. The tight expression wavered, and looked more like an uncomfortable grimace than a grin. His jaw shifted like he was fighting the urge to reset his face; it was as if the act of smiling strained muscles he didn’t use.

Jinaril bent closer, his voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m proud of you, Lieutenant.”

Ay’dar’s eyes flicked briefly toward him. His lips parted slightly, releasing a soft growl that trembled in the cool air as his face returned to his all-too-familiar mask of stoicism and irritation.

Pretty Lady wasn’t really sure how to respond ‘Awwww thanks. I’m a bit proud of myself too.’ She hefted her underslung load of ration and began hovering off in the direction of the ravine.

Ay’dar shot a death glare at the machine’s comment.

From behind Pretty Lady, there was a sound of crashing trees and joyful voices. A small group of Klingons materialized from the trees, walking casually and talking loudly. They were clearly unconcerned with the state of things. 

The first member of the group held up his hand, the quartet came to a stop, and the talking died immediately. He surveyed the gaggle of Starfleet officers, still breaking camp, with a severe look on his face. 

“Look, Duhan, this group has hardly made it farther than the last, and they’ve had a whole night already!” 

‘We got company, people, Klingons starboard aft Cap’ns’ she said, now that their was 2 of them.

Duhan stepped up beside his friend. “Even with a robot such as that, Starfleet cannot hope to match the might of Kravok!” He waved his hand in front of his face, as if dismissing them. “You should just give up now, petaQs. You were foolish to accept the challenge. Come, Shapok, let’s go.” He pointed in the direction of the mountain’s peak. 

Ay’dar stiffened as the insult echoed in his ears. A low growl rumbled in his throat, then his eyes narrowed, locked on the figures below.

“Did they just call us Petaqs?”

His hand dropped in a fist. The muscles in his jaw clenched as he took a step toward the edge, eyes burning with barely contained fury.

“Give me the word. I’ll pull their spines out one vertebra at a time.”

“No, no, let them go.” Captain Thorne said. ‘They’re just here to light the fire under our asses. I say we finish packing up and put some miles on our boots. We can still win this thing.”

‘Lets do it gang!’ Lady exclaimed. Excited to beat the big meanies.