It had been a quiet few days in the To’puwI system. IKS M’Char remained planetside, enabling her crew to continue to patch her battle damage while also keeping a more direct watch on the workers who – until recently – were building a market facility for their now-former Syndicate masters. A few hours after securing the market site, HoD Qivra had sent her assault force to secure the crash site of the Syndicate transport that M’Char had inadvertently downed, but they found nobody left alive and quickly returned. There had been, of course, a grand – by the standards of a B’rel-class bird of prey, at least – feast that night in celebration of the victory; much of the finer bloodwine carried aboard the ship had been drunk, leading to a number of hangovers the following day, not that any proud Klingon warrior would admit to such a trivial malady.
The message sent back to Qa’ljI III had been well received by the Head of House. R’Veq had guaranteed his daughter that another bird of prey would be sent to take M’Char’s place at To’puwI – M’Char had other orders, after all – along with one of the House’s few transports, to properly secure the system and begin establishing the apparati and infrastructure that the House would need to administer this new system. The question of the work force brought to To’puwI in bondage by the Syndicate would be addressed once the small relief force arrived. They would also be carrying some additional crew for M’Char herself; her present complement, a mere sixteen after her two fatalities during the storming of the construction site, was to expand to twenty-four.
The clash of durasteel blades echoed off of the walls of Qivra’s cabin as mek’leth met mek’leth, interspersed with the thuds and grunts of punches and kicks landing, each of the two combatants giving about as good as they received. A shove from Qivra – one of the two belligerents – sent her opponent, bu’ Ronaz, reeling back, the ship’s captain following as she pressed her advantage. She slowed, though, bringing her mek’leth up into a guard posture as Ronaz’s weapon came in with a feral sweep from the HoD’s right. Rather than attempting to stop the blade outright, though, by adopting a strong static guard, Qivra instead opted to deflect Ronaz’s weapon out of line and upward, grabbing her arm with her free hand as the bu’s momentum carried her too far; thus trapped, Ronaz was powerless to prevent Qivra from laying the fine monofilament edge of her weapon against her neck.
The two stood there for a moment, breathing hard, before disengaging not with a gout of blood from Ronaz’s throat but with nods of mutual respect. “Well struck, HoD,” Ronaz panted.
“In my youth I preferred the mek’leth,” she replied, working to catch her own breath. “But a HoD must be a master of all weapons. Catch your breath, then we return to the bat’leth.”
Ronaz nodded, but before she could speak further the intercom came to life, interrupting what was decidedly not actual combat, but a private training session. “Vessels entering the system, HoD,” said la’ T’aroq over the speaker from one deck below. “Recognition codes confirm IKS Pa’Qel and the transport Grezval.”
Pa’Qel – a B’rel-class bird of prey like her own M’Char – and Grezval were the expected relief and security force from Qa’ljI. “On my way,” she said, then placed her mek’leth back on its rack before turning to Ronaz. “We will resume this later.”
“Yes, HoD,” Ronaz replied, following her captain out of the room.
The two quickly made their way down to the bridge. When they entered the room, T’aroq stood from the command chair so that Qivra could take her seat. “Pa’Qel and Grezval will reach orbit in fifteen tup,” he reported.
Qivra nodded as she sat down. “Recall our warriors to the ship, assault team last,” she ordered. “Hail the Pa’Qel.”
In relatively short order, Sogh G’Rath – presently doubling on communications, given the small size of the crew aboard at the moment – had the channel open, the visage of a K’lingon man appearing on M’Char’s recently-repaired main viewer. “Vaj joH!” he said, offering a verbal salute to fellow HoD and his lord’s daughter. “We come to relieve you, and finish securing this system for our House.”
“It has been quiet these last days,” Qivra replied. “You should have no issues completing the pacification, but be alert for Syndicate interlopers.”
“Yes, my lady,” the other HoD acknowledged, drawing a wince from Qivra, who always hated how refined that title sounded. Duty to her House, though, required that she accept it. “Our lord is pleased by your efforts here, and sends his commendation. You are now ordered, though, to return to your original mission.” He paused for a second, listening to something from someone off-camera. “M’Char appears to have earned new scars since last I saw her,” he continued.
“She’s well-built, and my engineers are skilled; we may bear new scars, but we remain fit for duty,” Qivra answered, her head held high and proud.
The other HoD grinned, baring his teeth. “Well said. I heard two of your number are now in Sto-vo-kor; we carry replacements, plus additional warriors for your crew, and additional supplies.”
Qivra glanced towards T’aroq and Ronaz, who immediately began preparations to receive the new additions to M’Char’s complement in reply to their HoD’s wordless order. “My adjutant will tell you when to transport them.”
“I await their signal. Qapla’!” With that, the channel closed.
Over the next few minutes, those from M’Char’s crew who were standing watch over the construction site and the workers there returned to the ship, deck personnel first and followed by the assault team. By that time, Pa’Qel and Grezval had reached orbit, and a more permanent occupation force had begun to beam down from the latter ship. With the construction site secure, M’Char’s boarding ramp retracted and her airlock closed, before a rush of wind surrounded her as her ventral thrusters fired and lifted her scarred green hull off the ground. Once cleared, her bow pitched upwards and the red glow of her impulse engine swelled, the bird of prey’s wings dropping to cruising position as she climbed away from the surface of To’puwI II. Breaking free of the confines of atmosphere and gravity and returning to the stars, Qivra was pleased to hear that the patch that Grek and his engineers had fitted over their hull breach continued to hold.
Transfer of both crew and supplies only took a few minutes. On the whole, M’Char was receiving eight new warriors onto her roster, for a total complement now of some twenty-four people. Of those eight, two were assigned to her assault team – replacements for the two who had died while storming the construction site – while the other six were assigned to the ship’s deck roster. None were of any rank, but that was no issue, as opportunity for advancement would come in time as they proved their valor and honor.
Thus reinforced and resupplied, M’Char broke company with her sister ship and with the freighter that had accompanied her. Turning towards the outskirts of the To’puwI system, she accelerated first to full impulse, then to warp eight as she sought to make up lost time. After all, M’Char and the warriors that gave her life were expected at Starbase 86, and duty called.
