A lower kick came with an additional force from the lower right making the other man jump aside and barely manage to miss it. Miki’s big eyes looked toward his opponent and got his figure in the right position to counter whatever was going to get thrown at him. He was not paying attention to his surrounding, not needed and invalid as his focus was this person. 

The man leaned forward, trying to use his fist as pure brute force. Seeing that Miki easily avoided his attack, a smirk appeared on his face. The man quickly changes his posture and lets his knee be pulled forward, which manages to hit the side of Miki, who had to rebalance on the surprise change that the man had thrown at him.

The attack might be a success, but it came with risk, as the man was now unbalanced after throwing a knee at Miki. Miki blinked his eyes and recovered easily, only to roll forward to the man. Grabbing his arms and pulling him down, he looked right into his face giving a grin back. He rolled backward, placing the arm in a lock, and let gravity do its work. The man rolled over his shoulder and slammed onto the ground.

“Alright boys that is enough” A voice came from behind them. As they both looked in that direction seeing three security officers standing there. “No fighting is allowed in the gym…be grown-up and take it elsewhere” A man in the front stated pointing behind him.

Miki let go of the man and stood up getting his training uniform in order as he looked at the security detail. “Well I can assure you, gentlemen, we are merely training as fellow security officers and not fighting. However, we might have been passionate about it” He had to admit it. He was not paying attention to his surroundings and only noticed now that there were many eyes on them. “We are clearly giving a wrong image here. Our apology.”

Cracking his neck he leaned on his knee and looked toward the team. The black pupils focus on the leader of this security detail. “We are merely testing our capacity as we are going to be working together on our next assignment” He gave a small smile before standing up. “But I do believe you are standing on a practice floor where combat is required to be done no?” 

The security officer narrowed his eyes and grabbed his PADD. “Name and assignment. I want to get this paperwork done. It’s already hell for us with Frontier Day coming. So let’s wrap this up…and I will give you guys a formal warning” He wanted to wave it off.

“Lieutenant Miki, the Chief Security/Tactical Officer of the USS Mariner” Miki stated placing his hands behind his back and standing formally. 

Crossing his arms he wanted to protest, but he didn’t want to make a scene. Taking a deep breath “Lieutenant Ze, Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer of the USS Mariner” He gave a nod to the security officer. “We will be leaving the gym soon. No worries we won’t cause more problems for you guys”

A hum of agreement came from the security officer. “You better, enjoy your boys” With that said he turned around and moved away when the other two officers just followed him.

“Didn’t expect that to happen, but seeing how many ships there are here at Avalon Fleet Yards. It is getting a little too crowded.” The Betazoid looked at his new Chief. “It was a good match. You clearly won by a landslide with that match” 

He stared a bit at the security detail leaving the area and finally looked at his side to the man “Lieutenant, it tends to happen. But as you have observed the station security is stretched thin with the upcoming event. We should be returning to the Mariner to resume our duties as security of it” Miki moved to his bag to grab his towel. 

“Call me Domam sir. I am not a man of formality” He smiled and grabbed his back. He was twice as big in muscle capacity as Miki. Yet the Saurian had won from him with ease. “I guess I need more training” He shrugged a bit at himself. “So how is the Mariner? I heard a lot of stories about it…” 

Calling someone by his first name, that was going to make things awkward. “Perhaps when we are off duty, but on duty I prefer the formality” He addressed the issue immediately to make clear how he thought about it. He did stop however hearing that there were rumors about his ship “Depends on the rumor you have heard, I only know about the facts” 

“Right formality on duty gotcha” Domam nodded to himself as he wiped his face off with his towel. “The rumors of Mariner facing off the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant and demanding them to return to Alpha to fight the Breen” He smiled as he knew it sounded ridiculous.

“No, we were sent to Gamma Quadrant to conclude diplomatic negotiations to take a group of Dominion representatives eventually to the Deneb system to stop their brethren from aggressive acts against the colonist of the Federation. We contributed to the end of that conflict in some capacity, but the Mariner still had to participate at the Battle of Farpoint.” 

He snapped his fingers. “I knew it!” Domam said to himself “I knew that something was going on in Deneb, but Starfleet in the region wouldn’t talk about it or smudge it off as just a Breen raid party that has been increasing lately” 

Grabbing his back and walking to the exit “The Breen did participate in the acts against us. But eventually, withdraw from the ordeal altogether. Which is the best outcome” Miki pointed out noticing that Domam was following him. “Any other rumors you wish to know the truth or falsification about?” 

Domam thinks for a moment. “What about that mutiny thing? I can only presume that is also false?” Domam noticed Miki stopping in his track and looking over his shoulder. “What?”

“That….happen. Former Lieutenant Shew, the previous Chief Security Officer of the Mariner, started a coup against the command team of the Mariner. I had to fight against my Chief and team up with the Captain to retake the ship from its mutineers. It is an experience you do not want to remember or face” Miki was quite on edge about the topic, but he felt it was in his right to be. 

“Ehh” Domam didn’t expect that answer and wanted to change the topic. “How is the command team actually?” 

Miki resumes his walking. “Commander Valerio is a man with a passion for engineering, though I am unsure how long Starfleet will allow him to be the Second Officer seeing it conflicts which his duties as the Chief Engineering Officer. Commander Ruslanovna is a prime example of a First Officer. She handles most of the personnel affairs on the ship.” He paused for a moment thinking about his Captain. “Captain Kobahl is a born leader. She might be a scientist by heart, but when it comes to the difficult choices heed my advice….and trust her” 

They both left the gym area. “Is she that impressive?” Domam was wondering why Miki talked with high standards about their Captain.

“Not impressive. I don’t know her for that long. Only been on board the Mariner for a month or so when the critical mission was given to us. But how she dealt with the situation, the mutiny, the representatives, and the combat. It was either you go against her or believe in her” Miki looked at Domam. “My Chief went against her, and I believed her. Now here I am standing as the new Chief, not because of favors. But because I performed my duties and I expect the same from you if I would fall off the path” 

He smiled at Miki. “Don’t worry I will put you back on that path, and you will feel it” Domam smirked as they both entered the turbolift to return to their ship. Off to a brand-new beginning.