Toasting & Joviality

Posted on Wed Dec 1st, 2021 @ 11:52am by Captain Shran dh'Klar

Mission: Sinister Intentions
Location: USS Washington

Shran made his way down the corridor on deck 3 towards the officer's lounge. It wasn't often that the Andorian went here. Not that he didn't enjoy having a drink and relaxing in his off hours, but as captain, it was difficult to remain professional in such places with those he commanded. Even still, he wasn't the sort that avoided all displays of comradery unlike other captains he knew, like Jean-Luc Picard. Besides, while a few of his officers may indeed be present, he was going to be spending time with some old friends; friends that were civilians now.

As Shran entered the lounge was a bit louder than he remembered, caused directly by a few of his friends he had come to see drinking and having all sorts of revelries. He made his way over to them, stopping at the bar and ordering a drink before making his way to them for a greeting. "So, what do you desperados have to say for yourselves?"

The group looked at Shran and their was a moment of silence. Suddenly, as if planned, a large beast of a man stepped forward towards Shran and wrapped his arms around the Andorian and picked him up in a bearhug and the two began to laugh.

As the man put him down Shran looked at him, "Good to see you too Jay." Shran laughed and everyone else in the group did as well. Shran looked around at the group and saw that other than them aging a few years, they were all the same folks he had gotten to know so many years ago. First you had the wily and suave captain of this motley bunch, Malcolm Reynolds. Next to him was his beautiful wife, the stunning and capable Inara. Shran remembered when they got married. It was just before the war started. Never had something meant to be taken so long to happen. To the right of them was the other power couple of this group, his XO Zoe, a tall and fierce human woman who Shran had always respected from their time serving on the Jupiter, and her husband, the loveable pilot of their ship Hoban Washburn. Jay Cobb, the sasquatch that had picked him up was standing to the left of Malcolm and Inara. Next to Zoe and Hoban was Kailee Fry, one of the most gifted engineers he had ever met, and also one of the most innocent people he had ever encountered. Next to her were the odd couple, Simon and River Tam, siblings of a most dynamic nature. Simon was a doctor by trade, and perhaps one of the most cultured folks Shran had ever known. His twin sister River was a genius, holding more doctorates than anyone he knew, and yet she was always so aloof and carefree, reminding him of his old friend Jadzia Dax.

There they all were, huddled together at the bar drinking and telling tales and making general nuisances of themselves with all their less than well-mannered frivolity. And as if the fun wasn't already getting wild, things took a turn for the better and worse when Deanna Celes arrived with Ayana Hillis. Deanna knew this group well and was happy to see them. Ayana was the new kid on the block, but she could more than hold her own and seemed destined to enjoy their company.

The group took over a corner of the lounge and sat and drank and talked and sang and had all manners of a good time. This went on for a few hours, broken up only by a stoppage for them to get some food and the one moment were Jay found out he couldn't intimidate Ayana, and then promptly lost a arm wrestling match to her, which only got everyone into greater raucous laughter.

Finally Shran, Ayana, and Celes all had to admit that they needed to call it a night. The price of wearing the uniform. Shran told the group to feel free to enjoy the hospitality of his ship and that he would see them in the morning before they departed. The night ended for Shran and his officers, and Shran learned two things of import regarding his old friends. First, in what he thought was something of a minor miracle, Simon had finally gotten over his neurotic tendencies and coupled with Kailee, which he thought was an excellent pairing. Second, and perhaps more importantly, Malcolm had informed them that they too were heading to New Krakow, right after they delivered some cargo to the New Kiev colony which was in a neighboring system. Malcolm had told him that a seedy underground had formed in that sector, with all manner of underhanded dealings going on akin to dealings with the Orion Syndicate, though if they were present, they weren't the only game in town. Shran was concerned about this. It wasn't often that such things found their way into a Federation colony, let alone a sector of Federation space. Shran was even more determined to get to the bottom of all of this now.