A/N: Well, looks like I have another story brewing. Dammit. This one follows the adventures of my Reman science officer, and the trials she faces along her career. Hope you enjoy it! Please review and follow if you liked it, there will be more :)

As if things weren't bad enough.

Irekah Vanekh swore as she snatched up a plasma rifle from the ground, barely glancing at it's former owner as she headed through the embattled streets of the colony.

It had been bad enough that she had been the only Reman at the Virinat colony, judged from the moment she arrived and permanently shunned. Bare-headed, pale-skinned and with a mouth full of small, needle-like teeth, she'd been looked down on wherever she went – even now, Remans were considered little more than slaves for the Romulans, and Irekah had been fighting against that prejudice right up until the moment her homeworld was destroyed, along with that of the Romulans.

Oh, she'd tried to make herself look more presentable, using a small amount of cosmetics to improve what looks she had – a little purple eyeshadow, a dark lipstick, just to accentuate whatever attractive features she actually had, but she still got unpleasant looks from the populace whenever she ventured out during the day.

Plus, there was the small fact that at least three of the children had recurring nightmares after seeing her.

Her race's low-light visual acuity made her an excellent choice for night-time security work, and so with little alternative she'd taken the job. At least in the darkness, no-one glared at her for the simple act of wanting to be equal, or for scaring their children, or for...well, existing. Besides, her race faired better in the dark anyway. Because of their evolution they were sensitive to light, and often had to wear polarised goggles or have their eyes surgically altered. She was damned if she was going to change herself for the Romulans' sake, so she settled on night work, and staying out of everyone else's way.

And then, as if that hadn't been bad enough, the colony was attacked by Tal Shiar and their peculiar alien allies, and everyone she sort-of knew was either being killed or captured.

She adjusted the peak of her hood, shielding her eyes from the glare of the fires, and made her way down the street, sticking to the shadows as much as possible.

However, the Tal Shiar were annoyingly efficient, setting up chokepoints and ambushes for the colonists who were trying to escape. With no other alternative routes available, she had no choice but to get involved in the fight, and she threw herself into it with abandon.

She ran towards the firefight, sliding into position behind some overturned cargo containers, immediately snapping off a few shots from her weapon. The pale green bolts hissed through the air, two of them finding their mark and dropping one of the Romulan warriors. Disruptor beams arced back in response, sparking off the containers and causing Irekah to flinch. She added her fire to that of the other two surviving colonists nearby, taking down another Romulan, but two more moved up and returned fire. One of the colonists was too slow in ducking again, and a disruptor beam lanced through his throat, dropping him instantly. Irekah Fired blindly over the container, hoping to keep the Tal Shiar agents occupied while the other colonist lined up a shot, but she was too busy crying over the death of her companion.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed over the noise of disruptor fire. "I need your help here!"

"He's dead!" the woman screamed back at her, cradling her companion's head as she wept.

Irekah rolled her eyes. It wasn't like there could be anything could be done for him now.

She chanced a look over the container, and spotted the two officers advancing towards their position. Suddenly, an ear-splitting screech from next to her caused her to look back at the woman who had been crying over the dead male, and Irekah saw her wrestling with some insectoid construct that appeared to be attempting to abduct her.

With a growl of frustration Irekah ran over, smashing the device to the floor with the butt of her rifle before grabbing hold of the hysterical woman by the arm and dragging her into a nearby alley.

"Temin!" she howled. "I can't leave Temin!"

"He's dead, you imbecile!" Irekah snapped. "And we will be too if you don't stop wailing like a lost sehlat cub!"

"What would you know?!" the other woman cried, beating her fists against Irekah's chest. "You're not even one of us! You're nothing but a slave that nobody-"

Irekah slammed the butt of her rifle into the woman's skull, knocking her unconscious, and as she caught the woman in her arm she raised the rifle one-handed, putting a single shot into the two Romulans that had been hunting them.

"Trust me, you'll thank me in the morning," the Reman muttered, heaving the inert form of her charge over her shoulder and setting off for the shuttle pads.

It had been hard going, trying to fight while protecting an unconscious fellow colonist, and on more than one occasion she wondered why she bothered. However, it wouldn't be right to leave her on Virinat, to be captured or killed for no reason. The Romulans had settled the small, insignifcant world to get away from conflict, to start anew, but the conflict had come to them instead. Evidently the Star Empire didn't like other Romulans trying to start a new life away from their control, and so the peace of the colony had been shattered. No matter how much she disliked the people she'd lived around, they didn't deserve this.

As she finally made it to the shuttle pads, she saw a familiar pair clambering aboard one of the others. One of them she recognised as Tovan Khev, who in all fairness hadn't spoken to her one way or the other, but it took her a moment to recognise the other.

Of course. Loraya S'Vae, Irekah's self-righteous daytime counterpart. The lithe, beautiful Romulan had never had to worry a day in her life about being pushed aside, glared at or talked about as she passed, the voices of others dropping to hushed whispers in her presence. No, Loraya was charming, popular and well-liked by all, and had no time to spare for an outcast.

Typical.

With a muted grumble of irritation, Irekah boarded the last shuttle and dumped her charge into one of the vacant seats, ensuring she was strapped in before taking the controls.

"I'm sure you'd want me to wait for others," she told the unconscious woman, "but right now we don't have that luxury. And honestly, I doubt there are many left to save anymore."

She urged the small shuttle into space, smiling as she realised the cloak was still functional. She engaged the cloak, monitoring it for a moment to ensure it was working within normal parameters, then decided it was time to set a course.

"I don't know about you," she told her passenger, "but I've been hearing a lot about a...I don't know, a militia or something, started by that D'Tan person. You know, the reunification advocate? I heard he studied under that old Vulcan, Spock. Don't know how true that is, but...well, that seems like our best option right now. You'll be safe, and I might find a role other than- hang on, these lights are annoying me."

She made an adjustment on her console, and the lights in the small cabin dimmed considerably, and Irekah sighed in relief.

"That's better, now where-"

The woman groaned, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings, and pressed a hand to her head where Irekah had hit her.

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living," Irekah told her with a smile. "Although, I tell you now, if you start shrieking at me again I will shoot you."

The woman glared at her, then suddenly froze up as she looked ahead – directly out of the cockpit, to the void beyond.

"Where are we?" she asked in a strained voice, and Irekah frowned.

"Well...it kind of looks a lot like space, to me."

"Why are we in space?"

Irekah sighed, kneading her brow in frustration.

"Do you always ask this many questions? We're in space because the colony was attacked, and me being the good neighbour that I am, I decided to get you out of here too. I also stopped that thing from abducting you on Virinat, and yet all I got for my troubles was a volley of insults."

"I...well...you're just so heartless," the other woman insisted, and Irekah glared at her.

"Don't ever act like you know me," she rasped, her voice low and dangerous. "I was a refugee, just like everyone else on Virinat, but just because I had the misfortune to be born Reman I'm somehow lesser than the rest of you? I am not heartless, I'm pragmatic. Temin was dead, there was no point trying to help him anymore, especially when there was still a chance to save yourself."

The woman remained quiet for a moment, but it was clear she found Irekah's actions distasteful.

"He was my husband," she said at last, as if that would change the fact that he was dead, and the Reman cocked her head.

"And you think being killed or abducted would be the best way to honour his memory?" she asked, and continued before her passenger started shouting again. "He would not have wanted that for you, he would have wanted you to save yourself and remember him after the fact, not die alongside him."

The woman stayed quiet, and Irekah wondered if her words were going to have any effect. After a moment she turned back to her console, heaving a frustrated sigh at the woman next to her.

"Where are we go?" her passenger asked at last, and that was one question Irekah could forgive.

"I figured we'd try and find D'Tan's flotilla," she answered, cycling through information on her console. "I can maybe find some useful work, and you'll at least be safe. Maybe you'll find work as well, who knows?"

"Wait, what's that?"

Irekah looked at her passenger, then looked out the window where she was pointing, and frowned in thought.

"Isn't that D'Vek's old warbird?"

It certainly looked like it – an ancient warbird from centuries ago, coming under fire from a massive Tal Shiar battlecruiser. Just when it looked like all was lost, another pair of Romulan ships decloaked, engaging the massive warship and saving the small, ageing warbird. As they watched, the two newcomers waited for a moment before all three jumped to warp, leaving Irekah and her passenger alone in the system.

"I think those were D'Tan's people," the Reman mused, and the other woman replied as she continued to gaze out of the window.

"Well...shall we follow them?"

"Hm. Not a bad idea, actually...I've got their warp trail. I'll set course and hopefully we'll find a little hope at the end."

"We'll see."

"We will indeed," Irekah responded quietly, inputting the course and engaging the warp engines.

As the small shuttle went in pursuit of the other ships, Irekah only hoped that she wouldn't find herself cast out from there, as well.