A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter of this story, so here's the second. Thanks as always go to Kretolus, for being awesome and an excellent source of information, and to anyone else who reads, reviews and/or follows this piece. Hope you enjoy it, folks.

Commander Temer eyed Irekah suspiciously as she entered his office, setting aside the PADD he had been reading as she stood at ease in front of his desk. She watched him casually, and he wondered what was going on in her mind, even as he attempted to analyse her. Unfortunately for him, she was annoyingly hard to read, except for the fact that she moved with confidence and purpose.

"I hear you want to join the Republic fleet," he said at last, looking back at the PADD, and Irekah nodded beneath her hood.

"That's right," she said bluntly. "Is that an issue?"
"Of course not, but I do need to know what skills you might have that-"

"I was given a sciences course on Virinat," she said, not caring that she had interrupted the commander. "It's- it was a small colony, and everyone had to pull their weight, so I took a sciences course. I'm also trained with a variety of small arms, I've got excellent night vision and I want vengeance for Virinat as much as anyone else."

"We are not about getting vengeance," Temer stressed, "we are trying to find a way to live in peace without the Tal Shiar or the Star Empire trying to force us to live their way."

"At this point, Commander, those purposes are all pretty interchangeable," Irekah answered, and Temer decided he didn't like her.

"You're Reman, aren't you?" he asked bluntly, and Irekah could sense his distaste.

"What gave it away?" She bared her teeth in a disquieting grin, clearly more amused than Temer. "It was my glowing complexion, wasn't it?"

"Let us get one thing clear, Miss...?"

"Vanekh," she offered. "Irekah Vanekh."

"Miss Vanekh. Let us be clear – I don't like you. I don't trust you. Your kind are not exactly held in the highest esteem-"

"And that is something I intend to correct," Irekah growled, her earlier levity gone. "My 'kind' have been viewed as slaves for too long now, and it is about time your kind were taught just what we can do. I am here to serve the Republic, because I believe the Tal Shiar and their allies threaten us all, but I will not be treated like anything less than an equal."

Temer's jaw tightened, partially in annoyance at being interrupted again, and partially because he could respect her determination. He glared at her for a few moments longer, before finally picking up another PADD nearby with a sigh.

"Very well. I can't offer you anything particularly new, but we do have a Dhelan-class warbird available. It isn't much, but-"

"I'll take it," Irekah stated confidently, "and whatever crew you have spare. I can whip them into shape if I have to, I just want to bring the fight to those tyrants."

"Indeed. I'll arrange that then, and I'll make sure you have at least a few competent officers." He leaned forward, fixing her with a stern glare which she met defiantly. "Do not make me regret this, Miss Vanekh. Dismissed."

She inclined her head slightly in a small gesture of respect, before turning on her heel and walking from the small office.

She hadn't expected the newest, shiniest ship in the fleet, but she had still expected...well, a ship that didn't whine as its engines powered up, for one thing.

The protesting singularity core wasn't even the worst thing, either. Constant power fluctuations meant various systems lost power at odd moments, consoles frequently flickered on and off and the lighting was...well, for a Reman it was perfect, but she didn't think anyone else on her crew appreciated the cave-like gloom afforded by the ship's failing illumination.

Oh yes...the crew. Half of them seemed to be only half awake, and the other half seemed fully incompetent. The only upside, as far as she could see, was that the woman she had rescued from Virinat actually turned out to have some engineering experience, and had been assigned to her ship as chief engineer.

Irekah sighed in annoyance as she looked around her bridge, before brushing the gathered dust from the captain's chair and settling into it. Even that didn't seem to work right, as she realised something was poking her in the back, but she dismissed it as a weak tone from behind her caught her attention.

She looked at the comms officer, whose console it was that was making the noise, and frowned when no report was forthcoming. She got up, walking around the small bridge to the man's console, and she resisted the urge to shoot someone when she found the officer dozing against his console, his head resting on his arms.

With a resigned sigh, she grabbed a fistful of the man's hair, yanked his head back and slammed it against the console, which had the added effect of stopping the lights from flickering.

The young officer put a hand to his head, trying to focus on Irekah as he fought the effect of both being woken up and mild head trauma, and he scowled at the Reman.

"Next time it could be a Tal Shiar abduction," she snarled into his face, "or a Klingon raiding party. Or the Elachi. Be thankful it was me."

The man rubbed his brow ridge, where a small bruise was already forming, and frowned at her again.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "I was tired from all the working..."

"We are all tired from the work," she snapped, "every one of us has been putting in more hours than we're used to to get this ship even half-functional again, but that is no excuse for sleeping on duty!" She pointed at the console, where a light was still flashing with its weak alert tone, and gave him a slap across the back of the head.

"Do your job, then you can sleep."

He shook his head as if to clear his vision, looking at the console for a moment in mild confusion. Eventually he managed to figure out what was going on, and looked at Irekah.

"Um...we're being hailed...sir. Ma'am...er..."

"Centurion will do for now," she said with a sigh. "Put it on screen."

"Um..."

"Let me guess," she said, resting her forehead in her hand, "the viewscreen doesn't work?"

"Er...yes ma- er, Centurion."

"Fine. Open a channel, audio only."

"Centurion Vanekh?" the disembodied voice of Commander Temer asked, and Irekah rolled her eyes.

"I thought you were giving me a ship, Temer, not a collection of rivets flying in loose formation."

"Mind your tone, Reman," the commander growled. "You weren't complaining when I offered it to you."

Irekah bit back a venomous response, certain that the argument was going to go nowhere fast.

"What did you want?"

"Excuse me?"

Irekah growled under her breath, and tried again.

"What did you want, sir?"

"Better. I have a mission for you – there's been reports of Tal Shiar ships in the Brea system, and I want you to look into it."

Irekah was dumbfounded for a moment, folding her arms in a guesture of irritation she knew Temer couldn't see.

"You want me to fight the Tal Shiar, who have newer and better ships, in a warbird that should have been scrapped years ago? You're either very confident in my abilities, or you want to get me killed."

"I'm not particularly bothered either way, Centurion," the disembodied voice told her. "In any case, I expect either a report on your success...or news of your demise."

The channel closed abruptly, and Irekah snarled in anger.

"Arrogant bastard," she muttered, storming back to her chair. "Helm, set course for the Brea system, best speed."

The officer at the helm, another Romulan male a few years older than the comm officer, sat resolutely in his chair, not moving despite the order. Irekah suppressed the urge to snarl again, finding the posting frustrating before she'd even left the flotilla. She walked over to the helm, attempting to remain as calm as possible, and glared down at the officer who met her gaze with stubborn defiance.

"Is there a reason you aren't following my orders?" she asked, her quiet voice laced with threat, and the man's lip curled in disgust.

"I don't see why I should be taking orders from a slave," he sneered, folding his arms as he defied her. "Why don't you go back to digging dilithium, with the rest of your kind?"

Irekah stared at him, considering the various options she had. He clearly wasn't going to see reason, and simply punching him wouldn't do much – although it would make her feel better – so she decided that if she couldn't command through earning respect, she would have to command through fear.

She focussed her attention on the officer, tapping into the natural abilities of her race that she didn't often use, and his eyes went wide as he suddenly forgot how to breath.

"I do not like your attitude, mister," she told him, her voice a quiet growl. "My people have not been slaves for several years since Shinzon's death, and we will not be again. If you wish to continue breathing, I suggest you show some respect to the captain of this vessel, me, or I will choke the life out of you without a second thought. Am I clear?"

The man nodded as vigorously as he was able, and Irekah stopped her mental assault as she stalked back to the chair. The helm officer gasped in relief, taking large, heaving breaths as he turned back towards his console, and Irekah crossed her legs as she took her seat.

"The Brea system, best speed. Now."

"Aye, Centurion," the helmsman croaked, then cleared his throat. "Setting course for the Brea system, warp five."

Irekah tutted at that, and tapped a control on her armrest.

"Bridge to Engineering."

"Engineering here."

"Lehnat, what's that status of the engines and cloaking device?"

"Engines are holding steady, we're just working on getting a bit more power to the warp coils. Should be able to give you warp seven in a few minutes."

"That's still better than what we have now. And the cloak?"

There was an audible sigh over the comm, which did little for Irekah's confidence.

"I don't know what they did with this ship before, but the cloak is in a mess, Centurion," the woman replied, and Irekah was thankful someone was showing her some respect. "We'll be able to use it in bursts, but not for long and not often."

"Keep at it, Lehnat, I think we're going to need it soon," Irekah told the engineer calmly, and the Romulan quietly assented and closed the channel.

As the ship jumped to warp, Irekah laced her fingers together and rested her chin on her joined hands, staring at the darkened viewscreen. She hadn't expected to be given a half-wrecked ship or a near-useless crew, but she would be damned if she would give Temer the pleasure of reading about her death.

She was going to get some damned respect, and then she would set about proving that the Remans were not to be underestimated.