The Tavern

Posted on Sun Mar 8th, 2026 @ 6:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Ensign Janelle Barett

2,559 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Not All Orders Are Easy
Location: Settlement

The tavern, which was also a meeting hall and potentially an inn, held at least a third of the settlement at the moment. Some spoony bard was playing music on what looked like a lyre of some sort. Deanna and Janelle casually made their way across the floor towards the trio sitting in the corner. Deanna spoke softly to Janelle to not make things public, "Keep an eye on the locals. Last thing we need is for this to turn into an incident."

Janelle gave a small nod. Her pace remained unhurried as they crossed the floor, though her awareness sharpened with each step.

Sam overheard and nodded, contemplating this primitive building and the way in conveyed warmth and security. People ate, drank and danced to the music, she watched, soaking in the atmosphere.

As they approached the table, Deanna did a quick deep dive into the three men. Reaching the table, she stood defiantly, leering sternly at the men, "Good evening gentlemen. I believe we should have a private discussion."

The three men looked up and smiled ominously. "And why might we wish to do that?" asked McKellan.

"We've travelled a great distance to speak with you. We come from a great Federation" Deanna replied cryptically.

The men looked up at Deanna and then at each other. They shooed away their female companions, who left in a bit of a huff, and then looked again at Deanna and Janelle. "You have our attention. We wondered if anyone from StarFleet would ever come."

Janelle remained standing beside Deanna, her posture composed and her gaze steady.

“You anticipated contact,” she said evenly. There was no accusation or surprise in her tone. “That suggests you understood the implications of integration.”

Her eyes moved briefly between the three men.

“If you expected us,” she added, “then you understood we would ask whether you intend to leave.”

"Some of us will leave willingly, but others won't" Stewart replied soberly.

"I am guessing you have been to our base camp. You should know, we aren't the only nonnatives on the planet, though we are the only one's interested in them. You might not feel like we are quite so bad when you take that into consideration" Jackman added.

Deanna looked to Janelle before looking back at the three men. "You will have a chance to talk with the captain. He'll take what you have to say into consideration."

Define ‘other nonnatives,’” Janelle finally added. Her gaze moved briefly toward the surrounding tables before returning to them. “Numbers. Capabilities. Intent.”

There was no heat in her voice. No skepticism either. “If your presence here is counterbalancing an external influence, that is material information.” A slight pause. “But it does not negate Federation protocol.”

Sam meanwhile was people watching, getting a feel for the vibe of the place. A large burly man approached them, his intentions clear.

"You are not from here" he said in a voice that could only mean one thing.

"We are travelers" Sam replied with their prearranged cover story, keeping her tone innocent.

Phoenix quietly stepped next to the Doctor, seeing as things were potentially about to escalate. He waited to see what the man was going to respond with; he didn't want to act prematurely.

"You...will come with me" he grabbed Sam by the shoulder, hoisting her out of her chair with ease.

Sam didn't fight, not yet. "You must be mistaken, I'm a married woman" she lied, but knew his intent. It was plainly written on his face, and in his trousers.

The three men slowly got up from the table, keeping their heads pointed down. While they were hoping to keep intentions a surprise, they didn't know that Deanna was in their heads and hearing every thought. Deanna caught what was happening across the room with Sam and Phoenix out of the corner of her eye and she couldn't help but be distracted for just a moment. It was at that moment that one of the three men, Jackman, made a move against Deanna, slamming his fist into her abdomen.

McKellen took this as a sign to resist, and he made a move against Janelle. He backhanded her to stun her, then swung his leg at her feet, attempting to sweep her.

It seemed the entire tavern erupted into a brawl. Fists, chairs, glasses, whatever was available was thrown at whoever was unfortunate enough to be nearby. The burly man dragged Sam bodily by the waist, using her as a shield as he fought his way towards the door.

Deanna's knees buckled as Jackman's fist slammed into her, being caught off guard as she nearly doubled over. Her face flushed red, first from pain as her mouth was agape, but then a look of rage came over her. She quickly returned the favor with a series of swift blows, an epic combination of a right uppercut to her attacker's crotch which incapacitated the man, followed by driving her knee into his face which bloodied the man as he fell to the ground. She turned her gaze to Stewart who rose his hands in surrender, and then she looked to McKellen who was in combat with Janelle.

The backhand struck Janelle hard enough to blur the edges of her vision, but the sweep came wide and obvious. She dropped with it, letting the momentum carry her sideways instead of flat. Her shoulder hit the floor, pain flaring sharp, but she rolled through it.

McKellen advanced, expecting disorientation, but he didn’t get it. Janelle drove her heel into the side of his knee as she came up. His balance faltered long enough for her to push off the floor and regain her footing. The tavern had dissolved into noise. Shouting. Wood splintering. Glass breaking. And Sam...

Janelle’s gaze snapped to the door. The burly man had Sam around the waist, dragging her backward through the chaos, using her body as cover. That changed the equation.

“Phoenix!” she called sharply, not a command, but a signal.

Sam meanwhile wriggled, scratched, elbowed and latched onto any piece of this brute she could. Noone else in the room seemed to bat an eyelid, as though bar fights were a common occurrence. Maybe they were, but she didn't plan on hanging around to find out. Problem was that the bloke was nearly out the door with her, was twice her size and easily three times her weight. Her usual defense techniques had little effect. She tried to shove a hand into her shoulder, grasping wildly for what she hoped was a powerful anesthetic.

While this was happening, Phoenix nodded to Janelle, but he had already been focused on the man. He couldn't risk pulling his phaser, even discreetly, and so the other option was force. The burly man was facing towards the back of the bar where most of the commotion was occurring. As such, Phoenix had a window of opportunity to get behind him. He quietly snuck up behind the man and pulled him fiercely into a headlock, hoping that the Doc would be released.

Sam squeaked as the man squeezed tighter, not letting go of his prize. Sam was astounded that Pheonix had managed to reach the man's head in the first place. The brute swung a meaty fist at James.

McKellan continued his assault on Janelle, hitting her with a judo chop to the neck and then knocking her to the ground with a leg sweep. He rushed through the fray that had begun around the tavern, trying to escape through the door that led to the room where Deanna knew Paquin and another person currently were located.

Deanna looked over at Janelle, "Not quite as the simulations back at the Academy is it ensign?" She reached down to help her up, "You keep a close eye on these two, especially Jackman when he wakes up. I'll collect McKellan."

Janelle pushed herself upright before Deanna’s hand could reach her. The sweep had knocked her off balance, but not out of the fight.

“Under control, Commander,” she said evenly, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face as she steadied her stance.

Across the tavern Phoenix was still engaged with the man holding Sam, the two of them locked in a brutal struggle near the door. Deanna made a move after McKellan.

The punch from the man struck Phoenix so hard that he fell to the floor. James groaned and picked himself up. As he did, he noted a bottle of ale right behind him on a table. He wiped a little blood from his lip before turning around and raising his fists. "You know, it isn't fair to use a living being as a shield like that. Let her go and give me a fair fight" he challenged.

"Who said this was fair, traveler. Go back to where you came from. The pretty one stays" he laughed, rising again to his full brutish height. "Go...run little man"

James laughed. "Your loss.. big man" he mocked before turning his back nonchalantly. His body concealed the bottle on the table for the man. He grabbed the bottle discreetly. "Doc, watch your head!" He called out the second he turned and chucked it at the man's head before he realized what was going on. He wasn't sure if Sam could cover her head from the potential glass, but it was worth a shot.

Sam twisted at the last minute, protecting the majority of her head against the glass as it shattered on the brute's large noggin. He blinked, paused, then shook his head, a dribble of blood making its way down his temple.

"You'll pay for that little man!" He roared, and launched at James, letting go of Sam in the process.

"Oop!" James dove to the floor in an attempt to dodge the incoming attack.

Now free, Sam scrambled, fumbling for her medkit before realizing that sedating the brute would tip their cover. Instead, she moved to assist James, pulling a knife from her boot.

"Leave him alone, he's mine!" She shouted at the brute, brandishing the knife before her.

James got up and grabbed another bottle that was near him. This time he rose it up as a melee instead of chucking it immediately. "Make your choice buddy" he threatened.

The brute paused, only for an instant, then dove towards the pair, who parted as he launched and watched him land squarely on his face.

"I say we get outta here" Sam shouted.

"Yeah" Phoenix replied while out of breath.

Deanna traversed the melee that had broken out amongst the patrons and reached the door. She took a moment to sense what was on the other side, she wasn't going to be surprised or distracted a second time. Going in she dodged McKellan's attempt to catch her off guard. Ducking under his wild swing, Deanna thrust her elbow into his sternum, and then used a Klingon move to throw him across the room. She looked up at the other two in the room, Dr. Paquin and a local male. She let out a sigh, seeing Paquin, who was very pregnant. "Well, this complicates matters significantly."

Sam and Phoenix made their way outside, hiding and waiting to see if the rest of the team were behind them. After a few moments Sam risked a look, "Should we go back in? I don't think Old Mate would be too happy to see us though"

Janelle remained where she was for a moment, letting the chaos settle into something readable. The tavern had not fully calmed, but the worst of the brawl had burned itself out. A few patrons still shouted across overturned tables, though most were backing away now that the focus of the fight had shifted elsewhere.

Her attention returned to the two men near the table. Stewart had not moved. Jackman was beginning to stir. Janelle stepped forward, positioning herself squarely between them and the nearest exit. “Stay where you are,” she said calmly. It wasn’t loud, but it carried.

Stewart lifted his hands again in surrender. Jackman groaned as he rolled onto his side, blood still running down from where Deanna had dropped him. Janelle nudged a fallen chair aside with her boot and dragged it into place behind Stewart. “Sit.”

He hesitated momentarily before he complied. Jackman managed to push himself halfway upright, blinking through the haze of the fight. Janelle shifted slightly, making it clear that any attempt to join the chaos again would be a poor decision.

Across the room the interior door had already swung closed behind Deanna and McKellan. Janelle’s gaze lingered there for a moment, listening past the muffled noise of the tavern for any sign of further trouble.

“For the moment,” she said evenly turning her attention back to the two men, “this conversation is paused.” Her eyes moved between them. “But you’re not leaving.”

The door opened and Deanna emerged with an unconscious and lightly bloodied McKellan in tow as she dragged him out by the scruff of his neck as it were, followed by the very pregnant Paquin. Deanna saw that Janelle had maintained control of Jackman and Stweart, and she looked towards the door to see Sam and Phoenix. "Sam! Your skills are required."

Paquin was young, perhaps only in her late twenties, and Deanna had scanned her and had chalked up this particular hiccup to youthful indiscretion. More than anything, she looked like a scared young woman, someone who had simply gotten in way over her head and had no idea what to do next.

Deanna looked to Janelle, "Ensign, prepare these gentlemen for transport. Things are fairly clear in here, prepare everyone for beam up."

She looked back at the young farm boy that had been in the back with Paquin, "She is going to be fine. You should get back to your home now. We'll see about getting you reunited with her later." He looked to Paquin unsure, softly embraced her, kissed her, and after she whispered some comforting words to him, he slowly lumbered off.

As Sam approached Deanna shared a glance with her and then towards Paquin, making it clear what, or in this case who she wanted to have the doctor look in on.

Janelle stepped forward and pulled Jackman upright by the back of his collar. Stewart followed without protest. She positioned both men side by side in the center of the tavern floor, just clear of the overturned tables, where they would be easy targets for a transporter lock.

Her gaze moved briefly across the wrecked tavern - broken glass, overturned chairs, and then back to the two men now standing exactly where she intended them.

“It would appear the Academy simulations were more applicable than expected, Commander,” she said evenly.

"These are them?" Phoenix confirmed quietly.

"We can't.... remove them without precautions" Sam stated, choosing her words carefully in case any of the locals were conscious and aware.

"No one is around or conscious" Deanna noted. We'll transport immediately. This one needs to have you confirm medically what I already know. We can come back for Darkwa." She strongarmed Paquin over while dragging McKellan to the group.

=^=Washington, eight to beam up. Energize. =^= And just like that, they dematerialized in a blue hue.


TBC

 

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