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"Aen'rhien Vailiuri" is a Star Trek Online fanfic by StarSword written for Literary Challenge #67: Delta Rising on the STO forum.

Following the opening of the Delta Quadrant to sustained exploration by the presence of the Dyson spheres, the Romulan Republic sends two warbirds into the quadrant on an exploration mission. One of them is the ch'M'R Aen'rhien under the command of Khre'Riov Morgan t'Thavrau.

The fic serves as an introduction for most of Morgan's command crew.


This fic provides examples of the following tropes:

  • Attack Pattern Alpha: Morgan orders attack pattern Valdore Three.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Justified. The Kazon were never exactly a threat even forty years ago against the USS Voyager (it always took multiple Kazon ships to pose a credible threat), and Voyager was just a medium cruiser stuck on its own with no support. Now factor in that Morgan's ship is a D'deridex-class battlecruiser with modern armament and a cloaking device. Sahuel t'Khnialmnae, the tactical officer, says the Kazons' weapons are about as good as what the Romulans were using a century ago and the shields aren't much better.
  • Defiant to the End: Maje Tillih tells Morgan to "die in a fire" while she's Neck Lifting him, right before she breaks his neck.
  • Deliberate Values Dissonance: Morgan isn't human and doesn't see anything wrong with killing an unarmed Kazon prisoner in anger. Legally she was within her rights, and the Kazon had just impugned her right to command the ship. Jaleh Khoroushi disagrees. Vehemently. (So does the author, citing the trope in the author's notes.)
  • Expy: The Axiana was said in the author's notes to have been inspired by Serenity.
  • Fantastic Racism: Played with. Jaleh wonders if Morgan doesn't trust her because "my ears aren't pointy". Tovan says he wouldn't go that far and blames it more on Culture Clash.
  • Fantastic Slurs: Saxis, a Talaxian, refers to the Kazon as "bloody hairballs".
  • First-Name Basis: Discussed. Tovan tells Jaleh to call him by his first name, because Morgan doesn't do that anymore and he misses it.
  • Foreign Cuss Word: Jaleh cusses out Morgan in Farsi. According to this, her "Kire asbe abi too koonet!" translates to "hippo's cock in your ass". There's also "lanat bar sheyan", an equivalent of "Oh, my God".
  • Foreign-Language Tirade: Jaleh cusses out Morgan in Farsi; Morgan shoots back in Rihan. Also a Narrative Profanity Filtered part where the Kazon maje launches into a tirade at Morgan of which only about every third or fourth word gets translated by her universal translator.
  • Foreign Language Title: "Aen'rhien Vailiuri" translates from Romulan as "Bloodwing Rising". The author's notes say it'll be part of an Idiosyncratic Episode Naming pattern for Morgan's fics.
  • Future Food Is Artificial: Sahuel complains that, as oversweetened as Morgan's tea recipe is, it beats what comes out of the replicator because "replicated just tastes fake."
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: A lot of the dialogue is peppered with Rihan, including all the characters' ranks. There's also a few pieces of Farsi from Jaleh.
  • Humans Are White: Averted. Jaleh, the only human in the whole story, is Persian.
  • Meaningful Name: Aen'rhien translates to "bloodwing", as in ChR Bloodwing from the Rihannsu novels.
  • Morality Pet: Jaleh and Tovan tr'Khev discuss the possibility of Jaleh becoming one for Morgan.
    Tovan: ... ultimately she’s leih of this warbird and she’s going to run it the way she wants. If you want to change her, you’re going to have to work at it.
  • Neck Lift/Neck Snap: A supremely pissed-off Morgan lifts Maje Tillih off the ground one-handed before breaking his neck.
  • Pardon My Klingon:
    • After the Aen'rhien blindsides the Kazon:
      Sahuel: Imirrhlhhsenen nnea ri’nanovai didn’t even have his shields up!
      Morgan: Language.
    • Upon learning that they're going to have to carry the Kazon prisoners to the Optrican base on the Aen'rhien, Tovan tr'Khev's reaction is "Fvadt."trans. 
    • Morgan's retort to Jaleh's "Kire asbe abi too koonet!" is "Urru Areinnye!"trans. 
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The Optrican ship, though it's an Informed Attribute since it's never shown fighting. However, it's about the size of a Defiant-class and is said to have six weapons emplacements equivalent to the main gun of a Jem'Hadar attack ship, and shields comparable to an Ambassador-class.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: When you put a male-chauvinist society like the Kazon next to a World of Action Girls like the Romulan military, you're gonna have trouble. Maje Tillih thinks that because Morgan's a woman she dishonors her ship by commanding it. She kills him for that.
  • Promotion to Parent: Discussed. Jaleh was the second of five children and she and her older brother Ehsan basically ended up backing up their parents.
  • Spiteful Spit: Maje Tillih spits at Morgan when she's interrogating him, right before telling her she dishonors her ship by commanding it (because she's a woman) and she kills him.
  • Starfish Aliens: The Optricans are described as purple centaurs with six legs.
  • Token Human: Morgan's Starfleet liaison/operations officer, Lieutenant Commander Jaleh Khoroushi, is explicitly the only human on the entire ship, never mind the main cast.
  • Uncoffee: A bitter tea that's apparently highly caffeinated. Morgan flavors hers with khellid honey and spices. Sahuel thinks it's too sweet that way. Jaleh, who's from Iran (near where coffee was first cultivated), also lampshades the trope, thinking that it's funny how every species in the galaxy seems to have come up with some variation on a hot beverage with stimulant properties.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Jaleh calls out Morgan for killing Maje Tillih, up to and including cussing her out. Morgan, however, doesn't think she did anything wrong (Deliberate Values Dissonance is in play).

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