New Crew

Posted on Fri Aug 7th, 2026 @ 10:17am by Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Lightfeather Andi & Captain James Stewart

889 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 01 Shakedown Cruise
Location: USS Churchill/Various
Timeline: Current

[ON]

= Captain’s Ready Room – USS Churchill =

James had recently returned to the newly christened USS Churchill-A after the disastrous first Mission where the former Luna Class ships systems had failed and had not been sent on a cruise to the last Planet in the system and return to check out the ship was fully working and not sent on a Milk run, not only had it resulted in the loss of several Cadets, But also his wife and Executive officer, he had not heard back from Command about a replacement and Sherlock had been filling in as XO whilst he waited for one.

Andi was wondering how she had ended up back on the Churchill. She tugged down her tunic and pressed the buzzer to the CRR.

As he picked up his mug of Coffee, He took a sip of the hot liquid. He then leaned back in his chair, and suddenly his doorbell beeped. James responded, “Come,” taking another sip of his drink, and waited to see who was to enter.

Andi entered as the door opened. She came into the room properly and stood at attention. “Hello again, Captain, Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Lightfeather reporting in,” she said.

James looked up and could not believe that his former XO was standing in front of him. This was why Command had not said anything and kept quiet; they wanted it to be a surprise. He said, “Commander Lightfeather, good to see you again and welcome back”, as he rose from his chair, smiling back at her.

“Happy to be back, Captain, a little surprised I was reassigned back here, still here I am, reporting for duty,” Andi said.

“So, what do you make of her?” asked James as he rose from his seat, headed over towards the replication unit, and said, Coffee, White and hot”. The machine started to hum, and life. He continued, " Would you like a drink?”

“Water, cold, please, Captain," Andi said. “As for the ship, she is impressive- a Sovereign Class, not too bad”, she added with a smile.

“That she is,” replied James as he looked back at his XO. He continued, "And I hope she survives longer than her predecessor did,” as he remembered being told of her decommissioning when he spoke with the Admiral. He also remembered that it had been on its trials when the systems crashed with loss of life.

"So what can you tell me about the fate of the last Churchill Captain?" Andi asked, accepting the glass.

“Well, for starters, we got given the green light to depart for our shakedown cruise, and everyone was aboard and departed on time,” James replied, looking back at Andi. He continued, “After leaving Spacedock and having started the weapons check,” taking his seat, waving Andi to the unoccupied seat opposite him. He finished, Then Shit hit the fan,” remembering when the Gravity went out first.

She sat down as the Captain spoke and listened.

"Sounds like a hairy time, please continue!" Andi said, taking a sip of her drink and leaning back as she crossed her legs.

"Well, we left spacedock ok and headed towards the first part of our tests," replied James, looking back at his new XO. He continued, "We started to test the sensors and our shields," taking a sip of his own drink as he started to remember the bad time on the Churchill. James began to hope that this time around it would be alright.

Taking a sip of her own drink, "Then what, Captain?" she asked. She was starting to get intrigued by the story.

"After that, we started the engine tests and headed towards the nearest asteroid field to test the weapons and targeting systems," replied James, looking back at his XO. He continued, " It was then that all hell broke loose," as he leaned back in his chair.

"Now, unless all hell broke loose has a different meaning here, then we might have different translations of it" Andi said, taking another sip of her tea.

"When, I mean all hell broke loose, I mean all hell broke loose," replied James, looking again at his XO. He continued, "First, the warp bubble crashed, then shortly after that, the gravity went out on all decks, killing a lot of cadets," as he leaned forward and brought up the report he had filed with Command, and turned the screen towards her.

She leaned forward and looked at the screen. "In the name of the ancestors!" She exclaimed, "Such devastation," Andi added.

" I even lost my wife when she went down to deck 10 to save some Cadets," replied James. " She was your predecessor before you came back ." He stated, raising his drink into the air in a salute to those who never came home.

"Loss is never easy, Captain, especially when it is one so close, but at least you got the courage to move forward", Lightfeather responded.

"Thank you, Commander," replied James, turning the terminal back to face him once more. He said, " I want a full rundown on all systems of this ship before we leave dock," as he still felt the shame of what had happened last time. He finished, "Dismissed."

Andi simply smiled and nodded, stood and left the CRR,

Off

Capt James Stewart
CO

&

Lt Cmdr Andromeda 'Andi' Lightfeather
First Officer

 

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