First briefing

Posted on Sat Nov 14th, 2026 @ 8:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Lightfeather Andi & Captain James Stewart & Lieutenant Commander Sherlock Grimes & Lieutenant Commander Toulaine Doctor & Lieutenant Callisi Veera & Lieutenant Benjamin “Ben” Ashford & Captain Cassandra Matthews & Lieutenant Muffy Harrington

2,952 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Mission 01 Shakedown Cruise
Location: Observation Lounge- Uss Churchill
Timeline: MD: 00

=On=

=Observation lounge=

James had been given the time and date for them to leave Spacedock and take the ship out on its trials before they were officially recorded as active, as his Yoman entered carrying the PADDS for the mission and what was needed for this. He watched her lay out the PADDS in front of each chair. He tapped his combadge and said, =/\= All senior Staff, please report to the observation lounge ASAP, Stewart out.=/\= as he closed the channel and waited.
.=
=^=Mathews here, I am on my way.=^= came Cassandra's cool, controlled voice from the Comm.

Doctor Toulaine entered the observation lounge with Lieutenant Harrington. The two women took seats next to each other, and both pulled out padds to take notes on. Toulaine was interested in getting the rest of the command crew's physicals done before this first mission.

Muffy looked over some of the current telemetry, trying to anticipate where they would be sent. At least her science teams were ready for whatever the captain ordered.

The next one through the doors to the observation lounge was the Chief of Operations, Lieutenant Veera. A member of a distant and elusive race known as the Ts'usugi, the rabbitish humanoid crossed the threshold with an air of confidence, and why shouldn't she? They picked her for this posting; she'd commit to it the same way she had through any other operation. She turned her head to glance at those assembled already, having to turn a little extra on account of her right eye actually being covered by an eye patch. Scarring around the orbital told the story of how the eye patch started: A wound. An old wound that wasn't healed. Or was covered out of shame. "I presume I'm not the last," she inquired as she sat, taking a seat next to Toulaine, recognising Medical or Sciences when she saw the blues.
Muffy looked over the view from the bridge scan. If this was any prelude to what they were about to face, Muffy was both excited and apprehensive.

While the corridors were different, the motion of going to a mission briefing was now that Lieutenant Commander Lightfeather had left her quarters and headed for the Observation Lounge.

- Observation Lounge -

The doors to the Observation Lounge parted with practised precision as Captain Cassandra Matthews stepped through.

She wore the dark Marine command uniform with quiet authority, the insignia of the Marine Commanding Officer displayed proudly at her collar, along with her pin from the 95th on her lapel. Though one of the smallest officers present, there was nothing slight about the confidence she carried. Years of leading Marines through impossible situations had given her a commanding presence that filled the room long before she spoke. Her blue eyes swept across those already assembled, offering a respectful nod to each member of the senior staff before settling briefly on Captain Stewart.

"Captain Stewart. Good to see you again." She crossed to an open seat without fanfare, setting a PADD neatly on the table. Straightening her uniform jacket, she folded her hands in front of her, every bit the disciplined Marine officer.

The doors parted once more as Lieutenant Ashford stepped into the observation lounge of the USS Churchill. He moved with that easy, grounded stride of his, already scanning the room with quiet interest as he made his way toward the conference table, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a metal can of Diet Coke tucked under his arm, his engineering PADD held loosely in the other.

As he pulled out a chair and settled into the briefing seat, he set the coffee and PADD down in front of him, then cracked open the cold metal can of Diet Coke with a soft hiss, the sharp fizz filling the air for a moment... Ben's eyes kept drifting over the gathered faces, searching for one in particular... Melody Hawthorne. The two of them had shared a real spark the first time they met on Starbase 51, something that had lingered in the back of his mind ever since.

Ashford offered a polite nod to those already seated, many new, exciting faces to meet.

"Captain Stewart. Good to see you, Sir." Ashford gave a nod with a salute.

A pair of blue eyes studied the engineering officer's back. So, this was Ashford. She would know him if not from his job title, then by the fact that Melody had talked about him for hours and hours these last few days. So, he was the reason her MXO was bunking outside of the barracks for once. Interesting. She said nothing,g though.

To each new arrival, Veera nodded in greeting. The presence of a Marine commander caught her mildly off guard, but she recovered with the grace that only comes from years of training to hide intentions. Calm, cool, collected.

She noted the presence of someone she believed to be the Chief of Engineering. No matter the species or the star, Engineers seemed fueled by caffeine. A weakness she shared. Her time in the Ts'usu Navy- three demanded, six offered- gave her an appreciation for caffeine.

Andi walked past the rest and spoke, "Greetings, everyone. For those of you who do not know me, I am Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Lightfeather, the ship's First Officer, pleased to meet you all, and I am sure we will speak at some point along the way", she said, then looked at the Captain. "Hello, Captain," she said with a smile.

Cassandra nodded respectfully to Andi, remembering how the first officer had come to see her recently. Their talk had been friendly and informative.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," James stated, looking around the room. He continued, "Tomorrow, we will be leaving Space Dock to do our shakedown cruise "he leaned back in his chair and asked, " So, reports, please."

Cassandra inclined her head toward Captain Stewart before activating the PADD in front of her.

"Marine readiness is ahead of schedule, Captain. We currently have one hundred forty-four Marines combat-ready and assigned into twelve operational squads. Over the past week, they've completed an intensive evaluation cycle designed to assess leadership, discipline, tactical decision-making, and unit cohesion under high-stress conditions."

She glanced briefly around the table before continuing.

"The exercises proved... more eventful than anticipated. We experienced an unexpected anomaly within the holotactical training system that resulted in the simulations becoming significantly more adaptive than originally programmed. Engineering has since isolated the issue, and there is no indication of any continuing risk to the ship."

A faint smile crossed her face.

"The silver lining is that it forced the Marines to think beyond doctrine. Rather than relying solely on technology or scripted scenarios, they adapted, trusted one another, and demonstrated the initiative I'd hoped to cultivate."
She folded her hands once more.

"As a result, I've completed my assessments, reorganised the companies, and appointed new fire team and squad leaders based on performance rather than seniority alone. Morale is high, discipline is solid, and the battalion is fully prepared to support the Churchill in whatever mission we receive."

She nodded once. "The 95th Rifles stand ready, Captain." Then realizing her mistake. Something crossed her blue eyes, something akin to pain. "That is the 64th. Lasers stand ready, Captain." She corrected.

Sherlock gave a stretch after getting dressed, grabbing a bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin to eat on his way to the lounge. He finished it before getting there. He stepped into the Observation Lounge.

"Operations reports optimum across the board. The computer core reports acceptable faults at this time, and the team is recovering those faults as we speak." Lieutenant Veera began. Her glances around ceased, and her singular eye now focused on the Captain.

"We're coordinating with Engineering to recover the anomalous code that caused the spike in adaptability in the holosimulation run. If we can isolate it, we can potentially integrate it into future training simulations to ensure that the simulation is training adaptability, rather than memorisation. Since the likelihood of the same situation, exactly, arising to threaten this ship popping up twice is essentially zero, I see no reason to bombard our crew with predictable training simulations."

"Operations is currently performing a full backup of the computer core as per Federation standard practice. However, the level of acceptable that Starfleet accepts and the level of acceptable that the Ts'usu Navy accepts are two different standards. Where necessary, I intend to hold my department to the higher minimum standard. The bare minimum is no longer the bare minimum," she announced, her glance turned to Marine Captain Cassandra. "I intend to schedule time with the Marine Captain to ensure that my department is trained to the standard *they* hold for basic self-defence and threat repulsion." She paused. "Where I'm from, everyone fights to defend our home."

"Here, it will be no different," she said with an air of finality, before turning back to the Captain. "Terminal response times are within levels I find acceptable. Computer core temperature and framework are acceptable. We'll know more about any room to improve during the shakedown, sir."

With that, her posture relaxed. "Report concluded, Operations is ready, sir."

Toulaine listened, taking notes.. She clicked her pqdd to save and shut down for now. "Medical is ready for whatever needs."

Muffy grinned. "Sounds like fun. Science is ready to help out as needed." She was bouncing in her seat, ready to get to work.

Ben shifted in his seat a little and took a quick swallow of Diet Coke… the cold fizz steadying the slight nerves that always showed up at first briefings. He set the can down and straightened, offering Captain Stewart a clear nod.

“Captain Stewart… senior staff… Engineering is ready. I’ve walked the major systems myself these past days. Warp core is stable at full output with the dilithium matrix locked clean… impulse engines answered every test without lag… power grid is balanced, and the residual from that holodeck anomaly has been fully purged. Deflector, life support, and transporters all green. Redundancies verified. She’s got good bones, and she’s ready for the shakedown.”

Ben gave a small genuine smile, still fidgeting lightly with the edge of his PADD.

“Engineering stands ready to work with Ops and Security on any residual issues with the hologrid, Captain. Looking forward to putting the Churchill through her paces.”

Callisi nodded, always good to have departments working together. She gave a nod to Ben before looking to the Captain. "I know it may be a little out of place to make such a simple request this early on, but I do have a small personal request."

"In Ts'usu culture, it's tradition to bring a piece of the home moons with us on large ships. It helps to ground us, to keep us from becoming too homesick by reinforcing that wherever we go, home is with us. It's a small gnarlroot bush, about half a meter cube in size. Very few needs, very little maintenance. I'll handle the care personally. I was curious if I could have your permission to display it in the crew lounge? If not, my personal quarters will be adequate. Just looking for a way to share my culture, and a little extra green."

Looking around, then to the Captain, "Okay, Captain, do you want to begin the mission briefing?" Anid asked.

Sherlock was simply listening to the updates at the moment. Playing around on the PaDD he had with him. Giving a glance up and over to Jim. "I think he's having more fun listening to the updates and the story."


" It is good to know about the background of your shipmates," replied James, looking around the room. He continued, "As you never know what we will face out there, they will have your back," as he knew that finding out about one's crew was good to know and how they would respond in a crisis.


Cassandra listened through the reports, her expression remaining composed until Veera mentioned bringing Operations up to Marine standards. One eyebrow rose slightly, though the corner of her mouth betrayed the faintest hint of amusement. “Lieutenant Veera, I appreciate the initiative. I’ll be happy to coordinate some basic defensive training for Operations. It will be a privilege.”

Her attention shifted briefly toward Ben at the mention of the holodeck anomaly. “And Lieutenant Ashford, glad to hear Engineering has the situation contained. I’d prefer our training simulations remain the only thing on this ship actively trying to kill us.”

She then glanced toward Veera again, considering the request about the gnarlroot bush. “As for your request, Lieutenant, I see no operational reason why a small piece of home shouldn’t have a place aboard the Churchill. If it keeps the crew grounded and doesn’t develop opinions about Marine scheduling, I’m all for it...”

Cassandra settled back into her chair, folding her hands neatly before her. “From the Marine side, we’re ready for the shakedown. I’d recommend we use the opportunity to stress-test our response coordination between departments as much as the ship itself. If tomorrow teaches us anything unexpected, I’d rather discover it while we’re still close enough to Spacedock to complain about it properly.”

Ben chuckled to himself. The comment that Captain Matthews had made lightened him. He smiled back at Cassandra and gave a nod. “Certainly,” he mouthed the word back to her… Placing a face now to the Mother of the small Martha Matthews, who was quickly becoming of stature down in Engineering with her frequent ‘shifts’. Martha was well regarded.

Throughout all this, Andi remained silent and observed the crew; she watched how they reacted and interacted with one another.

"Captain, I do believe we have a mission to get through," She said, looking at Stewart.

" That we do. We will be doing a shakedown cruise as of 09:00 Hrs tomorrow, so get some rest," replied James, as the crew would make sure they understood how long they would be out for. He finished, " Any questions?"

Cassandra gave a small shake of her head. “No questions from me, Captain. The Marines will be ready by 0900.” She gathered her PADD but remained seated, waiting for Stewart to formally dismiss them.

Ben looked around at the assembled room. He nodded to Captain Stewart's orders. Ashford had no questions at the moment; everything seemed straightforward. He was excited to get underway, more than happy to be with a good crew… He could already sense this…

Gathering his belongings, waiting for the Captain to rise first, he glanced again at Martha’s Mother. He would definitely be looking to say hello and figure out the genius of the little girl…

With nothing to add, Andi checked her Personal Padd; it had no alerts on it. She silently sighed and waited for the Captain.

Muffy took notes on this race and made a note to check into the properties of the moonrock that they were supposed to bring with them. Silently, she sent orders to those in science to get to work on the history of this people and another group to find answers about the properties of the moon and the stones they were to bring with them.. The whole time she was sending orders to science, she listened to the briefing.

Toulaine looked over the provided information to see how different this race was from humans, to know how to treat those they came across that might need it. She also looked for things that would make this planet dangerous for an away team and if hazard suits would be needed or not. These were questions that needed to be answered before anyone could go down to the surface; after all, that was medical's job.

"Oh, Lieutenant Veera, would you work with both Medical and Science when you plant the Tree?" asked James as he began to rise from his chair.

"Of course," Veera confirmed, nodding to Medical and Science's representative.

Sherlock sighed and leaned up from his relaxed position. "Correction: be overprepared. These things never go like they are supposed to."

Muffy looked at Veena and nodded back. She loved working with other departments and learning new things she could use in science. The more she learned about this mission, the more excited she was becoming. She only wished she knew the crew better, but give it time and she would; she was sure of it.

Andi sat there quietly oO Well this is different! Oo she thought to herself in reference to the briefing.

Sherlock waited long enough and stood. "Alright, we all know what we need to do. We've got the information. Get with your departments and work through the 'numbers' and report back in fifteen minutes. Get your last questions in; otherwise, dismissed."

Yes, Sherlock overstepped his bounds, but Jim wasn't saying anything. Waiting to see if there was anything else.

James replied, "If that is all, then this meeting is adjourned." Looking around the room, He continued, "We depart at 09:00 hours tomorrow. Dismissed."

With a small inhale, Andi stood up and made for the exit; it oO was an eventful briefing Oo she thought dryly.

Dismissed, Veera stood. She had joint ventures to schedule. Studying the anomaly, planting the gnarlroot bush, along with Medical and Sciences to observe...

=OFF=

Captain J Stewart
Commanding Officer

Lt Cmdr A Lightfeather
First Officer

Lieutenant Commander Sherlock Grimes
Chief Tactical Officer
Second Officer

Lt Jg Ben Ashford
Chief Engineer

Lt Callisi Veera
Chief Operations

Lieutenant Commander Toulaine Dr.
Chief Medical Officer

Marine Captain Cassandra Matthews
Marine Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Muffy Harrington
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant JG Elsa Veillon
ACoS/ACTO

 

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