USS Culver City dropped out of warp at the outer markers for Starbase 400, moving in at impulse power, the tug she had seized at T’Sora II in tow behind her.  On the bridge, Lieutenant Varyn K’lev instinctively sat up in the center seat.  “Chief, please hail the starbase; audio is fine.”

In just a moment the hail was answered.  “Starbase 400, this is USS Culver City,” K’lev said.  “We’re here for final fitting-out and shakedown of some of our systems.  We’ve also got a seized ship in tow, and prisoners in our brig; it’ll be in the report, but it was an interesting trip.”

“Understood, Culver City,” came the reply.  “We’ll send some Work Bees to take the seized ship, and have a security team meet you.  Prepare for remote docking.”

“Thank you, control.  We’re in your hands.”

The channel closed.  Ensign Phillips took their hands off the controls as one of the station’s tractor beams took over, guiding Culver City towards bay 13.  When she got close enough, a pair of Work Bees took over the tow of the seized tug, guiding it to a security dock.  As the station remote-docked Culver City in the repair bay, K’lev looked to Chief Bong.  “Since we should be here at least a few days, why don’t we see if we can arrange a little leave for anyone who didn’t get a chance to take leave before we launched?”

Chief Bong nodded.  “I’ll get right on it, sir,” he said.

Over the next was few days, Culver City’s crew rotated through the starbase, taking some time to relax as the ship’s final fitting-out was completed.  Her new autosurgery suite was installed quickly, much to Hilava’s delight; now her sickbay could actually take care of more severe injuries.  The torpedo magazines were finally loaded with photon torpedoes and the security armory with type-2 and type-3 phasers, though K’lev hoped they would rarely – if ever – be needed; the memories of Palix Bravo still disturbed his sleep some nights, so he was far from eager to get into another firefight, regardless of whether with the ship or on foot.  The issue in cargo bay 1 turned out to be a panel that was somehow installed backwards; nobody had an idea how that was managed, but all were grateful that it had been fixed.  The ship’s lounge was finally fully-stocked with beverages and mixers, all the better for unwinding after a long shift.  And a number of other small issues that the ship’s crew had already quick-fixed now received their proper repairs.

Once the final fitting-out was completed, it was time for testing.  Culver City made her way to the nearby proving grounds, and over two days underwent a battery of tests to make sure everything was in order.  Unfortunately, the certification team did not ultimately accept K’lev’s argument that a number of her systems had been shaken down on the trip from Starbase 86 and excuse those systems, but they did take more time with the systems that hadn’t been “tested” already, so maybe those reports did play a role after all.  Either way, at the end of testing Culver City received her certification for full active duty, even in light of her currently-undersized crew complement; hopefully, in the coming weeks and months, that would be fixed, but it would not prevent her from doing her duty.

With her shakedown completed, there was only one more matter to attend to: a matter of recognition.  Sitting in his ready room with Chief Bong, K’lev looked over a PADD, then up at the Chief.  “Think it’s time?”

The chief nodded.  “I’ll ask them in, sir,” he said, then tapped his combadge.  “Bong to Hilava, Pelix, Ghimir, and sh’Livo.  The captain needs you all in the ready room.”

The four midshipmen all acknowledged their summons, and within a few minutes all were standing before their captain and senior chief.  K’lev rose from his desk, walking around it to face them, with Chief Bong off to the side.  “Well, we didn’t even make it to our shakedown before getting into things,” he started with a wry chuckle.  “But you all have done great work, not just during the flight, but also in getting the ship ready to fly, and I think it’s time that be properly noted.”

He nodded to Chief Bong, who nodded back and then called “Attention!”  The four midshipmen stood to attention.

K’lev cleared his throat, trying to remain serious but failing as a smile broke through.  “Midshipmen Hilava, Pelix, Ghimir, and sh’Livo, you are all hereby promoted to ensign.  Step forward, please.”

The four now-ensigns stepped forward, and in turn K’lev went down the line, affixing the single solid pip of an ensign to the collar of each’s uniform and shaking their hand.  When all was done, he grinned.  “Now my first order to you all as ensigns is…  go celebrate!  We’ll pick up the business tomorrow.”

The four new ensigns beamed excitedly, starting to leave before Chief Bong cleared his throat.  “The captain hasn’t dismissed you yet,” he said, stopping them in their tracks.

They turned around, sheepishly.  K’lev rubbed his face with one hand.  “Yes, sorry.  Ahem, you’re dismissed.  Now go celebrate,” he finished with a grin as he watched the quartet leave the room, Chief Bong following them out.

A few minutes later, as K’lev was trying to settle in and work on one of his “pet project” designs, his desk console chimed with the arrival of a new communique, addressed to the commanding officer.  Curious, he opened it; the message contained orders, tasking Culver City to take on several new subspace transceivers, some farm equipment, several non-replicate-able critical components for a new hospital, replacement engines for a medical shuttle, a number of new solar panels and power relays, and a new turbine for a hydro-electric dam, as well as additional fuel for her industrial replicators to support a number of replication projects that would be needed, and proceed to several colony worlds not far from Starbase 420 for various deliveries and installations around the sector.

K’lev sighed, confirming the order before forwarding it to Ensign Lotharys and Chief Bong, with a note that the crew’s leave would unfortunately be shorter than he had hoped, as Culver City needed to be ready to sail once the supplies were loaded.  He then left his ready room; as Culver City did not yet have a quartermaster aboard, rather than ask his XO or the command chief to do it he chose to oversee the loading personally.

The loading took several hours.  By the time it was done, the ship’s crew had all returned; some were a little upset that their leave had been cut short, but all understood.  After all, Culver City was needed, and her crew were ready and eager to be of help on their first official assignment.  Shortly after the loading teams from Starbase 400 had disembarked, Culver City pulled away from the pier, cleared the starbase’s space doors, and went to warp, on about her humble yet vital business.