Aris had been working away in the ready room for well over an hour filing reports and reviewing mission data. All was quiet on the bridge. The Corax had returned to Starbase 93 a short while ago meaning it was time they resumed their course. Tapping the terminal in front of him, he activated the ship wide communication system.

“Attention all hands, this is Captain Suin. All department heads please report to the Deck 1 Conference Room in 30 minutes, repeat, all department heads please report to Desk 1 Conference Room in 30 minutes.”

Emma and Damien had spent their time since arriving getting situated in their assigned residential corridor and getting to know the other junior officers around them. They all seemed like a pleasant enough group with no one appearing too outwardly hostile to their coming aboard. They all had questions about the mission ahead, their previous postings and of course about their new captain. Some of the questions they could answer, but the only topic they couldn’t discuss was the current mission. With the transfer to the Auckland their proposed mission brief was no longer doable. They were both quietly hopeful they would hash out an adjusted mission directive that factored in the additional resources and power available to them now.

Surprisingly enough the other junior officers seemed oddly unaffected by a course deviation and crew transfer. It quickly dawned on the pair that this was probably business as usual. Different crew and researchers would be posted on a vessel like this as the variety of mission profiles would necessitate a flexible crew compliment. 

Hearing the announcement, Damien and Emma bade their crewmates farewell and headed for the nearest turbolift car, not wanting to be late for this.

Meanwhile, T’Keterk had unpacked his belongings and headed directly for Main Engineering to meet his new department. Entering the primary engineering lab, he was pleased with what he saw. The sight of the primary warp core, several decks tall was always something to behold. He wasn’t left to his own devices for very long when an officer noticed his arrival.

“Anything I can help you with, Lieutenant?” the young ensign asked as she approached.

“Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier.” T’Keterk replied. “Lieutenant T’Keterk. I have just been assigned as the Auckland’s new Chief Engineer.”

The ensign’s demeanour completely changed. “Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. It’s good to have you with us.” she responded with a smile. “Let me quickly finish up here and i’ll show you around and get you up to speed.”

Before T’Keterk could respond, the Captain’s carried through Main Engineering. “We might have to postpone that tour, Ensign.”

“Of course, Lieutenant. I will see you up there.”

Nora had decided to instead head directly for the primary sickbay to see what she was working with. Deciding to unpack later when she was more comfortable. While she would have described the Corax’s sickbay as functional, this was quite a significant upgrade. Seven biobeds and a separate surgical biobed separated from the main ward. Her new office could be accessed directly across from the main entrance and directly from the small waiting area. There was a workstation conveniently placed in the main ward for when her duties required her to be present.

She was going to miss not being able to test out the capabilities of the Raven-class but was quite excited to see what this new ship was capable of. But that would have to wait until after the briefing being called. Smiling to herself she got ready to go to the Conference Room.

Aris was stood at the head of the table greeting everyone as they filed in. Many familiar faces and some unknown. Once everyone had settled he turned to face the table. “Can I get anyone anything before we start? Water? Juice? Hot Drink?”

Busying himself for a moment with the replicator, he turned to deposit a tray on the table carry everyone’s request. Once drinks were in hand, Aris took his seat and called attention to himself. “Thank you all for your attendance, for those who don’t know, I am Commander Aris Suin and I have been recently assigned here to serve as your Commanding Officer with the recently promoted Lieutenant Commander Gin Fenway serving as Executive Officer.”

Nods and greetings were directed toward the pair before Aris continued. “Lieutenant T’Keterk is joining us as Chief Engineer.” The Vulcan engineer bowed his head briefly to the rest of the crew. “Lieutnant Nora Yates joins us from Starfleet Medical and will be serving as Chief Medical Officer.”

Nora smiled and offered a quick hello to everyone as Aris continued. “Ensign Emma Swain will be manning navigation while Officer Damien Andrews is joining us as Provisional Chief Science Officer.”

Picking up where Aris left off, Gin continued going around the table. “Joining us today we have Ensign Malra who has been our Chief Operations Officer and Fabrication Specialist. She has been kind enough to supervise Engineering until your arrival. Ensign Taylor Shan is here representing Security and Tactical.”

Once all the introductions had been made, Aris activated the holo terminal in the centre of the table and set a small stack of padds on the table. Taking his seat he called attention back to himself.

“I want to thank all of you firstly for being so welcoming and accommodating since we came aboard, secondly I am sure there are many questions about your mission going forward?”

The three crew from the Auckland all nodded slightly at Aris’ questioning.

“Priority orders have been received from Starbase 93. An outbreak of Terrellian Plague has erupted amongst the former territories of the Romulan Star Empire and an official call for assistance has been received. Due to the nature of this assignment, we are ordered to report to the Proteus System and assist the mining colonies in preventative measures, treatments and infrastructure supports.”

Taking a sip of his drink, he tapped a few more commands into the terminal in front of him. “I have transmitted the latest updates to your padds for you to review in your own time. I would like Lieutenant T’Keterk and Ensign Malra to work together to identify any crucial infrastructure and power repairs that may be likely. I’d also like you to go over any supply chain issues we may be able to assist with.”

T’Keterk and Joci both nodded in acknowledgment.

“Lieutenant Yates and Officer Andrews, please continue with your mapping operations and research. I am authorising the use of the cargo bays to be used as a quarantine facility if the outbreak necessitates it.”

“You got it, Captain.” 

“Of course, Sir.”

Finally turning his attention to Taylor, Aris spoke up. “Ensign Shan, I need a tactical analysis of the Proteus System to identify any weak or blind spots in their defense grids. As we also have no idea of the situation on the ground outside of the official reports we are receiving, I would like you to also arrange some drills to ensure, in the unlikely event the Auckland is compromised, that we will be able regain control.”

“Yes, Sir.” Taylor answered, all business. “I will also being scheduling regular patrols and arranging security detail proposals for those on the ground. Are we are of any potential threats?”

“Thank you, Ensign.” Aris replied. “A call was also sent to the Fenris Rangers who may be operating in the region. I don’t anticipate any hostilities and contact is predicted to be minimum but I would rather we avoid antagonizing the Rangers if possible.”

“Nothing further, Captain.” Taylor replied as he sat back to process the orders he had received.

“Ensign Swain.” Aris spoke to Emma. “Continue our previous heading, Warp 8 and alert me on approach to the former Neutral Zone. Any minor course corrections and changes I will leave to your judgement.”

“Yes, Sir.” Emma quickly replied. Aside from their jaunt into the Delta Quadrant, Emma hadn’t flown outside of Federation Space and she was looking forward to seeing what was beyond the border.

“Are there any more questions?” Aris asked the room looking over his command crew. When no one spoke up, he continued. “Very well, dismissed everyone. Commander Fenway, I’ll meet you on the bridge shortly.”