Mason left the bridge of the Resolute with a small pang somewhere in the middle of his broad chest. The little ship had treated him well, and he was a little loathe to leave her, but command had seen fit to reassign him to command of the Manticore. A new ship, command of a squadron… even if it was a very small one. 

Which meant he wouldn’t really be leaving the Resolute. Not really. She, or at least her CO, would be under his command anyway. He paused for a moment, a frown creasing his brow. He still hadn’t worked Reese-Riggs out yet. The guy was an asshole, a total player and he’d been absolutely going to beat him to a pulp for sleeping with Ilona. But… something didn’t sit right. While he knew for sure his ex had cheated on him, RJ just wasn’t her type. 

Shaking his head, he put that from his mind and carried on walking. He should head straight for the transporter room and get his ass over to the Manticore because his own XO was about to arrive, but instead he found himself heading down to the replicator on deck four. 

“Okay,” he murmured, a small smile curving his lips as the machine cheeped at him, as though in welcome. “Give me two for the road.”

He didn’t bother placing an actual order. The replicators on the Resolute had long ago stopped listening to him and he always ended up with the same thing. Some kind of sweet, coffee-chocolately thing with cream and sprinkles. It was hideously sweet and not his preferred black-as-his-soul coffee, but… he’d kind of gotten used to it. 

The drinks materialized and he took them off the plate. “Thank you,” he said, as he turned away, heading for the transporter room as he sipped at one of them. Which meant he didn’t see the activity across the screen of the padd poking out of his thigh pocket, nor the answering soft cheep of the replicator as he walked away.

————

Mason stepped off the transporter pad on the Manticore, nodding to the transporter operative as he walked by. With a new ship came a new crew, which meant his had increased from just under a hundred to around two fifty, so yeah… he was going to be learning names for a while.  

It didn’t take him long to reach the bridge, and he nodded as some enterprising soul called out ‘captain on the bridge’. Yeah, new crew. That was one thing that was getting nixed, and fast. 

Several members of the bridge crew turned as he walked onto the bridge, and his gaze focused on the two he was looking for, but he also noticed a third. Asher Thane stood next to Kovash, his tall, lanky frame dwarfing the rivan woman as she read him the riot act about ‘her’ helm console. 

Gods… he hadn’t seen Asher for a few years, the lad had grown. He had to be nearly as tall as Mason now. 

“Welcome aboard, Captain Mason,” Rennox stood by the command chairs, hands clasped behind his back. The kid looked good, if a little subdued. Not at all like the broken mess he’d found when older survivors of Frontier Day had returned to the Resolute. 

Another officer, a commander in red, stood next to him. Mason blinked in surprise. Most species couldn’t match a llanarian for height or muscle mass, so he was used to being one of the largest people on a ship, but his next XO was possible a hair taller, while Raan was a shade wider.

“Captain Mason,” the commander said, his deep voice pulling at something in the center of Mason’s chest, and offered his hand. “Commander Reid, your new executive officer.”

Mason shook, pleased to note the strength in Reid’s hand and the fact that he didn’t bother to try and prove he had a stronger grip or any pissing contest moves like that. 

“A pleasure to meet you. You’ve already met our command yeoman, Rennox,” he said, a statement rather than a question as he handed off the untouched drink to Rennox. “My apologies, I didn’t realise that you would already be here or I would have brought you one as well.”

Reid shook his head, eyeing the sprinkle-laden drink. “No worries. I’m good, thank you.”

Mason inclined his head. “Okay, since you’re here early, let’s walk and talk. I haven’t toured the ship yet, so let’s get that done before we head out,” he said as he turned for the door. 

“Kovash, you have the bridge,” he called over his shoulder, getting a thumbs up from the pilot as he and his command team left the bridge.