Alone at the front of the transporter bay on deck four, Lieutenant Commander Maddison Burton looked forlorn, lost to the memories of recent events. Weeks had passed since the debacle of Frontier Day had crippled the Lakota and its crew. The fate of dozens of her crewmembers had been sealed on that disastrous day, with several key members of her crew murdered by those poor souls who had been transformed by the Borg assimilation signal from Jupiter. Among those to have perished was their beloved commanding officer, Captain Lorraine Thorn, a veteran of nearly 60 years, a woman whom Burton had served with for most of her career. When the dust had settled and the ship had docked for repairs at Avalon Fleet Yards, Maddison was one of two senior staff officers left standing. She’d done her best to keep things ticking over, and was doing her best to oversee repairs, but the news that a new commanding officer had been appointed was bittersweet. While she was relieved to hand over the burden to someone else, the thoughts of someone new sitting in Captain Thorne’s chair were hard to swallow.

Thorne had taken command from Captain Kosev shortly before the ship launched following her construction period, but she had made a massive impression in a short space of time. The veteran Captain had led the crew through the bitter conflict in the Deneb system and, when they finally thought all was good in the world again, the Borg/Changeling alliance struck and decimated dozens of ships and people. Captain Thorne had been struck down before her time, in the prime of her life, by a colleague who had no control over their actions but felt such guilt after the fact that he had taken his own life. The scars of Frontier Day were there, weeks later, for everyone to feel.

So preoccupied by her thoughts of the tragedies of recent times, the Commander didn’t even acknowledge the opening of the door to the transporter room, nor the approach of her Hispanic colleague from the Counselling division. It was only when Lucas placed a hand on her shoulder that she snapped back to reality with a start.

“Maddie?” Quinn whispered, tilting his head and worming into her line of sight in order to gain the attention of the Flight Controller, “Are you ok?”

Burton shrugged, her shoulders touching the tips of her shoulder-length brown hair. “I didn’t think it would be this tough,” she admitted, folding her arms across her chest, her eyes watering as she looked at her friend. “How can we expect the crew to accept a new commanding officer when they haven’t let go of the old one?” She asked, more for herself in actuality than any other one person.

“Letting go of someone is a deeply personal thing, and there is no one way we can expect anyone to do it. For some, it will be the sharing of memories, for others it will require something else. For some it will be quick, for others it may never happen,” he smiled reassuringly, mimicking her stance and standing beside her, staring at the transporter pad before them. “What’s clear is that life goes on and we have to see this as the start of a new era, an opportunity to return to what we do best and continue the Captain’s legacy. That way, she’ll always live on, regardless of when we all choose to let her go.”

Maddison nodded slowly, bowing her head to gain some composure before lifting it and giving him a smile. “Thanks,” she shoulder nudged him.

He returned the nudge and then nodded towards the transporter pad. “Do we know anything about our new commander yet?” He asked curiously, eager to know who would be leading them in this new era he had prophesied about.

Burton shook her head. “Nothing yet,” she answered, “I just hope it isn’t someone new that we’ll have to handhold from crisis to crisis. After everything that’s happened, we need someone with a bit of gravitas and experience.”

A cough from the officer behind them at the transporter controls drew their attention. “Sorry to disturb you both, but I don’t think we’re going to have to wait long to find out,” the Ensign smiled sheepishly, “we’re receiving a transport request from Brahms Station.”

Taking a deep breath, the Human in the crimson of command adjusted her stance and tugged on the bottom of her uniform jacket to iron out any creases. “Let’s do this,” she nodded to the Counsellor, and then gave the go-ahead to the transporter chief.

As the soft hum of the transporter pad filled the dimly lit chamber, anticipation hung in the air. Swirling hues of blue light filled the pad as two figures slowly began to take shape amid the particle stream until the humming reached a crescendo and the process came to a swift conclusion.

On the forwardmost pad, a figure with flowing brown hair and spots on either side of her face looked about the room. Beside her to the right, a brute of a man with a large cranium and two, deep-set eyes stood, hands clasped together behind his back.

Stepping forward, Maddison instantly identified the rank insignia adorning the woman’s uniform and took a deep breath. “Welcome aboard, Captain,” she smiled in greeting, “my name is Lieutenant Commander Maddison Burton, Flight Operations chief.” She stepped aside and held out a hand towards the Counsellor. “This is Lieutenant Lucas Quinn, Chief Counsellor.”

“Captain,” Lucas nodded respectfully to their new superior.

Stepping down from the transporter pad, the spotted Captain let out her own deep breath as she thrust a data PADD at the Human. “A pleasure to meet you, Commander. My name’s Keziah Nazir,” the Trill responded and then gestured to the brutish figure who had transported aboard with her. “This is Commander Onsas D’orr, the new First Officer.”

Stepping down from the PADD, Onsas shared some quick pleasantries with each of the officers before the Captain continued. “I know the circumstances are less than ideal, but we should get the formalities out of the way,” Keziah suggested to the Commander. “By order of Rear Admiral Grayson, I am here to assume command, effective immediately.”

“Of course ma’am,” Maddison nodded, then tapped her commbadge. “Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Keziah Nazir. Voice authorization, Burton- Seven-Two-Alpha-Tango.”

After “a few seconds, the computer finally beeped. “Transfer complete. USS Lakota now under command of Captain Keziah Nazir.”

Offering a hand to the Human, Keziah smiled as she uttered the words, “I relieve you, Commander.”

“I stand relieved Captain,” Maddison nodded in confirmation as she shook the Captain’s hand and concluded the formalities. When she released, she looked at the Trill with a raised eyebrow. “Forgive me ma’am, but, the same Captain Nazir as served aboard the Hathaway?” She inquired.

“Indeed,” Keziah nodded, gesturing to the door in a manner that suggested Maddison should lead them into the corridor of deck four. The helm officer dutifully obliged. As they began strolling down the deck, Nazir beside the helmsman whilst Onsas trailed behind with the Counsellor, the Captain further elaborated for both of the officers. “Hathaway has been shelved for significant repairs, whilst Arimathea is slated to be decommissioned. Starfleet has seen fit to reassign crew from both vessels to new assignments here, aboard the Buran and also on the Osiris,” the Trill told. “Crew replacements have already been informed and will arrive within the next twenty-four hours. Commander D’orr will oversee their onboarding,” she concluded, glancing back over her shoulder and receiving a nod from her new XO.

That was a lot to take in for the helmsman. Two ships were effectively shelved for various reasons and their crews dispersed between several other ships. “I’m sorry,” Maddison apologised, then quickly clarified the reasoning behind her apology, “sorry that they took your squadron,” she frowned.

“Yeah, about that….”

“She’s not as impressive as Hathaway…”

Usually willing to defer to the often more experienced judgement of his colleagues, the peculiar-looking Ungeat with the green, bulbous eyes was, on this occasion, eager to take in new surroundings and approach things with an open mind. For him, Lakota marked a fresh start after all that had happened aboard the Hathaway, including his part in the deaths of several colleagues. He had been able to move on somewhat quicker than most of his colleagues, but the shadow of Commander Bachmann loomed large on his previous vessel, so a change in scenery, untainted and fresh, was just what the Counsellor had suggested – only fate had intervened before any difficult conversations needed to be had. His adoptive family (Noli, Prida, Giarvar and Henry) had been largely split up, going on to different postings around the squadron, but at least Prida was joining him aboard the Excelsior II-class heavy cruiser.

“Perhaps this is a change that can benefit many, and we should endeavour to make the most of it,” he suggested to his Bajassian colleague, tilted head and broad smile a sign of his ever-impressive optimism.

Putting an arm around Or’uil’s waist, Prida leaned in closer to the young Ungeat and placed her head on his shoulder as they walked the corridors of their new home. “I hope you’re right,” she wistfully replied.

“Experience would dictate I am right approximately ninety percent of the time,” the Ungeat answered playfully, “so the odds are in my favour.”

Prida swiped him gently as she laughed and shook her head in disbelief. Thinking back to the Or’uil who had come aboard just a few short months ago, she found it incredibly hard to imagine him saying such a thing. Experiences shared with his new family had changed everyone and for him, the change was clearly for the better. The engineer loved this new side of her friend. Amenable, and easy to get on with, it was almost as if something had happened that had unburdened him.

“We are lucky to have been chosen to assist the Captain in her new command. It shows a degree of trust and loyalty that I have not had from previous commanders,” Or’uil told as they emerged from a turbo lift and onto the bridge of the Lakota.

“Not just blind loyalty,” a brutish man with skin the colour on the spectrum somewhere between orange and brown addressed the two officers emerging from the turbo lift.

Prida stopped in her tracks and glared at the man whilst Or’uil cocked his head in his usual manner and regarded the man curiously.

Poor Onsas would never get used to people looking at him in such a manner, and sometimes their reactions hurt. He was but a gentle giant at heart, enthused by the wonders of the universe. Luckily, the two officers clad in operations gold seemed more curious than rude. He opted to approach them with warmth and offered out a hand.

“You must be Lieutenant’s Prida and Or’uil?” He smiled at the two. “Captain Nazir has told me a lot about you both, and that I should get to know you both quickly if the smooth running of this ship is to be guaranteed.” A flurry of handshakes and nods took place before the man finally introduced himself. “Commander Onsas D’orr, Lakota’s XO.”

As chief engineer and chief of operations respectively, the Captain, and thus this new XO, was right. The many operations of the ship would all run through their departments, and that made these two significant kingmakers in the process of ensuring Lakota’s continued functions.

“Don’t worry Commander,” a fourth voice emerged from behind the brute, complete with green, blemish-free skin and flowing brown hair. “We couldn’t ask for a better operations team,” Commander Teyahna assured the XO as she sidled up beside him and nodded at her colleagues from Hathaway.

Prida’s mottled skin blushed a little under the praise of the ship’s chief of sciences and second officer.

Nodding in hopeful agreement, Onsas looked at the two newcomers. “Captain Nazir wishes to meet her team in about an hour. Until then, your time is your own,” he directed the two before bidding farewell.

Watching the behemoth depart, the Bajassian shared a glance at the Orion that elicited a knowing smile from the ship’s second officer, suggesting she had asked herself the very same, galactic importance level questions that Prida was now…

Was there a weight limit aboard the ship? And would he even fit through the doors?