The Caitian gulped as his alarm clock sounded. Today was the day. He’d worked hard for years at Starfleet Academy and today he headed to his first ever posting. He stood from the bed, rubbing his eyes with his clawed paws and yawned, his long feline tongue flopping from his mouth as he finally got to his feet.

He headed towards the mirror, checking himself a moment, running his paws through his mane fur to try and make himself look reasonably appropriate for the day, but nothing seemed to stick the way he wished it to. He shrugged as he reached to grab some underwear, pulling it over his legs and tucking his tail where the gap required before reaching for his cadets uniform. 

It’s true, he was no longer a cadet, but he had been informed to wear this until reporting onboard where he was told the operations team would have arranged for him to have permissions to replicate the correct uniform for duty in his quarters which he’d be sharing, as is usually the case for junior officers.

Pulling on the cadet’s jumpsuit, he brushed his teeth and fangs in the mirror before grabbing his bag. He hated how the jumpsuits felt as his tail often got caught up in the legs, but alas, he knew the new uniform would be a two piece, small victories.

Once ready, the Caitian Ensign headed from his room and walked the long corridor of the Starbase towards the shuttlebay.

The shuttlebay felt cold. Not the usual coldness of a cavernous grey room but there was a definite chill in the air. Perhaps Engineering were having issues with the heating as so often happened on Starbases such as this. Alas, the fur of the young Caitian kept him warm at least as he stepped down the steel infused steps from his shuttle to the floor of the bay.

Travelling via shuttle had made up much of his last year, ferrying between Starbases, the Academy and his home world on Cait, but now he arrived for a mission of the utmost importance. But this felt different. He was heading to a Starship for his first posting, Counsellor aboard the newly launching USS Oakland, a California class vessel about to head on it’s first ever shakedown cruise. To say he was excited would be an understatement.

As he boarded the shuttle and took his seat, he watched out of the window as it launched into the stars, a sight he hoped never to be bored of. He knew not what would make up his next few weeks, but he knew it would be an adventure of a lifetime.