"First Mission"

Lea’s hand went to the Starfleet delta pinned to the left side of her uniform, a faintly audible chirp sounding as it activated and connected to the ship-wide channel Commander Lektar had just opened.

“Attention, all officers and crew of the USS Vanguard, NCC-76381. I am Captain Lea Chevalier. Effective immediately, I am assuming command of this vessel by order of Admiral Calloway. I cannot speak to the specific details regarding the absence of Captain sh’Orthamu, only that she has been relieved of duty for a personal matter, at her request.” Pausing a moment to let what she had just revealed sink in, Lea cast a wide gaze across the bridge to the various officers at their respective stations. “My expectations are that you will continue to serve this ship, your fellow crew, and the Federation with the same professionalism you showed during your brief time under her command. Thank you. Chevalier out.”

With that, Lea tapped her commbadge once more to close the channel. Her gaze once more went to Griffith. “Commander, our orders state that we are to travel to the last known position of the USS Kepler, an Oberth-class vessel that has gone missing while en route to chart a nebula near the Bandari system. Please see to it that we are ready to be underway within the hour, and notify me accordingly. You have the bridge.” A short nod later, Lea stepped past her XO and through the aft port-side door which led out into the access corridor, her intent to retreat to her new ready room so she might report to Admiral Calloway, and perhaps settle in just a bit.

Once the doors parted and Lea stepped into what was now her ready room, she let out a deep exhale and glanced about, feeling a sense of ease, excitement, and wonder at what lay ahead of her and her crew at the start of this journey together. - (OOC Notes: Specifically mentioned @Shirik Lektar, @Greggory Griffith.)

Cerys had been studying her science console for long enough that she was beginning to resent it for having nothing interesting to report.

But she kept noticing the empty space at the center of the Bridge.

Where exactly is Captain sh’Orthamu?

She still hadn’t decided what she thought of the Captain. There had always been something about her that left Cerys vaguely unsettled, though she had never managed to identify anything more concrete than a feeling, which was terribly inconvenient for a scientist.

Then the bridge snapped to attention as someone announced “Captain in the bridge!”

Cerys looked up as an unfamiliar woman entered.

Oh.

The way everyone reacted answered at least one question.

Well. That’s new.

And, rather embarrassingly, Cerys felt herself relax.

She immediately frowned at herself.

Don’t look relieved. You don’t even know where the woman went.

Transferred, perhaps. Reassigned. Something perfectly mundane.

Possibly eaten by a spatial anomaly, but we’re not rooting for that.

Still, the relief remained.

Then came mention of an Admiral, new orders, and apparently a ship-wide announcement concerning Captain sh’Orthamu.

Cerys abandoned all pretense of working.

Right. So not a routine personnel shuffle, then.

Her attention shifted fully toward the unfamiliar Captain, curiosity rapidly overtaking everything else.

Who are you?

And, perhaps more importantly:

What happened to the last one?

Iryna, painfully aware of the siren call of her bed all the way down on Deck 4, blinked her heavy eyelids as she took up a position near the aft-starboard turbolift, content to linger just a moment to see what this was all about.

Though an instant later, at the call to attention from Commander Achaea, Iryna found herself similarly inclined, like Lektar, and about to roll her eyes at the overt formality. She thought better of it, and instead pushed off the bulkhead with her shoulder to stand a bit straighter rather than keep slouching. Yet when Commander Griffith returned, and this time she’d actually noticed him, she found herself a bit more interested in observing due protocol. She cleared her throat and adjusted her stance, hands at her sides. - (OOC Notes: Specifically mentioned @Shirik Lektar, @raikon achaea @Greggory Griffith.)

Shirik managed to refrain from rolling her eyes as Achaea jumped to his feet. 

It’d been little more than four hours since the emergency subspace communication from Admiral Calloway had come in. Lea’s orders had changed, and she now found herself assigned to take command of an entirely different vessel than the one she’d originally set out for. Circumstances, as Admiral Calloway had explained, were of such an extraordinary sort that the situation demanded a certain degree of adaptation on his part, and more importantly, on hers. Of course, it had frustrated Lea, as she’d spent the previous two weeks getting properly acquainted with the personnel files and schematics of the Intrepid-class USS Ticonderoga, only to be given command of the Nova-class USS Vanguard and its personnel instead.

A part of her thought to refuse the orders, not because she didn’t appreciate the opportunity to command the Vanguard, or that she felt slighted by missing out on the Ticonderoga, but rather because she wondered if this was the Universe’s cosmic way of telling her to delay accepting command just a bit longer.

After all, she’d refused several previous offers.

But then a little voice at the back of her mind convinced her otherwise. Alexandre always had a way of finding the silver lining whenever things seemed dour, and she could imagine him trying to spin the 'cosmic interference' narrative on its head; after all, what if this had been the Universe’s way of making sure she ended up in the right place?

Lea stifled a laugh, smiling a bit broader as she glanced at the crewman standing beside her in the turbolift cabin. “How long have you served aboard the Vanguard, Crewman Jones?” she asked him politely, the soft lilt of her French accent lingering in her voice. He had been assigned by the on-duty transporter chief as an escort.

“Not long, Ma’am,” he replied.

Lea nodded appreciatively, affording him a generous smile as the whirring sound of the lift came to a halt. “Thank you.” She stepped forward as the doors parted at the seam and, with a confident stride, emerged onto the bridge of the Vanguard. The scarlet-red of her uniform shoulders and the four golden pips on her collar caught the light, easily identifying her as Captain. With a wry smirk, Lea caught the tail end of something being said by the dark-skinned woman seated at the Chief Operations station. “I don’t believe that to be the case, Commander,” she responded, her crystal-blue eyes gazing across the bridge to gauge at least some of her crew.

“Commander Shirik! This is Captain Chevalier,” the crewman explained as he followed after the Captain, a small PADD in hand that contained transfer orders for the newest Captain of the Vanguard. He briskly moved past Lea and approached Shirik.

Lea once again afforded a courteous nod, this time at Commander Shirik. - (OOC Notes: Specifically mentioned @Shirik Lektar, @Greggory Griffith.)

Shortly behind the Commander's arrival, the turbo lift once again whooshed open quietly. Stepping onto the bridge; One green haired, Vulcan Lieutenant, hands clasped behind the small of her back. T'lol paused for a moment, taking in the bridge.
Personally she thought the sudden transfer from Starfleet HQ had been slightly rushed, they'd had plenty of time to inform her of her new orders long before Vanguard had actually reached the station after all, which would have allowed her to report to the commanding officer ahead of her first shift. Orders, however, were orders.
In her brief scan of the bridge, her eyes alighted upon the highest ranking officer present and moved to the Ops Officer.

"Lieutenant Commander Lektar? Lieutenant T'lol, Chief Flight Control Officer, reporting for duty." The Vulcan spoke softly, but clearly, standing ready at attention. There was an undeniable catch in her accent, specifically the way she pronounced the rank. LEF-tentant, not LIEU-tenant.

"Glad to hear she's holding up, Commander.  I'll be eager to read the full report." He warmly nodded at Raikon as he turned back to the Engineering console.