Metamorphosis
Posted on Thu Sep 11th, 2025 @ 2:19pm by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi & Lieutenant Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Commander Kuzos & Lieutenant Commander Sevek & Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte & Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn
3,014 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Short Treks
Location: U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-06-25, 09:00
Captain's Log, Stardate 116480.47:
After nearly a week of work Lieutenant Commander Ash Randall and her Engineering team have finished their construction work on our renovated Main Bridge.
Urvasi was heading to the Turbolift from the Officers Mess where she had been enjoying a morning coffee. She got up to the turbolift and pressed the summon for it.
After receiving the summons to report to the bridge, Kuzos left his quarters and headed for the nearest lift to take the short ride to the bridge. he wondered what the reason was this time. No doubt another meeting he mused to himself. Still he withheld any final internal comment until he saw the reason for his summons.
Urvasi heard footsteps behind her. As this was deck 2 for Officers Mess and Senior Officer Quarters, this was the main turbolift to the bridge. She turned to await the officer and saw Lieutenant Commander Kuzos coming her way. She heard the turbo lift doors open and so she used her tail to put weight against the sensors to keep it open as she called out, "Commander Kuzos, lift is here."
Hearing a voice, Kuzos looked up and saw Urvasi holding the lift for him. "Coming!" He called out as he quickened his step, arriving at the lift seconds later. "Thank you for holding the lift. I do appreciate it." He told Urvasi as he stepped inside.
Urvasi yiffered gently as she replied, "Yer Velcome, Commander." She didn't see anybody else and so she pirouetted and went into the turbolift as well. After the door shut, she called out, "Bridge" knowing it was going to be a very short ride. They were on deck 2, and of course, the bridge was on deck one.
"I wonder what we are being called to the bridge for. Do you have any idea Lieutenant?" Then without waiting for a reply he continued, "I do hope it is not another meeting. it seems that is all the Federation does is to have meetings."
A small giggle came from Urvasi's throat. She replied, "Hopefully show and tell as we have been running from the battle bridge, or at least an update."
The turbolift stopped and the door opened.
Commodore Wilkan Targaryen stepped out of his Ready Room and walked down the corridor toward the Main Bridge of the Enterprise. It had been, roughly, a week since Wilkan had asked for Ash and her team to begin work on redesigning the Bridge to meet their expanded crew needs and he was eager to see what his Chief Engineer had come up with. While he'd seen the preliminary plans and a holographic reproduction, it was nothing like seeing the real thing - especially for the first time. It wasn't a moment too soon either. After having spent the last week using the Battle Bridge to command the whole damned ship Wilkan was more than ready to get back to some semblance of normalcy.
Tugging on his uniform tunic, the Commodore was ready to get started. He'd made arrangements for his Bridge crew to meet him on the Bridge at the same time so that they all got to see the Bridge for the first time together. Seeing Ash he called out, "Ash, are we ready to get back to work?"
"Yes. Sir." The Chief Engineer replied, in a chipper tone. "Our Battle bridge adventures are at an end, and you should find the command chair to your liking." She added, with a little bit of a chuckle. Uncomfortable command chairs were, somewhat, of a tradition after bridge refits but ash had gone through great pains to 'refit' the existing command chair to match the style of the latest iteration of the bridge. Nothing, other than the appearance of the chair, had been changed.
Looking at the door to the Bridge, Wilkan looked back to his Chief Engineer, "I'm going to hold you to that, Ash, I'd hate losing my chair. Being in the one on the Battle Bridge this long has been enough of a pain." It was the same chair design wise, but he really didn't care much for it for some reason.
"I for one won't miss the Battle Bridge for some time," Commander zh'Roothi added having been standing alongside Ash waiting for the remainder of the senior staff to arrive for the grand reveal.
The Turbolift Door opened into the short corridor. Urvasi motioned to the doorway, "After you, Commander Kuzos." In her culture, as the ladies outnumbered the males, it was the ladies who were chivalrous.
Kuzos turned and nodded his head in respect to Urvasi and her display of curtesy. He was greatly impressed by the gesture. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You have made a friend today if you choose to accept it." He finished as he stepped out of the lift.
Urvasi quirked her head a little as her ears flicked. Most males would not have even noticed her. She yiffered gently, saw a group of personnel on the other side, and so replied quietly to Kuzos, "Accept it I choose, Commander."
"Good to see you," Wilkan greeted the new arrivals as he waited to enter the Bridge.
Urvasi did her race greeting of respect with the female's curtsy that included a light bow of the head, "Good to see you as well, Captain, X.O., Commander Randall." She curiously eyed the bridge doors, "Good news, maybe?"
Kuzos turned his head so his eyes met hers. "Good. I look forward to getting to know you better." He replied quietly as he stepped onto the bridge where he addressed the Commodore. " Commodore." He returned politely.
"Commander," Wilkan greeted jovially. Noticing that everyone was gathered, the Commodore nodded to Ash, "Let's head to our new home away from home."
"Of course, sir." The Chief Engineer responded, with the momentary flash of a toothy grin, and then stepped aside with a flourish as the doors slid open.
The doors slid open quickly, allowing the Senior Staff of the Enterprise to see their new Bridge for the first time. Upon entering, Wilkan was quickly taken in by how much it honored the past and melded it with the present. In many ways it reminded Commodore Targaryen of the Bridge used aboard the Sovereign, sharing many of the same design cues but with a more comfortable plan available for the crew.
Urvasi followed the rest in and stepped to the side to take in the changes to the Bridge. It was expansive, yet cohesive to allow the bridge crew to understand the ship and get information needed to the Captain, which meant better orders for a scenario to the crew. She stood there, looking around, looking for what was different and what was similar.
For the first time in a long time the Commodore had relented and allowed himself to no longer be isolated in the center of the Bridge. The command section of the Bridge provided seating and information displays for himself in the center and two other officers, with the current plans calling for the XO to be at his right and an open seat for any specialists to his left. One way where it was different from the Sovereign Class Bridge was his chair was parallel to these other chairs (if not slightly raised) with a horseshoe shaped Tactical console directly behind the command stations. Wilkan almost wished that it had been the wooden railing, but he knew Ash had a plan for everything.
Instead of two independent workstations at the front of the Bridge, the Engineers had instead combined the Navigation and Operations workstations into one unit with seating available for both Lieutenant Elandorn and Commander Bernadotte. In between the two stations was something Wilkan hadn't seen since the early 24th Century: an astrogator. Emergency override systems were also built in, making the Commodore wonder if they could control the entire ship just from that one console. Wilkan was impressed to see the Federation logo in the center of the Bridge between the forward consoles and his own chair.
The starboard side of the Bridge was still oriented for external operations and featured one interior facing workstation and three wall mounted consoles. The primary Science terminal was built on an elevated platform and looked inward into the Bridge. The three workstations against the wall included a Communications station and two additional Science stations, with one assigned to Astrometrics and the other Life Sciences.
Located on the port side of the Bridge were stations assigned to internal operations and featured a similar design to the starboard compartment. The Engineering workstation was identical in size and design to the Science Station on the opposite side of the room. The three consoles built into the port bulkhead included a second Engineering console - which focused on Propulsion Systems, Environmental Control, and Mission Operations.
The viewscreen remained at the very front of the Bridge and featured the same overlay that he'd picked when the Enterprise first launched. Wilkan was pleased that they still had the full holographic display, with the technology having progressed so that starfield syndrome became less of a risk. On the aft wall the large Master Systems Display remained, displaying a cutaway image of the Enterprise. Wilkan smirked at seeing it, wondering if Ash had put so many Engineering oriented stations on the Bridge. His Chief Engineer was unique in that she was often on the Bridge and not in the engine room. Glancing at the console, Wilkan noted that there was a hand-input in the MSD, which meant he'd have to keep that in mind if they ever had need to execute any of the emergency protocols.
Looking around the room, Wilkan turned to his Chief Engineer, "You and your team have outdone themselves."
Ash had hung back when the Commodore and the rest of the senior staff entered the newly refitted bridge and remained near the doors while they took it all in. The engineer was rather proud of the job her teams had done. There had been a collaborative design effort that had included the observations of the ship's AI and a broad overview of elements of bridge designs, going back nearly three centuries, had worked well or not so well. "I am glad you like it, sir. A great deal of collaborative work went into the design."
Urvasi smiled warmly at the exchange, loving that the Captain of the vessel, Commodore Targaryen, was pleased and sharing with Ash and her team. This was a leader any sane sentient could stand behind, and she did. Now, she waited, itching to get to the helm and check it out personally, but not moving until the Commodore let the crew know they could explore.
"I don't doubt it, Commander," Wilkan answered his Chief Engineer. "Well, folks, feel free to explore our new Bridge and take your stations. I'd like to let our personnel on the Battle Bridge get a chance to rest before their shift this evening and get back on the road."
Now freed to take a closer look, Urvasi began walking along the left side of the bridge. She looked over the controls, the displays, the seats, enjoying what the consoles represented. Her walk ended her up at the double seats in the front, and she sat down in the left. She moved her hands over the Astrogator, yiffering gently as she trained on different types of these in high school and college. She began setting up the controls to take over from the Battle Bridge. She glanced over to the other chair as well as the ops controls. She liked this idea as Power and Movement were always linked in the dance of shields, weapons, maneuvering, scanners, and ship functions to keep the crew alive and able to keep the ship going.
Commander zh'Roothi took a moment to orentate herself with the new design while the others began to review in more detail. "This is excellent work Ash," she nodded to the Engineer. "You must be very proud of your teams endeavours."
Kuzos slowly walked the bridge around to the rear of it and to where tactical was located. he looked down at the smooth console interface, his fingers lightly running over it With tactical situated where it now was he had a complete view of the bridge and all the other department stations.
Ash moved over near the trio of central seat and stood behind the center most of them.
The turbolift doors opened, and a slightly dishevelled Sora stepped onto the bridge, holding a large travel mug of coffee. "Apologies for my tardiness, good morning," she said, stifling a yawn. "For some reason, my alarm didn't go off, and then the replicator in my quarters stopped wasn't working either. I've already sent someone from maintenance to sort it out, should be fixed by end of shift." She looked around the newly redesigned bridge. "Looks impressive," she remarked, as she slowly made her way to her seat, smirking at the sight of the Federation emblem on the floor, a sight that somewhat reminded her of the bridge of I.S.S. Asha, the ship she had served on before crossing over into this universe. Finally, she sat down at the console, glad to see that she was still able to individually set up her portion of the workstation, and immediately dimmed the display to fit her preferences.
Urvasi looked with vertical slit pupil eyes and smiled with a muzzle to Sora as Sora sat down into the right seat. She watched curiously as Sora dimmed her side and then noted the glasses were a black shade to tone down the light. She nodded as she said, "Commander Bernadotte, welcome, I am Lieutenant Elandorn. Glad you're here. Now, to help out.." Urvasi lowered her panels output as well to match what Sora was doing. As she did, her slitted eyes opened a little to take in the lower output. She smiled as she said in a low tone, "And, there, matching emitted light output."
Sora nodded in appreciation. "Pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant. And thank you. Sensitivity to light is a bit of a hassle at times."
Urvasi yiffered gently as she replied, "In seeing your glasses, I guessed at that. I am used to tree road canopy shade, so I like the lesser output as well. Thanks for giving me the reason to do so."
The Vulcan science officer walked onto the bridge, having quietly shared the turbolift with Sora. The renovated bridge as aesthetically appealing to the eye. "Fascinating." He muttered to himself and he went and took as seat at the science station.
Taking a look at his chair, Wilkan spoke to Ash, "So, is this a new chair or did you just reupholster the old one?" He'd noted his old Captain's Chair was blue, while this one was a light red, almost pink, color.
The Chief Engineer regarded the Commodore for a few seconds before patting the back of the chair. "It is an, entirely, new seat. This chair accounts for nearly 80% of the collaborative work, research mostly, into what elements of your command chairs, of the past, you most favored. your old command chair was, in your own word, 'not uncomfortable'. I am hoping for better results for this one."
Before he could stop himself, Commodore Targaryen actually laughed at the Chief Engineer's answer. "I think I should be flattered that my posterior took up 80% of your work on designing this new Bridge, Commander. At least that's what I'm going to tell myself at least."
Urvasi, her right ear always turned towards the command seat, did a small exhale of humor while letting loose a quiet 'yiffer' of vixen humor. Her tail moved in gentle sweeps behind her.
Settling himself into the center seat, Wilkan started to shift around in the large chair. Glancing up at his Chief Engineer, he knew that the Commander was probably waiting with baited breath to know what the Commodore thought of the chair that Ash and her team had spent so much time working on. Grabbing hold of the armrests, Wilkan shook the entire chair.
"You know when Kirk took over the Enterprise-A he complained that he missed his old chair," Targaryen explained, "I for one do not share that sentiment. Good work to you and your team, Ash, my posterior thanks you."
"Your posterior is, more than, welcome sir." Ash responded, with a little bit of a grin.
Looking forward at the viewscreen, the Commodore ordered, "Stations, please."
zh'Roothi had moved with them and couldn't hide her smirk at Ash's tongue in cheek humour. She was pleased to see the central area had been refitted to include a more traditional set up thus not leaving the Captain isolated and vulnerable. Her role to assist him had been hampered from the Operations station but with the recent arrival of Commander Bernadotte that was about to change.
With her tie in's in place and verified, as well as emergency overrides under specific key sequences so they could not be activated with the console under normal use, Urvasi called out, "Captain, Helm, ready to assume control on your mark."
Kuzos reached out with tentative fingers and logged in his codes and authorizations and the console was now activated. "Tactical is operational." He announced simply. He touched another key, and overrides were also locked and could only be activated by entering a secure code.
The Chief Engineer made her way to the MSD and activated it with her personal code, locking out the battle bridge in the process. "Engineering ready." She announced.
Sora had completed her personalization of her console and leaned back in her chair. "Operations is set. All systems reporting within nominal parameters."
Reading the science station screens, it showed the main sensor package was operational. "Sciences are operational. All sensors operational, sir."
"Senior staff report ready, Captain," Commander zh'Roothi reported.
"Thank you, Commander," Wilkan acknowledged from the center seat as he gently tugged on the uniform jacket that he wore. "Helm, all ahead full."
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