Welcome Back

Posted on Sun Nov 30th, 2025 @ 7:25am by Admiral Audra Milne & Captain Nycolas Temple

Mission: A Dawn on Drax
Location: USS Pandora

ON:

In the silent orbit of Earth's moon, the large space dock known as Luna Shipyards was slowly bathed by the sun's etherial morning light as it peaked out past the Earth. The glistening brightness washed over the space station as a new day began. Inside one of the shipyard's many docks was a Luna Class vessel - the USS Pandora. The science vessel that had traversed the Inconnu Expanse, fought the Alrakis Pact, exposed nefarious Section 31 schemes, and gotten lost in a bubble universe - was awaiting her crew's return. Worker drones and shuttles orbited the sleeping craft, making their final touches on her well-deserved repairs.

The words "USS Pandora NCC 80114" were the last thing being painted onto her hull.

Inside of his ready room, Captain Nycolas Temple was receiving the maintenance reports from the Luna Shipyards crew. He was relaxed, back in his uniform and ready to get to work.

"You'll be ready for crew boarding in half an hour, sir." Luna's Chief Engineer was reporting.

Leaning back in his chair, Nycolas smiled. It had been a long time coming, and he'd dreamed of hearing those words again. "Perfect." He replied, the words catching in his throat.

Nyx stood and looked out the window - seeing outside the metal shell of the dry dock cage that surrounded the Pandora currently in his view. Beyond that, was the stars. He couldn't wait to get out there again, flying amongst the systems and the planets, exploring, discovering, helping. 'Soon', he thought.

Stepping around his desk, Nyx walked over to the doors that lead to the Bridge and they opened swiftly at his presence. He strode out into the newly redesigned command centre of the USS Pandora. Gone was the old set up, the beige walls and rounded solid bunks of the 2370's. The new Bridge was sleek, black, and just a little bit sexy. The floors were glossy metal, the consoles utilising a flat desk panel and holographic screen displays. There were three layers - an outside circle for Operations, Engineering, and Science; a middle section for the Captain, XO, and Second Officer, then a lower platform for Helm and Tactical. Nyx had specifically asked for the new Bridge design concept of the updated vessels, like the USS Titan-A.

[OOC: https://pandora.split-world.com/application/assets/images/tour/msedgeWj1PGSP2jba.jpg]

The low lighting in the new Bridge helped to highlight the consoles and displays, as each station awaited their respective officer to arrive. Nyx walked behind the back of the Captain's Chair, which was elevated by a few steps. He ran his hands across the leather cushioning across the headrest, a smile on his lips still. 'Not yet' He thought to himself. He didn't want to sit in it until they were ready to go.

As he was admiring the new Bridge, Nyx received an alert on his console. He saw it was an incoming transmission. He leaned over the chair and tapped it, sending the transmission up to the main viewscreen.

"I thought I'd find you there." Admiral Milne smiled from her office in Starfleet HQ, on Earth.

Nyx had been welcomed back to Starfleet and in-service as a Captain after the Pandora's disappearance mostly due to Admiral Milne sticking her neck out and advocating for him, explaining away his actions as being part of her plans to recapture the ship. Nyx had often found himself at odds with Milne in the past, unsure if he could ever really trust her. It had seemed like she was playing games, using him and the Pandora as mere pieces on her board. In the end, however, she had managed to manoeuvre enough of those pieces around to help Nyx recover the Pandora and for the crew to continue serving. Now they were due to start a new mission, still under her stewardship, and Nyx was happy with that.

Nyx moved around his chair and stood in the centre of the Bridge. "I'm just completing my final inspection, ma'am." He said gracefully.

"Of course." Milne warmly replied, knowing all too well that he was admiring the chair. All Captains admired the chair. It was the perk of being a captain. "It's good to see you on the Bridge again, Captain."

"It feels damn good to be here," Nyx laughed, "If you don't mind me saying. The new design looks amazing. It feels like a new ship."

"It could almost be Pandora-A at this point," Milne joked in response, "You've got a new deck, expanded science and medical bays, your updated Recreation area, the latest Engineering construct with the latest warp-core technology. Starfleet have really done some amazing work on refitting and improving the Pandora. You're basically the prototype for the new version of Luna Class vessels."

"I'm so grateful," Nyx replied earnestly, that emotion catching in his voice again.

"The Pandora deserves it." Milne stated plainly. "So, I've received the Engineering report from the shipyard, they're saying you're ready to embark your crew?"

"The Pandora is ready to fly again, Admiral," Nyx smiled. "The crew will be in-bound shortly. I did notice we are running a little light on numbers for her first trip?"

"Indeed, you won't have the full compliment as yet." Milne nodded, "The Pandora being stolen for a while moved her out of the usual repair and relaunch schedule; you're out of alignment with our officer availability and movement pattern. But you should be back up to full capacity as soon as we can."

Nyx just nodded silently. In truth, he didn't mind running tighter than usual - it gave him more to do. "What about an XO?" He asked.

"We have a shortlist, I'll send it to you," Milne replied, pursing her lips as she spoke, "I hope that someone will be ready for you before you have to leave. Thankfully your first mission is purely diplomatic, you won't need too many hands for this."

Looking at the mission details on his screen, Nyx tried not to frown, "Do you really think the Drax will be receptive to us? Every attempt we have made so-far to finalise negotiations has ended in zero progress. My brother told me that it's taken them years to even get to the table to discuss a draft protectorate treaty."

"That's why we're sending you," Milne raised her eyebrows, "And the secret weapon, of course. Lieutenant Kaleri. I have high hopes that you'll finally be able to make progress."

"Aye, sir," Nyx dutifully replied, "We'll certainly try our best."

"That's all I ask." Milne said with a smile and a shrug.

=====

Some time after the call finished, Nyx was sent the signal that the ship was ready to receive her crew. He gave the final approval and the Luna Shipyards engineers began to filter off the ship. Almost immediately, a steady stream of shuttles began to ascend up to the Pandora from Earth. The transporters were beaming with blue lights as new arrivals appear onboard. Nyx stood in the Transporter room corridor, shaking their hands and welcoming each officer as he could. It felt like his first day again - that day so many years ago when the Pandora had first launched out from this very dry dock and embarked on her maiden voyage.

Except this time, the crew weren't just joining a new ship. They were coming home.

"Welcome back." He kept saying over and over again to each officer, the smile on his face both as wide and warm as the rising sun. "Welcome back!"

OFF