u/AnAverageObserver

I am looking to run the Celestial Algorithm one-shot to kick off a 23rd century campaign for my players who are all new. When we did our session 0, a few of my players made their main characters not be a bridge crew character. What is the best way to incorporate non-bridge crew characters into a scene or will my players just need to make supporting characters for the missing bridge roles?

I also had one player make a character whose background was being a civilian scientist and not a Starfleet officer or enlisted in Starfleet. My knowledge of Starfleet rules on who can and can't be a chief officer is lacking, can their character serve in that capacity for the captain?

Thank you for any and all advice!