Defender/H'Ltol Stories

[HLtol]

OOC This area will be used for short stories involving H’Ltol as well as the Defender, and the ship’s small craft, mainly to flesh out the ship and H’Ltol’s story, will most likely post the odd story here and there when Rp in game isn’t an option for me.

A Surprise but a Welcome one

The U.S.S. Defender patrolling near the Minos Korba system

The Defender was currently on shake down run following repair, and was at the limits of the 38th’s Operational area, the crew where currently operating in at normal conditions with C’Roren the ship’s XO currently manning the bridge, whilst H’Ltol was doing the rounds to each department in the ship and was currently talking to Commander Kaseex down Infront of the warp core

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol looked towards Coyez Kaseex and smiles warmly as he purred gently “So Commander what is the report on the warp core tests so far? I know heading to the limits of the 38th’s Operational area was not the most gentle of starts since the repairs, but never know when we might need to rush to a hot zone”

<Kaseex> The trill grunted as he looks to the Caitian and folds his arms “Well Captain… if I was any less experienced I would grumble and complain about Captain’s pushing my ship too hard… but given your happier mood of late… I am inclined to cut you some slack… glad you ain’t a grumpy cat no more… but in all seriousness the core is holding steady and should we need to respond to any sudden distress calls, we got the legs to get us there… and to get us out again if we need it”

Unknown to the pair down in engineering the Defender whilst patrolling near the Minos Korba system, was hailed by an Aspero Carrier which signaled it’s intention to rendezvous with the Defender

C.D.S. Nayarit, on Route at warp to meet with the U.S.S. Defender

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol clapped his hands together once at the news from the commander and purrs again “I am glad to hear Commander… we need to make sure we are in top shape, never know when we will be called into action” H’Ltol’s combadge chirps as C’Roren contacted him from the bridge, H’Ltol then taps his combadge once and said “H’Ltol here… go ahead”

<C’Roren-C> “C’Roren here Captain… we just had a hail from the C.D.S. Nayarit… they are about five minutes out and have signaled a request to send over a guest”

<Kaseex> The trill grunted as he looks to the Caitian and rubs his chin for a moment, as he overheard the conversation “Expecting company Captain?, do I need to be ready for a repeat of last time?” he said as he moved sorely rubbed his left shoulder as he grumbled something under his breath

<H’Ltol> He dismissively waved at the trill engineer and grunted before into his combadge he spoke “Understood Commander… signal me when they are here… I will meet the guest in the shuttlebay… as doubt they will beam over” he then taps his combadge and looks to Coyez “Not expecting anyone Commander… though if it is a Caitian ship… no need to jump to red alert… it won’t be who it was last time…” he then nodded at the commander, before he left the engineering bay and headed towards the turbolift rubbing his chin as he tried to think on who might be on the ship

The five minutes it would take the Nayarit to meet up with the Defender passed rather slowly or at least it felt that way to H’Ltol, but once the Aspero dropped from warp it moved to come along the port side of the Defender, and after signaling the launch of a shuttlecraft, it went quiet remaining at a matched speed with the Defender, with the Caitian shuttle heading to and docking in the main shuttlebay, with H’Ltol adjusting his uniform as the shuttle landed Infront of him, and after a few moments the door to the shuttle hissed open

After a minute, a pair of young Caitian Defense force officers stepped out, one a female of Lieutenant rank, and a male officer of Ensign rank, with the female officer stepping to the right side of the door and turning back to the door to help the Elderly Caitian passenger from the shuttle, as the ensign remained by the left side of the shuttle door, almost like he was stood guarding the shuttle

The Elderly female who was clearly not the most mobile slowly stepped from the shuttle, her grey fur seemed to contrast with the some what brightly colored yellow formal looking dress she wore, the female then smiles at the officer that helped her from the shuttle <Elderly Caitian> “Thank you dear… these old bones ain’t as mobile as they used to be… now please can you and that young man over there… get some help with unloading what I have brought”

The Female Lieutenant with orange/red fur smiles at the Elderly Caitian and nodded slowly <Lieutenant> “Yes Clan elder” she then whistles at the ensign and gestures for her colleague to follow her back onto the shuttle “Come on… enough playing honor guard… lets unload these crates…”

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol slowly walked up to the Elderly Caitian and smiles warmly at her purring softly “Welcome to the Defender clan elder… I take it you had a pleasant trip” he gave a small formal bow, as he brought his right arm against his chest so his fist rested near his left shoulder, almost in a formal salute

H’Ltol’s some what formal greeting seemed to provoke annoyance from the elderly Caitian, who rather quickly hit him over the head with the walking stick she had in her left hand as he bowed and grunted softly “Lightyears of travel to be greeted like a stranger by my own grandson… I know your a lot bigger now… but doesn’t mean you won’t get a reminder of who helped bring you up”

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol sorely rubbed his head where the walking stick had impacted as he stood up from his bow, even though it wasn’t a hard hit it still had a slight sting to it, the hit on his head causing some giggling from other crewmen in the shuttle bay, he then chuckles softly and leans down giving the elderly Caitian a hug “Sorry Grandma P’Torish… it has just been a while… figured formal was better… plus… your visit is unexpected… that normally means bad news… at least for me…”

<P’Torish> P’Torish looks up at her grandson, even with H’Ltol bending down she was not as tall as him, but did her best to return the hug “Well Rria was getting on my nerves… saying she knew something I did not… which we both know is not true, but I still decided a trip was in order… haven’t seen you since you made Captain… you really need to call home more often…”

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol chuckles softly as he remembered his call with his sister and slowly stands up smiling as he offers his arm to P’Torish “I would have called at some point… you know me… I get busy and I forget things…” he said blushing slightly which stood out against his grey fur, as he started to walk with P’Torish out of the shuttlebay “You must be hungry after that trip though… lets head to the mess hall and get you some food”

<P’Torish> P’Torish grumbled linking her arm with H’Ltol’s and following him at a slow pace, her walking stick echoing through the hallways as it stuck the floor “You forgot… with my son away… and your mother teaching… I and your Grandad had to step in and help with raising you lot… and someone is forgetting I learned to see through your lies years ago…” she said as she looks up at her grandson

The pair seemed to make small talk and catch up even with H’Ltol being light on the details he provided, as they proceeded through the ship to the mess hall, the crew saluting the Captain and the Elderly Caitian as they where seen, with some whispering Happy kitty, happy shippy, which both the Caitian’s seemed to pick up on but ignored, and once they got the mess hall H’Ltol pulled a chair out for P’Torish and helped her sit down on it, before moving to sit opposite, once he ordered them both a sandwich and a glass of water to go with it

<H’Ltol> gives a soft sigh and rubs his eyes sorely “So yeah… that was our time in the war… trying to keep people safe… lost some of my crew… went on leave… came back… and here we are” He seemed to be giving P’Torish very few details as if it avoid worrying her

<P’Torish> P’Torish nodded slowly as she puts her walking stick against the table and sighs softly as she looks at H’Ltol “Yes… I heard the official public reports about your fleet’s actions in this war… and your sister has been dealing with the Caitian’s needing extra help in recovery… as has Sarah… which has been a good thing and a bad thing for them two… working with someone you are involved with isn’t easy…” she then smiled politely at the chef as the sandwich which seemed to be some form of a fish sandwich, with a glass of water, P’Torish then took the glass of water and sips from it

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol nods at the chef and sips from his own glass of water "Yeah… heard it has been busy for them… things have quietened down out here… at least on the work front… been trying to bond with the crew a little more… "

<P’Torish> P’Torish nodded slowly and sighs softly as she looks to her grandson “You should be mixing with people from your new fleet… not just your crew… though I get the feeling you did some of that on leave no?..” she said sniffing up a little and rubs her chin “Hmmm… and not just on leave hmm?”

<H’Ltol> Caught off guard seems to nearly choke on his water as he coughs a few times and blinks at P’Torish “I… have no idea what you are talking about…” he coughs a few more times and then takes a bite of his sandwich

<P’Torish> P’Torish sighs softly and looks to H’Ltol and shakes her head softly “Grandson… you stink of her… and are acting like I am going to disapprove… I am not your mother… you know I disapprove of her feelings on this matter… but since my son died… she has no one to balance her and didn’t handle it well, but I have no issue with anything you do… as long as you are responsible and take care…” she then takes a bite of her sandwich and purrs gently “I approve of you finding happiness even in times like this… and know the house is always open to you… and any guests you wish to bring… after all your father left it too you when he passed… not that your mother was happy about that one”

<H’Ltol> He grunted softly and rubs his head gently “Yeah… being around none Caitian’s so much… it is easy to forget about pheromones and stuff… I have been showering regularly too…” he then smiles warmly and purrs gently as he looks to P’Torish “And I know Grandma… but well our fur keeps us warm in the cold… some people don’t have that luxury… would need to wrap up warm to leave the shuttle”

<P’Torish> P’Torish chuckles softly and looks to H’Ltol “I should hope you are bathing regularly… with that fur of yours it needs regular cleaning… but no amount of fur shampoo can cover up your altered pheromones and well we keep the house warm for Sarah… just bundle any guests up warm and walk them from the shuttle… not like I am asking you to bring them in shorts and a T-shirt… it would just be nice to have you home for a little is all…”

Before H’Ltol can say anything, the two Caitian officers from the shuttle walked in carrying crates of some form of food, with another two crates being brought over by two security officers from the Defender, they where set down on the counter in the mess hall and left there

<P’Torish> P’Torish spotted this and slowly stood up and then walked over to the crates slowly and started to open the first one as she purrs softly “Now… come here… I expect these to be shared with your crew… and anyone that visits… spent ages making these… used a Human cook book I got from a friend… even made a few Bajoran treats in there too… and unlike you… I stuck to the recipe to avoid any discomfort”

H’Ltol walks over and blinks a few times rubbing his chin as he chuckles softly "Grandma… you made… crates full of cookies… brownies… sweets and other treat foods… " he rubs his eyes softly “Are you trying to fatten us all up?” he said as he looks to P’Torish

<P’Torish> P’Torish looks up at H’Ltol and smiles warmly purring gently as she then looks at the crates “Of course not… but I like to make sure you are looked after when I am here… I doubt the crew will complain about this… and before you ask… no I am not staying… I will be leaving in a few hours… but I mean it H’Ltol… I want these shared… you all need reminders of home some times… and nothing does that like home cooked treats… and I want you home when possible… and don’t worry… your mother is too busy with her teaching… she hasn’t been back to Cait since your brother left for the Gamma quadrant”

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol nods slowly and taps his combadge “Captain to all crew, thanks to our guest, there are now sweet treats in the mess hall, please feel free to visit in an orderly manner to get some, please don’t take more than your fair share so everyone has a chance to get some” he then taps his combadge again and nods to P’Torish “There… the crew know now…and I promise… I will make time to come home at some point… just don’t know when that will be possible or if any guests till tag along… you know what working in Starfleet means”

<P’Torish> P’Torish nods slowly and started to walk slowly from the mess hall, beckoning for H’Ltol to follow her, which he did matching her slower walking pace “H’Ltol… there is no pressure to bring anyone… I am just letting you know we have the room… Rria and her partner Sarah stay in a flat not too far from the hospital these days… so it gets lonely is all… both me and your grandfather miss our family… you are all so grown up now… and spread out… but come… show me the ship… I have not had a tour yet… and I wish to see where my grandson calls home”

H’Ltol nodded knowing better than to argue with the clan elder, he spent the last hours of her visit slowly showing her the ship, and introducing her to the crew, who all seemed happy to be meeting the Elderly Caitian, even more so after hearing about all the treats the Caitian had prepared to share with the crew, and after the tour it was time for P’Torish to head back to the shuttle then back to the Nayarit for her trip back to Cait, the pair slowly made their way to the shuttle bay

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol slowly helped P’Torish back into her shuttle and gives a soft sigh as he looks to her smiling warmly “It has been nice seeing you again Grandma… I promise to keep in touch more… I mean it” he then gave P’Torish another hug as he leant down

<P’Torish> P’Torish chuckles softly as she groans a little as H’Ltol hugged her a little too tight, clearly forgetting his own strength and how fragile the elderly Caitian was "Too tight H’Ltol… " she then kisses her grandson on the forehead and purrs gently “I look forward to it… and have enjoyed my trip as well… your crew all seem a lot happier… seems you being happier is effecting them…” she then lightly jabs H’Ltol in the chest with her left index finger and grunted “So… don’t worry too much… and make sure to not mess this up…” she chuckles again and gives a soft smirk "after all I wish to meet her… and I am not getting any younger… you know I expect great grandcubs before I pass… " she said before she with H’Ltol’s help moved back to her seat

*<H’Ltol> H’Ltol chuckles softly and looks to P’Torish, rubbing the back of his head softly after helping his grandmother into her seat on the shuttle "Yeah… happier Captain… happier ship it seems… " he stopped and carried on after a small pause “Dad was right…” he then heard what she said and blinks gently “Well… err… yeah… we will see… early days… you know…” he then carefully steps off the shuttle and gives her a wave

<P’Torish> P’Torish shouts after her grandson “Your 34… your not getting any damn younger… I am sure the in-laws will be expecting the same thing… and remember your dad was a MACO and still managed three cubs” she then chuckles as she leans back in her seat and nods to the two officers who had brought her here “Home please dears… my old bones need my own bed…”

<H’Ltol> H’Ltol watched the shuttle leave, as he stepped away from it, stretching a little, and once the shuttle had cleared the bay and the doors slowly started to close, he started to walk back to the bridge, rubbing his chin as he did so deep in thought, so much that he didn’t notice the group of ensigns giggling in the hallway and clearly talking about him, even as they munched on the cookies that had taken from the mess hall, H’Ltol then soon headed into the turbolift to head towards the bridge for his shift “Hmm… happy kitty, happy shippy indeed it seems…” he chuckles softly as he waited for the lift to arrive on the bridge “A trip home… hmm… maybe it has time to go back”

Shortly once the shuttle left the bay it returned to the Aspero it was deployed from, and as quickly as it had arrived, the carrier departed at warp heading for Cait, as the Defender itself was taken to Warp heading back to DS13, the crew all seemingly happier for the surprise visit, and all took their time enjoying the crates of sweet treats that where brought to the ship for them, it didn’t take long for the crates to be empty, leaving none for anyone back on DS13, H’Ltol even found time to grab a few treats for himself, and spent most of the trip back on the bridge monitoring the ship and the crew, sitting in his chair as he nibbled on a brownie and reads from a padd, the ship peacefully travelling through space for the first time in a long time

U.S.S. Defender at warp, heading back to DS13

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC and will be part of a multipart story explaining a part of H’Ltol’s past. including flashbacks, first time doing them so hopefully it turned out well

What Ever Happened to Our Happy Kitty?

Part One, new beginnings

The U.S.S. Defender at Warp with the U.S.S. Ecstasea

The Defender was currently on a small survey mission with the U.S.S. Ecstasea, with the faster Sovereign class having slowed her cruising speed to match the aging Miranda class, most of the crew didn’t mind this slower pace, and carried on their duties as expected, except the restless Chief of Security Jack Nightingale, who was in the Defender’s mess hall with his small canine companion a border terrier who remained by Jack’s side the dog, who was fully grown at this point, only looked away from Jack as the Messhall doors hissed open and C’Roren, who unlike Jack was dressed down and in normal relaxed clothing, not even wearing shoes

Jack remained looking out the window, watching the Stars going by at Warp, as he glances now and then to the slower Miranda class with a grunt softly, not even taking any notice of the door to the mess hall hissing open, despite it being early enough on the Defender that this would be strange

C’Roren spotted Jack staring out the window then the Human’s canine companion and grunted for a moment the Caitian clearly not being very fond of dogs, he then slowly walked over to Jack and clears his throat “Morning Jack… having trouble sleeping?” he asked dropping the formality of rank given they where both in the mess hall, and the XO was not in uniform

Jack grunted for a moment as he sips from the glass of water in his left hand and pets the head of the canine by his side with his right hand “I sleep easier at Higher speeds Commander… going slower has me on edge ever since the Borg again last year…”

C’Roren moved to sit at a table just behind Jack and purred softly as he smiles warmly “Safety in numbers Jack… as a security officer figured you would appreciate that… Captain’s orders are clear even now no one gets left behind… now come sit… tell me what is bothering you” the Caitian said Gesturing to the chair opposite him “As everyone else is happier since the Captain’s mood improved… yet you have soured a little”

Jack rolled his eyes behind the visor he wore over them and grunted as he moved to sit opposite the Caitian, with the boarder terrier, moving to curl up on the floor near Jack’s feet “As I said Commander… it doesn’t sit easy with me we are going so slow… just to accommodate a ship that should have been retired years ago… all cause the Captain is all love sick right now”

C’Roren sighs softly and leans back in his chair as he looks to Jack “Jack… you really telling me you want the Captain back to what he used to be? stern… looking for the smallest infraction… and always tense… I know you didn’t know him back on the Gamma… but the few that do prefer a happier Cat”

Jack sighs and sips his drink as he looks to C’Roren and then grunted “All people do around here that knew the Captain back then… is keep saying how much happier he is now, just like back on the Gamma… what was so important about that place anyway… it was just a posting right? all I heard from the Captain when I asked him was it was where he got his start in command, and learned some important lessons”

C’Roren nods at Jack before he stood up and went to get himself an early morning coffee from the nearby replicator "I will forgive the tone Jack given your not as experienced as other crew on the ship… and ain’t having the best time right now… but to the Captain… no the Gamma wasn’t just a posting… " C’Roren returned to his seat and blows on his coffee, causing steam to cover Jack’s face and cloud the Human’s vision for a moment “Let me take you back in time, to the U.S.S. Gamma”

******

The U.S.S. Gamma an Excelsior II class vessel was currently parked in dry dock awaiting the last of her new crew before heading out, with a Type-8 shuttlecraft approaching the main bay and docked carefully, with the two Caitian officers, one being a younger H’Ltol and another being a younger C’Roren, both had Lieutenant junior grade pips on their collars with H’Ltol in command red, with an eye patch over his right eye where his freshly formed scar was still healing, and C’Roren was in science blue as this was before his transfer to command

H’Ltol stepped off the shuttle first and grunted as he chuckles towards C’Roren “Figures I get posted to the same ship as you C’Roren… no doubt I upset someone, somewhere”

C’Roren steps off the shuttle as well, however C’Roren notices the two officers waiting for them and quickly salutes the Andorian female commander in security colors and Trill male Commander in science colors that where waiting for them “Commanders”

H’Ltol gulps as he spots the pair and gives them both a salute nervously and smiles politely “Hello Commanders… Lieutenant Sh’ow requesting permission to come aboard”

The Andorian grunted and folded her arms as she looks over the pair “Granted… Sh’ow your with me, the Captain wants to see you… M’Grora your with my science counter part here to help you get settled in”

C’Roren nodded slowly and looks to H’Ltol and grins gently as he chuckles softly “Good luck H’Ltol… see you later on for a real catch up… if you last that long” C’Roren then followed the Trill science officer who lead the young officer through the ship

H’Ltol grunted as he started to follow the Andorian as he was gestured to follow her, the eye patch didn’t seem to impact the young officer as he walked around the ship

The Andorian looks to H’Ltol and walks with him through the hallways “So… not the best first impression can we agree Sh’ow… walking off a shuttle to your first command division posting, laughing and joking around with another officer”

H’Ltol looks to the Commander and nods slowly as he purrs gently “Apologies Commander… wasn’t expecting a welcome from senior staff… was just catching up with an old friend”

H'Ltol Sh'ow and Sonva T'soph in a hallway on the Gamma, Captured by Internal sensors

Sonva the Andorian Chief of security looks to H’Ltol and nods slowly as she grunted, before both stepped into a Turbolift “Bridge” The Andorian said once the pair was in the turbolift "So… a transfer from the Vanguard to here… and a change of division… why is that Lieutenant? "

H’Ltol stepped into the turbolift and once he felt he move he steadied himself on the wall near the door and looks to Sonva “Well… had my fill of security… figured would be more use in Command, Commander”

Sonva seemed to mentally check something off her list and rubs her chin as she looks over the Caitian “MACO like qualification scores… including hand to hand combat training, had you followed that track your teachers felt you could have been a Major by now… instead you went into security… and now command… why not follow the family into being a MACO Lieutenant?”

H’Ltol caught off guard by the Andorian who seemed to have done her research on him he grunted for a moment and stretches “My Dad is a MACO yes… so was ran through the drills from a young age… hence my higher than average scores… had an early start… as for following in his footsteps… I am in a way… just don’t need the kit and phaser to make a difference… I see you have done your home work…”

Sonva nodded slowly as the turbolift started to slow as it neared the bridge “I like to know who I am working with Lieutenant… nothing personal… I also understand the doctor has advised you to keep that eye patch on a few more months whilst the wound heals… it going to affect your duties?”

H’Ltol looks to the Andorian still looking slightly down as he purrs gently “Not at all Commander… give me an assignment I will complete it… I have learned to cope with one eye covered”

The pair soon arrived on the bridge, with H’Ltol being escorted to the Captain’s ready room, and after a briefing H’Ltol was given his schedule and asked to use the next few hours to settle in before checking in for duty tomorrow, after he was finished with the Captain, H’Ltol was allowed off the bridge, and, soon he then bumped into C’Roren again on the Gamma’s holodeck, with the pair both in excursion uniforms, not having unpacked much else and the pair where sparing in a recreation of an old earth boxing ring

C’Roren swings towards H’Ltol with his left fist and grunts softly “So… the Security chief has done her homework on you… doesn’t mean anything other than she is paranoid” he said as he aimed to try and strike H’Ltol’s jaw on the right side to try take advantage of the eye patch

H’Ltol easily blocks and deflects the attack, having a more defensive stance as he grunted and looks to C’Roren “You still favor attacking from my blind spot… but you make too much noise for it to go unnoticed… and yeah… just strikes me as odd… she knew about my Dad… my test scores from the academy… as well as my recent qualification scores”

C’Roren launched a series of strikes against H’Ltol trying to use the fact H’Ltol only had one eye at the moment, grunting with each attack as he growls softly “It is all easily accessed H’Ltol… don’t think on it too much… and well got to take advantage of the fact your scarred for the moment”

H’Ltol grunts and then after C’Roren’s last attack H’Ltol uses C’Roren’s momentum, to easily flip C’Roren onto his back and then he looks down at C’Roren as his friend landed on the ring floor with a loud thud "Still trained by the best C’Roren… but your getting better… " H’Ltol then offers C’Roren his right hand as help to stand up just as the doors to the holodeck open

C’Roren stands up slowly with H’Ltol’s help as he rubs the back of his head sorely “I am better in a lab anyway… doubt I will even need to fight hand to hand… that is what security is for… plus you” he grins softly as he glances over at the person walking into the holodeck

Sonva slowly walked into the holodeck and looked around a little, as she was in her gym outfit and grunted softly “I see you two found my training ring program… good thing it was listed in public use programs huh?”

C’Roren looks between H’Ltol and Sonva “Yeah… anyway… I should go get some rest… one ass kicking is enough for me tonight…” he carefully gets out of the ring, but held the ropes open to allow Sonva to easily step inside the ring with H’Ltol “All yours Commander…” after Sonva had joined H’Ltol in the ring, C’Roren chirps a little at H’Ltol as if signaling something before he grabbed his towel and started to walk back towards his room

H’Ltol looks to Sonva for a moment and stretches a little as he purrs softly “I can leave Commander if it your time to use the holodeck… I just like to get some practice in when I can…”

Sonva waves her left hand dismissively and then grins “Your good H’Ltol… and please in here just call me Sonva…” she then stretches and throws H’Ltol a pair of sparing boxing gloves “Put these on, unless your worried about getting your arse kicked by a female” After throwing H’Ltol a pair of gloves she starts to put her own set on

H’Ltol catches the gloves and carefully puts them on and adjusts them a little so he was comfy in them, before he chuckles and raises his gloved hands as he faces her “Ain’t got a problem sparing with anyone Co…” he seems to stop himself and purrs gently “Sonva… just let me know if I hit you too hard… after all don’t want to have to explain to the Captain why his chief of security is in sickbay” he grins playfully as he looks at the Andorian

The pair both wait for the simulated bell for they start their sparing match, with H’Ltol letting Sonva throw the first punch, which he blocked expertly, the match was one that seemed to have the pair locked in a series of deadlocks, until Sonva noticed a pattern of H’L’tol’s and was able to easily land two hits on the Caitian’s lower left ribs causing the Caitian to get winded for a few moments, before he managed to land a hit in return to her jaw, the pair continuing their sparing match for a few more minutes before the bell rings again

Sonva pants softly as she looks to H’Ltol as she starts to undo her gloves and chuckles softly “Mean punch… for a Cat… though I noticed you favor protecting your face and upper body even at the risk of leaving your lower body exposed” she said rubbing her jaw softly as she grunted a little

H’Ltol grunts softly as he started to take his own gloves off, and twitches his nose a little “Consider it a present from the Vanguard…” he said gesturing to his scar with his left hand once he had ungloved it

Sonva nods slowly and looks to H’Ltol as she grabs her water bottle from the edge of the ring and sips from it “I won’t ask… can tell it is personal… but hey your more than a match for me even with one eye… might have to make sparring a regular thing… it is rare to find a real challenge in a command officer… if that is something that would interest you”

H’Ltol rubs his chin for a moment and then nods slowly as he stretches “Works for me Sonva… am sure we can sort something out… and once my patch is off, I wouldn’t mind redoing my type-3 qualification… once I can see again…” he said as he grabs his towel from the side of the ring and started to wipe his face carefully, hissing a little as he catches his scar

Sonva nods slowly as she looks to H’Ltol and grins gently “Sounds good to me fuzzy ball… I am going to hang around the holodeck a bit… but you best get some sleep… and some food… heard Caitian’s need plenty of it to stay in shape” She used the nickname clearly as a way to try and lighten the mood after hearing H’Ltol hiss from catching his scar

H’Ltol chuckles and looks to Sonva “C’Roren already spreading that around I see…” he then carefully steps from the ring “Will see you around Sonva…” he walked from the holodeck and blinks a few times as he started to head back to his room

The Steam slowly cleared from Jack’s face on the Defender and he grunted softly as he rubs his visor a little, coughing softly, as C’Roren clearly had finished his story at least for now and he purred softly, sipping his coffee as he grins at Jack

C’Roren looks to Jack and purrs softly “There is more to it Jack… but long story short… the pair grew very close during their time on the Gamma… but that is another story for another time… with the Captain away on a mission with the CO of the Ecstasea… we both need to pull together and keep the ships in one piece”

Jack grunted as he sips his water and looks to C’Roren as he rubs his chin “So… this… Sonva… was important to him… well makes sense why the Gamma was so important to him… so that was last time anyone saw him happy like that?”

C’Roren nods slowly as he leans back and finishes his coffee “Yes… until Sejea… which is why I am glad to be at a slower pace… it is nice seeing him like this again… even if it is early days… though doubt it will make it past the early days” he said with a loud sigh as he rubs his eyes again

Jack nods slowly and looks down at his canine for a moment then back at C’Roren and rubs his chin “What… happened to Sonva, commander?” Jack takes notice at the souring of the commanders mood and tilts his head “Wait… what makes you think that?”

C’Roren looks to Jack and purrs gently again as he sighs softly and rubs his eyes “No idea Jack… just a gut feeling but as for Sonva, last I saw her was just as I transferred off the Gamma… and she asked me to get H’Ltol to watch her message to him if I saw him, don’t think he ever watched that message from her, but I will let you know more of the story later… I have to get to the bridge soon… so I better go get changed… and you should try and get some sleep” he said as he stood up from the table and slowly walked from the mess hall

Jack nodded as he was left alone in the Messhall and he looks down at the boarder terrier who was still happily curled up at his feet and Jack sighed softly “Guess we will both have stories to share…” Jack stood up and started to walk towards the Messhall door and he whistles softly “Come on Charles… time for bed…” he chuckles softly as he walked towards his room, the canine following behind Jack, as he barks softly

The Messhall slowly fell silent once the door closed behind Jack, at least it would until it was needed later in the day, all that could be heard was the hum of the power systems on the ship, and out the window could still be seen the U.S.S. Ecstasea holding formation with the Defender

To be Continued…

[HLtol]

OOC Standard OOC information warning applied, along with a warning this one is gonna be a long story and feature a lot of family details for H’Ltol

Please be advised, in the absence of Alpha cannon about Cait and Caitian’s in general, I am using Fan information to fill in some blanks, refence link included at the end, if I have missed a bit of Cannon that has stated something in the below is wrong please reach out and let me know so I can correct this

What Ever Happened to Our Happy Kitty?

Part Two, A Special Trip And A Hard Choice

It was Early morning for the Defender crew, who are just about to set out on another patrol following, the fact the Captain was brought up to speed on events in the wider galaxy, however whilst most crew where making preparations to leave DS13, H’Ltol remained on the bridge and his XO was in his quarter’s down on deck two, not too far away from the Captain’s own quarter’s, C’Roren was quietly tapping away on a padd on his desk, whilst in a call with his wife back on Cait

C’Roren rubs his eyes sorely as he looks to the console which had the image of his wife on it “I know dear… but my duties mean I am here until the Captain is able to spare me… trust me… I miss you and the cubs… but your welcome to come visit…”

P’Tiarr the Redish/brown furred female dressed in a Caitian Defense force uniform grunted softly and folded her arms “You haven’t been home since taking that post… if your Captain is as love stuck as you says he is… surely he can spare you long enough to come home for a few days… you have just survived a war… even on leave you did not come and see us”

C’Roren sighs and goes to talk however the door chime to his room rang and he looks to her “P’Tiarr… I promise I will call you straight back… I know things are strained right now… but we can make this work…”

P’Tiarr grunts and doesn’t bother replying she simply disconnects the call, causing C’Roren to sigh softly and lean back in his chair as he calls out “Come on in… this better be important…”

Jack the Human chief of security slowly walks in, dressed in a T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms and looks to C’Roren “Sorry… Sir… I am not interrupting am I?.. I just… was wondering if I could talk to you…”

C’Roren rubs his chin gently and looks to Jack as he sighs and gestures to the chair he had opposite his sofa “Take a seat Jack… my wife isn’t gonna get any less annoyed until I go home… but you ain’t here to listen to my problems… tell me what is going on” C’Roren said as he moved to sit on the sofa opposite the chair in his room

Jack nods slowly and moved to sit in the chair opposite C’Roren, lacking his visor for the moment as he frowns “Sorry Commander… wish I could help… but well… did… you see the Captain… holding flowers and heading towards the transporter padd?” he said nervously as he sighed softly

C’Roren shakes his head and grunts softly “No… I did not Jack… and officially… neither did you… let the Captain go on his way… I have my own marriage problems to sort… don’t need to deal with anything he has going right now… but I get the feeling you came here… less formal… for a talk about something else… maybe wanting more story time about our Captain?”

Jack nods slowly and sighs as he rubs his arm sorely “Alright sir… I understand… and yeah… I am eager to hear more about H’Ltol and Sonva… and how he became who he is today… guess I just want to know more about the man that commands me into battle”

C’Roren grunted softly and stretches a little as he sighs “I could sit here, listing all the dates… sparing matches… and missions… but figured I would save us both some time and skip to the trip home… one that for H’Ltol… was special… but it all started… in the U.S.S. Gamma’s conference room… just after H’Ltol and I made full Lt”

******

It was early evening for the crew, of the U.S.S. Gamma, most where on night time duties, off-duty or sleeping, however C’Roren was tapping on a padd sat at the conference table, as H’Ltol and Sonva where stood near a wall console, discussing it’s contents as well as future trips

Sonva nods slowly and rubs her chin gently and grunted as she points to an area on the console screen “Yes… but if we take the shuttle direct to Cait… we will save days off our trip… and have more time at your home…”

H’Ltol nods slowly and purrs gently as he motions to another area of the console and smiles “Yes… but if we travel this way… we may take time away from Cait… but there is a chance to meet up with your parents… two for one…”

C’Roren sits listening to the pair as he purrs softly and he then looks to H’Ltol and grins gently “H’Ltol… you met her parents last month… no getting around this one… you need her to meet yours… plus… your dad is on Cait on leave… you told me that yourself”

Sonva smiles and gestures to C’Roren and chuckles softly “See… the lab boy agrees with me… time to stop putting it off… plus if both your parents are off and at home… then two for one, the Captain approved our leave… we are packed… come on… lets go…”

H’Ltol nods slowly and chuckles as he relents and agrees to Sonva’s plan on action, soon the pair with C’Roren’s help had the type-11 shuttlecraft loaded and ready for the trip, with C’Roren saying goodbye to the pair as they departed with H’Ltol at the controls, the shuttle was soon clear of the Gamma and heading at High warp towards Cait, even at the maximum speed of the shuttle, it would take hours before the pair reached Cait, however once at the planet H’Ltol piloted the shuttle down, and got clearance to land on the landing padd just outside his family home in the mountainous region of Cait

H’Ltol after powered down the shuttle, picks up the pairs bags and smiles warmly as the shuttle door slowly hissed open to reveal the snow covered mountain area they had landed near, even the walkway from the landing pad to the house was covered in fresh snow “Well… here we are… house Sh’ow… feel free to head in ahead of me… I will be right behind…”

Sonva nodded slowly and steps out onto the walk way and then started to walk towards the house, with the snow crunching under her boots, like H’Ltol she wasn’t really dressed for the cold weather, given her own tolerance for it “Alright H’Ltol… don’t take too long…” she said as she soon reached the house, and stepped inside it through the front door “Hello? Anyone home?” she called out to see if anyone was here, but she took note of how the temperature in the house was much warmer than inside, and more like a human home in heating

Hearing the Andorian calling out, a tall Grey furred Caitian with his own share of face scars came around the corner wiping his fur covered hands on the apron he was wearing “Well hello there… you must be Sonva… I see my son’s flying didn’t get you lost on the way” he chuckles softly as he offers the Andorian his left hand to shake

Sonva looks up slightly at the taller Caitian and smiles warmly “Hello H’Morri Sir… I can see where H’Ltol gets his height from… it is nice to meet you in person sir” she said shaking his hand gently as she looks around the house gently

H’Morri smiles warmly at the Andorian and then purrs gently “Well… feel free to make yourself at home… and please excuse the heating… Rria has her partner over… and you know how humans are around cold… so we keep the place nice and warm for her… I am just helping my mother with some baking… so will join you in the living room soon…” he points down the hallway towards the rear of the house “Just through there… I will point H’Ltol that way when he comes in”

Sonva nods slowly and started to walk door the hall way, the heat not really bothering her as she stretches a little and moved to sit on the sofa that was in the center of the living room, opposite a large natural log burning fire “Cozy… I… can see why H’Ltol likes it here…” she said out loud, thinking she was alone in the room

A black furred older female caitian, in a Starfleet Academy teacher’s uniform soon stepped from around the chimney that was used to direct the smoke from the fire away from the room, she then looked up and down Sonva as she moved to sit in a chair to the left of the fireplace and she grunted softly “So… you are the person my son brings home… Sonva… I take it?”

H’Ltol enters the living room just before Sonva can say anything and smiles politely at the older female and purrs gently “Hi… Mam… I see you met Sonva… it is nice… to see you again…” he then looks to Sonva and mouths the words, I am so sorry

Sonva nods at H’Ltol and smiles warmly then looks back at R’Nulish and leans back against the sofa she was sitting on “Nice to see you Mrs. Sh’ow… in person I mean…” she said trying to act some what calmer

R’Nulish stands up and walks over slowly growling lowly as she did so, however before she can speak H’Morri enters the room and looks to H’Ltol gesturing for his son to follow him, and purrs gently “Alright Ladies… just going to steal H’Ltol away for a moment… you two… carry on…”

H’Ltol looks to Sonva and then to his dad, his protective instinct telling him to stay put, but he listened to his father and followed him into the kitchen sighing “Dad… why drag me away? I could have stopped Mam kicking off at her” he said as the sounds of an argument had already started in the living room between Sonva and R’Nulish but the words of which where too muffled for H’Morri and H’Ltol to hear

H’Morri looks to H’Ltol and purrs gently as he offers a son a freshly baked cookie “Son… you know your mother… she is very traditional… and you stepping in, would be seen as a sign of weakness towards Sonva… as much as our hearts tell us to protect… this is a matter between them… if your mother is to come to respect her… leaving Sonva to stand up for herself is best… I take it she knows…?”

H’Ltol sighs and nods slowly as he takes the cookie and nibbles on it “Yeah… she knows enough… it still don’t feel right…” his shoulders slumping a little

H’Morri smiles at his son and then takes from the counter a backpack and hands it to his son “Go on… head to our secret spot… I will send her up once she is done tearing into your mother… hopefully without needing to hide the body” he chuckles softly “Just be careful on the climb up there”

H’Ltol nods slowly and chuckles as he takes the bag from his dad, and leaves the house slowly climbing up the mountain near the house, taking his time to ensure that he reached, near the top of the mountain, where there was a small, empty perch, that seemed to have been carved from the mountain and looked almost like it was set up for a sniper, H’Ltol remained sat near the edge for a few hours, waiting for Sonva, as he breaths in and out, watching his breath as he saw it thanks to the colder temperature, hours would pass with him sat near the edge over looking the valley below him, before he heard the crunch of snow under boots behind him

Sonva slowly walked up behind H’Ltol before moving to sit next to him and she smiles warmly looking to him “Either you smelled it was me… or your losing your touch… letting an unknown person walk up to you like that”

H’Ltol looks to her smiling warmly and puts his left arm around her waist and then leans in to kiss her cheek softly “If you wanted me dead… I wouldn’t have heard you approaching… and you wouldn’t have needed to get close… so… how did it go?”

Sonva leans on the Caitian a little, resting her head on his shoulder once he had kissed her cheek and she sighs softly looking out over the valley with him “She hates me… says I am not good enough for you… that I am holding you back… and will only slow you down… and you would be better off with a Caitian women… who could help carry on the bloodline with healthy cubs but your Dad… seems to think I have made a good impression”

H’Ltol nods slowly as he moved to rest his head against hers gently “Traditionally… the incoming member of the family… has been grilled by the family member that would best fit… in this case… the mother… but I get what you mean… it is hard to tell if she is being stuck up… or just putting on a front…” he then moved his right hand to gently rub her cheek softly “But… I don’t really care what she thinks… I brought you to Cait… to show you how important you are to me… showing you my home… is a big thing for me… Caitian’s are very territorial”

Sonva nods slowly and gives another sigh, but this one was more content, enjoying the view and company of her Caitian companion “Yeah… I know… doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed at your mother… for how she spoke to me… or how she spoke about you… though… how long before we head back down?”

H’Ltol gives a small shrug and purrs softly as he gestures to the bag he brought with him “Not really sure… my Dad and I used to come up here a lot… so we got used to bringing what we needed for a few days at least… field rations and the like… so really we can stay up here as long as we want… if you can handle the cold…” He gives a soft grin as he rubs Sonva’s hip gently

Sonva chuckles and leans off H’Ltol for a moment and gestures to herself “Hello? I am an Andorian… and trust me… this isn’t cold… my home world is cold…” she then stops chuckling and looks to H’Ltol, carefully running the fingers of her left hand through the exposed fur on his right forearm “Though… if I did struggle with it… I suppose I would need to rely on a certain Caitian’s fur for warmth” she said sticking her tongue out and then chuckling again

H’Ltol smirks for a moment and chuckles gently “Well… I am known for my thick fur… and water bottle like properties…” he then throws a snow ball at her gently as he sticks her tongue out “Come on… lets move away from the edge… and get comfy… the night sky from here is amazing…” He said as he slowly stood up and started to walk away from the edge, offering her his left hand as he smiles

H’Ltol and Sonva would remain up the mountain for the remainder of the day, camping out to watch the night Sky over Cait, and only heading back down on the morning, to find that the Sh’ow family house was empty, with a note pinned to the fridge that said ‘Have fun kids, enjoy the house to yourself, signed Dad’, it would then be another week before the pair returned to the Gamma, however back to the Defender and the present day, the ship had already jumped to warp heading towards it’s next patrol route, with C’Roren and Jack still in C’Roren’s quarters

C’Roren then leans back against the sofa and sighs, sipping a cup of coffee he had gotten himself whilst telling the story “H’Ltol left out a lot of the more… explicit details of their trip… but it is safe to assume they had plenty of fun whilst they where away… and despite H’Ltol’s mother being a total…” A loud beep was heard from the Defender’s computer as it struggles to translate what C’Roren had said “Damn it… will go with pain in the ass… the pair did return happier…”

Jack sits there, sipping his soda and he then rubs his eyes “So… the Captain… heads off to Cait with her… shows her his home… comes back… and then what?”

C’Roren purrs gently and stretches a little in his chair as he then leans forward and picks up a chocolate biscuit from the coffee table in-between the pair and he starts to eat the biscuit “Despite being on the Gamma for another six years together… and both getting promoted… H’Ltol to Lieutenant Commander and Sonva to full commander… they never revisited Cait… at least together… H’Ltol went home a few more times… before he was forced to pick between career and family… and we both know how that turned out”

Jack leans back and grunts softly as he stretches “Yeah… XO of the Defender… Commander pips… then Sun-dance… then Patrols… then Borg attack… then Captain and 38th transfer” He reaches down and picks up a biscuit and started to eat one as well

C’Roren nods slowly and then purrs softly “Then… the War… then Risa… then Sejea… and Loto” C’Roren grunted softly as he sips his coffee “Just what we needed another pet on board…”

Jack looks to C’Roren and sits up a little more and then clears his throat “Did… the Captain and Sonva… talk about the Captain leaving… or was it something the Captain decided on his own?”

C’Roren rubs his chin and purrs softly as he looks to Jack “I… recall being there for what… would be one of their last in person conversations… it was interesting to say the least”

******

It was early morning in early 2420 with H’Ltol in his and Sonva’s shared room on the U.S.S. Gamma, reading from the console in the room, now having use of both his eyes, though the scar was still not as faded as it would become in later years, the Caitian seemed to be reading a file multiple times as if not believing it, with C’Roren laid on the sofa in the room, tapping away on his padd, with Sonva away on her security rounds

C’Roren glances over his friend as he grunted softly and sits up in his T-shirt and trousers stretching a little “The wording isn’t going to change… an XO spot and a promotion H’Ltol… this is big… real big… only one step away from your own big chair…”

H’Ltol rubs his eyes sorely and sighs as he rubs his chin a little after “Yeah… but it means leaving the Gamma C’Roren… leaving all my friends… Sonva… and you… though that last one is a plus” he said chuckling softly, as he turns off the music that was playing quietly in the room

C’Roren shrugs gently and purrs softly as he smirks at H’Ltol “With you gone one less officer complaining about the science labs.” he then pauses for a moment and sighs softly “As for Sonva… have you talked to her yet? I mean… you did have that plan… right… mountains of Andoria… the gift?”

H’Ltol leans back and rubs his eyes as he sighs softly “You… mean that little box and flight plan, I have been hiding from her… yeah… hiding from a security officer ain’t easy… and no… I haven’t spoke to her about this promotion offer… it only really just came in” He frowns softly as he glances towards his dresser through the bedroom door

Sonva walks into the room after her security patrol and stretches a little, looking at the pair of cats who seemed to freeze when she walks in “So… deer in headlights look is cute… but not very helpful… you two alright?” she then looks to H’Ltol and smiles warmly “You good over there fuzzy butt?”

H’Ltol looks over at Sonva and smiles warmly as he snaps out of his frozen look as he gestures for her to to take a seat “Hey… Sonva… take a seat … got something I need to talk about with you…” he said as he stood up from the desk and started to walk around it slowly

C’Roren shakes his head and sits up fully on the sofa slowly and stretches gently “I… will just hang around… in-case someone needs picking up once this is done…” he chuckles softly

Sonva moved to sit one of the two chairs opposite the sofa in their quarters, and looks around a little “Is… everything alright H’Ltol?” *she seemed to be worried that H’Ltol was addressing her by her name off-duty, given how long they had been together

H’Ltol moved to come over to her and purrs gently as he stretches a little “Yeah… it… is just… I err… got offered… a promotion… to Commander… and an XO spot…” he smiles weakly as he mews softly and looks to Sonva

Sonva hearing this jumps up and almost tackles H’Ltol as she hugs him tightly and then kisses him gently “That is amazing Honey… I hope you…” she then notices a somewhat sad look in H’Ltol’s eyes and pauses for a moment “There… is a catch isn’t there?” *her smile turns to a frown when she say that look but only for a moment

H’Ltol nods slowly and puts his arms around her waist gently and sighs softly as he purrs gently “Yeah… it requires me to transfer to the U.S.S. Defender… to take up the first officer post there…” he frowns gently and was clearly holding back tears

C’Roren remains quiet simply there to be moral support for the pair he has come to see as friends, as much as he wanted to jump in and say something, he just needed to stay quiet and be there for them

Sonva looks to H’Ltol and frowns softly and sighs “So… us… or your career… is basically the choice… as there isn’t much possibility of them having a security spot open too” she said as she avoided H’Ltol gaze for the moment

H’Ltol looks to her and mews gently and softly as he whimpers a little and kisses Sonva softly on the lips “I… don’t know what to do… on one hand… it is a step closer to being a Captain… on the other hand… it means leaving all my friends and you… behind…” he rested his head gently against her head as he looked for comfort in her company

Sonva steps back from H’Ltol and smiles warmly taking his hands into hers and she does her best to avoid looking sad, and to avoid making it look like she was remembering what H’Ltol’s mother had said all them years ago about holding H’Ltol back “H’Ltol… you should accept the post… you want to be a Captain… that is what you have wanted since you came here… plus there is leaves… and always chances our ships will be deployed together… the Galaxy… ain’t as big as it used to be”

H’Ltol and Sonva would spend hours discussing this change, including what it could mean for them and how they could make it work, however it was a conversation that would take days to fully have, With the scene now back on the Defender in the present the outcome was clear, with C’Roren getting himself another cup of coffee before he moved to sit back near Jack and sighed softly

C’Roren sips his coffee and rubs his eyes softly “I… remember the day H’Ltol left for the Defender… Sonva… in-front of him was so proud and happy for him… but once he was gone and that shuttle left… she cried… as did H’Ltol on the shuttle… from what I was told… though they never showed each other how much it hurt to pull themselves apart… which… might have helped matters”

Jack nods slowly and frowns gently as he thumbs at his empty glass and sighs "So… they decided career over… relationship? "

C’Roren nods slowly and looks over at his desk, at a picture of the three of them back on the Gamma when they all got promoted, as he frowns gently “Even… though he was days away from proposing… they… did try to make it work… but H’Ltol was so busy with his new role… she saw him less and less… even via comms… then… she sent one last message to try and get his attention”

Jack nods slowly and frowns as he sniffles a little and looks down “I… should… leave… Commander… I… have to rest… before… my next shift…” Jack suddenly stands up and runs from the room, breathing deeply once he was down the hallway, almost as if he was running from something, a memory perhaps? as he stopped he moved to lean on the wall in the hallway and slides down it closing his eyes “Oh… god… that… is why…”

C’Roren blinks as he watches the young officer run from his room and he sips his coffee “No… more soda during story time for Jack… but… it seems this story is nearing it’s end…” he said as he walked over to his desk and puts his empty coffee cup down, and picking up the photo frame which housed the picture of the three in it and he sighs “What… happened to you Sonva?.. what… happened to H’Ltol to upset him so much?” he put the photo back down on his desk and returned to sitting behind it, to resume his call with his wife from earlier

Jack after composing himself, and after some other officers helped him up, he sighs and rubs his eyes softly “Thank you.” he said to the officers as he slowly pushed off the wall and looks between the two ensign security officers that helped him

The male trill officer that had helped Jack up spoke to Jack with a smile “No problem sir… got to stick together right… Happy Shippy, Happy Kitty and all that…” The ensign chuckling after he spoke clearly trying to lighten the mood of Jack

Jack grunted and looks to the ensign as he stood up straight “Ensign… I maybe out of uniform but I am gonna tell you now” he had a stern look on his face and seemed to go red in the face, causing the ensign to back up “If I hear anyone say that… phrase again… I will have them cleaning the gym showers with their tooth brushes… he is our Damn Captain… we should show him some damn respect… even now!” he almost shouted at the poor ensign, some crew walking through the hall way stopped and looked at this “He has been through hell for his crew… and this is how we treat him?!.. it ain’t right! So am I clear ensign?!”

The young ensign nods fast and gulps as he quickly walks away, frowning a little as he walked away, the other ensign he was with running after him, as the other officers quickly return to their duties, their want to not be the target of Jack’s next outburst over taking their concern for their fellow officer

Jack adjusts his top before he started to walk back to his room, the angry still clear on his face as he said low “If they knew… what happened… they would show him some damn respect… and understand… though I… should let C’Roren know…”

The Chief science officer a Vulcan female called T’ran watched the exchange from a distance and sighs softly as she started to head back to the main science lab on-board “Seems Lieutenant… is also struggling with what happened… must have already been a year…” she said in a rather monotone voice, to another science officer she was walking with

Jack would return to his room, to prepare for his coming shift however unlike before where he was emotional and loud, he was more professional and blended in with other crew as he attempted to just go about his duties, even though the Defender was back to more peaceful duties, security still needed to be tight and a job still needed to be done, even as the Ship powered along her patrol route, with the answer to the question of What Ever Happened to Our Happy Kitty, close to being fully revealed even if H’Ltol didn’t know his crew where talking about him.

To be Concluded…?

References

---

• Caitian Fan Information, U.S.S. Theurgy

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC

What Ever Happened to Our Happy Kitty?

Part Three, The pain passes, but the beauty remains

The U.S.S. Defender at Warp with the U.S.S. Ecstasea

The Defender was currently on a patrol mission with the U.S.S. Ecstasea again, much to the joy of the crews, who had started to mix off duty when possible, though tonight the Defender was holding a higher warp cruise where possible, both ships holding warp nine for the moment, this would be taking place during Delta shift for both ships, with the patrol expected to be a peaceful one, H’Ltol was sound asleep in his quarters, with Loto curled up in the pet bed that H’Ltol had gotten for him, and that was left in H’Ltol’s room so Loto had a permanent place to stay in the room if needed, meanwhile unable to sleep C’Roren was in the holodeck, sat in a replica of a bar, back on Cait that would be empty apart from C’Roren, he sighed as he sips a glass of milk, he had poured himself and re-reads the padd he had in his left hand, just as the door to the holodeck opens

Jack steps through the door, in his excursion uniform, having a type-2 phaser pistol on his belt and he adjusts his uniform slightly, walking into the program and looking at C’Roren “Having trouble sleeping commander?” he asks as he notices the drink the commander had

C’Roren grunts softly and looks to Jack for a moment then back at the pad in his hand as he puts it down on the bar and gestures to the bar standing to his left “No Jack… I can’t… I am trying to draft a letter to the Captain requesting leave to return home… for my daughter’s birthday… please feel free to join me… and not to worry… nothing alcoholic for me during this”

Jack moved to be next to C’Roren and tilted his head for a moment “Caitian bars serve milk?” he asked as he leaped over the bar, getting a soda from the fridge, and opening the bottle before sipping from it

C’Roren chuckles softly and stretches gently as he looks to Jack “It is the Holodeck Jack… it serves what I want” he then sips his drink and looks to the Human officer “Though… Jack… I get the feeling you have walked in, to talk about something… maybe tell me why you ran from my room the other night… like a penguin with it’s ass on fire”

Jack rubs the back of his head and sighs softly “Yeah… sorry about that commander… bad memories… of the Borg attack…”

C’Roren nods slowly and turns his padd off for the moment as he looks to Jack and purrs softly “H’Ltol didn’t tell me much about that… maybe you wouldn’t mind filling in some of the blanks? from the way you ran from the room… it must have been very bad…”

Jack sighs and leans on the bar before sipping his drink gently, as he then looks to C’Roren “Your stories about Sonva… helped me fill in some blanks… so only fair I return the favor Commander…it was about a year ago…”

******

The Defender was currently on a patrol mission alone, the crew were all going about their duties, with the Captain a female Trill officer named Lusse Tirrim was on the bridge sitting in the Captain’s chair as she got status updates from around the ship, meanwhile, H’Ltol was on the holodeck, in a program he had been using, which stimulated an in-door firing range back on earth, H’Ltol was dressed in a replica of British army Combat Dress issued in the early 2000s, he was with Jack on the holodeck, and seemed to be drilling Jack in the use of old earth ballistic weapons

Jack grunts as dressed in his away uniform he is laid on his front, looking through the scope of the holographic recreation of an L115A3 Long range ‘sniper’ rifle, with a suppressor attached, clearly to help with managing noise inside the holodeck, the Human fires, and hits the target at the far end of the range but was still a few centimeters away from hitting the center “Commander. I don’t see a practical use for these drills… I will never need to use a weapon like this… they are outdated… and very dangerous” he then applied the safety on the rifle before he carefully stood up, but left the rifle on its side pointing down the range

H’Ltol moved to lie where Jack had just been laid, his tail swaying gently as he picked the rifle up, and quickly checked over it, before cycling the bolt to feed another round into the weapon, he then adjusted the sights slightly, and removed the safety, before he aims down range “Because Jack… no matter how much use a phaser has… it can still be disabled… and last time I checked… a damping field can’t stop a bullet… it is also harder for internal sensors to detect gunshots… as they ain’t programmed for it by default… it would give you a few seconds advantage before being discovered…” he then takes a deep breath and fires, before he cycles the bolt of the rifle expertly and fires again, both bullets hitting the center of the target before he puts the safety on the weapon then carefully stands up, moving to place the rifle on the table near the pair

Jack folds his arms and grunts softly, looking at H’Ltol as he stretches gently “Chances of needing a weapon like that are still” before Jack could finish his sentence the ship is rocked by weapon fire, and Jack blinks as he steadies himself from the rocking of the ship

H’Ltol grunted as he took his combadge from his pocket and tapped it “H’Ltol to bridge… status report… Captain… is everything alright?” he said into his combadge as he purred gently

The Captain’s voice Lusse from the bridge could be heard from H’Ltol’s combadge “Commander… we have Borg that has just dropped from trans warp… They caught us off guard and a few managed to beam over before we could raise shields… I need you and Lieutenant Nightingale to head down to Main Engineering to help protect it from, what Borg have beamed over”

Jack was already walking towards the archway of the holodeck, as he grunted softly and waited for H’Ltol to join him near the archway

H’Ltol nods slowly and into his combadge “Will do Captain… if we get any more company… let me know…” he said as he picked up the physical replica he had of a British Army SA80A3, and checked over the weapon quickly, flicking the safety off as followed Jack to the archway "I will take point Jack… " H’Ltol used the control panel on the archway to open the doors to exit the holodeck, as well as shut the program down, and he stepped out and looked down each end of the hallway to check it before he faced the direction of the turbo-lift

Jack nodded as he took out his Type-2 phaser from its belt hostler and followed H’Ltol from the holodeck, proceeding to assume a position just behind the Caitian, as he kept his type-2 ready in case they ran into the Borg

The Defender was currently under attack by two Borg spheres, that were hammering the ship’s shields, with shields on the Defender dropping fast, and security teams on the ship already working hard to contain the Borg that had beamed on before the shields were first raised, H’Ltol and Jack worked their way through the hallways of the Defender, having to take the Jefferies tubes due to the turbolifts having been knocked off-line, however, deck nine where the holodeck is located was luckily clear of the borg, with the pair running into their first two borg drones on Deck ten

H’Ltol rounds the hallway corner and spots the two borg, that had cornered two security ensigns who had been caught unaware, quickly the Caitian raised his replica rifle, and pulled the trigger twice, sending a three-round burst at each borg drone, the bullets finding their mark and causing the drones to fall to the floor “Two down… Jack… check on the officers… I will cover” he said as he moved to stand just past the two borg he had shot

Jack follows H’Ltol and checks on the two ensigns, who after making sure the pair where unharmed quickly fall in, and follow Jack to form up with H’Ltol “Ready when you are commander”

H’Ltol nodded slowly and slowly moved further down the hallway, it wasn’t till they reached the doorway to upper engineering that they found more Borg drones, this time one had an engineer in its grip and was busy assimilating the officer, H’Ltol without hesitating fired his weapon again, in three round bursts, expertly taking down the three Borg drones that where in front of them “Jack… check that officer… ensigns… cover us… I am going to check the drones to see if they are Starfleet…”

Jack nodded and moved to check on the engineer that the drone had been trying to assimilate, spotted that it wasn’t too late he quickly heavily stunned the engineer and looked to H’Ltol “If we get them to sickbay… we might be able to least save them… kind of…”

H’Ltol nodded slowly, as he flicked the safety on his rifle and started to check over the drones he had shot, starting with the one near Jack before moving to the two that were trying to force the door to engineering, as H’Ltol checked the last drone he would freeze and just stare at the drone

The two security officers remained looking back down the hallway they had come from armed with Type-3 rifles they stood guard for the moment, the pair not noticing the fact the XO had frozen

Jack looked over at H’Ltol and stood up slowly turning to face towards the Caitian “Commander… you good over there?” he said tilting his head a little as he readied his type-2 phaser

H’Ltol suddenly let out a loud, almost primal, pained scream as he let his rifle drop from his shoulder, and with his claws extending he ran down the hallway towards the Jefferies tubes, growling loudly as he seemed to be in a deep, rage

Jack blinks as do the two security ensigns “Commander?!..” he then grunts and looks to the two security ensigns “you two… check the door… tag that drone the Commander was checking… then stand guard…” he then ran off after H’Ltol panting a little as he grunted

The two ensigns nod and start to do as Jack had instructed, with them first tagging the drone that H’Ltol had stared at and seemed to get angry over, before moving to check the door and then assume a defensive position

As Jack ran after H’Ltol following the growls, snarls, and ripped-apart Borg bodies, he would take note of the violent way that H’Ltol had ripped the drones apart and the force it must have required, however, no matter how fast Jack ran he seemed to be just behind H’Ltol, until he noticed the growling had stopped, and Jack caught up to H’Ltol, only to find the Caitian on his knees crying surrounded by even more Borg drone bodies

H’Ltol looked down at the floor his clothing stained with the outcome of his rage, as he remained on his knees crying, not even noticing Jack walking up to him

Jack slowly approaches H’Ltol, with his phaser in his left hand set to heavy stun just in case “Commander?.. you all good?.. all calm now? we need… to get you to sickbay…” he said in a soft and gentle tone

H’Ltol slowly stood up and bares his teeth, revealing the sharp fangs he had, with his claws also still extended he slowly took a step towards Jack growling, clearly still deep in his rage state

Jack raised his phaser and quickly shot the Caitian, only lowering his phaser once the Caitian went limp and fell to the floor with a thud, he then tapped his combadge “Nightingale to Sickbay… bringing the XO to you… need someone to check on him”

Jack then carefully picked up H’Ltol putting him over his shoulders and carrying the Caitian through the ship and into the main sickbay of the ship, where Jack as he placed H’Ltol on a bio-bed, would find sickbay filled with injured or dying officers, the Medical staff doing their best but where struggling to keep up, the Chief Medical officer comes over and started to check the Caitian over with a scan of her Tricorder

The older Human female had blood on her uniform from the injured and seemed to be very short on time right now, she looked to Jack after finishing her scan "Nothing wrong with him… at least physically… I will bring him around… you sort him out… I need him on his feet and the bridge… the Captain is hurt and being brought down here… " she said before walking off to another injured officer, after injecting H’Ltol with a hypo to bring the Caitian around, the older doctor having no time for emotional outbursts, her tone was short, and could easily sound uncaring, despite her not wanting it to

H’Ltol slowly woke up, and sat up slowly on the bed, seemingly in a daze as he looked down at the floor, in a somewhat hushed tone he simply said “Sonva…” he repeated this name a few times as he didn’t seem to even know where he was

Jack rubs his eyes sorely as he looks at H’Ltol and sighs, grunting “Sorry… Commander… no time for the gentle approach” the Human said before he roughly slapped H’Ltol across the face, it being loud enough to bring the staff in sickbay to pause for a moment to glance over at the scene before carrying on with their work

H’Ltol sorely rubs his cheek as he seems to snap back to reality for a moment and looks to Jack mewing softly as he whimpers “Jack?.. what is going on… what happened?” he said as he seemingly didn’t remember the events of the past few minutes

Jack looks to H’Ltol and sighs softly “Commander… look… I can’t explain as I don’t know… but the Captain is injured… we need you on the bridge… I am sorry… but this is no time to get emotional… we need you, sir…” The Human spoke in a somewhat worried and emotional tone

H’Ltol slowly slides off the bio-bed, and looks around, spotting the injured trill Captain as she is brought in with blood trickling down her face, seeing this seemed to cause a switch to flip inside him, and his pained and confused expression faded into a professional and somewhat cold one, as he then nodded and walked from sickbay and started to head towards the bridge

Jack followed H’Ltol to act as a security escort and protection as they made their way to the bridge for H’Ltol to assume command of the Defender, the Human still unsure about what caused the Caitian’s rage outburst. or even if it would happen again

Once they got to the bridge, H’Ltol quickly and professionally assumed command, to help hold the ship and crew together, just long enough for two Federation ships, the U.S.S Armada and the U.S.S. Echo to arrive as backup for the heavily damaged sovereign class, the two friendly ships would help with taking down the two spheres, before they started to tow the Defender away from the scene, and had started to send over repair and security teams to help the crew, it would be hours at this slow speed with H’Ltol still in command, the Caitian looking out the viewscreen on the bridge as he sighed and rubs his eyes softly, seeming very tired and in need of rest but he refused to stand down at the moment

Captain Lusse slowly came onto the bridge, as she had luckily recovered to the point where she could at least come and see H’Ltol, she approached her XO and put a hand on his shoulder as she sighed softly “Commander… you there?”

H’Ltol turned to look at Lusse and nodded slowly, remaining with a cold, expressionless look on his face as he purred gently “I… am fine Captain… you should rest… I can oversee things until you are fully recovered…”

Lusse looks up at her Caitian first officer and sighs softly, moving to lead him into the heavily damaged ready room and sitting at her desk “H’Ltol… I… heard about what happened… the doctor said you’re physically fine… but from Nightingale’s reports… you ripped drones to pieces… seemed to be in a deep rage… what happened down there commander? you’re normally not the type to rip things apart like that…”

H’Ltol remained standing as he looked at Lusse and put his hands behind his back as he tilted his head gently and purred softly “What do you mean Captain? we secured the ship as instructed and ensured the Borg didn’t get into any vital systems…”

Lusse gestures to the seat opposite her and sighs as she leans back in her seat groaning “H’Ltol… you ripped Borg drones to pieces… so… once we get to port… and repairs are underway… you are to disembark …and rest… then you will also be required to complete a psychological evaluation before you will be cleared to return to your duties… clear?”

H’Ltol nodded slowly and saluted the Captain as he purred gently “At least a week’s medical leave then sir?” he asked as he looked to the Lusse and sighed softly

Lusse nodded slowly and rubbed her eyes sorely as she leaned on her desk a little more “Yes… I have arranged for a shuttle to be prepared… and lieutenant Nightingale… will pilot it for you… get some rest H’Ltol… go home… and recover from this… we all need the break…”

H’Ltol nodded slowly as he left the ready room and headed down to his room to start packing up his clothes for the week away, despite his emotionless state, he knew better than to refuse an order from his Captain

The Defender was slowly towed to the nearest Starbase for repairs, where injured crew were transferred off, and the dead were removed and given the proper funeral rights, H’Ltol disembarked as ordered and headed towards the shuttle that was waiting for him in the starbase’s main shuttlebay, with Jack being behind the pilot’s controls, meanwhile in the present day, Jack and C’Roren where still in the holodeck in the recreation of the bar on Cait, with Jack still leaning against the bar

C’Roren looked to Jack and sighed softly as he rubbed his chin gently “So… he saw a drone… stared at it… and flew into a rage… did he say why?” he asks tilting his head to the side

Jack shakes his head gently and rubs his eyes softly as he sips his drink softly “No Commander… it wasn’t until I had a chance to ask the doctor about the drone… that I got any kind of idea… though until you told me about Sonva… it wasn’t clear what caused it… all I knew was it was an Andorian drone… and the only notable detail was she had a heart-shaped locket fused to her skin under the Borg plating”

C’Roren frowns and finishes his milk as he leans on the bar himself and nods slowly “It… was Sonva… the Gamma must have been attacked by the Borg and crew lost…” he rubs his eyes sorely and whimpers “Explains the rage… and the ripping drones to pieces… it is cause… he failed to keep her safe… most likely… blamed himself”

Jack nods slowly and looks to C’Roren as he frowns gently “Yeah… I took him to Cait… Rria met me on the shuttle-pad… I told her what I knew… and then when he came back… he was cleared for duty… but was sterner… and more like a professional solider… that did soften… but he still wasn’t as happy as he has been recently… now I know why…”

C’Roren nods slowly and rubs his chin softly as he purrs softly, and looks to Jack “I… wonder if Sejea knows about this… but then again… how do you explain your last ex… that you nearly married, was shot and killed by your hand… it is kind of a romance killer…”

Jack nods slowly and pours the commander another glass of milk as he sighs gently “Yeah… from what I heard from rumors around the ship… the Captain still had the odd sleepless night due to what happened… He had a habit of going to the mess hall and just staring into space… though not when Sejea was on board… seems she and Loto are helping”

C’Roren nods slowly and purrs gently as he rubs his chin again and sips from the freshly poured glass that Jack had given him and sighs softly as he rubs his chin “Yeah… heard that… and noticed it myself… but happiness has a way of forcing us to face the past… I wonder… if H’Ltol has any bad dreams about what happened?” he asked tilting his head

Jack grunted softly as he finished his drink and looked to C’Roren “No idea Commander… but I know that when I dropped H’Ltol off, Rria told me he would be alright… just needed time… she seemed to know what had happened… once I handed her a box I found on the Captain’s dresser when I helped him pack, and the remains of the necklace the doctor was able to remove, or at least… she knew more than I did… still felt bad for slapping him…”

C’Roren nods slowly and purrs as he looks to Jack for a moment then chuckles gently “Living out every ensign’s dream there Jack… slapping your CO…” he then frowns for a moment and sighs “But… you sadly did the only thing you could… ship burning down around you… Captain on death’s door… you needed the most experienced command officer possible on the bridge… that was H’Ltol… though it explains a lot… until now… I had no idea why… he stopped acting happy… or singing… and focused on combat training… and fighting…”

Jack blinked a few times and almost choked on his drink “Wait… the Captain used to sing?” he said as he stood up from the bar and he chuckled softly “You… just trying to lighten the mood right? no… way the Captain used to sing”

C’Roren smiles warmly, taking an Isolinear chip from his pocket and hands it to Jack purring softly “Play that… It is a holo recording of him singing back on the Gamma… a memory of happier times” he then slowly stood up from the bar he was sitting at and rubbed his chin “I better get going, Jack… Hopefully, H’Ltol’s night is a peaceful one” he said as he waved to the Human and started to walk from the Holodeck slowly

Jack stares at the Isolinear chip in his hand and blinks a few times “Hmmm… a singing Captain… might be a fun watch later…” he then puts the chip into the pocket of his uniform and rubs his chin again for a moment “Wonder… if having Sejea around has been helping him get rid of them sleepless nights…” Jack said as he walked towards the holodeck exit archway, and then he says “Computer… end program” he said as the recreation of the Caitian bar program was shut down, and Jack stepped out of the door to resume his duties

The holodeck was soon silent and powered down until the next person wanted to use it, with Jack returning to his duties, the Crews of the two ships settling into a somewhat peaceful and quiet evening, whilst H’Ltol in his room on the Defender seemed to be getting slightly restless in his bed, despite being in a deeper sleep than normal the Caitian seemed unease with his eyelids twitching as he slept

H’Ltol was sound asleep in his bed, which thanks to Sejea having gotten up early to do some reports in the main living area of H’Ltol’s quarters was empty apart from him, which was a good thing as suddenly the Caitian started to fight in his sleep, lashing out at thin air above him, as if trying to fight off someone in a dream, before suddenly he sat bolt upright and screams loudly and in a deeply pained tone, in a way no one has heard him shout before, the scream being so loud it would echo through the room, the Caitian panting and looking around in a panic as he was startled awake and seemed to be in a cold sweat, his heart racing as he looked around the room

Loto being startled from his sleep by the loud pained shout, jumped up and onto H’Ltol’s bed with him, and started to paw at the Caitian, acting like an emotional support pet, as he looked up at H’Ltol and purred soothingly

H’Ltol breathed deeply and a little rapidly for a few moments, as he seemed to take note of him still being in his room on the Defender, he then looks down at Loto and breathed a sigh of relief, as he reached down and stroked Loto’s head gently as he whimpers softly “Sorry… bud… had… a bad… dream…” he said chirping slightly to Loto as he mews softly, as he reached up and ran his left hand carefully over the left side of his neck, as if checking for something

Loto moved to start pawing at H’Ltol’s chest and chirping back in response, almost as if he understood H’Ltol’s chirping and purring and was trying to reply as well as comfort the Caitian

Hearing the scream coming from the bedroom, and being both startled and panicked given she had never heard H’Ltol scream like that before, Sejea soon rushed into the room and looked to H’Ltol and then to Loto “H’Ltol… everything alright?.. I’ve never heard you yell like that before…”

H’Ltol still breathing a little faster than normal, his heart still beating faster than normal, looked over at the panicked Sejea and nodded slowly as he had tears in his eyes and whimpered softly “Bad… dream… very bad… dream” he said in a somewhat lower tone to normal, almost as if he was struggling to get his words out

Sejea moved to carefully sit on the bed next to H’Ltol and took his left hand into hers, she found that H’Ltol’s hands were both shaking most likely out of fear from the dream “H’Ltol… what’s wrong?.. please talk to me” Noticing the shaking of H’Ltol’s hands, she moved to start carefully looking over H’Ltol for any injuries, her training taking over as she started to carefully check over H’Ltol for any injuries that he might have caused himself whilst he thrashed about in his sleep

H’Ltol looks from Sejea to Loto then back at Sejea and mews softly, as he whimpers once more “I… need… to tell you… something… Sejea… something painful… that I… have been repressing…” he said as he allowed a tear to fall from his eye and wet the fur on his cheek, his movement making it difficult for Sejea to examine him

Despite H’Ltol’s state, he did his best to compose himself, having had this nightmare before he took comfort in Sejea’s and Loto’s company which helped him, ready himself for the conversation that was to come as well as allow himself to start to, deal with and heal from the pain of his past, with H’Ltol remaining in his room for the next few hours, allowing himself the time to have the conversation he needed, as well as to contact his family to help with composing himself, ready for his next shift

The End

References

---

• Character, Kala Sejea and Loto used with permission from player, responses checked with the player to be safe

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC, Epilogue focused on H’Ltol’s leave at home, prior to his evaluation before returning to his duties

What Ever Happened to Our Happy Kitty?

Epilogue: Time Heals, All Wounds Right?

The U.S.S. Defender In Dry Dock over Cait 2422 following battle with Borg

After being towed into an open dry dock day over Cait, the Starfleet and Caitian Defense Force staff poured onto the Defender, to help with cleaning the ship up as well as repairs, with bodies of both Borg and Starfleet officers being removed for proper burial, Engineering teams being hard at work as staff from the Defender that needed to, where allowed off ship to make use of the nearby Starbase over Cait, H’Ltol however boarded one of the few undamaged shuttles with Lt Nightingale behind the pilot’s seat

H’Ltol slowly walks onto the shuttle and puts his duffle bag down on the passenger chair of the shuttle and then moves to sit in the co-pilot’s chair. slumping down into it as he sighed softly and closed his eyes, dressed in a black T-Shirt and tracksuit bottoms, he had a necklace around his neck which he fiddled with using his left hand

Jack who was still in his security uniform looked over at H’Ltol as he closed the shuttle door and started to run through the last of his pre-flight checks “All set Commander?” he asks as he gives a weak smile

H’Ltol nods slowly and sighs as he rubs his eyes softly with his right hand and then purrs softly “Yes Lieutenant… just don’t fly too fast… please”

Jack nodded slowly and after getting clearance he carefully piloted the shuttlecraft from the Defender’s main shuttle bay before he then started to slowly fly towards the planet “Understood Commander… will take us at most an hour to reach the landing pad outside your family home” Jack said as he avoided looking over at H’Ltol as he sighs softly and frowns gently

H’Ltol looks over at Jack as he opens his eyes and nods slowly “Thank you…” he seemed to pause for a moment and then sat up slowly “I… don’t blame you Jack… for slapping me… you did… what you had to… I am… sorry for what you… had to see of me…”

Jack nodded slowly as he remained quiet for a few moments as he carefully piloted the shuttle around an incoming flight of worker-bees and shuttles and then he glanced over at H’Ltol “It… is alright Commander… I figured… you where in pain… from something… I know… better than to ask…” he said as he went back to focusing his gaze forward and out the window of the shuttle

H’Ltol sighs as he leans back in his chair again and nods slowly as he purrs gently and closes his eyes softly “If… you don’t make Lt… Commander from this… I don’t know what will get you promoted” he tried making a joke to lighten the mood

Jack didn’t respond to the joke still feeling tense and uneasy around H’Ltol after what he saw and what he had done, though he carefully piloted the shuttle down to the landing pad outside the Sh’ow household, where H’Ltol’s sister Rria was waiting, despite the falling snow she was still dressed lightly for the weather in what could be easily called a summer dress that was purple, she only started to walk towards the shuttle once it had landed and the door started to open

H’Ltol picked up his duffle bag and stepped from the shuttle, he then gave a small nod to Rria before he walked past her and into the house as he sighed softly

Jack carefully got out of the shuttle and breathed out, in surprise from the cold, and stepped towards Rria “Hello Doctor… won’t stop long… it is bloody cold…”

Rria waves her left hand dismissively and looks at Jack “Jack… you can drop the doctor… you brought him home… and looked after him despite what you saw… Rria will be fine… but… you mentioned you had something for me?” she asks as she holds her left hand for Jack purring gently

Jack sighs softly and takes from his left pocket a small black box, as well as a small medical container that had the remains of a heart necklace, matching the one H’Ltol had on and he hands it to Rria “I found that black box on his dresser when I was helping him pack… and that necklace is all we could recover from the drone that made him flip Rria…” he said in a saddened and honest tone as he sighed

Rria frowns as she looks over the necklace in the medical container and then at the small black box and sighs “Alright Jack… thank you… I am sorry for what you saw… I know H’Ltol has been light on details… but he will be fine once he is back…” she gave Jack a small nod “Safe trip back… thanks for bringing him home…”

Jack nodded slowly and then headed back to the shuttle, and glanced back at Rria and then at the House, before he closed the door and after a few minutes took the shuttle up and away from the house leaving the place behind as he returned to the Defender

Rria looked at the contents Jack had given her before she walked into the house and looked around and called out “H’Ltot… where are you?” she asks as in the house living room there was no sign of H’Ltol only the sounds of the TV, which was playing an old Human show called ‘Thunderbirds are Go’, with Sarah a Human that was the same height as H’Ltol and had brown eyes and jet black hair, which was tied back in a pony tail

Sarah looks over at Rria as she says her partner calls out for her brother and sighs softly pointing to the ceiling “He came in… said hello… and walked to his room… I heard the door locking… and his guitar starting to be played… so doubt we won’t see him for a few hours… did Jack say what was wrong?”

Rria moved to sit on the sofa next to Sarah and shows her the parts of the necklace and the box that Jack had given her “No… and yes… Jack didn’t understood what he told me by handing me these things… but well here we are”

Sarah frowns and looks to Rria as she took the box and opened it, revealing the gold ring inside it as she sighs gently “Yeah… Sonva is gone… explains his mood… crap… he already beats himself up enough over him… leaving the Gamma”

Hours passed before Rria decided to check on her brother, given the mood he was in, however, she found H’Ltol’s room quiet and empty, after telling Sarah the Human got dressed in her excursion uniform before leaving and going to find H’Ltol with Rria staying behind in case H’Ltol returns home, Sarah soon found H’Ltol, who had traveled from the snowy mountain area the house was into a nearby forested area, where he was laid on his front in a clearing, using an old Caitian hunting rifle to fire at targets at the end of a mocked up weapons range

H’Ltol fires off five rounds in quick succession, however despite all his attempts, and aiming at the black box at the end of the primitive range, he couldn’t hit his target. He lets the now empty rifle fall to its side as his hands shake and he whimpers a little, not even hearing Sarah approaching him from behind

Sarah slowly moves to approach H’Ltol from behind him and she sighs softly “Permission to enter the armory… Fuzzy?” she asks as she carefully moves to sit on the snow-covered floor near H’Ltol after spotting the weapon was empty for the moment

H’Ltol nods slowly as he pushes his face into the snow on the floor and seems to scream which was muffled before he then slowly returns to his laid position “Sure… Sarah… free planet…”

Sarah looks down the range and whistles softly as she leans back against a tree just behind her “Five shots… all missed… shaking hands… and small target… you want to talk about it?” she looked at H’Ltol with a mix of care and worry as she sighed gently and rubbed her hands together

H’Ltol shakes his head and grunts softly as he carefully picks the rifle up, as well as an ammo clip from the box next to him he then carefully loads the rifle and cycles the bolt on it, aiming again he flicks the safety off and misses his shot, going wide and impacting a tree at the end of the range “Nope… don’t want to talk about it…”

Sarah carefully looks down the range again and sighs gently as she moves to lay next to H’Ltol and grunts softly “Six misses… so… want to shoot and miss until you feel better?” she asks as she looks back at H’Ltol frowning gently

H’Ltol nodded slowly, cycling the bolt of the rifle he then fired again after taking careful aim at the small box and he growled gently “Yep… that is the plan… till I hit that small box at the end of the range… and deal with my problems that way…”

Sarah nods slowly and looks down the range and narrows her eyes, as she quickly grabs the underside of the rifle barrel and lifts it just as H’Ltol fires sending his bullet flying clean over the box and she grunted “H’Ltol… damn it… she wouldn’t want this… shooting a bullet at the ring… doesn’t fix the problem…”

H’Ltol flicks the safety on the rifle and slowly stands up growling as he looks down at Sarah “I… killed her Sarah… without thinking… without emotion… I acted… in a cold professional way… I… should have tried to save her damn it!” he throws the rifle carelessly to the side, luckily thanks to the fact that H’Ltol hadn’t cycled the next round into the chamber there wasn’t as much danger

Sarah stood up and suddenly moved to hug H’Ltol tightly and sighed softly as she frowned “H’Ltol… she wouldn’t have been the same… you did your duty… you did what you where trained to… it is what she would have wanted… if… you did save her… it wouldn’t have been her…”

H’Ltol whimpers and hugs Sarah in return as he leans on her a little and puts his head on her shoulder softly “I… should have tried… Sarah… I loved her…” he went weak in the knees, forcing both to sit on their knees in the snow as the Caitian started to sob softly

Sarah sighs and rubs H’Ltol’s back gently as she nods slowly “I know big guy… She knew that… it is… why she told you to take the Defender post… she knew you wouldn’t have unless… she told you too…” Sarah then carefully moved the ammo box away from the pair

H’Ltol kept sobbing as he whimpered and mews softly as he rested his head against her shoulder but didn’t say anything as he closed his eyes “I… should have stayed on the Gamma… I could… have protected her… kept… her safe…”

Sarah sighed and rubbed H’Ltol’s back even more and slowly stood up, helping H’Ltol stand up too, before she pulled back from the hug, took a tissue from her left pocket, and started to wipe the tears from H’Ltol’s face “H’Ltol… you can’t… get caught up… in the should of… it isn’t good for you… you need to grieve… heal… and learn to move on… and you ain’t gonna do… that hiding in the woods…”

H’Ltol whimpers and looks to Sarah as he sniffles a little he looks to his sister-in-law with a pained look “Easy… for you to say… it… only happened hours ago… I… can… still see her face… in that drone…” he looks down and frowns softly

Sarah sighed and looked at H’Ltol before she carefully picked up both the rifle and the ammo box, she made sure the safety was on the rifle before she started to walk back towards the house “Come on… your family is home… They want to help… being… alone isn’t helpful… take it… from me… losing people… isn’t something… to go through alone… you need help…”

H’Ltol looked around and slowly started to follow Sarah home, as he whimpered and sniffled “It… helps… me… Sarah…” he said kicking some snow as he walked behind her almost, like a cub that had just been told off

Sarah looks back at H’Ltol and frowns gently as she nods “It feels that way… but it never helps… she and your Dad… wouldn’t have wanted you to suffer alone… now come on… I want to hear that song you where writing… and Grandma is baking some brownies… and oh… might want to change Commander to Captain… would flow better…”

H’Ltol grumbles under his breath as he follows her back to the house “Everyone is a critic” he says as he shoves his hands into his pockets and sighs softly, as he follows Sarah back to the family home

Rria was waiting for the pair at home, and the moment H’Ltol stepped through the door she ran up to her brother and hugged him tightly and mews softly “I… am so sorry… H’Ltol…”

It was clear that H’Ltol and Sarah had talked a little on the walk back home, as H’Ltol had stopped crying, and once his sister had hugged him, H’Ltol returned the hug and looked down at Rria and sighed softly “I… lost her Rria… by my… own hand… instead of protecting… I killed her…”

As Sarah took the Rifle and ammo out to a room at the back of the house to lock it away, P’Torish the elderly Caitian grandmother came into the living room holding a tray of freshly made brownies and then moved to set them down on the coffee table “Grandson… go get your guitar… now is time for happy memories… and song… not to dwell on what might have been… come… sing for us…”

H’Ltol soon did as he was told, returning to the living room just as Sarah did, with Rria and Sarah sitting on the sofa near the freshly lit fire, P’Torish joined the pair, as H’Ltol sat in a chair opposite the sofa and started to sing to the trio, as they all focused on happier times and on talking with H’Ltol about what happened, they all knew recovery would be a slow process with several roadblocks, but they knew together as a family they would be able to pull through from this pain, even if the family changed, grew or lost others, they would all get through it together

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC, however the records of Talent show acts, including H’Ltol’s are recorded ICly

Defender Talent Show

Happy Days are here again!

The U.S.S. Defender at Warp on route back to DS13

After a few days of planning by the senior staff, the crew of the Defender had agreed to shift rotates as well as, signed up to take part in preparation for the talent show that was, arranged for later today, the most crew that was taking part in the show where already preparing for it and helping get set up, however, H’Ltol was in his ready room tapping away on his padd

H’Ltol rubs his eyes softly and sighs, as he goes over the information on his padd and then purrs gently “Alright… outfit sorted… plenty of time to relax… and calm my nervous before the end of the show… hopefully Jack and the two others are ready too”

C’Roren slowly walks into the ready room, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans as he chuckles softly and purrs “Not too late to back out mate… still an hour or so till you close out… no one would blame you…” he said with a slight grin

H’Ltol chuckles softly as he stands up from his desk, looking over his padd once again, and smiles warmly “Crew could use a laugh at least… and well if all goes well it will turn out well” he smiles warmly and purrs again “Come on… I need to get changed… the crew all in place?”

C’Roren nods slowly and starts to walk with H’Ltol from the ready room as he stretches softly “Yep… covers are in place… staff that are not taking part or attending in the holodeck, can watch the live feed we will have…”

H’Ltol headed down to his room to get changed for the talent show, which was being hosted in Holodeck One, which had been programmed to look like a Caitian Bar with a large stage at one side, and seating for an audience near the stage, with walkways in-between the seats, the officers that where watching slowly started to file in, as the officers taking part where backstage talking with C’Roren who was helping direct proceedings, with lightening coming up on the stage once everyone was sat down and in place, the show starting without H’Ltol as he was last to go on

C’Roren walked onto the stage wearing his jeans and T-shirt and holding a microphone in his left hand, which he tapped gently before clearing his throat and then into it “Evening everyone… welcome to the first crew bonding event we are hosting… this will be a talent show… we have a list of acts tonight… including our own Captain performing at the end… so hope you enjoy the show… please bare in mind we will be recording tonight… for other staff to watch… as well as friends and families to get a copy”

Behind C’Roren the first act was getting set up, which was a group of ensigns that were all in tracksuits and had a break dance routine planned, they all got ready behind C’Roren and remained quiet waiting for him to introduce them

C’Roren looks behind him and then into the microphone “So seems our first act is in place… so remember… drinks and food can be got from the bar… please try to hold clapping to the end of each act… and enjoy… now give it up for the lower decker’s… and their break dance routine” C’Roren then heads off backstage to check on other acts, as Music starts on stage and the ensigns start their routine

Jack who was dressed in a black suit, with his jacket undone, and holding his drum sticks in his hands “Hey Commander… is the Captain still going on?” he asks as, the trill ensign who was dressed in a blue suit, with a bass guitar in his hands, and the Betazoid with an electric guitar in her hands, and a red suit on where stood near Jack

C’Roren takes a padd from the wall as he purrs gently and checks over it “No message from him to say he isn’t going on Jack… so for now I would go over what he asked you and make sure your ready… he will be here… don’t worry…”

Jack shrugged and then gestured for the two others behind him to follow him back to a small sitting area backstage, where they each had padds with information H’Ltol had given them and they all started to read it

C’Roren directed act after act onto the stage, ranging from juggling, plate spinning, tricks with pets, and even a few people trying their hands at comedy, meanwhile, H’Ltol finishes getting ready, and to avoid being seen he uses the site to site transporters and appears just near Jack and the other two officers, he does this just as C’Roren steps back onto the stage to introduce the final act of the night, the three Exocomps that had been set up as mobile cameras floating high around the stage and audience seating, avoiding officers who where moving to get drinks and food for themselves and friends, in-between clapping for acts

C’Roren claps as he walks out, as do the people watching, and he purrs gently and then into the microphone “So… how is everyone doing out there?.. we all having a good night so far?”

The audience cheers loudly, clearly, this first night had gone over well with the crew, with the crew around the ship also watching via the feeds from the Exocomps

C’Roren purrs gently and smiles warmly as he looks over the crowd “That is great to hear… now just a few minutes till our final act, just letting them get set up now” he points up at the stage lights, and they darken the area behind C’Roren, hiding Jack, H’Ltol, and the other two officers from sight as they get ready “I would like to invite everyone to take the chance to grab a drink and some snacks…”

As C’Roren speaks, his wife P’Tiarr walks into the holodeck, with Rria H’Ltol’s sister, the pair staying at the back and remaining from sight of the stage for a moment, as officers come over and offer the pair food and drink before two male officers stand up and offer their seats, but they where politely declined

After a few moments C’Roren gets a whisper in his ear from the Betazoid officer to let him know they are ready, C’Roren then speaks “Alright… just been told they are ready… so I would like to introduce our final act… performed by our Captain… H’Ltol… Jack our Chief of Security, Ensign Resso from Tactical… and Commander Dagul from Engineering” he then steps off stage and runs towards the back and chuckles softly as he waits for H’Ltol’s act to start

Rria and P’Tiarr both giggle as they start to look at the stage as they smile at C’Roren and giggle again

After a few moments of silence, musical instruments are heard playing to the Tune of I’m Still Standing, by Elton John, and the lights then come on as the music picks up and H’Ltol starts singing lead, with Jack, Resso, and Dagul all singing backing vocal’s for the Caitian’s surprisingly in tone and soothing voice

As lights came on and the audience heard H’Ltol start singing there were loud cheers from the group watching the show, including C’Roren, Rria, and P’Tiarr, with the two females at the back giggling as they saw the purple suit H’Ltol had on, and the fact he was playing the piano on stage

H’Ltol was seen on stage dancing slightly as he played the Piano as did the other three on stage, as they sang and performed in front of the crew, once the song was done H’Ltol and the three all walked to the front of the stage and took a bow as H’Ltol seems to try encouraging more focus towards the three supporting him rather than himself, even more so once he spotted Rria and P’Tiarr in the back

C’Roren comes back to the stage clapping as did the people watching, as he talks into the microphone "Can we get a round of applause for all the acts that were brave enough to come up here tonight… " he said before he offered the microphone to H’Ltol and low to him “Happy Kitty… Happy Shippy… Captain…” he grinned

H’Ltol narrows his eyes at C’Roren and then takes the Microphone panting a little as he clears his throat for a moment before he talks “Evening everyone… hope you enjoyed tonight… and hope all the acts were at least worth a good laugh… please feel free to let me know any suggestions for other events like this… and we can get them booked in…” he said as he looked to Jack, Resso and Dagul “And… can we get a big hand for the musical talent that performed with me tonight please…” he said clapping as Jack, Resso and Dagul took another bow before they all took a step back

A Human ensign stands out and shouts “Encore… come on Captain… another song!” he shouted having had a few to drink, but this was then joined in by others watching

C’Roren nods to H’Ltol and takes the microphone and then speaks into it “Seems like they want one more from the singing Captain… Go on…” he said stepping off the stage and going back to join Rria and P’Tairr “Seems… he is popular” he said after turning the microphone off as he chuckled

H’Ltol, Jack, Resso and Dagul all shrug and go back to their positions on stage and H’Ltol nods at Jack, clearly the group having another song planned out just-in-case, with the instruments soon starting up again this time to the tune of, The Bitch is Back by Elton John, with H’Ltol once again singing Lead and Jack, Resso and Dagul singing back up as needed

Rria grins and looks to C’Roren and purrs gently as she watches her brother on stage “How… did you manage this one C’Roren? He… ain’t done this since the Gamma… and using Dad’s favorite music era no less…”

C’Roren listened to H’Ltol sing as he leaned in and said to Rria “This wasn’t me… it seems… someone else has been a good influence on him… though I don’t think he knows… we plan on making the act’s recording public record once we get back to DS13” he chuckles softly, as Rria elbows C’Roren gently

P’Tiarr said to C’Roren and grinned gently as she hugged him “Warming up to H’Ltol and Sejea then huh?” she giggles as she kisses him, then glances back to H’Ltol on stage

C’Roren chuckles softly and grins at her and purrs “Maybe… a little… but well we will see what the future holds… I still have my doubts, but I’m glad you could make it…”

After a few more minutes the song finished, with clapping and cheers coming from the crowd as H’Ltol, Jack, Resso, and Dagul all took another bow, as the lights came on fully to light up the bar to its normal level, with H’Ltol stepping off stage, and getting pats on the back from the crew, as did Jack, Resso, and Dagul

H’Ltol walked to join Rria, C’Roren, and P’Tiarr and smiled warmly “So… not tone deaf after all these years…” he chuckles softly, and takes the glass of water P’Tiarr offered him and sips from it

C’Roren chuckles softly and looks to H’Ltol “Not completely no… you ain’t sung like that in years… not since the Gamma…”

Rria smiles warmly and purrs gently as she nods slowly “Yeah… it is nice to have my brother back… now all I need is to meet my new sister” she said sticking her tongue out at H’Ltol

H’Ltol chuckles softly and looks to C’Roren and nods "Not… since the night before I left… where I sang one last time… didn’t sing from the Elton John stuff though… " he then grins at Rria and chuckles “Maybe you will meet her one day…”

P’Tiarr kissed C’Roren gently and started to drag C’Roren away to the bar for a drink as she nodded slowly at H’Ltol

Rria then smiles and walks over to hug H’Ltol “Dad… would have liked the songs you picked… he did always enjoy Elton John’s music…” she giggles softly “Though… not sure about your choice of suit though”

H’Ltol returns the hug gently and purrs gently as he nods “Yeah… it is why I picked them… Plus they had nice messages I guess… and well… Rria… I ain’t fully back to the old me… but I… am getting there slowly…” H’Ltol looks over the purple suit he is wearing and purrs gently chuckling “What is wrong with it?.. it is nice… different”

Rria looks to H’Ltol as she pulls back from the hug, taking a drink of whiskey from a passing ensign and sips it “So… you sang for her yet? like in private…” he then grins and sticks her tongue out at H’Ltol gently “And hey… it is alright… if you want to look like a strange grape”

H’Ltol goes bright red and chuckles softly shaking his head “Oh gods no… I ain’t ready for that yet… took me long enough to work up to singing in front of the crew…” he said sipping his water again “Though… way things are going… who knows if I will get that chance” he frowns for a moment and sighs softly

Rria spotting the frown on her brother’s face she tries to distract him, letting a grin form on her face as she looked to H’Ltol and sticks her tongue out “You know… C’Roren is making the act’s recordings public access when you get back to DS13 right?” she chuckles, as she takes another sip from her drink, patting her brother gently on the left shoulder

H’Ltol nearly choked on his water, before he started to go towards C’Roren blushing badly, as the bar was filled with people, sharing drinks and food as they talked about the night, including which acts they enjoyed the most. The Captain’s performance whilst not at the top of everyone’s list, but was the talk of the ship due to how surprising it was and how much of a shock the crew got from hearing it, even officers around the ship talked about it, with some crew already starting to come up with ideas for the next crew event, including a bar night with the Captain as entertainment, the ship drifting through space with the crew starting to wind down from their first relaxed night

References for Songs song during story

---

• I’m Still Standing, as Featured in Rocketman (2019) sung by Taron Egerton
• The Bitch is Back, (Remastered 1995) sung by Elton John

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC

War Stories

Sometimes Red isn’t the best color

The U.S.S. Defender patrolling near the old station it had recently investigated for bug removal

H’Ltol and C’Roren walk into H’Ltol’s room, with H’Ltol holding his black T-Shirt in his left hand, the top having a bullet hole in the left shoulder area, he had a black vest covering his chest, H’Ltol moved to sit on the sofa in his room, as C’Roren folds his arms, dressing in a black T-Shirt, combat trousers and boots as he grunted softly

C’Roren rubs his eyes softly and sighs “You know… that program should have had, had safeties in place to stop you getting shot…” C’Roren then started to walk towards the fridge in H’Ltol’s room “You still keep drink in here right?”

H’Ltol nods slowly as he leans back against the sofa and grunts a little in pain "It is fine… it was just a bullet in the shoulder… I have had worse… Doc patched me up… and will be fine in a few days… " he then glances over at C’Roren and sighs softly “Yeah… should still be plenty in there… not drinking much these days…”

C’Roren opened the fridge and then takes out two bottles of smirnoff ice and opens one using the claw on his index finger before he retracts his claw away, and walked over to H’Ltol offering him the unopened bottle “Doesn’t matter… next time it could be fatal… and know a few people that wouldn’t want that to be the case… and if a certain someone found out about that program… she would be very upset…”

H’Ltol opens the bottle using his claw and sips it as he sighs "Yeah… I know… but I run it normally with someone watching my back… program is decided to wound at worst… not kill… " he closes his eyes for a moment and nods slowly “Yeah… and if the program didn’t kill me… she would” he chuckles softly and looks to the bottle as he opens his eyes

C’Roren nods slowly and sips his own drink as he purrs “You might be a father one day… can’t have you running programs like that… doesn’t matter what it is programed to do… you can’t risk the wrong person finding it”

H’Ltol grunted and looks to C’Roren and sighs softly “A Dad… me? yeah… right… pull the other one… doubt that highly…” he then looks at the bottle of smirnoff ice and purrs gently “Hmmm… not drank this in years… not since the Iconian war…”

C’Roren looks at H’Ltol then at his own bottle and sighs softly as he purrs gently and nods slowly “Yeah… not since our mission to the Tendara colony… back on the Gamma… you remember that mission right? your first mission commanding something like this…”

H’Ltol and C’Roren walk the main shuttlebay of the U.S.S. Gamma, with the red alert klaxon blaring, both where dressed in excursion uniforms with a protective armored vest covering their chests as well, they slowly approached the waiting type-11 shuttle, where Sonva was waiting for them, dressed in her own excursion uniform with chest armor

Sonva beckons the two closer and shouts “Come on… Captain wants us loaded and ready for the drop… no idea how long we can hide from the Ico’s here… and the fleet ain’t getting here for another couple of hours”

C’Roren looks to H’Ltol for a moment then moved to pick up the crate near the entrance to the shuttle and he started to load it “Captain also said, he wanted to chat with us quickly before we dropped… we got a few minutes… stop worrying…”

H’Ltol nodded but before he could speak two security officers, one Trill ensign female and a Caitian male Lieutenant junior grade approached him both dressed like Sonva with excursion uniforms and chest armor and saluted, H’Ltol saluted back and clears his throat “Errr… hello Ensign… Lieutenant… help the commander load… we are just waiting for the Captain then we will get under way…”

The pair head into the shuttle to help Sonva and C’Roren with loading, just as the Captain of the Gamma came over to near H’Ltol, the older Human man with a greying beard and hair, was smoking a cigar as he looked to H’Ltol, and beckons Sonva over to join them

The Human spoke with a voice that was clearly suffering the effects of years of smoking as well as the stresses of commanding during a war and coughs a little before he looks to the pair “Lieutenant Sh’ow… as the command officer on this mission, I want you taking point… time to see if what you have been learning has been sinking in”

H’Ltol blinks as does Sonva as she moves to stand next to H’Ltol, before H’Ltol then speaks to the Captain “Captain… I am not normally one to question you… but wouldn’t Commander Sonva… be a better fit for team lead… she is more experienced and the is ranking officer here”

The Human Captain coughed again as he grunted looking between the pair "No… I want you leading this one H’Ltol… " he said in a rough tone dropping the rank for the moment “I know you and Sonva are close… but you will never get more pips on your collar unless you learn to take charge… plus… your weapon qualification scores are on pare or higher than her… the mission is simple… get down there… use the distraction of the 5th fleet’s attack to find any survivors down there… and get them to the beam out point… you got this kid…” he said patting H’Ltol on the shoulder before he steps back from the shuttle “You drop in five” he then walks off back to the bridge

H’Ltol looks to Sonva and purrs gently as he grunted “So… the weapons all stored on board?” he said as he walks back towards the shuttle with her, as the Gamma rocked as it dropped from warp

Sonva nods slowly as she moves over to the rather crudely fitted weapons rack and gestures to it “Four type-3 rifles, one each for us and the two security officers, and we then have five type-twos… given C’Roren can only use a Type-2… we are keeping them here till we land, to prevent any accidents…” she then moved to the pilots seat and started to power the shuttle up

C’Roren and the two security officers moved to sit in passenger chairs near the back of the shuttle, and strapped in, as H’Ltol moved to the Co-pilot’s chair and looks to Sonva before speaking “Alright Commander… try not to get us shot down” he said with a slight grin as if trying to make a bad joke, but it seemed to worry the ensign in back

The shuttle ramp was closed, before after a few minutes Sonva piloted the shuttle out of the bay and towards the planet, doing her best to dodge incoming fire from the Iconian’s on the ground, however it was unsuccessful and the shuttle soon had to crash land in a clearing in the woods, near one of the possible colonist locations, with the ramp opening once the shuttle came to a full stop

The Lieutenant security officer, helped the ensign from her seat, and moved themselves outside, to start checking over themselves to make sure they have no major injuries, before they move to get their weapons from the crude locker, each taking a type-2 and type-3, before they start to check over the area around the shuttle almost on autopilot

C’Roren coughs a little as he grabs his type-2 and puts it on his belt holster, before he grabs the crate he loaded and pulls it from the shuttle as he growls softly and puts the crate down near, exit ramp of the shuttle “Damn… it Sonva… no… crashing… remember…”

Sonva coughs a little too, as she grabs her weapons and then checks over her arms and legs once she was out of the shuttle “No… one is bleeding… at least fatally… we are good… you try flying through that… and not crashing” she said as she looks back to the shuttle “H’Ltol… you in there?”

H’Ltol comes out of the shuttle carrying his type-3 rifle which he powered up and grunted softly, he had a cut on his left shoulder as he stretches a little “I am good… possibly location is just to our west… we should get moving… unless anyone needs a minute?” he said as he looks towards the tree line and started to take a few steps west towards the location he mentioned

C’Roren checked the the crate and then beckons the ensign security officer over, and started to carry it with the help of the ensign, as Sonva and H’Ltol walk towards near the location he was given on the Gamma, it took them an hour of cautious and careful movement to reach the edge of the tree line, with H’Ltol and Sonva able to see what looked like a defensive barrier near some run down buildings, before H’Ltol felt a disruptor rifle being pressed against the back of his head

the rifle belonged to a injured Ferasan Major, who was growling as he kept the rifle barrel pressed against H’Ltol’s head “Starfleet… yes?”

Sonva carefully levels her own rifle to be aimed at the Ferasan and she grunted a little “Lower the weapon from his head… and we can talk… yes… we are Starfleet… from the U.S.S Gamma”

H’Ltol slowly stands up, being slow and careful with his movements as he couldn’t see the Ferasan behind him “I am Lieutenant H’Ltol Sh’ow… command officer from the U.S.S. Gamma… we are here to find survivors from the colony here… to evac them”

The Ferasan major lowered his rifle and then walks past H’Ltol, beckoning for H’Ltol’s group to follow him, as he started to walk towards the barrier the group spotted, with it slowly opening as the Ferasan walked, with H’Ltol’s group following them, the group would find a mixed group, of Starfleet officers, Klingon Defense force officers, and Romulan officers, though most where injured and laying or sitting on military cots, under low tents, C’Roren had placed the crate down and went around the officers checking them carefully using his limited to combat medic training

the Ferasan Major looked to H’Ltol and grunted softly “Welcome to the last camp you will find… we did our best to rally up and gather the breathing here… lost most of my unit doing so… and only managed to pick up a few other officers… there are only five of us that can still carry weapons, the Romulans over there… are too badly injured to shoot straight…”

Sonva headed over to the three security officers she spotted, which where two Starfleet ensigns and a KDF Lieutenant, and started to check on them, as H’Ltol looked to the Ferasan major and purred gently as he spoke “So Major… how many none combatants we got here? and how many can easily walk?”

The Major looked at the Caitian being as tall as him “about twenty at last head count… a few more got lost in the woods… we didn’t have the chance to go looking for them… most can walk… though got a few kids in the mix… either with or without parents… so when back up coming to get us?”

H’Ltol shakes his head and sighs softly as he looks to the Major “We are it… small team… slip in… round up who we can… get out… our ship is hiding at the moment… but should be picking us up in a few hours… they are just waiting for the 5th fleet to jump into the system as a distraction”

It had been a few hours, with H’Ltol, Sonva and the two security officers that had come from the Gamma doing their best to help with checking the defensive perimeter, with the help of the few officers that where still able to walk and use a weapon, whilst C’Roren helped the Civilian doctor tend to the wounded as best as possible, the deadline for the Gamma contacting H’Ltol for Evac had passed by about 30 minutes, which was causing the group to get a little restless, even as the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance

The Ferasan Major was watching the front barrier perimeter and sighed softly as he rubs his eyes gently and growls softly, with Sonva watching with him “Your ship… is late… we really need to get off this planet… for one… the wounded are running out of time…”

Sonva nods slowly and looks to the Major as she then sighs as well and steps back from the step they had to help them keep watch “I will speak to H’Ltol and see if he can raise our ship…” she said as she started to walk back into the small camp looking for H’Ltol

H’Ltol was sat on a bed, near a wounded Ferasan female, who he was sharing a drink with, both drinking water for the moment and seemed to be chatting about common ancestry “Yep… my family is from the mountain region of Cait and before that Ferasa…”

The Wounded Ferasan sips her water and nods slowly looking at H’Ltol with her one eye that wasn’t covered by a bandage “Same here… before the split of our people… maybe our families knew each other…” she chuckles softly then starts groaning and coughing, with H’Ltol rubbing her back gently “Yeah… don’t need to tell me… no more laughing till your fancy Starfleet doctors can fix me up”

Sonva walks over and clears her throat looking to H’Ltol and clearly ignoring the Ferasan “Lieutenant… a word please… in private…” she said before she started to walk towards one of the ruined buildings near the camp

H’Ltol smiles at the Ferasan and pats her shoulder gently “Take it easy Sergeant… Doc should be round to check on you soon” he then stood up and followed Sonva as he then sighs and looks to her once they where out of ear shot of the group in camp “Yes Commander?”

Sonva grunted and folds her arms as she looks to H’Ltol and narrows her eyes “Have you tried contacting our ship? the Gamma is late… or you too busy making friends?.. we do have a job to do here Lieutenant…”

H’Ltol nods slowly and looks to Sonva as he rubs his eyes softly and sighs gently “Just trying to calm a few of the wounded Commander… not much else we can do… as for the Gamma… they are delayed… and should be coming for us in a few more hours… not ideal I know… but they are currently dodging hostile ships…”

Sonva grunted and walked off, and started to set up the pattern enhancers the group had brought with them, making sure to set them up around the small camp so the wounded could be beamed out without any need to move them

C’Roren comes over after seeing Sonva’s mood, with a young Human Ensign, who was holding a crate of bottles of smirnoff ice as C’Roren spoke to H’Ltol “Ensign Nightingale here… found some drink… figured could offer it to the wounded to help…”

H’Ltol nodded slowly and looks to the young Ensign as he purrs gently “Name ensign? and that sounds like a good idea… just no officers with weapons… we can’t risk drink and guns…”

Jack the young Security ensign who would one day become the Defender’s Chief of security nodded at H’Ltol “Jack sir… Jack Nightingale… I will get to handing these out now…” he said as he left C’Roren and H’Ltol alone

C’Roren purrs gently and sighs softly as he rubs his eyes “Good kid that… shame he is seeing war so soon… saw Sonva in a mood setting things up for evac… that mean we are getting out of here?”

H’Ltol looks to C’Roren and nods slowly as he purrs gently, but before he could speak the Major can be heard shouting to raise the alarm, with H’Ltol and Sonva and the other security officers running to defensive positions, just in time for a small group of Iconian group forces to come from the tree line

The group of officers started to return fire, with the fighting being brutal and vicious, with the officers fighting defense, being forced to fall back to the camp as more Iconian’s appear around them, and just as all looked lost, the group was beamed up by a Starfleet ship in orbit, with the group all getting beamed straight to Sickbay, with the worst already being placed onto Biobeds and being tended to, with it being a few hours before the group was allowed out of sickbay, with the less wounded headed to the mess hall

H’Ltol was stood near the bar on the Gamma, sighing as he watches Sonva, C’Roren, Jack, the Ferasan Major and the security officers that survived from the planet all sat around a table drinking and laughing, even with the Major having lost his left arm, the group where all clearly celebrating their small win

The Human Captain walks into the mess hall and looks to H’Ltol sighing softly “So… you gonna just sit at the bar, all moody and broody… rather than joining in?”

H’Ltol leans back against the bar and rubs his neck sorely as he sighs, before looking over at the Captain “Don’t feel much like celebrating… out of a colony of possibly thousands… we only got twenty out… and lost a few good officers trying to keep them safe”

The Captain pats H’Ltol on the left shoulder and sighs softly “Then do it for them… as a Captain you need to know when you plaster on a smile… and join in the little victories… yep in the grand scheme of things… we lost a lot of people… but… we need to celebrate what little good we can do… as who knows if we are even able to hold out and win this war… so go on… drink… join in… help them see not all is lost…” the Captain then left the mess hall as quickly as he came in

H’Ltol walked over to join the group as he smiles warmly and purrs gently “Room for one more?” he asks as he chuckles softly, looking around the group, with Jack looking very nervous around all the new people, not to mention the slightly drunk one armed Ferasan officer

The Major stands up and pats H’Ltol rather hard on the side and then offers H’Ltol a bottle of brandy “Come… drink… lets all swap stories… and enjoy the time we have…”

Sonva pats the seat next to her smiling, seemingly rather glad H’Ltol was joining in the drinking and laughing “Come… join us H’Ltol… we could all use a drink after that…” she said as she moves over a little to give H’Ltol a little more room to sit down

H’Ltol sits down and takes a gulp of brandy from the bottle and then chuckles softly as he hands it back to the Major “Thank you… good to see the Major gave us a bottle of the good stuff for saving his life”

After an hour of drinking and laughing, the Gamma met with a KDF Vorcha class, who took the Ferasan Major and the few KDF officers off the Gamma, before it cloaked and headed out, with a Romulan Jhu’ael warbird declocking and beaming off the few Romulan officers that had survived, with the Federation officers disembarking at the next station, the scene now transitions back to H’Ltol and C’Roren on the Defender

H’Ltol smiles warmly as he finishes the bottle he was drinking from and puts it down as he sighs gently “First mission… did my best to keep everyone alive… and got most out… though never would have guessed Jack would have made Chief of security on the Defender… he was so scared…”

C’Roren nods slowly and finishes his own bottle as he chuckles softly and purrs “We all were H’Ltol… no one knew if we would even survive the day… but we did well enough… what about that Ferasan Sergeant you where talking too, did you ever see her again?”

H’Ltol leans back and chuckles softly as he smiles warmly and looks to C’Roren “Yeah… saw her during my leave on Cait a year ago… turns out she and the Major left the service after the Iconian war… the pair are now married… turns out they got married after surviving the Battle of Cait… they now work with Caitian diplomats to help work towards bringing our peoples back together…”

C’Roren slowly stands up and moves the bottles to the replicator, setting them to be recycled as he chuckles softly “Damn… but glad to hear they are both doing alright… they where good people… despite our people’s problems…” he then looks at the time on H’Ltol’s console and rubs his eyes “But… despite the lovely time I am having… I better get some rest… and then I can check on the scans of the station… you gonna be alright?”

H’Ltol nods slowly and smiles warmly as he purrs gently and looks to C’Roren “Always am Brother… don’t worry… my guest should be arriving in a few hours to help take a look at that bug in the lab… so I better rest myself… I will be observing… seeing if I can learn anything…”

C’Roren nods slowly and moves to put his left hand on H’Ltol’s right shoulder and purrs gently “Am sure everything will work out… all the crap we have all been through… about time some good news happened… so delete the program… or put the safeties back on… and focus on you and her for now… I have my problems with it… but your happier… focus on that…” he said before he left the room, leaving H’Ltol on his own

H’Ltol would slowly walk to his bedroom to start getting ready for a light nap, only stopping to briefly glance at the pet bed he had at the end of his bed and rubs his eyes gently “Hmmm…” he then moved to climb into bed “Computer… set an alarm for two hours… will just have a quick nap”

The lights in H’Ltol’s room dimmed, as H’Ltol laid in his bed and started to drift off into a nap, as the crew of the Defender kept about their work, most focused on routine maintenance, as a few science officers monitored the sensor data coming from the Defender’s scans of the station they where in orbit of, as the ship waited the arrival of it’s expected guests

[HLtol]

OOC This information is OOC

Strange Request

Maybe being a dad won’t be so bad

The U.S.S. Defender's Captain's Yacht in Orbit of Bajor

H’Ltol beams back to the Captain’s yacht as he rubs his eyes, being dressed in a T-shirt and relaxed trousers, as he holds a padd in his left hand and moved to sit in the pilot’s seat rubbing his eyes again, the yacht was sat in orbit of Bajor, H’Ltol having left his XO in charge of the Defender whilst H’Ltol traveled to Bajor for a small chat with the Vedeks at a local temple near where he was staying in the Hedrikspool Province

H’Ltol sighs as he leans back in the seat and moved to rub his left ear softly “Computer… open channel to the Defender… lets see if C’Roren is awake…” After a beep and a few moments the comms channel is opened

C’Roren appears on the screen, being sat in the Defender’s ready room and he looks into the console “Hey there Captain… all done on Bajor? In-laws happy to see you?” he chuckles softly

H’Ltol grunted softly as he looks to C’Roren “Yeah… was nice seeing them again… they seemed a little surprised I came alone… but well with Sejea busy on assignment, and my want to study more about Bajor… a solo trip made sense…”

C’Roren purrs softly and nods slowly as he stretches a little more, he then looks into the console camera again “That is good, glad to hear the trip went well, though I should let you know your mother has sent more messages to you”

H’Ltol sighs softly and nods slowly as he grunted, the console beeping to signal another incoming transmission “Getting another call C’Roren… I better see who it is, I should be back in the next day or two… depending on shuttle speed, I also am bringing back a few treats from the in-laws”

C’Roren nods slowly and closes the call, as H’Ltol opens the incoming call and grunts softly as he purrs softly “H’Ltol here… how can I help?”

After a few moments a Ferasan, that looked a lot like a Caitian but had darker fur, an earing on his right ear and short fangs poking from his mouth, the officer was dressed in an alliance uniform with Captain rank pips “Hello Captain… I understand your currently on your return from Bajor… how did that go?” the Captain asked trying to be some what friendly

H’Ltol growls softly as he looks at the Ferasan on screen and balls his hands into fists “Captain… that was personal business… can we please skip the fake pleasantries?.. I need to be returning to my ship” H’Ltol had a some what angry look on his face, as he hissed a little at the screen

The Captain nodded and sighs softly as he leans forward in his chair “Alright… I need your help… S’Tau has gone missing… he ain’t on the Majestic… and no one in the family has seen… I know… we haven’t always been on the same side… but… I could use an extra pair of eyes”

H’Ltol’s expression softens slowly and he frowns gently, as he relaxes his hands “Junern… When?.. How?.. Why would he run off?” he asked tilting his head as he sighs softly

Junern sighs softly and rubs his eyes and leans back groaning softly “a few hours ago… last I saw him, he and K’Mure where heading off to class… next thing I know she is telling me, she can’t find S’Tau… and our prototype shuttle is missing… as for why… I have no idea…” he frowns a little and looks to H’Ltol “Look… I ain’t asking you to join the search… as know you have duties to perform… but could you keep an eye out… maybe let him land if he shows up at the Defender?”

H’Ltol nods slowly and purrs gently as he grunted a little “Yeah… sure… I will ring ahead and let C’Roren know… as I am still a day or two away from the ship… am sure he will turn up… maybe he went to earth to visit your Dad and Rose… or went to Cait to see family?”

Jun nods slowly and rubs his eyes gently “Well… we have all shuttles and the Aquarius heading off to possible locations… and family are all on high alert… even the FDF and CDF ones… my cousin also has passed the message to other families we are working with… if he shows up… just give me a call please…” he said before ending the transmission

H’Ltol rubs his eyes and taps on the console “Computer… open a channel back to the Defender… get me Commander C’Roren, and plot a course to the following location” The Computer beeps as it attempts to contact C’Roren, as the shuttle adjusted it’s course heading towards a colony, just outside of the 38th’s operational area

After a brief conversation with C’Roren to explain his diversion, H’Ltol increased the speed of his shuttle, and after a few hours soon he arrived in orbit of a long ago ruined colony, H’Ltol took the shuttle down and landed on a ruined shuttle pad near the center of the ruins of what used to be the main city on the planet, after checking the air he slowly powered down the shuttle and stepped off the shuttle

H’Ltol slowly steps from the shuttle, now in his away uniform, and armed with a Type-2 Phaser from the shuttle’s weapon locker, he slowly looks around the area, before he started to head towards the center of the ruined city “Damn… I… forgot how bad… this place was…” he sighed as he kept walking slowly

A small grey furred male Ferasan/Caitian hybrid was sat on the steps of a ruined house, that had long since been destroyed, he had his knees near his chest and he mews softly whimpering a little

H’Ltol spots the cub as he slowly approaches the house and moves to sit on the steps next to the cub “Hey there kid… you alright?” he asks as he gives a soft sigh and leans back a little as he looks around the area near them

the cub soon moves to give H’Ltol a hug tightly and whimpers softly, sobbing gently as he remained close to the much taller Caitian

H’Ltol hugs the cub in return and sighs softly rubbing his back gently “Come on S’Tau… talk to me… what is wrong?.. why did you run away?” he said as he looks down at S’Tau and mews softly

S’Tau sniffles up a little more as he looks up at H’Ltol his eyes still filled with tears “I miss my parents… my real parents… and now… Jun and One are too busy for me… they couldn’t even come after my themselves” he goes back to crying into H’Ltol’s chest

H’Ltol purrs softly and rubs S’Tau’s back gently “Yeah… figured you missed them… given your here… but Jun and One… are currently half way across the sector looking for you… they got everyone on high alert… even asked me to keep an eye out… it was off my own back I came out here…” H’Ltol carefully uses his left sleeve to wipe S’Tau’s tears away as he smiles warmly

S’Tau whimpers a little and looks up at H’Ltol “Won’t… you get in trouble?.. won’t some Admiral… or that angry Bajoran lady shout at you?” he said tilting his head softly as he mews gently

H’Ltol sighs softly and looks down at S’Tau as he then carefully wipes S’Tau’s cheek fur gently to dry it a little “My ship is where it needs to be, I came on the Captain’s yacht… as for the Bajoran lady your referring too… Sejea would understand… but well we both have our own assignments… not everyone is as lucky as Jun and One and she was only angry cause we had a disagreement… she is normally very lovely”

S’Tau’s ears twitch slightly as he looks up at H’Ltol and narrows his eyes for a moment as his tail sways softly “Your… right… she… probably misses you… alot when you and her ain’t together…” he then sighs and looks down whimpering “Dad… is gonna shout at me isn’t he?.. I am in alot of trouble…”

H’Ltol looks down at S’Tau and lightly and playfully flicks S’Tau’s ears “You will be with me if you keep using your telepathy on me… you know your meant to ask before doing that…” he said chuckling softly to make it clear he was joking “As for Jun and One… they are worried about you… they want to find you that is all…”

S’Tau looks up at H’Ltol and rubs his ears softly and mews gently “Sorry… just… when I saw her… she was so angry… yet… in your head… she is so nice… and calm… cooking you breakfast… brushing your fur…” he then nods slowly and mews softly “If… I agree to go home… can you talk to Dad… for me first?”

H’Ltol slowly stands up carrying S’Tau in his arms as he sighs softly “Alright… tell me where the prototype shuttle is… and I will talk to him… once he comes to pick you up from the Defender…” he said as he started to walk back to the Captain’s yacht and purrs softly

S’Tau cuddles up to H’Ltol yawning softly as he mews gently “I… sent it back to the Majestic… it… would have told Dad… I was… here… but… if he is moving… trying to find me… guess the shuttle hasn’t met up with him yet…” he slowly closed his eyes as he was carried, slowly drifting off to sleep

H’Ltol noticed the cub falling asleep on him as he carried S’Tau back to the shoulder and sighs softly, as he moved to put S’Tau down in the co-pilot’s chair, and after sitting in the pilot’s chair he contacted the Defender to say he was on his way back and had S’Tau with him, he then lifted the shuttle off and left the planet, before jumping to warp, and after a few hours he arrived back at the Defender, docking in the Captain’s yacht port before he powered down the shuttle

H’Ltol slowly moved to pick up the still sleeping S’Tau and gives another soft and somewhat content sigh “For a small kid… your heavier than you look…” he said softly, as he steps from the shuttle, only to be greeted by a waiting C’Roren “Hey… C’Roren… low tones… he is sleeping…”

C’Roren quickly took a holo-image using his imager in his hands and grins then low to H’Ltol “Sending that straight to Sejea… and your Mam… and Rria” he said sticking his tongue out playfully

S’Tau was lightly snoring in H’Ltol’s arms with his head resting on H’Ltol’s right shoulder, the cub drooling a little onto H’Ltol’s uniform

H’Ltol chuckles quietly and looks to C’Roren “Oh… please do… though… you got the room set up?” he asks in a low tone as the two officers start to walk towards the turbolift

C’Roren nods slowly and smiles warmly and low to H’Ltol “Yep… set up a VIP room for him, they ain’t being used anyway… I also put a Lego Sovereign class set in there for him… even made sure there is a set for him to take back to T’Zon and K’Mure…”

H’Ltol nods slowly as the pair take the turbolift to the room and soon put S’Tau in the freshly made bed before the pair walk into the living area of the room and then H’Ltol speaks to C’Roren quietly again “Thanks… how long did Jun say he would be?”

C’Roren purrs softly and stretches a little as he looks to H’Ltol and spoke in a hushed tone too “He said due to the warp engines needing time to cool off… and people needing time to return to the Majestic… it would be late tomorrow before he can get here… you want me to route your date night call into this room?”

H’Ltol nods slowly and looks over at the sofa in the room and stretches “Yeah… please… this kid has already ran off once… and with that dead bug onboard… I don’t want him unattended… sorry…” he said rubbing his eyes, as he glances back towards the bedroom door, clearly worried about S’Tau

C’Roren smiles and pats H’Ltol gently on the shoulder “No worries Captain… not much going on right now anyway… I will route the call here… and hey… worrying is just part of acting like a Dad… am sure your own kids… will be less of a handful” he grins as he started to leave the room

H’Ltol blinks and goes to shout but remembers S’Tau is asleep in the next room and low to C’Roren “I… ain’t having kids… yet… damn it C’Roren… grow up…” he said as he makes a rude gesture with his right hand

C’Roren slowly leaves the room miming the words, I can’t hear you, gesturing to his ears as he sticks his tongue out, clearly enjoying annoying his Captain

H’Ltol sighs as the door to the room closes and he moves to lay on his back on the sofa and grunted gently then low to himself “He only likes me… cause I ain’t got to be the bad guy at times… I can be the fun… friend of the family… that gives him sugary snacks and drinks before sending him home… but… looks like not much sleep tonight for me”

The hours past, with H’Ltol, remaining in the VIP room with S’Tau to keep an eye on the young boy, only leaving to take S’Tau to the holodeck to remain, then the Messhall for dinner, with the evening being taken up by his some what regular call with Sejea, S’Tau even getting a chance to say hello and show off the Lego sovereign class model that had been provided for him, after wishing Sejea a good night and ending the call, H’Ltol put S’Tau to bed before bunking down himself on the sofa, only waking up the next day once the U.S.S. Majestic pulled along side the Defender

The U.S.S. Defender {Right} with the U.S.S. Majestic {Left, Lexington Class with Darker hull}

H’Ltol had left S’Tau in the VIP room with Jack who was playing with the lego set with S’Tau and talking to him, H’Ltol having left to go to the transporter room, where he was to meet Captain Jhizit of the Majestic, who soon beamed over, the Ferasan dressed in an alliance uniform grunted softly as he looks at H’Ltol as he was beamed over to the Defender

H’Ltol gives a small polite nod to Junern as he stretches a little and grunts, clearly the night on the sofa and making sure S’Tau didn’t try to sneak around the ship had taken a toll on him “Captain… you took your time getting here…” he said as he rubs his eyes sorely

Jun steps down from the transporter pad and nodded slowly as he sighs “Not for lack of trying… however when my wife insists the engines need time to cool off… I don’t argue…” he tilts his head as he looks to H’Ltol “Rough night? you look like you got dragged up a tree arse first…”

H’Ltol sighs as he looks to Jun then nodded as he steps from the transporter room “Yeah… was too worried about S’Tau wondering off… so I slept on the sofa in the VIP room he was even… basically spent the whole night looking after him… even took my personal call there…”

Jun shrugs and nods slowly as he follows H’Ltol “It is what being a Dad is… worrying… wondering when they are gonna run off and take a bio-bed apart… or steal a shuttle… and well am sure one might of keeping the call PG isn’t going to had that bad of an effect…” he said with a slight grin

H’Ltol growls and rather angerly at Jun “Oh… shut up… you stuck up walking carpet… not everyone can live on the same ship as their partner…” he said as he bares his fangs and turns to face Jun as he stops in the hallway

Jun puts a hand on H’Ltol’s shoulder "Stand down solider… come down from red alert… change the bulb behind your eyes… I was joking… " he sighs softly and nods a little more “I crossed a line… I am sorry… I am very thankful for you looking after S’Tau…”

H’Ltol sighs and takes a deep breath rubbing his eyes as he nodded slowly “No… I am sorry… I shouldn’t have snapped… just… didn’t get much sleep… ain’t done that since the Iconian war… plus… things ain’t easy… relationship wise…”

Jun squeezes H’Ltol’s shoulder gently and purrs softly “We ain’t always got on… but on that we agree… you two will be fine… until she says it is over… relax… but I do have an offer to make it easier…” he said with a soft smile

H’Ltol grunted and started to walk towards the VIP room S’Tau was in “Not this again… I said no once… please… stop asking… I am happy on the Defender… I don’t need that…” he said slumping his shoulders a little “And… alright… thanks… hopefully it will work out…”

Jun smiles warmly and purrs gently as they walk into the VIP room and he chuckles softly stretching a little and then grins “I am just saying… let me put your name forward as the next Captain of the Majestic… I just need someone in the chair… that won’t abuse her… then ask her to be your XO… worst that can happen is the Admirals say no…” he then kneels down as he spots S’Tau “Hey there kid…”

S’Tau runs up to Jun and gives him a hug purring loudly “Dad… Dad… look… look H’Ltol gave me a new Lego set…” he said cuddling his Dad softly as he purrs and mews gently

H’Ltol nods slowly and smiles at S’Tau then to Jun “Yeah… I also made sure that T’Zon and K’Mure have a set each as well… joys of my XO having a few cubs… he knows how to keep everyone happy…” he chuckles softly as he purrs gently as well

Jun nods slowly and smiles at S’Tau as he hugs his son back as he purrs gently “That is good S’Tau… I am just glad your ok… and home safe… please don’t do that again…” he said as he slowly stood up as the pair stopped hugging “You want any help with that Lego set or you good?”

S’Tau smiles warmly and purrs gently as he stretches a little, as he picks up the Lego Sovereign class, that due to his small size looked almost twice his size width ways “I… won’t Dad… and no thank you I am good…” he then looks up at H’Ltol and smiles warmly “Thanks H’Ltol… you would be a good dad…”

Jack slowly stands up and then after picking up two more boxed sets he started to lead Jun and S’Tau back to the transporter padd, leaving H’Ltol alone in the VIP room

H’Ltol sighs softly as he rubs his eyes then started to clean up the VIP room, which luckily wasn’t that messy as S’Tau was raised to keep rooms clean even more so when a guest “Why do people keep saying that?” he rubs his eyes softly as he spokes to himself “I just want to take things at our own pace…” he said as he then rubs his eyes gently

It wasn’t long before the Majestic was once again underway, once Junern and S’Tau had beamed back, with the Lexington class warping away at high speed leaving the Defender alone near the old Federation station, and after H’Ltol had finished cleaning up the VIP room, he went to his ready room to catch up on reports, finding a small figure on his desk, which looked like him, causing him to chuckle softly as he then spotted one that looked like Sejea, H’Ltol making a mental note to give that to her when possible

OOC Abit of a different story this time, showing H’Ltol often trusts his crew to carry on without him, and showing some friends and rivals he has outside of the fleet.