OOC This is a story written as a brief play showing bits of the AAR: Otha Sector Patrol. I believe everything here is in line with policies; however, if an admin spots something that needs changing, please let me know.
A Peaceful Patrol
Back in the Saddle, with a Watchful Eye
The U.S.S. Defender at Warp
The Defender was at warp eight, as part of its standard security patrols, it was just entering the Otha sector, with Commander Zenade manning the bridge, whilst H’Ltol was in his ready room with Sejea, who was staying onboard the Defender, along with her parents and H’Ltol’s sister, the civilian doctor Rria. Whilst Sejea was on the bridge, her parents had remained in their room, and Rria was busy chatting with Lt Commander T’Soph down in sickbay, with the medical pair talking about Caitian fur and skin regeneration to further starfleet field treatments
H’Ltol smiles warmly at Sejea as he sits on the chair facing the sofa in his ready room, with him tapping away on a padd “So, that covers the updated ship protocols that will mean the ship will be child safe, it seems Junern put most of the groundwork in place with his kids”
Sejea smiles warmly, the now heavily pregnant Bajoran, who, unlike H’Ltol, was in a loose-fitting Bajoran dress that had some Caitian flair with an ancient Caitian pattern around the hem of the dress, she too was tapping on a padd “That is good, he has been invaluable, it seems, my parents also seem to have settled into their room on the ship, they said it is very comfy”
H’Ltol gives a small smile and then a nod as he purrs softly “That is good, I am glad they are comfy” he then brings up a picture of a babygrow that seemed to take inspiration from both Caitian and Bajoran cultures, but before he can speak the ship goes to red alert, H’Ltol then looks around and blinks a few times
Sunin, the Bajoran XO, comes over the comms “Captain Sh’ow to the bridge, all civilians to quarters until further notice” Sunin grunted a little as she stood up from the Captain’s chair, looking towards the readyroom door
H’Ltol and Sejea both come from the ready room, with H’Ltol adjusting his uniform collar as he purrs gently and looks to Sunin “Report, Commander, what caused us to go to red alert?” He said as he carefully helped Sejea get to the bridge guest chair, making sure the pregnant Bajoran was not straining herself too much
Sejea sits down carefully on the barely used guest chair on the bridge, now quietly listening; it wasn’t her bridge, and she didn’t want to step on H’Ltol’s toes as it were, but she was also eager to hear what was going on; her command instincts were still strong even now.
Sunin looks to H’Ltol, then to Sejea, and she nods slowly “Comms picked up a distress signal coming from the U.S.S. Kitten, deeper inside the Otha sector. Reports are that they are under attack by Black Claw. We are the closest ship in range. Others from either the 38th or 64th fleets could arrive, but they are at least an hour away. We could be there in minutes, Captain”
H’Ltol gives a nod slowly and rubs his eyes softly “I dislike the idea of taking Civilians into combat, given everyone on the ship, but I am guessing that everyone wants to go save Captain Jhizit” he looks to Sejea “You happy for this to happen?”
Sejea gives a small nod “We have a duty to respond, Captain, my parents can be moved to your room in the Saucer section, and that will mean we can separate it off if needed, same with your sister, unless she wants to help” Sejea said as she rubbed her belly as the cubs kicked out a little causing her to groan
H’Ltol looks to Sunin and purrs softly as he gives a small chuckle “You heard the Commander, get Mam and Dad to my room, and try getting my sister there too, but well she served in the war, so if she offers to help, let her help, her fur and skin work will help with treating Caitians and Ferasans, I am sure T’Soph will appreciate the help, then get yourself to the Leopard and get ready to scramble, we need to be ready the moment we arrive, and Ops get the black tails ready to launch”
Sunin nods slowly and then looks to Jack, the chief of security, who was standing at the security console “You heard the bosses, get started Commander Nightingale, Ops scramble the Leopard crew and black tails, I will meet the Leopard crew on board” she gives a nod to H’Ltol and Sejea
As the Defender increased its speed to its maximum speed of 9.995, the crew of the U.S.S. Leopard and the pilot’s of the fighter squadron the Black tails, would get into their ready positions, with two security officers helping secure Kala Priso and Kala Ekko in the Captain’s quarters, with Rria remaining in sickbay, after stubbornly refusing to leave given the preperation for incoming wounded, with the ship soon arriving at the location of the distress signal, with the Defender quickly scrambling both the U.S.S. Leopard and the fighters it had onboard
The Defender would arrive and find the heavily modified and disabled Kitty Hawk Class, under attack by two Caitian Shikaris Escorts, and one heavily modified Atrox class, with the only defences it could muster being its onboard fighter group, the fighters were battling to protect their mother ship from the small wing of Stalker fighters launched from the Atrox
H’Ltol grunted as he sits in the Captain’s chair and looks to his helm officer “Helm, put us between the incoming fire and the Kitten” he then calls out to his tactical officer “Have the Leopard take one escort, the Black Tails the other, and have us target the Atrox, fire to disable”
The Defender quickly moved into position as the crew carried out H’Ltol’s orders, with the ship being hit by fire coming from the Atrox class, though this ship wasn’t using the standard tetryon weapons for caitian vessels; instead, it hammered the shields of the Defender with phased tetryon, the Leopard being a light and nimble aquarius class, it wasted no time in closing the distance to the starboard escort and starting a close range phaser fire with it, both ships would be using all their agility to dodge incoming fire, as the Defender’s onboard Valkryie fighters quickly and easily closed the gap to the port side escort and opened fire, the group making passes of the escort using their smaller size to also avoid incoming fire
H’Ltol glanced over at Sejea as the Defender was rocked by incoming fire, but he then refocused himself and shouted to tactical “Haituk report”
Haituk the Vulcan on Tactical glances down towards H’Ltol “Shields holding at 80% Captain. I have adjusted our frequencies to better defend against the Phased Tetryon weapons they are using. I should have their weapons down in a moment”
H’Ltol grunted softly, and then nodded slowly “Target their engines after, I don’t want them running. Ops, can you see if the Kitten has been boarded?” he said, glancing over at the Ops station as his ears went back slightly
Tisa the trill on Ops nodded slowly “Yes, Captain, I ran a scan the moment we got into position, the Kitten has boarders on multiple decks. I also tried to hail them, but I have had no reply; their communications systems must be offline”
After another hit rocked the Defender, the Lexington finally broke through the Atrox’s shields and then expertly took out the Atrox’s weapons and then its engines before turning to help disable both escorts, which, with the support of the Leopard and fighters, was child’s play for the experienced crew
Haituk looks towards H’Ltol and says after firing the last shot to disable the escorts “Captain, all ships disabled, orders?”
H’Ltol stands up slowly and stretches “Have the Leopard and fighters run security patrols, Nightingale, I want security teams on each escort, capture the commanding officers, and after they get them back here, go after the Atrox Captain, I want them all in the brig, Ops hail the closest CDF force, they will want the rest” he said as he started to walk towards the transporter padd at the back of the bridge
Jack taps on his console, then looks to H’Ltol “I will lead the teams personally, Captain, but what of the U.S.S. Kitten? They will need help?” he asks as he starts to head towards the turbolift
H’Ltol stopped near a weapons locker by the transporter padd at the back, taking out some chest armour and putting it on over his uniform, before he grabbed himself a Type-2 and Type-3 phaser “I will be taking Security teams Five and Six over there, beam me from here, and beam them over as well”
Jack nodded then stepped onto the turbolift once it arrived, with Commander Kas stepping off, and walking towards H’Ltol, as did Sejea, who was moving slowly to avoid any discomfort
H’Ltol checked his gear and then looked to Commander Kas “Major, the bridge is yours, monitor the situation, and be ready to send support as needed, the Kitten will need Medical and engineering support once we secure the ship”
Carlos nodded slowly and looked towards Sejea, who was leaning on a nearby railing “Yes, Captain, but is it wise to lead the mission yourself against the boarders?”
Sejea gives a nod and a worried look towards H’Ltol “Carlos is right, as much as I hate to admit that, the people over there are the same group that held you Captive.” There was a small pause “I also think you would be safer here.”
H’Ltol looks to Sejea and purrs softly as he gives a soft smile to her, before he scratches behind his right ear “I will be fine, the security teams have my back” he then lets this smile fade. He purrs gently “I.. need to do this, I need to prove I am stronger” he then moved to put a hand on Sejea’s shoulder, before he glances over at Carlos “Major.. if the Commander here says I am to beamed back, do it, she has final say.. she can monitor my vitals better than anyone..” He then looked into Sejea’s eyes “You can monitor the whole thing, if you think I am in too deep, pull me out”
Carlos gives a small nod, then looks to Sejea before heading to set up the bridge station just behind the first officer’s chair as a monitoring station for Sejea, before he turns his attention to the viewscreen
After a brief hug and squeeze of each other’s hands, H’Ltol would step onto the transporter padd and beam over to the Kitten, quickly being joined by the security teams he requested, with other teams heading to the starboard escort first to secure it, and after beaming back the Commanding officer, the team moved to the port side escort, meanwhile the Security teams and H’Ltol on the Kitten, would be moving from the Hanger bay on the Kitten towards the bridge, focusing on freeing as much of the ship as possible in one sweep
Carlos would rub his eyes softly as he sat in the Captain’s chair, and he then grunted “Commander Sh’ow.. if you don’t sit down, you will hurt yourself or wear a path in the deck plating, the Captain is fine, you said so yourself, please.. sit at the console and stop pacing”
Sejea was pacing back and forth near the console that was monitoring the team’s progress. She sighs softly “Commander Kas, I nearly lost him twice when he went on what should have been simple missions. I have a right to be worried, plus this group kidnapped him once before. What if this is just a trap to do it again?”
Carlos would stand up and walk over to the worried Bajoran, and then carefully move her to sit on the seat in front of the console “Commander, look.. I understand.. but this is the risk you two signed up for, he is a veteran of multiple wars and combat missions, both on the ground and on the bridge, he knows what he is doing, we have a transporter lock on him, the CDF will be here within the next hour.. now please try and remain calm, it isn’t good for the kids for you to get this worked up” he then pauses and looks to her, seeming to have a flash back for a moment before he rubs his head “Maybe, I can get you something to eat or drink?”
Sejea glances over at the grumpy trill and grunts, as she sat down “Fine, I will sit down, but you wouldn’t understand, watching someone important to you taking such risk, and just before his cubs are due too” she then leans back in the chair “Cookies and Icecream please, and a big cup of soda.. the replicator should know what I prefer by now”
Carlos looks to the science officer, Sieth “Sieth, grab them, will you? You’ve been wanting to earn some points with the Captain.” Carlos then kneels and looks to Sejea “Look, you and I may not be on the best of terms cause of that message I sent you when the Captain was taken, but I do understand, I had to watch my wife go on missions like this all the time, not to mention my past hosts own experiences, now, deep breathes eat your snacks and we will keep you updated” he said as he moved back to the Captain’s chair
Sieth, the science officer, comes over with the requested items, and a tray that he fixed to the console, and he smiles after putting them all down, putting the cup of soda in a drink holder on the tray, then he puts down a spoon for the ice cream “Enjoy Commander, let me know if you need anything else” he said before he headed off to his station
Tisa on Ops looked over at Carlos and cleared his throat “Commander, Nightingale reports that the team have secured the Captain of the second escort, and the Captain has reported that he has captured the team leader, both are ready to be beamed to the brig, and we can send engieering and medical support to the Kitten when ready”
Sejea looked over at Ops for a moment before she turned back to the screen that was showing H’Ltol’s vitals as well as the others of the security team he was with, grumbling a little “No idea, why they all keep calling me Commander, I am on leave” she mumbled to herself before she started to eat a mix of the cookies provided and spoonfuls of ice cream
Carlos nodded slowly and stretched “Beam the prisoners over, and get the Kitten to send the critical wounded over, alert sickbays to prepare for incoming wounded. After that we will send over engineering teams to get them moving again, with medical following for the less seriously wounded”
The Defender would start receiving the more critically wounded officers from the U.S.S. Kitten, with Sejea adjusting her console to start helping with identifying and sorting the wounded by what care they would need, helping take some pressure off the waiting sickbays, who with Rria’s help would already start to treat the more serious injuries, hours would then soon pass, with the Caitian group of Six Caitian Shikaris Escorts, two Atrox Class vessels and One Aspero carrier arriving shortly after the Defender had helped restore power to the U.S.S. Kitten
With the Caitian forces arriving, the Security teams from the Defender returned to the ship, with H’Ltol returning to the bridge. He was greeted by Sejea, who moved to hug him quickly, before her medical training kicked in, and she checked over his wounds, even as H’Ltol moved to the centre of the bridge, whose walking pace matched Sejea’s.
Carlos was standing on the bridge, just in front of the Captain’s chair as he grunted softly as he looked to the brown furred Caitian female on screen “Captain M’Grora, I respectfully disagree, the Captain’s of these three ships and the team leader that was on the U.S.S. Kitten, are better in Federation hands, Black Claw is clearly” Carlos spotted H’Ltol out of the corner of his eye “Welcome back Captain, I was just explaining to Captain M’Grora”
P’Tiarr, the brown furred Captain on screen, would cut Carlos off “He was trying to explain why your teams boarded the Black Claw vessels and took the Commanding officers into your custody, given this group is a Caitian one, the CDF is treating this as an internal issue”
H’Ltol sighs softly and looks to P’Tiarr on the view screen, allowing Sejea to scan him for injuries and check on him “Captain, Black claw attacked a Federation vessel, and they are a risk to Federation security. The officers we took are of vital importance to intelligence to make sure the group is not trying to make inroads into the 38th Fleet’s area of operations, not to mention they might be able to help provide information on who keeps supplying them with weapons and equipment”
P’Tiarr grunts and then looks to H’Ltol “My group’s second in command will be beaming over, I will make my report to my commanding officer, for now we will handle securing and returning these ships and their crews” she then ends the call with an audible growl
H’Ltol looks to Carlos and purrs gently “Good work, Major. Call our teams back once they have completed their tasks. We will need to get underway once I am done speaking to this second in command. When they get here, send them to my ready room. Update me if anything else changes”
H’Ltol carefully leads Sejea to the ready room, where she then quickly hugged him tightly and sighed, before Sejea spoke “That is for coming back mostly unhurt.” She then slapped H’Ltol across the face “That is for worrying me and burning your fur”
H’Ltol would nod slowly and sit her down on the sofa “Sit… please, we will be back at warp soon” He then rubbed his cheek sorely and grunted “Also.. ow”
Shortly after the Leopard and Black tails returned to the Defender, an officer would beam over from the C.D.S. Striker, he would then ring the doorbell to the ready room, and after being let in, the newly promoted Captain C’Roren M’Grora would step through the door in his C.D.F. Command officer uniform “Captain, Commander” he said in a formal tone
H’Ltol would now be sitting on the sofa next to Sejea, reading from a padd, but hearing C’Roren’s voice, he would stand up and give a small grin “Well, look what the Cat dragged back.. Nice to see you.. Captain”
C’Roren walks over and shakes H’Ltol’s left hand, purring as he does so, whilst holding a padd under his right arm “Nice to see you two again.. Congrats by the way.. though I am not here on personal matters..” he said, offering H’Ltol the padd he had with him “Need you to do a check with your family, see if anyone has had any shipments go missing, they have plenty of contacts in the shipping world, as all the gear is all stamped as Caitian products..”
H’Ltol and Sejea looked at each other, shocked, and after agreeing to let the Striker follow the Defender back to DS-13 to give them more time to talk and catch up, the Defender and Caitian Escort would depart at Highwarp, leaving some unawnsered questions about how Black Claw kept popping back up, as well as who was supplying them with arms and equipment, but that was a worry for another bay, the attack had been stopped crews had been saved, and besides the Sh’ow and Kala families had bigger things to worry about right now
OOC This story has been left vague in places to open the opportunity for future stories/Rps with the group Black Claw and the questions around it.Characters used with permission of the relevant players.