OOC Please note this story is an explanation of the events before H’Ltol’s return/just before his return and the brief IC reasons as to what caused him to take a leave of absence, the details of which will be explored in later stories and Rps
Time to get back into the Saddle
Sometimes you don’t know the answer
On Bajor, H’Ltol was busy working away in a field on the Kala family farm, he would only stop to check just how much he had left to go, then his ears twitch, as he hears his three boys running through one of the fields along side the one he was working on, chuckling as he notices Ekko chasing the kids through the planted crops that helped the smaller Caitian boys hide and disappear
H’Ltol smiles warmly and then calls out “Careful, Dad! They are younger than you!” He then chuckles again, as he quickly finishes up the field he was planting, and then moves to lean on the fence that separates the fields, watching carefully
Priso, Sejea’s mother, soon slowly walks over to H’Ltol and watches Ekko playing with the kids, and she smiles as well “It seems Ekko is handling the kids being up and about well”
H’Ltol gives a small nod and purrs gently as he glances to Priso “He seems to be Mom, luckily the kids can’t run all that fast yet.. but their Caitian Genes are certainly helping them develop quicker than I expected”
Priso smiles warmly, and she moves to pat H’Ltol on the back “Won’t be long before you are watching them go off into the galaxy on their own, though hopefully you will have given us more grandkids by then, maybe even a girl or two”
H’Ltol chuckles gently as he looks to Priso and smiles, then as he opens his mouth to speak, he is cut off by the sound of type-14 shuttle engines filling the air, as a shuttle flies over the farm and towards the guest landing padd out the front of the farmhouse, with the four fighters escorting it breaking off and heading back towards their carrier ship
Priso smiles warmly and then looks to H’Ltol “It looks like we have guests” she then calls out to Ekko and the Kids “Ekko.. boys, come, we have guests” she said before heading off towards the landing padd, followed by Ekko, the three Bajoran/Caitian Hybrids and even H’Ltol
Once they get to the walkway towards the landing pad, the group stop a few feet from the shuttle to watch who is arriving, the three young boys standing behind H’Ltol’s legs, with Ruv peaking from the left side of H’Ltol, H’Norish peaking through the gap in H’Ltol’s legs, and Sr’osin peaking from the right side of H’Ltol, as the group watches a Trill woman in her early 30s, in a Starfleet Captain’s uniform, step out of the shuttle and step towards the group
The Trill Captain soon then speaks up and gives a small wave “Hello there, I was hoping to speak to Captain Sh’ow, it is about his ship” She said, taking another step towards H’Ltol, Ekko, Priso and the three boys
H’Ltol looks over the Trill women, and then looks at Ekko and Priso “Is it alright if I talk to her out back, Mom and Dad?” he asks, still asking permission despite how he was basically adopted by the Bajoran pair, even before he married their daughter
Ekko gives a small nod and stretches a little “Very well.. I will go and make something for the kids to eat, they must be getting hungry, plus you have been working hard” he then started to head inside
Priso then looks down at her grandkids and smiles “You coming, boys?” She asks, before she starts to walk back towards the house
The three kids all remain by H’Ltol, shaking their heads, to say no as they then look at the Trill Captain
H’Ltol smiles warmly and then looks to Priso “I will come and bring them in soon, don’t worry” he then started to walk out to the fields in the back, with the kids following him, as did the Trill Captain “So, Captain.. what brings you here?” He asks as he walks alongside the Trill, his three boys still walking around with H’Ltol, near H’Ltol’s legs, but H’Ltol was used to this, so took smaller, more careful steps to avoid knocking his kids over or tripping over them
The Trill Captain smiles warmly and looks to H’Ltol and then to the three boys “Well, I came here to get you back to duty, after all the Defender needs her Captain” she said in a soft tone, not raising her voice too much “You have been off the bridge too long, Scar”
H’Ltol stops in the field and looks to the Captain, tilting his head and raising what looks like an eyebrow “Hmmm.. not been called that in a while..” he seemed to be studying the trill Captain “As for my ship, I have plenty of leave time left, and they assigned a temporary Captain, so I can recover”
The Trill nods and smiles warmly, chuckling gently “Yep.. the last time was when I handed you my ship.. and then you blew it up” she said as she looks up at the taller Caitian
H’Ltol kneels carefully, the three boys remaining behind H’Ltol almost hiding from the stranger “Lusse?” he tilts his head again as he is eye level with the trill
Asiah smiles warmly and puts a hand on H’Ltol’s shoulder “It is Asiah Tirrim now, currently the temporary commander for the Defender. In your absence, we are due to finish the inspection and resupply.. You should go back” she then looks at the boys and smiles warmly “Nice to meet you boys..” she then looks back at H’Ltol “Congrats by the way”
H’Ltol gives a smile and then purrs gently “It is nice to see you again, old woman.. and thank you, Sejea and I are very proud of our boys.. they are developing so quickly” he then stretches a little and purrs softly again “As for returning to my ship.. I am not sure” he said in a lower tone of voice
Ruv’s ears twitch as does his nose, and he starts to wander off towards the house, the two other cubs following him as they mew and purr gently, seemingly hearing or smelling something
Asiah looks at H’Ltol and smiles warmly as she then looks to H’Ltol “Come on.. You faced the Borg, Iconians, Terrans, and other things. Yet you are backing away from command cause of a bad dream?”
H’Ltol goes to speak, but this time Ruv comes back over to H’Ltol and tugs on H’Ltol’s leg and puts his arms up as if asking for uppies “Food” Ruv manages to say as he mews and purrs gently
H’Ltol slowly leans down and picks Ruv up and smiles warmly “Alright.. I will come for food” he then looks to Asiah “Want to come? There is always extra”
Asiah nods slowly and then follows H’Ltol as the tall Caitian carries Ruv back to the farmhouse and sets the boy down next to his brother’s at the table, before sitting down himself
Ekko would carefully dish up the food, with all having forms of Hasperat, with Ekko and Priso having rather regular versions, H’Ltol getting one that had meat mixed in, and the cubs getting the same, only slightly smaller, with Asiah getting one of each, with extras on plates in the centre “Eat up everyone, you young boys need to grow up big and strong.. and you son, need to keep up your strength”
Asiah smiles and looks to Ekko “Thank you, Mr and Mrs Kala, I hope I am not overstaying my welcome”
Priso smiles and looks to Asiah as she takes a bite of her Hasperat “Nope.. you are more than welcome, we always make extra, as you never know who will come to visit.” She looks to H’Ltol for a moment, then back to Asiah “So.. why are you here?”
H’Ltol would be carefully helping the boys eat, mainly to try and cut down on the mess, helping show the boys how to eat their Hasperat rolls, though they seemed to struggle to keep them in one piece
Asiah would look at H’Ltol for a moment they back to Priso “I came to see about asking H’Ltol to return to duty. I have been filling in as the Commanding officer of his ship since he went off on leave”
Ekko gives a small nod and then sits down, starting to eat his Hasperat “So, how are the crew of the Defender?” he asks, changing the subject, not wanting to press about H’Ltol’s return unless H’Ltol wanted him too
Asiah smiles warmly as she takes a bite of the Hasperat that had meat mixed in “They are alright, we have been busy with Black Claw clean up operations” she said as she looks to H’Ltol “They are eager to have their Captain back though”
H’Ltol looks to Asiah and then grunts softly, as he carefully helps Ruv with eating a mouthful of Hasperat “Their, Captain, is still enjoying time with his family” he said in a more stern tone of voice “I don’t recall Starfleet setting a timetable on my time off, given the nature of my recovery”
Asiah looks to H’Ltol and sighs softly as she finishes her first Hasperat, then nods slowly “That is true.. but you can’t sit around forever, it won’t do you any good, you know that”
Priso takes a sip of water, and then looks to H’Ltol, giving a small nod slowly “The Captain is right, Son, we all know you need to go back sooner or later”
H’Ltol carefully wipes Sr’osin’s mouth and then looks to Priso and Ekko “I know Mom and Dad, but it was my understanding that I was welcome to stay as long as I needed to, unless I am no longer welcome to stay?” he asks, a hurt look crossing his face at the thought of it, clearly it pained him to even suggest it
Ekko shakes his head quickly and looks to H’Ltol “Me and Priso are in no way suggesting that son, you, Sejea and the cubs are always welcome, as is Rria, Sarah and R’Nol, nothing will change that” he takes a deep breath and then sighs “We are simply suggesting, going back now might be for the best, after all, you do only settle properly when Sejea is here, as you worry about her missions”
Asiah nods slowly and looks to H’Ltol “Plus, when you are on the Defender, you can better work with her and keep her safe, plus it might help you better understand what happened to you” she suggests, knowing her former XO, she knew that backing down would only make it worse
Hearing Sejea’s name, all three cubs meow and mew loudly, as they look at H’Ltol, as if saying they want to go see her, before H’Norish speaks up “Want.. Mom” The young boy says, as all three whimper
H’Ltol rubs his eyes gently as he looks to the boys, and sees their large feline eyes, playing on his emotions too, and their ability to get around him “Look.. Asiah.. Mom Dad.. I don’t even fully understand what I went through. How can I return without understanding?”
Ekko looks to H’Ltol and moves to put a hand on H’Ltol’s left shoulder “Son, we don’t always understand the path the prophets laid out for us, but we walk it all the same” he then smiles warmly “After all, they guided you and Sejea back together after all that time, it must have been for a good reason”
H’Ltol slowly stands up and looks to Asiah then to Ekko and Priso “I.. will go and pack.. I need to make sure I don’t forget any of the boys’ things” he said as he disappeared upstairs, sighing as he did so, knowing they were all right
Asiah, Ekko and Priso, all carefully take the three boys out to the shuttle and start putting them into safety seats, as the cubs all fussed, clearly wondering where their dad was
Ekko looks to Asiah “Nice touch with the child seats for the shuttle, this isn’t standard, is it?”
Asiah smiles warmly as she finishes securing Ruv to the seat “On the Defender, it is, the crew have modified all shuttles, to have the ability for the seats to quickly convert to safety ones for the kids”
Priso moved to hug each of the cubs one to one and kiss them on the forehead “So.. what will you do after H’Ltol returns to Command?” she asks, as she carefully brushes the fur the boys cheeks one by one, as well
Asiah looks to Priso and smiles “I will return to the U.S.S. Nicolas. She is an older ship, but serves me well, after myself, the Kitten and Swordfish escort the Defender back to DS-13, we will be returning to our duties”
H’Ltol appears in the shuttle doorway, holding two large duffel bags. He then moves to the rear of the shuttle and secures them in lockers, as he looks to the group “All packed, needed to make sure I don’t forget the boys’ stuffed toys.. they can’t sleep without them”
Priso and Ekko move to hug H’Ltol, as H’Ltol purrs gently, and then Ekko speaks after stepping back “I expect you all back here for Berajin, you helped with this year’s crop, least you can do is celebrate its harvest”
H’Ltol nods slowly and smiles warmly, purring gently “I will let Sejea know we are expected home for the event, but you know how hard it is for her to give up work sometimes”
The pair give a small knowing nod, then step off the shuttle, giving H’Ltol and the cubs a wave before stepping back a few steps so they are clear of the shuttle
H’Ltol quickly checks on the cubs, clearly a worrier, he makes sure all seats are secure before moving to the co-pilot’s seat and sits down “Ready, Captain”
Asiah then smiles and starts to take off towards the Defender in Orbit “Then, let’s get back to the ship”
H’Ltol glances over at the cubs as they reach orbit, and start to fly through space towards the Defender with the shuttle taking a slow bank around the saucer of the ship, and H’Ltol smiles as he spots the cubs’ eyes going wide at the sights of space
Asiah slowly lands the shuttle in the bay, and then opens the door, revealing Carlos and Security teams five and six, who had formed up in two neat rows, starting at each side of the shuttle door and heading away from it
H’Ltol unbuckles the kids and picks them up one by one and purrs gently as he steps from the shuttle, and spots the security teams “Well, this is a welcome”
Carlos clears his throat and looks down the lines “Captain on Deck!”
The two lines all snap to attention, their ballistic rifles on their shoulders, looking less like explorers and more like Soldiers on Parade, all dressed in Starfleet excursion security uniforms
H’Ltol clears his throat and looks around, having sensed the whole deck jumping to attention due to Carlos’ shouting like he does “At Ease, everyone,” he said as he then looks to Carlos “Carlos, I need to go put these boys in their room. I take it Rria and Sarah are on board?” he asks as he started to walk towards the turbolifts outside the shuttlebay
Carlos follows H’Ltol and nods slowly “Yes Captain, Doctor Sh’ow has applied to be Civillian Doctor on the ship, and given no one raised any issues, we just let her tag along. Sarah is trickier; she is looking to stay here and be a babysitter”
H’Ltol steps into the turbolift, watching as crew salute him as he passes, even though he was out of uniform “We will work it out.. I heard she was debating making the move from Starfleet. I was unaware she had made the jump”
Carlos gives a small nod and then smiles, as he carefully tussles the fur on Ruv’s head “Yes, sir, it appears she wants a quieter life” The lift slowly started to move towards Captain’s room on Deck 16
H’Ltol grunts softly and looks to Carlos as he smiles “Quieter life.. here?” he chuckles softly and looks to the lift doors “She does know what ship she wants to stay on, right?” he then steps out onto the deck
Carlos does to speak but is cut off as Rria comes over and takes Ruv and Sr’osin from H’Ltol and starts to carry them back to their room on the Defender, with Carlos clearing his throat as he speaks “It appears she does, sir”
Sarah comes over, the Human woman with black hair tied tightly back in a ponytail, was now dressed in a light blue shirt and white trousers. She carefully takes H’Norish from H’Ltol “We will get these three settled, you have a ship to run”
H’Ltol blinks a few times and looks to Carlos “I will go get into uniform, you mind getting the Senior staff together for a meeting before we leave?”
Carlos gives a small nod “I will do, sir. You will need to meet the new XO, Science chief, Tactical Chief, Medical chief and Operations Chief sooner rather than later” he then looks to H’Ltol and smiles “Good to have you back, sir”
H’Ltol looks to Carlos and frowns gently “How many.. during these operations?”
Carlos clears his throat gently “We.. ran five joint operations with the CDF, whilst you have been gone, over the five we lost over 200 people sir, including the Sieth, and Haituk, Tiroh however was badly injured.. she recovered but requested a transfer back home and Tisa, left for another post sir” he then stretches for a moment “Sunin then left after the recommendation from you, saw her offered a promotion to Captain and command of the newly launched U.S.S. Queen Elizabeth, Jupiter Class I believe”
H’Ltol gives a small nod and then sighs softly, his ears folding back against his head a little “Didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye..” He then looks to Carlos after glancing down at the floor “I will be an hour, I want the meeting then,” he said as he walked off towards his room, almost feeling like he failed his crew that had died by not being here
Carlos nods and salutes H’Ltol, before heading off to the bridge, with the staff all running around preparing for departure, each glad to have their Captain back, and even with the losses they faced during his time away, having him and the cubs back on board seemed to lift spirits, even more so, as the crew spotted the cubs being taken around the ship to see the newly build class room and play area for them, with the ship departing back to DS-13 after the senior staff meeting, and the changing of command, with the Defender being escorted back to DS-13, by the U.S.S. Kitten, Nicolas and Swordfish