R'Nol Sh'ow Personal Stories

[HLtol]

OOC This area will be used for short stories involving R’Nol Sh’ow and, at times, the wider Sh’ow family. As with H’Ltol, given the lack of Information around Caitian’s and Cait itself, I am using Fan lore and some creative license to fill in blanks. If anything is wrong, please let me know.

Sometimes you have to Step Up

Part One, Arrival

Caitian Cityscape view from the Shuttlecraft

A Shuttlecraft from the U.S.S. Ecstasea was slowly descending from orbit to a series of coordinates that R’Nol who was sat in the co-pilot’s seat, had given the young trill Lt who had offered to pilot him home, and whilst this young pilot was in the correct uniform, R’Nol however was not and was dressed in a black jacket, with blue highlights, a black pair of combat trousers and boots, and his Starfleet combadge being held in his left hand, as a Caitian combadge in his family colours was pinned to his jacket

The Pilot glances over at R’Nol for a moment and gives a small smile “Only a few minutes away from the landing location, sir, want me to hang around after I drop you off to take you back?”

R’Nol goes to speak but before he can, his Caitian combadge chirped to life, with a series of two Long beeps, then three rapid short beeps, then another two long and finally four short rapid beeps, and after glancing down towards the cityscape as he then speaks “No Pilot, drop me off then head back, the Captain will be needing her own lift here to visit my brother?” he said as he stood up and walked towards the shuttle exit door, ready to leave the moment the shuttle touched down

The Pilot landed on an old and seemingly disused landing pad in an older part of the Caitian City they had approached, with him glancing back at R’Nol “Sir, you sure about that? The Captain is going to wonder where you are?”

R’Nol quickly checks he has his replica family ballistic pistol on the holster on his hip and then puts his Starfleet combadge on the inner hull of the shuttle “I am sure, I need to find who is behind this Lt, and I would rather fight the whole CDF bare fisted than Sister when she is angry, if she asks, tell her I am visiting family and will be back soon”

The Pilot turns back to his console, having not noticed R’Nol hiding his Starfleet combadge on the shuttle, and opens the exit ramp “Alright, Commander, good luck, see you back on the ship later”

R’Nol stepped off the shuttle and watched it fly away from the planet’s surface, with it flying past the U.S.S. Defender in orbit before it jumped to warp. And once he was sure the shuttle had left him behind, R’Nol started walking through the older streets of this Caitian city, passing security and local people. He would soon find himself in an old, run-down bar, with him walking up to the bar and clearing his throat “A bottle of local ale”

The bartender, a tall, Caitian with white fur, who was missing patches of fur, and had an eye patch over her right eye, with a few chunks of flesh missing from her ears, clearly this Caitian was a war Veteran “We don’t serve your kind here”

R’Nol blinked a few times and looked at the Bartender and grunted softly “You don’t serve Caitians here?” he asks, as he leans on the bar, his accent and appearance having drawn the attention of a group of Caitians sat at a table near the bar, all five of these Caitians had on CDF Uniforms, all with security department colours on

The Bartender growled back after eyeing up R’Nol “Starfleet, now how about you leave before there is trouble? We don’t like Starfleet around here, kid, and Sh’ow Starfleet officers even less.” she said, turning around to start cleaning some of the used glasses at her bar

The Five Caitians from the table slowly stood up, all being the same height as R’Nol but more muscular and well built, with them walking over and growling, with the leader of the group a Caitian with brown fur, speaking up “You heard her, Starfleet, get out of here, before we have to get physical, one of you Sh’ow kids is already in the hospital… doubt your Mam wants the other in there too”

R’Nol turns around and growls as he looks over the group, forming his hands into fists “I am here for a drink, last time I checked, any Caitian can come in here and ask for a drink.” he said as he looked around the group

The group all laughed at R’Nol and his attempts to seem intimidating, with them all folding their arms and growling in return, as their group leader speaks up again “I would walk away, kid, being scary ain’t your style, maybe leave that to your brother, if he survives his visit home”

R’Nol, hearing this, he quickly grabs a bottle from the bar and breaks it over the leader’s head, knocking the Caitian back as he growls “You better watch your mouth!.. I ain’t going to take any bad mouthing of my family”

Soon after regaining his bearings, the group leader would lunge at R’Nol, with a fist fight quickly breaking out in the bar between R’Nol and the five CDF officers, and whilst R’Nol was outnumbered he still managed to get in a few good hits, despite the beating he was taking by the group, this would carry on from a few minutes unoberseved before a group of four of R’Nol’s cousins would happen to walk by on partrol

The oldest of the Cousins M’Nirr a Caitian male with a light grey fur tone, was the first to spot the fight, and he would stop at the window to the bar and peer, inside, being only twenty he was leading his younger siblings on a foot patrol of one of the older parts of town “Hey you three, I think our cousin is in there getting his arse handed to him”

Croaw, M’Tiia and R’Teia all quickly joined their brother at the window and peered inside, with R’Teia being the first to speak up, the youngest of the group at 17, the female with red fur stood out like a sore thumb with three of her brothers “You think it is scar or patch?”

Croaw, a black furred Caitian male, would rub his chin with his right hand and purr softly “Nah, I think Scar is in the hospital, injured somehow, I heard Aunt R’Nulish talking about it with Mam”

M’Tiia would be the last to speak up, his dark grey fur almost hiding him in the background shadows from the lights of the bar “Must be patch, maybe we should go help him… I mean, five on one is hardly a fair fight”

R’Teia would look at M’Nirr “Isn’t he meant to be back on his ship and off-world by now?”

M’Nirr stood back from the window and brought out his padd to call his mother, whilst Croaw and M’Tiia would shout to R’Nol in the bar “You got this, Patch, kick their arses!”

After a brief but heated conversation with his mother, M’Nirr would rejoin the group, before signalling them all to join in the fight in the bar, with all four of the cousins helping even up the odds of the battle

Soon after the cousins joined the fight, two armed dark grey furred Caitians in CDF Black uniforms with purple colour accents would walk into the bar, with the one on his right taking out his phased tetyrone pistol and firing it into the ceiling of the bar, bringing an end to the fight, and after getting the CDF security officers to walk away, the one on the left went and checked on the younger Caitians, as the one that fired his pistol walked over to R’Nol and forced him to sit at a bar stood

The Grey furred male with his hair style being that of a tied back pony tail, would then speak as he pours a glass of whiskey for himself and R’Nol “So… nephew, you finally decided to visit our little corner of the world… and you get my sons and one of my daughters involved in a fist fight, barely an hour into your visit”

R’Nol would spit out some blood onto the floor, and take the drink, downing it as he growls “I had it under control, a few bruises and cuts are nothing, had worse” he said as he looks at his uncle “What are you doing here, Uncle Cserr anyway?”

Cserr would sip his drink and look to R’Nol “My wife told me our kids spotted you in a fight during their patrol. The real question is, what are you doing here? Didn’t the General order the Defender to break orbit and ask all Sh’ow’s to give the planet a wide berth to avoid risk to H’Ltol?” He would glance over at the young cubs, who luckily had avoided much more than a black eye and a few busted lips. He gestures for them to head home

The young cubs would leave the bar and grunt in pain a little as they sigh softly, knowing they are in trouble, as the other officer would assume a position to guard the door

R’Nol looks to Cserr and sighs softly as he leans back against the bar “That is why I am here, the death threats, them stopping H’Ltol’s wife and cubs visiting… We need to find out what is going on”

Cserr would sip his drink again and nod slowly and purr gently “And we are, covertly with Caitian Internal Affairs, not by getting into bar fights and risking your career”

R’Nol looks to Cserr and growls softly as he tightens his grip on the bar before standing up “Uncle, if my newest sister comes here with the cubs to see H’Ltol and is refused entry, how do you think that is going to go? Please, you have to have a lead”

Cserr would rub his eyes and sigh softly as he looked to R’Nol “Look, we have one, which we were on our way to look into before you got into that fight. We think the threats are internal, but we need proof” Cserr would stand up and gesture for R’Nol to follow them “Come on”

Cserr, his partner and R’Nol would work their way through the busy Caitian streets and soon reach an old apartment building, with them going inside it, heading to an apartment on the top floor, overlooking another apartment building, and then meeting up with another two family agents who are monitoring a series of screens

R’Nol grunted gently and walked up to one of the monitors and looked over it, before he then glanced to Cserr “So… what is this lead of yours?”

Cserr carefully stretches and points to the monitor “We are monitoring a meeting in the next building between whom we believe are a group of people behind the death threats. For now, I would settle in. This might be a while until we find out anything, then we need to find someone to get some information from” Cserr would gesture to a small military cot in the corner of the room

R’Nol would move to sit down as he grabs a tissue and starts to clean up the blood from his face fur as he grunts “All this time and still nothing but some ears dropping and sneaking around”

Cserr chuckles gently and moves to sit next to his nephew as he sighs gently “Nephew, what do you want us to do? burst in, guns blazing, and risk getting people killed and losing our only leads?” he stretches a little, groaning softly “I know our family used to be assassins and criminals, but things have changed, despite what some rumours might suggest, plus this might involve people high up in the CDF”

R’Nol nods slowly and sighs gently, then hisses as he dabs his lip with the tissue “Yeah, talked about it with Kas from the Defender, isolating him, cutting off access and comms to him, if Kas wanted to kill him without risking others in the crossfire, this is how he would do it”

Cserr would chuckle softly and then look to R’Nol “It is how we would do it too, not that we still do things like that, but you have to admit, the change in security, C’Roren being escorted away in cuffs, transporter inhibitors in the hospitals, which hasn’t been done since the Iconian war I will remind you, limiting Sh’ow family movements, that can all only be done from high up in the goverment”

R’Nol nods slowly and hissed in pain as he caught the cut on his lip again “Where is C’Roren and his wife anyway? I thought they were handling H’Ltol’s security, you know, at Sejea and Rria’s request” he then leans down and picks up a bottle of water from the side of the cot and sips from it

Cserr would look at his nephew again “Last I heard from my people at the hospital, he was escorted away due to being a security risk. When he tried to resist, they sent him back to his ship in cuffs and ordered him, his wife and their task group out of the system on military patrols. They asked the Defender to leave, too, but well, the new XO of his is buying time however she can, both with command and the CDF staff, heard rumours she is ready to go in and get H’Ltol herself if nothing comes of it”

R’Nol takes another sip from the water bottle and gives a sigh looking to his uncle “It ain’t no rumour, last I heard Commander Kas was training four of the ships security teams on how to repeal to the hospital roof from the Leopard’s shuttle bay, and having a shuttle modified to carry H’Ltol back to the ship to avoid the risk of a transport”

Cserr pats his nephew’s back gently before he stands up slowly “Doubt that Commander will do anything without orders, for now, get some sleep, I will wake you up when we have some information, it will be a few hours yet” he then stands up, and walks way from the cot, grabbing a padd to make a call to his wife as he sighs softly

R’Nol would curl up on the cot, and after a few moments of trying to get comfy, he would close his eyes and fall to sleep, groaning in pain a little as he did so

Cserr would watch over R’Nol from the doorway that leads out of the room they were in, with him sighing as his wife appeared on the padd in front of him “He is definitely your brother’s kid, that is for sure, my love”

M’Nora, a white furred Caitian female, would appear on the padd screen and giggle softly as she then looked to her husband “I take it our nephew has finally gone to sleep then?” she said as she purrs softly

Cserr nodded slowly and looked to the padd “Yeah, it seems he needs the sleep, letting him rest till the teams arrive and we get the info we need, seems the kid ain’t willing to leave without fixing this”

M’Nora would frown softly and then sigh gently “My brother did teach them to be loyal to the family, and to end fights, not start them, but the security teams should be there in an hour, plenty of time for him to rest, unless you’re planning on sending him home”

Cserr looks over at R’Nol from the padd and gives a sigh “You got me to put this uniform on, to play CDF, can’t send him packing now, he seems willing to help, plus he is just as stubborn as H’Morri ever was”

M’Nora purrs gently and gives a warm smile, then giggles softly “Just like his older brother, please keep an eye on him, I dislike the way things are happening, I worry there is more to this than just spending my nephew some death threats”

Cserr would nod slowly and return his gaze to his wife on the padd “Me too, though, how is preparing to head to DS-13 coming? Freighter all packed and ready?”

M’Nora gives a soft sigh and rubs her eyes “That General’s orders are delaying my departure, I have already had to call ahead and delay my meeting, why do you ask?” She asks, tilting her head

Cserr purrs softly and glances over at R’Nol again, then back to his wife on the padd “He is gonna need a ride home after this, and either way, I doubt the Defender is leaving anytime soon, mind taking him with? after all, you’re going to interview that friend of his”

M’Nora would nod a few times and then give a smile “I will see about delaying things, after all our supplies are only loaded shortly before we depart, not to mention that, security checks and ship checks take time, I will make sure we can give him a lift back”

After a few more minutes on the call, Cserr would end the call with his wife, before checking in with the two other people, in the small apartment they were in, before he returned to the room R’Nol was laid down in, and sits down near the wall, keeping an ear open for any updates, or any restlessness from his nephew with him reading over the information on his padd as time slowly started to pass

OOC End of Part One, this story is broken up into three parts to avoid each part being too long

[HLtol]

Sometimes you have to Step Up

Part Two, Revelation

Artist Rendering of the Caitian Apartment R'Nol is in

After a few hours, R’Nol would stir from his sleep, breathing rapidly and sweating badly as he sat up quickly and looked around the room, grunting slowly, with him then looking out the window at the Caitian Cityscape, with him sliding out of the bed he was laid in, unknown to R’Nol in the other room was his uncle, and a heavily armed and armoured Caitian team ready to storm the niebouring apartment to the one he was currently in, hearing his nephew moving around Cserr would slowly come into the room, with R’Nol glancing over at him

R’Nol adjusts the T-shirt that had previously been hidden under his jacket, as he looks to his uncle “How long was I out?” he asks, before grabbing his jacket off the end of the bed and pulling it on carefully

Cserr would put a fresh bottle of water down on the bedside table, and he grunts softly “About three hours, it took us that long to get the information we needed, and for our team to get here, though it sounded like you had a bad dream, want to talk about it?”

R’Nol took the water bottle from the dresser and then opened it and took a sip, before he shook his head “Nope, it was just a nightmare, people dying, nothing that isn’t normal at this point”

Cserr then nods slowly and gestures for R’Nol to follow him “Alright, then follow me, time for the briefing, then we head in” Cserr walked out of the bedroom and into the main living area of the apartment, moving to stand near a large table with a floor plan on it, around the table was also a heavily armored and armed Caitian officer, his gear matching closely to what both the CDF and the PMC black claw used

R’Nol followed his uncle and grunted softly “So… we are working with black claw now? Guess the fact they nearly killed H’Ltol doesn’t mean anything?” he said as he stood at the table and looked over the floor plan

The team leader is an older white furred Caitian, whose fur was only revealed after he removed his helmet. He then grunts and looks to R’Nol “We are Sh’ow security kid, just cause the gear looks the same doesn’t mean we are who you think we are, now shall we get this briefing started?”

Cserr then points to the floor plan “Alright, so here is a floor plan of the apartment we are breaching, the security team will be hanging around outside and ensuring that no one escapes, myself, R’Nol, my partner and two other security officers will breach the apartment, quietly, and take down anyone inside, we need at least one person alive to tell us what is going on, so try not to shoot to kill”

R’Nol nods slowly and looks over the floor plan for a moment, taking a note of the dots on the plan and rubs his chin “Very well”

Cserr points to a point in the centre of the main living area of the neighbouring apartment “This is where we believe their main communication console is. We go in quietly, take out as many as we can, and try to keep this intact”

Shortly after a nod of agreement from each team, the briefing would continue, before after the team all moved quickly and quietly to surround the nearby apartment, with R’Nol, Cserr, and three other officers quietly sneaking into the building and upstairs, with R’Nol stacking up on one side of the door with one of the officers, with Cserr and two others on the other side of the door, after Cserr quietly picks the lock he slowly opens the door, just enough to peak inside, after confirming it is clear the team would move in

Cserr and the two other officers are going towards the left side of the apartment, with the muffled sounds of struggling heard shortly after, as they engage in hand-to-hand combat, to avoid using their weapons and spooking anyone else in the apartment

R’Nol however, is not so lucky, as he slowly enters the main living area of the apartment, a loud shot rings out as one of the two people there spots him and fires, causing him to take the bullet to his left side, he would grunt before quickly leveling his pistol at the chest of the hostile and firing, then quickly aiming and firing towards the man’s head, causing him to fall to the ground

The one remaining Caitian, a dark brown furred man, quickly drops his weapon and throws his hands up “Wait… don’t shoot, please…” he would back up against the wall

R’Nol signals the officer with him to proceed deeper into the apartment. As R’Nol grunts and slowly stands up after he checks on his wound, he then moves over to the Caitian and puts his pistol to the young man’s head “Tell me everything… it is your only chance to get out of this alive”

The Caitian who was roughly R’Nol’s age looks at R’Nol and blinks a few times “Wait… R’Nol, is that you? It is me, M’Nol, you know from school?” He said, giving a weak smile, hoping it would help him get some mercy

R’Nol would grunt, and after hearing that name, he quickly struck the male with his gun, knocking him out. He then grabs a set of cuffs from his belt and puts them on M’Nol, with him shortly joined by his uncle and the other members of the team

Cserr grunts softly and looks to R’Nol, then to M’Nol, who is cuffed and slumped on the floor “Well, I see you captured one at least, so time to find out what is going on, whilst we question this one, our teams will break into the console”

R’Nol would move to drag M’Nol over to a nearby chair and force him to sit in it, as he then steps back and looks to his uncle “You sure you want me in the room for this?” he asked as he folded his arms, purring softly as he did so

Cserr nodded and walked over to M’Nol and tapped the male Caitian on the head, as the other agents moved to start looking over the console in the room “Yes, R’Nol, sometimes you need to get your fur dirty; this is one of those times”

M’Nol slowly stirred and looked up at Cserr and then to R’Nol “Hey… look, I don’t know what you think I know, but…” he would get cut off by a slap across the face from Cserr

Cserr growls loudly and looks to M’Nol “You are here, meeting with people that are sending death threats to several hospitals across Cait. Tell me what you know, and maybe the government will go easy on you”

R’Nol watches, standing back a little, he was clearly uncomfortable with questioning in this manner, combat he was fine with, but already he didn’t like what was going on

M’Nol grunts softly and looks up to Cserr and then to R’Nol for a moment “All I know is someone calls us, covered by a filter and told us about a Traitor to the Caitian people, and if we target the hospitals, there is a chance they will move him and we can grab him”

Cserr growls and punches M’Nol hard in the jaw “What else did they tell you about this Caitian that is your target?” he said as he grunted a little clearly, Cserr was no stranger to a more physical interrogation

M’Nol hisses and then growls as he looks up at Cserr “Oh come on… even you lot have to have heard about him… having kids with a Bajoran, almost dying by Starfleet’s hands, being the head of one of the worst families Cait has seen, full of assassinations, criminals and thugs”

Cserr growls softly and punches M’Nol again, this time in the gut, as he then snarls loudly “Still not a reason to target a man that is a father and husband, now… tell me how to contact the person in charge?”

After a few more minutes of physical persuasion, M’Nol would relent, and cough up some blood before he looked up at Cserr and grunted “Alright… Alright… just… stop, the console access key is on the body of the person R’Nol shot, it… should have what you need”

Cserr gives M’Nol one more hard punch to knock M’Nol out. He then moves over to the dead body near the console, and after finding the access chip, he inserts it into the console “Alright, let’s see here” Once the console is unlocked, Cserr moves to open the most recent call file, starting to review the footage, and starts trying to remove the filtering on it

M’Nol looks at R’Nol and whimpers a little “Your brother is a traitor, you know… having kids with that Bajoran, betraying his people and not carrying on the species”

R’Nol growls and walks over to M’Nol and looks to him “Watch your tongue… my brother loves his children and his wife… he deserves respect”

M’Nol grins and looks to R’Nol as he chuckles softly “You know… they want to wait till she arrives… get him, her… and the freaks of kids they have… we have seen pictures, they ain’t caitian, then ain’t bajoran, they will never, be accepted”

R’Nol growls loudly, and suddenly he punches M’Nol hard in the jaw, a sickening crack filling the room as he breaks M’Nol’s Jaw. He then punches him again and snarls, starting to punch M’Nol as he struggles to contain his anger repeatedly

Cserr looks to the other agent in the room, and after a few minutes, he nods at his colleague to pull R’Nol away “I have something… pull him off M’Nol and bring him here”

The agent moved to grab R’Nol from behind, grabbing both his wrists and forcing him to move next to his uncle as he grunted

R’Nol growls loudly and looks at the screen, at the unfiltered image on the console “Let… me go… let me finish him!” He said, snarling as he tried to turn back towards M’Nol, who was now out cold from the pain and impacts

Cserr roughly and quickly punches his nephew in the stomach, causing R’Nol to fall to his knees as the agent released him “Focus up, one racist isn’t the issue here… look at the screen… then get on the damn shuttle and end this”

R’Nol coughs a few times as he was winded, he then stands up and looks to the console “It is the General?” he said, looking to Cserr “I will go, get Rria, we will face him together… I will need a copy to confront him”

Cserr copied the information to a pad, then handed it to R’Nol once he stood up “There you go, I will contact the CDF, but we will need a list of people that are also a part of this to get everyone in one go, a security team of our family will meet you outside the General’s office”

R’Nol grunted and looked to Cserr “Someone will need to go to the Defender, they are planning a raid on the hospital to get my brother out of there, and back to Starfleet”

The agent that had grabbed R’Nol spoke up “I will go, just need a suggestion on how to get on board, then I can get them to give you the time to deal with this”

Cserr nods slowly, and looks to the agent then to R’Nol “Then it is sorted H’ille will take your access code R’Nol, as well as an interplantery shuttle, and get the Defender crew to stand down, I will contact the CDF to alert them to what is going on, then meet you with family security outside the General’s office, you will take a transport, meet Rria and then confront the General in his office”

R’Nol takes a small data chip from his pocket and hands it to H’ille “Here, use that, it will let you land. My brother left standing orders: me, Sejea, or S’Tau are to be allowed to land no matter what, just be careful”

H’ille carefully took the data chip and nodded slowly “I will go at once,” he said as he started to leave the apartment and head towards the waiting shuttle outside

Cserr looks to R’Nol and purrs softly “He will be alright Nephew, he did flight training with stalker pilots, if anyone tries to stop him he will get there, but you should get going, and quickly, if the General twigs we are onto him, we will be unable to take him on in a fair fight, even more so with C’Roren’s ships out of the system”

R’Nol would look to M’Nol one last time, before glancing at the console, he then left and boarded the interplantary transport waiting for him and heading towards the hospital to meet with his sister, meanwhile H’ille was speeding towards the U.S.S. Defender, and Cserr was already on a call to the CDF and the Caitian governement with the evidence they had, knowing they had very little time to stop the attempted attack that was coming, and one false move would land them all in major trouble

OOC To be concluded in Part three, with a POV from R’Nol’s side of events and one from the U.S.S. Defender’s viewpoint, no major long-term impacts will result from this story, with it being self-contained.

[HLtol]

Sometimes you have to Step Up

Part Three, Confrontation

After a Short flight to pick his sister up, R’Nol and Rria would head into the city and towards the CDF offices near the centre of town, with their shuttle landing outside, and Rria and R’Nol getting checked in by the guards there, with R’Nol’s pistol getting taken off him and secured into a locker, before the pair got directed to the General’s office, on the first floor

Rria, who was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, walked slowly through the halls with R’Nol and purrs gently “Man, last time I was here I was awarded a medal for bravery after the Ico war…”

R’Nol grunts softly and stretches a little as he walks and then looks around the halls, studying the guard patterns as he walks “Last time I was here was to visit uncle during his time here”

Rria stops in the waiting area outside of the office, and she then purrs softly “So… tell me the game plan again”

R’Nol holds a padd in his left hand and taps it “This has all the information we need. We start by asking questions, trying to get him to admit it. If he doesn’t, we force the situation, but he has a silent alarm under his desk, make sure he doesn’t touch it”

Rria nods slowly, before the pair walked into the office, and she looked around the well-decorated office, stopping in front of the desk near the window, with R’Nol

The General, an older white-furred Caitian, who, due to age, had his fur looking more silver in nature, he then looks up at the pair and purrs gently “Ahhh Commander Sh’ow, Doctor Sh’ow, nice to see you” he then focuses his gaze on R’Nol “Commander, you said you had important information for me, regarding the threats against your family” he then gestures to the seats opposite him

R’Nol nods slowly and sits down, with Rria sitting down next to him, with R’Nol clearing his throat “Yes, my family conducted a raid on a possible terror cell, with their console containing information about targets, informants, things like that” he said as he puts the padd down on the desk in front of him

The General nods slowly and looks to R’Nol as he purrs softly and rubs his chin gently “Hmmm, interesting, did you capture any of the people in this cell alive?” he asks, tilting his head “As questioning this person might yield more information”

R’Nol nods slowly and purrs softly as he smiles politely “My family already questioned him, and we got all the information we needed from him. He is being securely held, and he also provided information on who is behind this”

The General nods slowly and purrs gently as he rubs his chin a little “Hmmm, I see, so the rumours of CDF help are true then? Otherwise, why come to me? Your family does have a history of dealing with its problems itself”

R’Nol nods slowly and purrs gently as he stretches a little and nods “Yes, high-ranking CDF involvement, plus you gave the order that is keeping my sister-in-law from seeing her husband, I want that order rescinded so that Sejea can see her husband… or she is going to storm down there and demand to see him, and as the head of our family, and H’Ltol’s husband she does have a right”

The General tries to reach for the padd but stops when R’Nol picks it up and he purrs softly “I see, well given the risks to her mixed cubs, and the views of some people at the moment” he slowly started to move his right hand towards the right side of his desk, and towards the panic button “It might be best if”

Suddenly, Rria sinks her claws into the right hand of the General, causing him to grunt in pain, and Rria growls loudly “Try that again… and I will remove it… your guards will not help you now”

The General growls and looks to Rria “Ain’t… you meant to be the pacifist one?!” He said as blood started to escape the areas where the claws had punctured his skin on his hand

R’Nol stands up slowly and then puts his hands on the desk and growls softly “Now… here is what will happen, first, you’re going to recind that order, then you are going to open that terminal of your’s so we can get a full list of who is helping you, and three you and going to give yourself up”

The General growls loudly and then grunts, and after Rria twists her claws slightly, he then moves to unlock his terminal with his left hand, and he grunts in pain “Very well, but it won’t matter soon enough”

After a few more questions and Rria using her claws to scratch the general a little more, the pair would soon drag the general outside, to the waiting CDF officers and Sh’ow agents who had gathered outside, with R’Nol and Rria handing the officer over, before heading to the hospital to meet with security staff there. As they get out of their shuttle, they are met by Cserr and C’Roren H’Ltol’s old XO, who was taking part in the cleanup

Cserr looks to Rria and R’Nol “I take it, it worked out well then?” he asks as he stretches a little, then purrs softly

Rria nods slowly as she then looks to Cserr and then C’Roren “Yes, all sorted, I take it the Defender is still in one piece?”

C’Roren nods slowly and purrs softly and smiles politely “That it is, thankfully, my wife was able to get our task force back quick enough, and they helped. We also picked up another shuttle from the Ecstasea approaching the system, it appears Sejea and the cubs are on their way; we should finish up here quickly”

R’Nol gives a small nod and looks to his uncle “Is Aunt still happy to take me back to my ship?”

Cserr nods slowly and starts to walk away from the hospital “Follow me when you’re ready, Nephew”

Rria looks to R’Nol and purrs softly, as C’Roren walked off to help security arrest and take away CDF officers who were on the list of people involved “You could stay, you know, see our nephews, our sister and help her” she pauses for a moment “Maybe even see Mam?”

R’Nol would grunt for a moment as he rubs his still slightly injured side “No… I should get back, am more use on the ship” he pauses for a moment as he notices the shuttle starting to come into the landing padd “Tell Sister I am thinking of her… but maybe, leave out some of the parts about me getting my arse kicked?”

Rria nods slowly, and after a quick hug, she walks off towards the landing padd, as R’Nol starts to follow his uncle

Cserr would stop in the treeline near the hospital, just close enough that R’Nol could see Sejea and the cubs arriving and heading into the hospital “Surprised you didn’t at least want to say hello before you went back”

R’Nol shakes his head as he watches his sister and nephews disappear into the hospital “No, my brother causes her enough problems” he rubs his eyes “Doesn’t need me adding to it” he would sigh softly “I have no idea why she puts up with our family”

Cserr would start to lead R’Nol through the trees and towards the trade port, where a shuttle was waiting to take them to the freighter in orbit “Could be his looks, his fur, who he is as a person, or how welcoming most of us are… Your mother isn’t on my list on that one”

R’Nol purrs gently and keeps walking, mostly in silence, as after about an hour, he would come to a clearing in view of the waiting Sh’ow shuttle “Well, I’d better get back, thank you, Uncle”

Cserr nods slowly and then smiles as he pats R’Nol’s shoulder “No problem kiddo, but look, H’Ltol and Sejea stay together despite the staff seeming to have problems with them, or the constant danger starfleet puts everyone in, or the medical stuff, because they love each other, and from the stories I have heard… they have been this way since the Academy, even if it took them years to work it out” he then pauses and pulls a small card from his jacket “Am sure you will find someone too, though if you need to talk, just call, or if you want to leave Starfleet behind and do some real work, call me”

R’Nol takes the card and slides it into his pocket “I will keep that in mind, uncle, thank you” he pauses for a moment, then looks towards the shuttle “Sejea is the best thing that happened to my brother… bet Dad would think so too…” R’Nol started to walk towards the shuttle, where his aunt was waiting for him

Cserr gives a small smile and then chuckles as he waves to his wife “Man… them two brothers are so much alike, if they left Starfleet would really be missing out, hope he finds whatever he is looking for” Cserr grunts softly as he looks towards the shuttle “Least his brother did, Sejea is so much better than the blue one he used to date…”

Cserr would watch the shuttle depart before heading back to his place of work, with the shuttle soon meeting up and transferring it’s passengers to the waiting Caitian Freighter, it certainly wasn’t as packed with luxury as starfleet vessels, but it gave R’Nol focus and purpose during the trip back, with the shuttle departuring, with it heading back towards the planet, as the Freighter left the system, flying past the U.S.S. Defender and group of Caitian ships near it, before jumping to warp, with R’Nol looking out the window of the small cabin in the freighter room he was provided

–

OOC This is the R’Nol side of Part three, not anywhere as action-packed as the Defender’s side, and it takes place a few days before the events for the Ecstasea crew.

[HLtol]

The Long Trip Home

In the early hours, R’Nol would be woken up from his sleep in his temporary room on DS-13 by the door chime ringing to signal someone wanted to come in, given he had lost track of time he quickly scrambled to get dressed, however, given he had little left of his possessions from the Ecstasea he had replicated himself a fresh pair of trousers and a T-Shirt and pulled them on before heading to the door rubbing his eyes, as he walked past the packed duffle bag by the door

The door opens to a tall grey furred female in a white and blue CDF uniform with gold Captain pips on it “Nephew… your running late, we are due to leave soon” she said in a stern tone of voice before purring softly

R’Nol rubs his eyes, his fur being unkept and somewhat scruffy looking, with his eyes barely staying open at the moment “Sorry, Aunt M’Nora… I didn’t really get much sleep last night”

M’Nora walks in once R’Nol steps to the side, and then produces a small brush from her uniform pocket and starts to brush R’Nol’s face fur a little as she sighs softly “Nearly 30, and I am still brushing you, and well you asked for a lift home, well we leave early”

R’Nol grunted as the brush got caught in some of the knots in his fur, then he hissed for a moment as his aunt pulled some fur out “Ow… careful please… it has been a rough few weeks…” he said, looking down once his aunt stopped brushing him, sniffling a little as he did so

M’Nora carefully puts the brush away after removing the fur caught in it, then she looks down and moves to hug R’Nol “It will be alright… I am sure H’Ltol will wake up soon, at least the investigation is over, and you can rest for a bit…”

R’Nol leans on his aunt a little and sighs softly “Doctors said… after Sejea left and Rria took the cubs to Bajor… he sat up, then cried… howled and screamed for Sejea and his kids until his voice gave out, then he went back into his state… not even his ears are moving now”

M’Nora purrs soothingly and then bends her knees just enough to be able to pick up R’Nol’s bag “I know… R’Nulish told me, as did Rria… but well, they will be back with him soon. However, sadly, Starfleet knows no compassion or understanding these days for families; it is part of the reason I left. Now come on, your cousins are waiting for you on the ship”

R’Nol slowly nodded and stood up, straightening his T-shirt before quickly pulling on a freshly replicated pair of combat boots and then started to leave the room, the lights shutting off once the door closed

After a brief walk and a turbolift ride, the pair would arrive at the docking ring, near the hatch leading to the Freighter Caitian’s Paw, where two tall dark grey-furred Caitians, one female and one male, would be standing waiting, almost acting like security, both dressed in jumpsuits, with a crew patch for the freighter on it

R’Nol would give a small nod to each of them, and he purrs gently “Hey guys, nice to see you both again”

M’Nora would look to both her kids, then nod, and head inside the freighter “Take care of R’Nol, I need to go and make sure we have everything for the trip back”

R’Tarr the male Caitian, would clear his throat and speak up “Hey R’Nol, so giving up that comfy Starfleet ship to travel back with the family, huh?”

M’Nera would elbow her brother and chuckles softly “Come on, R’Nol, let’s get you settled in, you’re bunking with R’Tarr on the way back, space is at a premium on these ships as you can imagine”

R’Nol would nod slowly as he was led into the freighter by the two, only stopping for a moment to look back towards the docking ring, almost like he was looking for someone, almost hoping someone would be seeing him, before he then slowly followed them through the hallways, past other crewmen and into one of the crew cabin’s, it wasn’t very big it only having enough room for a small washroom, as well as a desk and two bunk beds, R’Nol would then look to R’Tarr “Which one is mine?” he asks as he slumps his shoulders, almost like he was ready to head back to bed

R’Tarr looks to R’Nol and gives a shrug and then purrs “You pick, I really don’t mind, if you go top, just don’t step on me getting up” he said with a soft chuckle

R’Nol then puts his duffle bag at the end of the bunk beds, and climbs into the top bunk, sighing as he goes face down into the pillow on the bed “Thanks” he said in a muffled tone of voice

M’Nera looks up at the top bunk and tilts her head “Everything alright? I mean… err…” she rubs her left arm sorely “I know Mam mentioned you had like… a ship thing… But like you, holding up alright?”

R’Nol lifts his head off the pillow and then looks down at his two cousins “Friends died… one of my closest friends right in front of me… lost the first place I could call home since I got back… lost everything I had… and might lose my brother… so you tell me?” he asks in a somewhat annoyed tone

M’Nera looks down and mews softly “Sorry… I err…” she trails off and leaves the bunk room to head to the freighter bridge as she sighs softly

R’Tarr rubs his eyes and grunts softly “That wasn’t nice, arsehole… she was just trying to help” he then looks up at R’Nol “It is a long trip home in this old tub… You might want to not be nasty to the people that care…” he growls and walks off after his sister as he sighs softly

R’Nol grunts softly and moves to lie back down in his bunk, closing his eyes as he drifts back to sleep as the freighter starts to leave DS-13, even the sight-shaking of the ship as it jumps to warp didn’t disturb him, he would only stirr from someone tugging on his tail gently, and he slowly sits up in his bunk and grunts softly again “Hmmm?”

R’Tarr would stand at the end of the bunks and then say to him “Come on, Mom said you need to eat, unless you’re too good for homemade stew” R’Tarr would move to stand near the door

R’Nol slowly gets out of his bunk, almost hitting his edge as he moves to the end of the bunk to get down. R’Nol then looks to R’Tarr “I… am sorry about earlier. Sleeping hasn’t been easy since what happened. It just keeps replaying in my head”

R’Tarr gives a small nod and starts to lead R’Nol through the freighter “It does for a little, ask your brother… he has had to jump ship at least two times, and only one of them he got into the pod himself. I myself have had to abandon two freighters and, before that, one Atrox class during the war”

R’Nol looks to R’Tarr and rubs his own left arm sorely “Does… it get easier to cope with?” he asks quietly “Not… like I can talk to many people about it, given I was locked up”

R’Tarr gives a small nod and sighs softly “Caitians never handle being isolated well, would think Starfleet would understand by now, but yeah, it gets easier, maybe find someone you can talk to, and try getting it out there, that is what helped me” he then moved to walk into the freighter’s mess hall and joined the line for food, grabbing a tray as he joined the line

R’Nol grabbed a tray as well and purrs gently nodding “There… was one person, once, but now I don’t know…” he rubs his eyes and sighs softly “If I want to continue into my own command, then this might happen again”

R’Tarr would grab a set of cutlery, then two breadrolls before he gets to the front of the que, and holds his tray out, where one of the cooks puts a fresh bowl of Caitian stew on the tray “Thank you” he said and then looks to R’Nol for a moment “Yep… command makes it worse, as you would be the one under the questioning… imagine what your sister went through, ripped from her husband and kids, only to be blamed for everything”

R’Nol nods slowly, and after copying R’Tarr, he would hold his own tray for his bowl of stew, with him thanking the cook before he starts to walk towards a table where M’Nera was sitting “Yeah… heartless Starfleet, family means nothing, they could have asked her questions from Cait, and kept her more isolated, but nope”

R’Tarr would sit at the table next to M’Nera and start eating his food “Yep… least the CDF understand Caitians”

R’Nol nods as he sits down and starts to eat his stew, looking to M’Nera “Sorry… about earlier, M’Nera, I am… not myself right now, but you didn’t deserve that” He would break the breadroll apart and then start to mix it into his stew

M’Nera gives a small nod and purrs gently “It is alright, R’Nol, I understand you are under a lot of stress at the moment. After the meal, why don’t we talk you through the route we are taking and then through freighter life?”

R’Nol would nod and then after finishing the stew and bread for their meal, the three would then explore the freighter and settle into the routine, with R’Nol soon finding themselves arriving at a trade port in orbit of Beth Delta One, with him slowly starting to help to unload supplies and purring happily, his two cousins helping him a long side loaders and other staff from the station

R’Tarr grunts as he puts one of the crates onto the loading platform “Just a quick stop off here, as New Manhattan needs some more supplies, then back home, shouldn’t take too long, given we are in Federation space still”

R’Nol nods slowly as he moves a crate onto the platform as well and stretches a little “It takes longer when you’re doing medical aid runs, right?”

M’Nera nods slowly as she checks the last box off on her padd and smiles warmly “Yep, it is tiring work, but well when we give supplies out to damaged worlds, or even do supply runs like this, it is honest work and always shows us the good we are doing”

R’Nol smiles as he moves the last crate into position, as station staff start to unload them onto the station “Yeah, it seems it, most of the time Starfleet just has us beaming stuff around unless we have no choice”

M’Nera would nod again and purr softly as she stretched “Well, tech goes wrong, so we do the work ourselves, but hey, Mam mentioned you might be looking to leave Starfleet, is that true?”

R’Tarr would be busy checking over the hatches on the freighter, ready for when they would depart “Sis, leave the guy alone… he might not want to talk about it”

R’Nol nods slowly and moves to sit on the empty floor of the cargo bay for a moment “Yeah… after everything that has happened, Starfleet feels less like a home to me right now, so I might leave, I might stay… going to recover first and see what happens”

After a few moments, the hatches would lock shut, with the freighter slowly departing the station and heading towards the edge of the system

M’Nera would nod slowly and move to sit next to R’Nol “I see, but this is what you wanted to do right? To be a science officer in Starfleet… you know, get out there… see the stars… meet new people?”

R’Nol looks to M’Nera and purrs softly “You left off, get shot at, or attacked by hostile creatures, or nearly get blown into space cause a door failed on an old ship… or get killed by friendly fire… or get stabbed in the back by the brass… it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows…”

R’Tarr would join the two on the floor “The CDF ain’t all that either, neither is working here, everywhere has ups and downs R’Nol, though least in Starfleet you could command a ship one day, or if it is really annoying, just transfer to another unit”

R’Nol puts his left hand on the deck plating, to feel the ship vibrate and shake slightly as it jumped to warp “Yeah, that is true, but well, we will see what some time at home brings, at least this time I won’t be getting into fights, and trying to stop a bomb plot against my sister and brother”

The Three family members would all simply sit there in the now empty cargo bay, listening to the noises of the freighter as it jumped to warp and travelled onwards towards Cait, with R’Nol only disembarking once they arrived, having spent three days on the freighter, learning about the routines and work that comes with it, he would thank his cousins and aunt as he left, to head for his family home, making e mental note to visit his brother in hospital before he headed back to DS-13