> <[ Greetings from home and clan, Vice Admiral. I am Major (OOC: I
have no idea what the approperiate 'rank' would be. Julie, some advice
please...) Surr'at We are here to serve where-ever, how ever we are needed.]>
(OOC: Major sounds fine. I had thought these were going to be SF and
Marine troops, but planetary defense will do just fine.)
The scent washed over her in a comforting wave, the scent of her own
people, the scent of Cait on their clothes... She had to supress a surge
of homesickness. <[Warrior, be at peace,]> she said, in the tradition
Mikan greeting, and bowed low in a complicated gesture only felinids could
perform correctly.
The bow was returned.
She switched to Standard, aware that it was rude to continue after introductions in a
foreign language that translator chips never got
completely right. "Yourrr mission herrre is a vital one, clanspeople, and we shall
discuss it soon. Howeverrr, the jourrrney was long, so please, rrrefrresh
yourrrselves brriefly. I wish that I could give you morrre time, but the univerrrse
does not wait while we clean ourrr sworrrds. We will meet in Holodeck One in 30
minutes." She flashed a fanged grin, the
type that frightened humanoids, and switched to her native tongue. <[It is good to
see you, kinfolk. After tonight's activities, we shall get
together and talk.]>
From the subtle purr like sounds and the sents of the Caitian warriors, she knew
that they were happy to see her. Happy that a Caitain was there to lead. Happy that
it was Kitanya, amoung the most well known of Cait's distant warriors.
She had the quartermaster lead them off, giving a warrior's handshake to each as they
passed, and learning everyone's names. Caitians are a sensory
people, so touching, scent, and sound were as vital to their interactions as sight and
the desire to touch one another, to interact personally, was instinctive. By the time
they were all headed to their quarters, Kit knew
each one, their lineage, their clan if they were not Mikan, and a little bit about
their personalities, and they, in turn, knew those things about her. She watched them
go, then headed to Holodeck One.
The change in her mood was remarkable, and Torgash noted it. <[You are please to see
your kin,]> he commented in Klingon.
<[As you are when you go back to our House on Q'onos, cousin,]> she smiled. <[It is
good to have clan and kin around. Humans are fine for a while, but there are times
when you want to see faces that look like yours, and be with people who laugh at the
same jokes.]> Torgash chuckled. <[I agree with you there, Admiral. It will be good
to mingle with the Klingons here. There is comfort in numbers.]>
She set up the Holodeck to mimic a traditional Mikan meeting area. There were only
three Caitians who were not her clan, but they had trained with the Mikan for many
years, and so would be familiar with the site. A tight
grove of ba'fra trees appeared in the setting of a golden savannah, distant mountains
a hazy purple on the horizon and other ba'fra trees scattered here and there. Nearby
a stream babbled lazily past, and she set the
gravity lower and the temperature higher, to make it as close to Cait as she could.
The holo-sun shone bright in a blue-green sky, and she found
herself a nice branch in one of the trees to lounge on until her comrades arrived.
She also set up a holo screen to activate on her command, on which she could show them
the situation, tactical and strategic, as well as what was known about the enemy. As
relaxing and vacation-like as the trees seemed, many battles and wars had been planned
in ba'fra trees, hidden
among the leaves, one of the few good hiding places on the savannah. Torgash, not
having joints that worked the way hers did, wandered around the savannah, admiring the
stream.
When they entered, she roared, which startled Torgash but drew the others to the
grove. Once they had found comfortable places among the branches, she began. <[I
know you have been little information up until now, and I
apologize for that. We were unsure of communications, which was why you weren't given
details.]> She sat up a little. <[The Federation faces a new enemy, and we are here
to train a unique group, a combined special
operations unit of Federation and Klingon forces. We have the honor of preparing them
for possible combat, and only we an do it. This new enemy, warriors, are felinids.]>
She let that sink in.
The thought of fighting another felinid species was somewhat distressing for the
assembled Caitians. Partly because they were kindred spirits of sorts, and partly
because they knew better than anyone else the visciousness and cunning a felinid hell
bent on war is capable of.
The obvious questions were on their minds, but as well disciplined as they were
not a soul spoke, save the Major...
<[Vice Admiral, with respect, what do you know of these beings? Are they from the
same stock as Caitians and Kzinti or a new species all together?]> Surr'at asked in
his native tounge.
<[We don't know. They are not Kzinti and they are not Caitian, but that's all we know
right now. They work from the shadows, hiring mercenaries to do their work while they
remain hidden, which is why we know so little. We
have intelligence working the inside, but they have insulated themselves behind a wall
of these mercenaries heavily, so our people cannot get solid access to them. We have
sightings, but that's about it. Some of our best
people are working on the little scraps of their language we've collected, but it's
not a large enough database and they're having trouble. The teams here are going to
go in and try to infiltrate their bases and capture or
eliminate the felinids, before they can carry out what we believe are large-scale
invasion plans for both Federation and Empire.]>. She let them
chew on that tidbit for a while.
That was not a good sign, and the subtle body language that the troops gave made
that clear.
<[Are the mammalians cappable of handling such a task, Vice Admiral? From the
sounds of things, these felines are highly intelligent, as their use of others would
demonstrate.
I mean no disrespect to their fighting prowess or to their honor. But the humans
and the klingons are adept at fighting each other, not somebeing as multifaceted,
patient, and determined as a Felinid warrior thursting for a battle.]> came a question
from one of officers in the Caitian ranks.
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