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{{FEchar
|       color = Command
|   firstname = J'al
|    lastname = Grenn
|       image = 
|     caption = 
|     species = [[Caitian]]
|   homeworld = [[Cait]]
|   ethnicity = 
|      gender = Male
|        born = Aug. 24, 2353
|        eyes = Blue
|        hair = Creme/Brown
|      height = 6'4"
|      weight = 170 lbs.
| affiliation = [[Starfleet]]
|  assignment = 
|    position = Commanding Officer
|        rank = Captain
|    insignia = 
|firstmention = 
| firstappear = 
|  lastappear = 
|      player = [[User:Grenn|Grenn]]
|      status =
|     status2 = Active
|         im2 = 
|    caption2 = 
}}

==Appearance==

J'al is a tall Caitian Male like most of his family. He is 6'4" tall, and weighs a hefty 170 pounds. (Caitian/Human conversion is to add 35 pounds to get equ. Human weight). His fur is a dark creme color bordering on light brown.

He has a very short mane that is the same color as his fur with an extremely slight darker tinting. It blends in enough that it is only noticeable up close. As he has gotten older, he has what could be considered by most standards to be a long, half beard running down the bottom of both sides of his jaw and part-way up the sides of his face, but stopping before his chin. It has the same lighter brown color mixed in as his mane. Older Caitian males tend to grow facial hair in this manner, and it is quite natural for it to be a slightly different shade of color then the rest of their fur. Some will trim it regularly, but he chooses to allow it to grow to a natural length. Once it reaches that length it does not grow anymore.

==History==

Before Starfleet, J'al enjoyed a 5 year enlistment in the Caitian Defense Force. In fact, he did not join Starfleet until he was 22. He served as a fighter pilot for the small, but necessary Caitian Military. In the Cait system, and around it, he flew mainly patrol missions, and then the Dominion War came up. The Caitian Military, and any Federation world with fighter unit, or Starships available were called into use. His Squadron, the 775th Caitian Air Defense Corps was used in a few early battles of the war. With manpower so stretched out, Starfleet had to resort to these kind of measures. It was then that he decided to join Starfleet, after seeing the beautiful ships, and training they had to offer pilots.

In 2379, J'al graduated academy training and began an assignment in the Sol System Fighter corps. Flying diligently and properly, he was eventually deemed fit for Starship duty.

In 2380, he was transferred to the USS Essex, his first real assignment. There, he flew his fighter in a rather routing manner. The ship did not undergo anything too unusual for his tenure, and he found it a rather boring place to be a pilot. Nonetheless, two years later in 2382 he was promoted to full Lieutenant for time in service and bumped up to the wing's second officer. This lifestyle bored him and he found a craving to fly faster and bigger things. He undertook training to fly full sized starships, and after certification found himself transferred to the USS Horizon A as a Helm Officer.

Aboard Horizon, he found the lifestyle and duty more to his liking. Within a year, he impressed the CO, [[Jackie Clawson]], a fellow pilot, to the point where she promoted him to the Chief Helm Officer and gave him a promotion to Lieutenant Commander. In 2385, he met his first of many battles with the Borg. Guiding the Horizon during numerous battles, he developed a knack for surviving their assaults. After flying the Horizon through countless encounters, he found himself up for consideration for an Executive Officer position.

===Borg War===

The [[USS Tomar]] recruited him and he accepted a transfer to XO. The Tomar fought with Task Force 44 against the Borg on the Klingon border, engaging in skirmishes, escort duties, and one major battle with a single Tactical Cube in 2388, a victory for the allies. For the next two years, the Tomar was attached to the Task Force.

In 2390, he was promoted to Commander and the Tomar was moved back to Earth engaging in picket duties and more minor skirmishes. In 2391, J'al was offered command of the [[USS Akira]], as Starfleet wanted experienced officers to command front line vessels. The Akira was to take part in the major joint Dominion/Federation assault on the Borg Shipyards in Cardassian space. The attack was repelled, and the task force was ordered to withdraw, the Akira only able to fire a few shots before it was clear the attack would fail.

Shortly after this failed attack, J'al was promoted to Captain and the Akira was assigned to the Sol sector. They remained there until the 2393 incursion of a single Borg cube and participated in the battle. From then until 2396, the ship stayed in the Sol system, a key part of the fleet kept there for defense.

In 2396, J'al was given command of the Sovereign Class [[USS Eagle]] and made Executive Officer of the Sol System defense force. While the fleet went to Alpha Centauri in 2397, the Eagle and a small but powerful group of ships stayed behind to guard against potential incursions.

===Battle of Sol===

By 2398, J'al had been replaced as Executive Officer of the Sol System defense force, but not due to his inability as an officer. Starfleet's condensed nature into the Sol system prompted higher ranking officers to fill those positions. The Eagle participated in the [[Battle of Sol]] as one of only a handful of Sovereign Class vessels to survive the war to date.

The Eagle was to hold position at Earth, as Starfleet reserved many of the now seeming irreplaceable Sovereigns for desperate fighting if the Borg crossed the Mars Defense Perimeter. In that position, they did pick off stragglers and damaged Borg vessels that began to drift off course, but did not see full deployment until Day 3 of the battle. Participating in the entire engagement from that point on, the Falcon received crippling damage to the secondary hull on Day 5 that almost caused a reactor containment failure. The Engineering crew were able to prevent a disaster only because the Borg vessel that inflicted it was destroyed moments after the Eagle was hit and further fire did not occur as other Borg ships were not within range, or had other priorities.

The Eagle drifted, unable to right itself for hours until another Starfleet vessel stabilized it with a tractor beam and slowly dragged it to a stable Earth orbit. In time, it was repaired, but with a 60% crew mortality rate.

After victory was declared, the Eagle became a part of the Sol System defense fleet once more, and for nearly ten years left the Sol system only once, to respond to an erroneous report of a Borg vessel outside the system. It turned out to be drifting wreckage that was subsequently vaporized by her phasers.

In early 2410, Starfleet saw fit to expand the re-exploration initiative once more and selected J'al as an experienced Commanding Officer to lead one of their ships in this most important endeavor. He was given a transfer to the [[USS Ticonderoga]] and charged with the important task of making contact with former member worlds and doing his part to rebuild the Federation.

==Service Record, Caitian Air Defense Corps==

2370 - Joined the Caitian Air Defense Corps (CAC) as a pilot in training.

2372 - Graduated training and was appointed as a Lieutenant in the CAC.

2372 - Assigned to V'alaris Station in orbit of M'errsat(The 7th planet in the Cait system)

2372 - Fought in several major battles of the Dominion War as the Cardassian fleet tried to sweep through the Cait system and its neighbors.

2372 - Awarded the Silver Star (CAC) for actions in the Battle of M'errsat.

2373 - Fought in many front line battles as Starfleet forces required member world air forces to cover the losses from the initial Dominion onslaught.

2373 - Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (CAC) for actions on the front lines for two straight days of fighting.

2374 - Attached to Starfleet's 43rd Fighter Group while still officially a part of the CAC.

2374 - Promoted to Lieutenant Major in the CAC for services rendered and an impressive flight record.

2375 - Following the merger of the CAC and Starfleet Fighter Corps, he opted to go to Starfleet Academy to start a career in Starfleet. He was accepted mostly based upon his Caitian military career, but still passed the mandatory aptitude test easily. Merged officers are offered placement at Starfleet Acadamy and are granted credits for their first year based on military background, starting out as 2nd Year Cadets.

==Service Record (Starfleet)==

2376 - 2nd Year Cadet - General Studies

2377 - 3rd Year Cadet - Tactical Studies

2378 - 4th Year Cadet - Aeronautical and Zero G physics

2379 - Lt. JG (1 rank automatic promotion from officer merge) - Sol System 382nd Defense Squadron, Saturn Base - Fighter Pilot

2380 - Transferred to Nebula Class USS Essex - Fighter Pilot

2382 - Promoted to Lieutenant

2384 - Transferred to Intrepid Class USS Horizon - Helm Officer

2385 - Promoted to Lieutenant Commander and Chief Helm Officer

2388 - Transferred to [[USS Tomar]] as Executive Officer

2390 - Promoted to Commander

2391 - Transferred to [[USS Akira]] as Commanding Officer to take part in the joint Federation/Dominion assault on the Borg shipyards.

2392 - Promoted to Captain

2396 - Transferred to the Sovereign Class [[USS Eagle]] as Commanding Officer

2409 - Transferred to [[USS Ticonderoga]] as Commanding Officer

==Family==

Mother: K'atcha Grenn

Father: T'onna Grenn

Siblings: [[Yolen'da Surridge]], L'anna Grenn, N'Surr Grenn, R'alka Grenn

Relatives: [[K'ierran T'arren]], [[M'rissi T'arren]], [[M'esserri R'pas Jr.]], [[M'esserri R'Pas]], [[P'erran R'pas]]


[[category:A to Z]]
[[category:Characters]]
[[category:Caitians]]
[[Category: Star Trek: Ticonderoga]]