Epic of the Hugo & the Templar

THE EPIC OF THE HUGO AND THE TEMPLAR

This is the epic Story of two star-crossed lovers who find themselves on the opposite side of the Civil War that tore the Federation apart. The story was written by Kat and Kaweo, It is a wonderful demonstration of the struggles faced by the two officers, torn apart by their belief in their duty and their love for one another.

It is presented in Five Parts for your reading Enjoyment.

Prologue

Two officers, both alike in dignity,

in battle, where we lay our scene,

from eternal love, encounter new affinity.

Where imperial blood makes hands unclean.

Part 1

Stardate 2407.07.09

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 14.30)

Henri stared out into the black, his mind finally calm after all the turmoil. Intelligence said that this would not be a battle he would be walking away from. But it was what he had to do. He owed it to the admiral.

“Helm, keep us steady. Lower the shields.” He said from his station, “Begin launching the fighters. Quickly before someone spots us.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” responded Planchet, his tactical officer. “The first squadron is already away.”

“Excellent. We’re sitting ducks until they’re off,” said Henri, as he kept a watchful eye himself on the screen, searching for any sign that they had been spotted.

“Fleet is reporting that the engagement has already begun,” reported Planchet calmly.

Precious moments ticked by as the Templar deployed her precious cargo.

“Status?” he asked.

“The squadron four is just….,” started Planchet.

Suddenly the ship was rocked from out of nowhere. He watched as a ship flew from above and right past the Templar.

“Get those shields up. Return fire, evasive maneuvers” he shouted, as he righted himself.

“Sir, it’s the Hugo!” shouted Planchet in surprise.

~What?!? No!!!~ he thought in horror.

“Open me a channel.” he ordered. “What are you doing here!”

(USS Hugo – Bridge – CO Captain Eva Kollantai – 14.35)

The Hugo had been observing from quite a distance, the ship, an Akira class was moving into place. Eva examined her bridge crew for a quick moment.

~LoDona v. Doenitz,~ she thought wryly. It had taken her a good long while to discern which was worse. In the end, LoDona had won her allegiance, simply because his plan for the federation seemed the lesser of two evils - at least from the perspective of equality and freedom.

"Move into position to attack. Pattern alpha- omega-theta." Kollantai commanded.

Seamlessly her crew did as they were ordered. The senior bridge crew had been together for nearly two years, with a few additions and subtractions the last six months or so. They would stand beside her. They would fight. This was their place. This was hers.

As they approached the ship, Eva recognised it.

"Captain, it's the Templar", exclaimed her tactical officer, Lt. Randall.

Eva nodded. "Attack procedures stand"

"Aye sir," Randall stated. He did not question, but Eva knew that any possible simulation they could have run would not have accounted for this.

She watched as the red weaponry intersected with the Templar. The communications system beeped, an incoming hail.

"On screen"

'=^= What are you doing here? =^='

Eva glanced upon the face of Captain Henri Li, a face that was far from foreign to her. "I could ask you the same thing," she replied coldly.

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 14.40)

Henri looked back at Captain Eva Kollantai, his face contorted in rage. “You know very well why I am here.” he spat out.

(Reply None) (Posted by Kat and Kaweo)

Part 2

Stardate 2407.01.10

(Starbase 23 – Personal Quarters – CO Eva Kollantai and Henri Li – 23.30)

“Where are you going?” asked Henri as he stared at Eva packing.

"Where do you think I'm going?" Eva retorted back snidely.

"Did you see the same thing that I did?" asked Henri, stunned at her reply. "They are threatening to pull out of the Federation"

"No, I'm not certain I SAW the same thing you did," Eva started back, her temper starting to flare.

"-Because what I SAW was not someone who is threatening to back out of the Federation. Instead, I SAW a people protesting the revocation of their rights and freedoms within a dictatorial regime. That's what I SAW -- protest from within a democracy that was silenced not only through words, but also through provocatory behaviour and posturing with weaponry." Eva accentuated the last of her statements as she threw several off-duty clothing articles into the case now holding the majority of her belongings.

“That’s insane! We’ve seen the problems the Federation has experienced in recent years. You’ve seen the same reports I have and the President did what had to be done!” he answered back passionately.

"NO!" Eva remarked livid. She stopped throwing clothes out of the closet, turned around and took a step towards Henri. The fury from her face dissipated and was left with a cold, even resolve. "No, Henri." She said emphatically, "he did NOT do what needed to be done. Yes, we have seen the same reports, but I doubt that we have seen the same things in them."

Eva pushed past him and reached for her most prized possessions of all: her book collection of Terran cold war history's primary documents. Spies, treason, political posturing and manoeuvring -- all in the name of the nation. She looked from her books to her former-lover and said nothing.

“Then what have you seen!” Henri bellowed back. “The security of the Federation is paramount to our way of life. Without it, we couldn’t explore the galaxy in peace. We would spend all our time worrying about of homes, our family, our loved ones! This had to be done!”

Eva did not respond at first, instead she laid her books lovingly down in the case where they belonged. "I, Henri, have looked into the face of evil calling itself democracy and freedom, and I choose to step away from it."

It looked as if he was about to speak or retort back, but instead, Eva held up a hand in the manner that he knew full well meant -- don't say another word, I'm not done yet.

"Our homes, our galaxy, our way of life -- in short -- peace, cannot exist under this regime he proposes. It cannot and never will. It starts with one small move, and then -- the next thing you know, we are at war, at war for defending our way of life. A way of life, which, if properly respected in the first place, would have had far greater success than this will-be war ever would or will."

"No social grouping exists without some conflict, there is no pure space of peace. Instead, there are ways to appropriately manage and guide conflict to resolve and reconcile for the best for all. This, Henri, is not one of those ways.”

“Not now, not in the past, and most certainly not in the future. That, Henri, is what I have seen." Eva answered almost calmly, but all too coolly for it not to be an act. Inside, she suspected her heart to be breaking, but she could no longer go on living the Lie that she had seen within the context of what Doenitz was doing. No longer. Even if it meant this.

She closed the second case. Reaching for her third, she examined the hologram that sat on the table in their sitting room. The two of them, in one another's arms -- Risa, the cascade falls. She bit her bottom lip and did not make a move towards the hologram. Instead, she sought out what else was hers.

Henri stood in the door way, his mouth gaping in a silly manner, while his arms were akimbo.

~What can she be thinking, ~ he wondered, even as she told him exactly what she was thinking. But his heart pounded furiously as he felt himself torn in two directions. Loyalty to his leader and to his love.

“So do you think Lincoln was wrong for going to war with the South? We both know it wasn’t about slaves then!” he said accusatorily, when he had slightly recovered, hoping the despair that was threatening to enter his voice was not showing on his face. He suspected that this was a battle he could not win.

"No." Eva replied, two could play at this game, "No, it wasn't about the slaves, but it was about something that was later known to cause another form of slavery and in fact, one of the reasons why slavery was so attractive to many of the large plantation owners in the south. Economics. That's right, someone had something to gain economically." Eva paused.

"Now, I know you are going to retort back with the fact that economics as they existed in ancient history no longer exist here in the current socio-political context of the federation. However, I will remind you Henri, that economics stood-in for something much greater.”

“That's right, economics were bedfellows with power. And power, Henri is what we have here and now, and power is what is motivating the "PRESIDENT" of our empire. Economics and war for economic reasons still exist, and we are standing idly by while innocent people are killed because they protest the blatant appropriation and misuse of power being wielded by their overarching structure." Eva finished.

"Today it was Andoria, who will it be tomorrow? Today it is them and we are US, tomorrow, what happens when we are the THEM and the US no longer includes or appreciates our eye colour or the way in which we choose to organise ourselves politically? What happens then?”

“Or is your strategy to be one of those who are on the inside who gets to decide who is US and who is THEM? Do you seek to repress others only as a form of elevating yourself to the ultimate levels of power within this new regime? It does seem, Henri that the power is up for grabs now-a-days."

Eva couldn't go on. There was so much more she wanted to say, so many angry words that had pent up over the past few months where she had witnessed the actions of Doenitz and for some reason, saw her former-lover follow deeper and deeper into Doenitz's footsteps and plans and with him, she too, was being dragged. Playing a part in this new presidential retinue was not on her to-do list. Instead, Andoria had been the last stand -- she would stand up, she would walk out. And that is precisely what she was in the process of doing.

“He’s a good man, Eva.” Henri said. “We trust our leaders to know what is best for us. Yes, they wield power, but they do so because we ask them to make the hard choices. We’re captain’s. You know what the job is like. It doesn’t get any easier higher up the chain. It’s harder and you should know better. Even if we don’t always agree with what our leaders are doing. We don’t just walk away because we disagree we work it out. We compromise and sometimes, we follow orders!”

He paused, hoping his words might be having some effect. She was always hard to read, even to those who knew her best. So he continued, “This change in power has nothing to do with making one group special over the other, it’s about the needs of the many. Security for all. Not just some.”

Eva looked at Henri. She stepped closer and closer to him, their noses nearly five millimeters apart. Her green-brown eyes stared intensely into his black ones. She considered the miniscule lines that formed his iris, and how the colour of black seemed etched with lighter and darker shades to provide the depth and texture of his eyes which were supposed to be windows to his soul.

She did not speak for a moment, instead considering the eyes before her which saw the world in such a different fashion. Those eyes perceived the blatant disregard of the rights of humankind as being akin to the keeping and upholding of safety and our rights.

Those eyes, whose perception was so different from her own. The two of them had reached a point where they could no longer see eye-to-eye.

Not saying a word, Eva broke her long, silent eye-to-eye contact. She had seen the future for them, it was bleak and non-existent. Without saying another word, she went and amassed the rest of her belongings. As she took the three cases out of what had been their quarters on the base, she looked one last time at the hologram on the table of them in Risa. Those times had been different, and joyful. These times were anything but.

Leaving the hologram there, and without another word or glance at her surroundings, the doors hissed closed behind Eva Kollontai.

Henri collapsed on the couch that had been theirs. His head fell into his hands in despair. His mind raced trying to search for the words that might change her mind. It was pure propaganda that was reaching them now about the damage done on those worlds. There was no way that the President would allow such an atrocity to occur. But all that came to his were here emerald-brown eyes staring deeply at him. He wished there was some way to show that he was still hers. His heart ached to find some way to prove it. But he knew that to win her, he had to betray all that he was. There was no way he could betray that. He would not be worth her love, if he did that. He turned around to stare at the Hugo.

He should contact Star Fleet Command. But he didn't. This one thing he could do for her. Although he doubted she'd want anything more to do with him.

(Reply none) (Posted by Kat and Kaweo)

Part 3

Stardate 2407.07.09

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 14.45)

Henri laughed mirthlessly as the Templar shuddered from the pounding from some of the Hugo’s torpedos.

“Captain, we’ve lost decks 5 and 6” reported Planchet, his fingers moving swiftly reviewing the incoming data.

“Seal them off and divert the power to the shields.” he ordered. He cursed allowing some of his crew leave for the Hugo those many months ago.

He knew that there’d be some who’d go, but he hadn’t thought that his conn officer would leave. And that was who was piloting the Hugo out of Templar’s hail of torpedos.

He looked at his display that crackled as he tried to figure out what the Hugo was doing. If he could anticipate their next move, he could cripple her engines.

~Ah, ha!~ he thought, as he punched in some commands.

“Helm, execute Li Omega Epsilon” he said.

The Templar swung around catching the Hugo on its starboard side striking the weapon pod on the top.

“Open channel, Good trick, Eva. I’d almost forgotten that one.” he said, almost in a good natured, conversational tone.

(USS Hugo – Bridge – CO Eva Kollantai – 14.50)

Eva cursed. She addressed her bridge-crew. "Right... he's going to know..." Her voice trailed off, now was not the time to go down that avenue.

Instead, she looked directly at the dark black eyes that appeared larger than life on the screen in front of her. Not taking her eyes off them for a second, she instructed her bridge crew.

"Full strength to the shields, divert power to structural integrity of the damaged area. Bring us about again"

"Best not to forget. Maryvic's tactical course. I beat you there, and here will be no different"

Eva turned to her communications officer "cut that channel"

The viewscreen blinked off.

"Now.." Eva said pensively as she was alone with her bridge crew. "Bring us about, and then at the last minute, turn and fire on the outer ring of flyers. They don't need all those extras..."

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 14.55)

Henri blinked as the channel was cut.

“Sir, she’s coming around right at us.” reported Planchet.

“Of course she is, her forward shields are stronger. Prepare a full salvo of torpedoes. Fire on my mark. Target shields” he said.

The helm read off the distance.

“Fire!” he ordered.

“Torpedoes away, sir.” acknowledged Planchet.

~We’ve got you. Just surrender. It doesn’t have to be this way.~ he thought.

Henri watched as tiny globes of light spewed forth from his ten remaining launchers flew out and missed completely, as the Hugo turned at the last minute and knocking out most of one of the fighter groups.

Henri slammed his fist on his console. “Have we got the hangars back online? We need to get them out there!”

~Before we’re not here anymore~ he thought to himself, as he scanned the damage reports.

(USS Hugo – Bridge – CO Captain Eva Kollantai – 15.00)

"Direct hit to the outer ring of fighters. They also tried to fire on us, but missed"

Kollontai nodded. "He's going to try and come back. Let's see if we can boost the shields. Expect the unexpected. However, in the meantime, let's fire a wide-field spread so that it doesn't seem like we're just waiting for his unexpected to show up on our doorstep."

There were nods all around as the bridge crew did as they were told.

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 15.05)

Henri looked at his ship’s damage reports. It was starting to get serious. He still outgunned the Hugo, but she was more maneuverable. He had to find a way to end this fast.

~Hmmm…~ he stroked his beard, ~Would she listen?~

“Bring her around,” he said, “Prepare all weapons.”

“Aye, aye.” the conn responded.

“Open a channel” he ordered.

“Channel open,” Planchet said.

“Your shields won’t hold, Eva. Surrender and I’ll leave the Hugo alone. I’ll let your crew use the escape pods. This can’t last forever.” he said.

(USS Hugo – Bridge – CO Captain Eva Kollantai – 15.10)

Eva looked at the face on the screen across from her. She carefully studied its expression. Her decision was made almost before the proposition was offered.

"Not a chance, Henri. I'm not the one with the damage reports coming in faster than the processors can process them. I don't need to hide, I won't go off running. The Hugo won't surrender, and even if it did. Who do you think would come to the rescue of those escape pods. No one. Remember that when you are planning your escape, Henri, there's no one here to save you now..."

(Reply None) (Posted by Kat and Kaweo)

Part 4

Stardate 2388.11.01

(Planet Reay - Cavern - ACEO Lt (jg) Eva Kollantai and TAC/ASC Ens (sg) Henri Li - 17.11)

Phaser blasts came in overhead.

“We’re pinned, Captain. Request emergency beam out.” shouted Henri over his commbadge.

'=^=Unable to comply, away team. The area is too hot.=^='

“Acknowledged.” said Henri as he looked at the rest of the away team. “Lieutenant, I need you to take the others around. I can hold them off here and buy you some time.”

Eva looked at Ensign Li and then at the pack of approaching assailants. "Negative Ensign," she stated emphatically.

"They will need your tactical expertise -- " she spoke that last word in all seriousness, sometime in the past she had seriously creamed him in a tactical scenario competition for the final exam of junior level tactical class she, as an engineer had taken in her senior year.

Eva continued "- expertise upon exiting. This, I can handle. Take the team and regroup over at the coordinates and beam out. That is your first priority, understood?"

~What?!? Tactical Expertise?!?~ thought Henri. ~She blew me away in that scenario at the academy.~

He ducked down as phaser fire came closer. He tried to think of some reason he could stay in her place, but he was outmaneuvered again. She was still the superior officer.

Finally, precious seconds having passed by, he said, “Understood.”

Crouched down he approached the rest of the away team and explained the plan. Once they understood, he led them down the cavern system to find the exit they had detected earlier. It just wasn’t going to be easy, as they began the descent down the cliff face.

Meanwhile, Eva stayed. She listened as the footsteps of her team made their way further from her. Her job was to keep the others from advancing. She blocked and dodged phaser fire. The next shot came eerily close that she could feel the heat radiating from the rock beside her.

"No you don't..." she said through clenched fists. This wasn't going to be the end, she was certain.

As if acting by instinct, Eva spied a structural instability in the rock and realised that a phaser blast from the angle where she was presently crouched would cause the archway to give way and that would buy her some more time -- at least.

She took aim carefully -- still dodging the phaser fire from approaching opponents -- and fired.

The whole tunnel system shook, and there was the sound of rock shattering as a portion of the archway collapsed. The area was filled with dust. Eva began coughing uncontrollably.

Henri felt the rock beneath him shudder. He looked up to see dust fly out of the top where they had just come from.

~No!!!~ he thought, as he scrambled back up.

“Keep going,” he shouted, as he passed other members of the away team.

What greeted his eyes was the sight of crumbled rock where the lieutenant had once stood.

~No!!!~ he thought, in horror.

“Lieutenant, Lieutenant!” he shouted.

Eva could hear her rank being called.

"Keep going!" She hollered back amidst coughs.

"No! I will not leave you behind. Can you see any light?" he asked, as he examined the rock wall before him.

"Ensign, that's an order. The others will need your reinforcement more than I. I am in no immediate danger, but we don't know what waits for the others." Eva spoke more and more clearly. The coughing was beginning to subside.

Henri looked at the wall and then back in the direction of the cliff.

“Sorry sir, my light’s gone and I can’t see the cliff from here. Maybe if I can help dig you out, we can manage a way out together.” Henri suggested.

"I'm only agreeing based on the fact that you have no other means for escape in this particular moment and time, but be warned Ensign, should I find your light in working order -- then the conversation we will be having will take on an entirely different form. Understood?" Eva retorted back, feeling almost as if she had been coerced into accepting his help.

“Of course, Lieutenant, I wouldn’t expect anything less.” replied Henri in all seriousness, as he smashed his light.

The light was now very dim and the cliff was pitch black. Henri studied the wall trying to figure out a good point to try to start taking the wall apart with his phaser.

~Ahh..~ he thought, as he thought he'd figured out the spot.

"Stand back, Lieutenant. I'm going to try to get you out." warned Henri.

With the direction of her fellow officer, Eva moved her way towards the back of the cavern. "Alright, but be care--" It was too late.

Henri focused his eyes as best he could and fired. The red beam shot out toward the ceiling, but missed its mark. More rocks came tumbling down blocking out all the light.

Henri coughed as dust blew up around him, when a large rock struck his leg.

~Aaahhh~ he screamed inwardly, as he fell. ~Well, this isn't good.~

Henri dragged his body up to examine the wound as best he could. It hurt when he tried to stand and ended up leaning against the wall of rocks that he had just helped make stronger.

"Lieutenant, are you alright?" asked Henri, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.

Eva could see the dust settling around her, she coughed. At that moment, she realised that perhaps the rocks had fallen outside as well. "Yes... I am..." She said, mentally taking inventory. "Status report," she said succinctly as if she were asking for the results of a level one diagnostic.

“Lieutenant, I just can’t see well enough to strike any point to open a way out for you without killing you. Any suggestions?” he asked.

They discussed several options, but in the end there was nothing either of them could do except wait in the darkness and talk.

Time seemed to stop as they talked about all kinds of things. They weren’t exactly the best of friends before, but they were crewmates. But now he was concerned that she would run out of air in there. He wracked his brain for some idea, but kept coming up empty. All the while she remained calm throughout.

"Have you ever been to Risa?" asked Henri.

"No," answered Eva.

"I hear it's beautiful," said Henri, hoping this would cheer her up.

"That's what they say." replied Eva.

"I heard there is a waterfall that is simply breathtaking. You have to hike ..." said Henri, becoming lost in the description of this galactic wonder.

Suddenly Eva began to hear a noise on the entrance side of her little enclosure.

~They’re finally coming through~ she thought with steely resolve, as she gripped her phaser preparing for the worst.

“Lieutenant, what’s that noise?” asked Henri, sounding startled

“I don’t know, Ensign. I know your light is out, but I think you are going to want to start crawling out very carefully. I think we’re going to have company in a minute.” Eva advised.

She braced herself for anything, phaser pointed in the direction of the noise. Suddenly light flooded into her dark enclosure temporarily blinding her. She raised her phaser in defense, when she heard a voice.

“Easy there, Lieutenant.” said Captain Doenitz. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

Eva breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s the Captain, Ensign. It’s the Captain!”

Henri released the breath he had been holding in.

~Thank God.~ he thought. ~Thank God for the Captain.~

(Reply none) (Posted by Kat and Kaweo)

Part 5 (Finale)

Stardate 2407.07.09

(USS Templar – Bridge – CO Captain Henri Li – 15.15)

Henri looked hard at Eva. They had served together off and on almost their entire careers. They had been to hell and back. It shouldn’t have been like this.

~Come on,~ he thought, but he knew she wouldn’t give in.

Their ships stared at each other, like an old western standoff. Who would blink first?

~Just have to take the chance.~ he thought, as he looked down at his damage reports.

“Eva, I am so sorry,” he said softly. “Fire”

“Sir, we’ve got a ….” warned Planchet.

(USS Hugo – Bridge – CO Captain Eva Kollantai – 15.20)

Eva watched the screen. Her ex-lover's final whisper tugged at a chord that she had spent months trying to cut. She knew what was happening on the ship across from them, they were losing containment and there was a core breech. She knew it, she'd known it from before he tried to fire their phasers as -- she was sure -- had he.

Acting quickly, she turned to the conn/ops officer who had once served under Li. "Get him out of there NOW" She said quickly. Lieutenant Markovich seemed to already have the coordinates locked in, and was waiting for the word.

The ship before them exploded in a cloud of light which started at an epicentre and spread outwards enveloping and engulfing the ring of fighters that had survived the earlier encounters.

"Get us to a safe distance" Eva ordered.

The Hugo moved out. Eva looked at Markovich, he nodded.

"Mr. Drave, you have the bridge" Eva stated succinctly as she left the bridge.

(USS Hugo – Brig – CO Captain Eva Kollantai and Prisoner Captain Henri Li – 15.30)

~What the..~ wondered Henri, as he found himself no longer on the bridge, but inside a brig.

He had expected to be blown into particles. The Templar was losing containment, but he had to take the shot. In the end, she was safe. That’s all that mattered now. He had done his utmost for the Admiral, his debt fulfilled.

He sat dejected on the bench, as he realized most of his crew couldn’t have survived the explosion.

~What have I done?~ he pondered his head in his hands.

Eva walked into the brig, she gave a single, solid, stern look to the guard. He retired immediately.

Walking up to the forcefield, Eva stared at the figure contained within the cell. She said nothing, letting her presence indicate to the captive that she was there. Waiting.

Henri felt a presence, as though he was being watched. He looked up to see her. As if in a trance, he stood up and walked in front of her. The hum of the forcefield began as his outstretched hand reached for her face.

The scene before her was playing its toll on Eva in ways that she could not possibly have imagined. She did not move, instead, concentrated her focus on Henri's eyes. His deep, textured, black, eyes.

They had seen the world in such different fashions. Ways that were incompatible with one another. Instantly, Eva was reminded of the time on Risa, those black eyes laughing and –

Her journey was cut short as the commsystem sparked to life. =^= Captain, the destruction of the Templar has caused a shock wave, it appears that it has caused a disruption in the warp core containment field. If it isn't addressed, we too shall be facing a core breech =^=

Henri simply looked away. “Go, your ship needs you.”

Eva closed her eyes, taking a mental snapshot of the situation at hand. Then, turning she began to run already barking orders to the engineering department.

"Yes, it WILL hold, IT WILL -- are you new? -- I'm on my way down!" she practically barked at whoever was in control in engineering now. It seemed the CEO had been a casualty yet to be reported.

Henri watched her go, his fists clenched. ~That’s my girl~ he thought with a rueful smile, sitting back down.

He thought back to their last fight, it had actually been preceded by a far different fight. He had asked her to marry him. And this time she hadn’t hit him, she just said no.

The happy thought floated through his mind eye, as he was glad that the Admiral had saved her all those years ago. Perhaps he had been on the wrong side, but he would do it all again to repay the man who had saved his love.

It was the last thought that entered his mind, a smile on his face.

(Reply None) (Posted by Kat and Kaweo)

Epilogue

A glooming peace this war with it brings.

The stars for sorrow will not shine their light.

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.

Some shall be pardoned, and some shall slight;

For never was a story of with greater debris

Than this of Eva and her Henri.