[War of the Masters continuity]
Trung, Ngoc[]
Ngoc Trung is a Military officer in the Moab Confederacy Defense Forces, and a Scientist, in the period between 2406 and 2412 CE. His claim to fame being a number of papers examined and published after his presumed demise at the Battle of the Goralis Rift[1] in 2412, where he refined a device built by Starfleet Captain (and Scientist) Dr. Michelle Schrodinger, then took it into the Goralis Rift to seal a dimensional breach and stop an invasion by extra dimensional entities in their tracks.
He is a culture-hero for the people of the Moab System, and on the larger scale, the Moab Confederacy.
Trung's scientific work is notable for being a pastiche of observational and complex theory in the areas of pure theoretical macro physics, as influenced by quantum observations. Some of his work parallels work done by Dr. David Marcus in the 23rd century, though some of his refinements and conclusions contrast sharply with the work used in the Genesis Project. Unpublished manuscripts from his personal belongings and papers indicate an intellectual grasp of nth dimensional mechanics well in advance of what a rural colonist who's spent a large portion of his life serving under Klingon, and proto-Klingon military discipline could achieve.
The current administrator of his estate is his Widow, B'Tama Trung, whom has been gradually releasing the most complete portions to selected individuals in the Klingon Empire and United Federation of Planets. (She has been reluctant to release the entire catalog, officially due to a desire to help establish a research academy on Cold Butte or Moab III in cooperation with the Denali.)
Born: Les Pointe Valley, New Saigon (33 KM west of Provo) February 18, 2391
Parents: Emmaline Davis Trung, Dinh William Trung
Two younger siblings.
Marital Status: Married (at time of death) Spouse/Widow: B'Tama Daughter of Kobor (Married name B'Tama Trung)
Religion: Modern Zionite Congregation, Latter Day Saint (Variant Christian)
Height: 1.95 Meters
Weight: 100 kilograms
Hair: Black
Ethnicity/Features: Asian/Caucasian mixed heritage, some native american
Languages: English, Hebrew, Th'lingan-Hol (Klingon), Cardassian, Bajor-La (learned late)
Role: Moab Confederacy Officer, Science and Operations dept.
Death (presumed): Goralis Rift, 2412, Rank at time of estimated demise, Colonel (O-6, Starfleet Captain equivalent)
Education Notes:[]
Honorary Doctorate of Physics, Vulcan Science Academy (Posthumous)
Honorary Doctorate of Advanced Physical Theory, Ty'Gokor Naval Military Academy (*KDF)
Honorary Doctorate, University of Betazed (Posthumous)
Honorary Doctorate, Hathon College of Sciences Bajor (Posthumous)
Bachelors Degree International Relations: Ty'Gokor Military Academy
Certificate of Meritorious Study, Cardassian Union Education Department (awarded while he was still alive, and is a doctorate equivalent for his work mapping spatiotemporal anomalies in Cardassian space)
Military Awards and Decorations[]
Confederacy Legion of Honour (Posthumous)
Dahar Master for Gallantry (KDF, Posthumous)
Cardassian Legion of Honour (Posthumous)
Grankite Order of Tactics (Nominated, in debate, Posthumous)
Pike Medal of Valor (Nominated, in debate, Posthumous)
Order of the Nine Rings (awarded for actions at Betazed)
Son Tay Rescue Mission Coin
Independence Campaign Medal with 'V' device and clusters
Presidential Foreign Unit Citation of Merit for Gallantry (Son Tay, awarded to all participants by order of Annik Okeg, President, United Federation of Planets)
Klingon Order of Glorious Valour: (3 times, for Son Tay, Eryphis Station, and Betazed action)
Purple Heart (awarded nine times between 2406 and 2412)
Bronze Star (seven times between 2406 and 2412)
Silver Star with V device and oak leaf clusters (Son Tay, and again after Betazed)
Silver Star (Objective K)
Overview:[]
In early January of 2406, Ngoc Trung, then fifteen and having recently completed Year 12 examinations, went to Starbase Deep Space K-7 to get a pre-Academy medical examination added to his packet for consideration by Starfleet Academy. To fully contextualize, this would be the last step necessary to get into a pre-Academy preparation program run through the Starfleet Legion organization, a nongovernmental charity focused on helping Starfleet find promising young officer candidates in the outer, poorer colonies, particularly in regions prone to heavy criminal activity.
His pre-application exams were sufficient that he could have, if he were but two years older, applied directly to the Academy without taking the pre-academy courses, with tested aptitudes in Sciences and Linguistics surpassing the top 99.9995% of applicants.
At the Starbase medical on K-7, his dream of joining Starfleet ended.[2]
Ngoc Trung was born with a defect. This Defect dates to the early settlement of the Moab System, and had proven to be a syndrome of the rarest sort-the kind Starfleet Medical was unable to cure, fix, or effectively treat. Centuries of trying meant a huge database and extensive knowledge of Degenerative Neural Sheath Annihilation Syndrome. He was informed by K-7's Chief Medical officer, that his life would be over by the age of thirty five, and he would be reliant on powerful narcotics and antiseizure medications by the age of 28. for this reason, he was automatically barred from service in Starfleet, or any other Federation or United Earth civil service that requires more than two years of school.
He was born a 'Mayfly', living with dog years. No matter how good his testing and aptitudes were, Starfleet was barred by law from accepting any further application.
He joined the Independence movement on the shuttle ride back to New Saigon.
He completed Class 1 of 4 at the covert Devil's Canyon training facility, and got his first MOS training-as a pilot, learning to fly covertly provided Klingon Fighter-shuttles of the then-nearly-phased-out To'Duj Mark V model, a type last used in front line service during the Romulan-Khitomer conflict of the previous century, but these got updates and modifications to make them nearly equivalent in potential throw-weight to current models.
He hit the ground running, as they say. Trung excelled as a pilot and flight officer, and during down-times prior to Independence, he studied courses to gain points for promotion and prove he was worthy. Warp Theory, Military theory, astrophysics, combat operations, he devoured coursework at the frenetic pace of a man who didn't just think he could die tomorrow, but who KNOWS how long he has left and how much he has to do to make it worth-while.
Twenty years to be more than a dirt farmer who has to be put down by their loved ones when the seizures and the pain reach the point nothing helps.
Independence War[2][]
Ngoc's first combat action was during the final raid on Moab by Orion slavers. He flew against an Orion carrier in Moab orbit behind a spray of deep space industrial mining slag, and delivered an antimatter-core charge directly into the Orion vessel's open fighter bays, destroying a Seige Mistress class cruiser/carrier from the inside out. He also made 'ace' that morning downing eleven Orion interceptors and four of their heavier shuttles.
Starbase 24 Raid:[3][]
Ngoc was Coxswain (Helmsman) at rank of E-4 aboard the lead vessel in the covert prisoner extraction of Janice O'Neill Qua from holding on Starbase 24. He was at the time assigned to FFG-10, as the backup helmsman aboard that Norgh-class bird of prey. He was noted for his efficiency as a pilot and judgment in manual approach and 'soft docking' with the Starbase's hull.
Antipiracy Operations[]
Trung participated in six antipiracy patrols between the Star base 24 incident, and Operation:Son Tay. During these operations he progressed in promotions from E-4 to E-6, absorbing additional responsibilities and demonstrating a gift for controlling his subordinates and identifying correct courses of action based on available data, that put him on the short list for possible officer candidacy and training, including demonstrating talent and mastery at sensor data interpretation, counter-cloaking techniques, and starship operations.
Operation: Son Tay[2][]
Trung piloted Shuttle 14 in the prisoner rescue mission. at great personal risk, he recovered a team of KDF advisors when the Undine got their transport jamming back up, then flew less than a meter from ground halfway around the undine base's perimeter to extract the crew of shuttle 9 and their passengers after that shuttle had been disabled by enemy fire. He then took his overloaded Toron class troop shuttle out of range of transport jamming before containment failed on the shuttle's small warp reactor, whereupon he and his passengers were safely extracted by IKS Val'Gyr II.
Colonel D'Moj, acting as KDF advisor and oversight of the mission on behalf of the Empire, filed papers to place Sgt/Coxswain Trung directly under her command as a Liaison officer in preparation on sponsorship of House Methos, to Ty'Gokor's next open class in 2407.
Eryphis Station[4][]
During his 'exchange tour' as a Tributary officer candidate, Ngoc was brought along with his commander on orders to examine a building situation on the Orions' largest non-planetary gathering on the Orion-owned Eryphis Station. He was, as a result, on site when half the Council of Owners (roughly equivalent to an Orion parliament) revolted against Melani Di'an and the Klingon Empire in the name of "The Good Masters". he distinguished himself well in the corridor-to-corridor, room-to room fighting, the ending of which, was coordinate with the destruction of three rebel trade houses entirely and the Empire being able to secure the Station.
Orion Homeworld Mission and excavation[5][]
One of the findings from Eryphis, was evidence that an archive of Orion Knowledge, including items from precursor civilizations, was being sought by the rebellious Cult (which had suborned a significant portion of the active KDF fleet already). Ngoc followed his commander, Colonel D'Moj, to the site of the original Orion Homeworld, a planet so polluted and abandoned, that despite historically evacuating that world more than a millenia prior, it was still a ruin. Within those ruins, was informatoin that would later be critical to fighting the War against The Masters, and it was guarded by the degenerate, mutated descendants of the Orion race themselves.
And there were others seeking the same place and knowledge.
Ngoc was instrumental in getting the landing party through several vertical and horizontal tens of kilometers of cannibalistic urban dwellers. He also devised and constructed a series of traps and obstacles to slow down the other interested parties, including landing teams deployed by rogue Admiral David Huntington from USS Suharto.
Objective K[6][]
The immediate result from the foray to the Orion Homeworld, included rescuing and briefly training an ensign from the USS Suharto whose testimony should have been instrumental in locking up her former commanding officer as a traitor to the Federation. They delivered her to Starbase K-7 and, under the behest of Admiral Kingsley, joined an expedition to find the next rift that would be opened in the effort to summon the Masters. Ngoc helped identify the likeliest 'soft points' where such a gateway could be opened, while working with Captain Kevin Monroe and Dr Michelle Schrodinger (and with some help from Mad Mary Moriarty).
After Objective K, He returned to the Moab system a commissioned officer, and fought in the Ground War to free Moab III of Fek'Ihri infestation, making Major roughly two months in and getting slotted to the Combat Power Armor program's first 'class'. He participated in the Fourth attempt on New Saigon late in the war, confirming the deaths of his family and community before being dragged into a staff position on Moab III overseeing the retrofitting of a surplus Klingon K'Vort class 'Bird of prey cruiser' dating to the Romulan War period (the post-Praxis Romulan war-when the Empire attacked the Empire, seeing the klingons as weak, in the previous century),
MCDS Ia Drang [7][]
Ngoc was flocked "colonel of marines' and given Captain of the heavily modified and refit K'Vort Class MCDS Ia Drang after the battle of Betazed. His mission was to find and confirm the next major entry point for invasion by The Good Masters and their Undine and Fek'Ihri proxies, he identified it.
Goralis, in the Cardassian Union. The place they grow the Meya leaf to treat Yarim Fel syndrome, the critical point that could shatter the Cardassian Union and establish not only a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, but a DEFENSIBLE foothold, the twisty nature of space in that region making it one of the few areas in either Alpha or Beta Quadrants that could actually BE fortified and defended.
he identified the location, confirmed it with the Atlas (an ancient artifact being studied by the Empire, as well as his own government, and certain scholars at Daystrom). and got himself captured by the Cardassian Guard after blowing up two True Way vessels.
Due to the covert nature of his presence in the area, his cover story was tailored to work with the prejudices and bad feeling Cardassians still have toward Klingons and their allies. He claimed to be chasing Orion Rebels and Pirates, an activity the Moab Confederacy had begun gaining infamy for (both for crossing borders without so much as by-your-leave, and the brutality visited upon their targets when they catch them.)
The Gul at Cardassian Base Goralis 11 wasn't buying it. Why? he saw the meticulous, pure science charting Ngoc and his crew had been doing for what it was. Normally, a Klingon (or Klingon Ally) might claim to be doing science when they're really after someone or looking to cause trouble. This didn't look like that. It was pure science, and it was GOOD science.
Eventually, Ngoc confessed his true mission, and the timeline they had left to complete it. He also had to confess to his medical state.
The Cardassian High Command contacted the MCDF's high command, and a 'status of forces' agreement was negotiated, placing Ngoc and his crew under Cardassian Defense Force discipline and orders for the duration of the emergency. For the next several months, Ngoc learned how to be an officer in the Cardassian mold, after having been one in the Klingon, and Moabite mold.
When forces were finally gathered from the multinational team formed to deal with the threat of the Goralis Incursion *(under STarfleet's 77th Fleet Command in particular), Dr. Schrodinger had already done something bad enough to be pinged for desertion and possible war crimes. While she was building the Device, Ngoc had already begun realizing what it would require to seal the rift...
The battle joined. Schrodinger resurfaced, but her device was damaged. Ngoc, having already wrestled with much of the theory needed, made repairs and evacuated his vessel, to include his Klingon wife B'Tama and all personnel.
He went into the rift, and he activated the device. The rift closed, and his last message was recorded.
"I don't know if this is going to work, but someone has to ride it down if it is. I'm sorry Betty, someone has to do it and I guess it's me this time. I don't even know if it will work."
He left a wife, and an unborn child behind, but in the process, he saved the Quadrant, and maybe the galaxy.
Related: His papers[]
Ngoc's widow had possession of his papers and theories. If the device worked the way he'd thought it might, there would be a chance he could have survived...sort of.
Review by Scientists as late as 2422 and readings taken at the site of the rift, suggests two possibilities, one of which, is more popular than the other. Either he died activating the device, or he's trapped in a time-loop outside of baryonic existence, outside the universe, somewhere between multiverses, and if he is, he's burning alive and will be long after the Universe ends in a constant loop that, if he's very lucky, he won't remember...but he can't be rescued or it will undo what he accomplished, at the moment he accomplished it.
They tried three times to find him before they gave up.
He's still burning.
Creator's Note[]
Ngoc is one of my favorites, and maybe that's a warning, because I had to argue with Sander_233, Knightraider. Takeshiyamato and Gulberat (the co-authors of his final story) to prevent him from being miraculously saved. He will never know if it actually worked, and he will never get the release of death or an afterlife. He will be, forever, wondering if it worked, and dying in agony, but never actually getting to be dead.
The basic thought process with Ngoc, is that to be a big damn hero requires a big damn challenge, and a big damn sacrifice. It's not a sacrifice if don't like the character, it's not a sacrifice if they're unlikeable, it's not heroic if it comes easy and it's not a real hero if there's a reward at the end and he gets it.
Ngoc gives up everything...and I mean everything. He could've tried to send it on a remote, or conned someone else into riding it down, or let Schrodinger do it, but he did it. He accepted the possibility of endless torment beyond the end of the universe, to save the people he loved, and people he didn't know.
He wasn't sure it would work, he didn't KNOW it would work but he was willing to give up everything to try.
a 'save' would cheapen it.
References: (STO Fanfic stories featuring Ngoc Trung)
"In the Presence of Heaven, would you choose Hell?"
"Spiked"
"A Family Matter"
"Season 1, The Chase"
"visiting with the dead Part 2"
"Faces in the Flames"
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1135010/faces-in-the-flames-the-chase-season-2-fanfic/p1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1235877/fanfic-with-a-promise-of-heaven-would-you-choose-hell-masterverse-rewrite-based-on-coolng/p1
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1239446/fanfiction-spiked/p1
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1109194/a-family-matter-story
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1122404/the-chase-story
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1130762/visiting-with-the-dead/p1
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1135010/faces-in-the-flames-the-chase-season-2-fanfic