Tristan Marshall


 * For the mirror universe person see Tristan Marshal (Mirror Universe)

Tristan Marshal was the Captain of the Starfleet ship the U.S.S Templar. He and his crew explored much of the unknown regions of the galaxy. He also discovered the legendary Spear of Destiny, the Spear the pierced the side of Jesus Christ. He also was a key player in The Second Eugenics War. He has battled many threats to the Federation most notably the renegade Starfleet Captain Arthur Rosslyn and the Ultari Empire. His achievments have lead to many awards.

Personality and Physical Description
Marshal is a clever and very resourceful man. He is also known to be an opportunist, using any weaknesses in his enemies to his advantage. But he is also an honorable and compassionate man. He is also very trusting of his officers, a fact that has saved and hurt him in the past. He belives in goodness of others. But for a very long time he has a terrible distrust of Klingons. He evetually leared to trust Klingons through his friend G'Nort. He has a great love of history and literature. Some of the works he has collected include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. He is lean and muscular. Marshal is 6'2" . He has brown eyes and hair. He has worn a goatee on occasion.

Childhood and Early Starfleet Career
Tristan was born to Carlisle and Pamela Marshal aboard the Starfleet ship the USS Endeavor in the year 2364. He spent his most of his childhood and early adolesence aboard the ship. While on a diplomatic mission a battle ensued when renegade Klingons attacked the Endeavor. The ship escaped but not without sustaining heavy damage and costing Samuel and Pamela their lives.

After the attack, Tristan returned to Earth and was taken in by his father's good friend and his godfather Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Picard was supportive at a time when very few were and eventually became a father of sorts to Tristan (Though he never forgot his parents). The two often played chess which taught Tristan strategy and how to use an opponent's weaknesses agains them. But Picard also taught Tristan to be trusting and compassionate. Although he never admited it to anyone and only spoke of it in his journal, he always wanted revenge on the Klingons who killed his parents.

When Tristan joined Starfleet Academy he quickly excelled to the top of his class. All of his instructers said it was only a mater of time until he would become captain of his own ship. While there, Tristan met and befriended Fredrick Drake. When they were 22 they were sent along with seven other cadets to the space station Trident. A fleet of Borg Cubes attacked the station and all cadets were sent into battle. Tristan and Fredrick efortlessly evaded the Borg. Tristan remembered Picard telling him stories of his battles with the Borg, and remembered all the weak points. The two single handedly destroyed a Borg cube. For their bravery they were given the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor. He was also promoted to captain of his own ship,the U.S.S Templar.

Captain of the Templar
In 2387, the USS Templar (NX-573912) was sent across the now defunct Romulan Neutral Zone to search for any Romulans who may have survived the explosion of the Hobus Star. He met with mixed sentiments from the survivors. Some of them wanted to leave their homeland and reunite with their Vulcan cousins, others blamed the Federation for the loss of their beloved homeworld and some simply wanted to live out the last years of their existence in peace, away from the interference of the Federation.

While during this rescue mission, Captain Marshall discovered the last survivors of the Reman race. All of them had perished in the explosion, save for this group of pirates, who were a branch of Shinzon's coalition. They pledged their loyalty to Marshall and gave him information for their lives... That information was the indentity of the Klingon house whose members had killed his parents: the House of Tanas.

Though he did not immediately pursue this link, he kept it inside himself, secretly waiting for the opportunity to be sent into Klingon space. Unfortunately, his old friend and mentor foresaw this (since he himself had endured the same thing when assimilated by the Borg) and petitioned that he be allowed to continue his search throughout Romulan space and be kept away from Klingon Imperial space by any means necessary. Tristan felt betrayed by Picard and the two drifted away. This estrangement would last for several months.

While still in Romulan space, he came across a destroyed pirate ship, and there he made first contact with the Ultari race and met Kyara. An Ultari battleship attacked the Templar and demanded that they surrender Kyara. They revealed that Kyara was a fugitive of the Ultari Empire and had been sentanced to death. The Two ships battled. The Ultiari agreed to a ceasefire on the condition that Kyara never enter Ultairian space again. Without a home, Kyara was welcomed on the Templar and eventually became Science Officer.

Later G'nort, a Klingon Starfleet officer was transfered from the Gladius to the Templar. Tristan tried to surpress his distrust. When they discoverd a small uncharted planet, Tristan and G'nort beamed down. They were attacked by angry natives and Tristan lost his weapon. G'Nort was able to defeat the natives and the two beamed back to the ship. Having his life saved by a Klingon caused him to have a change of heart and his distrust lifted. G'Nort and Tristan eventually became good friends.

Battle with Tanas
A few months later, three Starfleet ships were destroyed with no explaination. The Templar was sent to investigate. They were attacked by several Klingon Warbirds headed by a stolen Romulan Valdore-Class ship, captained by Tanas himself. Tanas was the leader of a group of Klingon vessels acting independently from the Klingon Empire: he believed that the alliance with the Federation had weakened the once proud warrior-people and wanted to destroy it. The ships engaged in battle. Consumed with rage, Tristan held nothing back in the fight.

The Templar was so damaged, they were forced to retreat. Tristan stormed off into his quarters to blow off steam. Kyara came to visit him and he confided in her, revealing what Tanas had done to his family. She told him exacly the same thing that Picard did, that if he acted in revenge he would lose himself to darkness. Later, Tristan returned to the bridge and resumed command of his ship. He continued the pursuit and later discovered a Vulcan science vessel dead in the water. Tristan ordered an away team to beam aboard the ship a search for survivors. The Vulcan who survived revealed that Tanas had attacked them and that he was heading for the Federation colony-planet Munu-Ceso.

Determined to get there before Tanas and warn the colony, Tristan told his crew to prepare for battle and head for Munu-Ceso at maximum warp. They managed to get there before Tanas, having just enough time to warn the colonists. Tristan told the colonists that those who could fight, should stay and help and those that couldn't should board the Templar and evacuate the planet. Tristan also sent a message to starfleet command asking for help in evacuating the colonists and battling Tanas.

Before the battle began G'Nort pulled the captain asside and asked if he could stay out of the fight, the reason being that he would feel dishonored if he fired on his own people. As G'nort's friend Tristan agreed but as his commanding officer he warned that G'nort would never be allowed on a starfleet ship again. G'Nort returned to his quarters as the battle began. While Fredrick and the majority of the crew beamed down to the planet to combat the Klingons, Tristan and a handful of crewmen stayed aboard to try to battle Tanas' flagship. The two ships were both heavily damaged but neither side surrendered. Eventually when the Templar gained the upper hand and were able to cripple their weapons. Tanas hailed the Templar and they responded. He challenged Tristan to beam onto the ship to negotiate a peace. While Tristan suspected that this was probably a trap, he agreed.

As he was about to enter the transporter room, Tristan was surprised to see G'Nort running towards him. G'Nort asked Tristan if he could acompany him aboard Tanas' ship. Tristan asked why he wanted to accompany him and G'Nort said he would also be dishonored if he did not help his comrades in a time of need. The two beamed onto Tanas' flagship.

Discovery on Ceti Alpha 5
For the Full account of the events mentioned here,see Story: Star Trek: Templar: To Rule in Hell

Shortly after their battle with Tanas, The Templar recieved a distrss call from a Federation colony in the Pachat system. They were being attacked by pirates that had been pillaging local systems. The Templar rushed to their aid but were sadly too late to stop the destruction of the colony. Enraged, Tristan ordered the ship to persue. When they finally caught up with the Pirates above Ceti Alpha 5, a battle ensued. Both ships were severly damaged and Tristan proposed a ceasefire. The Pirates agreed only if they took a shuttlecraft instead of being beamed aboard. Tristan, Visas, Fredrick and Kyara all boarded a shuttle. But they were betrayed by the pirates and shot down. They managed to survive by making a close crash landing.

They tried to reach the ship and get beamed out of there, but a terrible storm was causing the transporter to malfuntion. They also couldn't send a shuttlecraft. Forced to seek shelter, they decided to hide in the remains of the Botany Bay; the ship of the late genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh. There, they happened upon a shocking find; a lost journal that had once belonged to Khan himself. While they waited for the storm to let up, the four people decided to read the journal.

In its entries, Khan mentioned a group of mutineers - fellow Augments who deserted him upon the supernova of Ceti Alpha 6 which made CA5 uninhabitable - whom he wished would die for their betrayal in leaving the planet. Tristan feared that, even though this entry was over one hundred years old, the Augments might have survived, or, the worse-case-scenario, become integrated into society and had already spread their Augmented DNA into a new generation of "supermen".

Further reading detailed Khan's attempts at restarting the genetic Augmenting in order to create an army that would, upon completion, conquer the galaxy. However, with the destruction of Ceti Alpha 6, survival became paramount and this was apparently abandoned.

The Second Year
Tristan's second year aboard the Templar began with tragedy.

Operation 2020
For a full account of the events mentioned here, see Story: Star Trek: Templar: Operation 2020

The Templar discovered a strange energy reading down on the surface of an unknown planet. Tristan and Kyara beamed down there and discovered a large Guradian of Forever similar to the one encountered by James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. The Guradian spoke to Tristan and said that it was one of the guardians of forever. This lead Tristan to believe there was more than one of the archways across the universe. The Guradian told Tristan and Kyara that it had been waiting for them for many years and that they must go through the portal. When Kyara asked what was beyond the portal, the gateway merely said it was a mission of great importance.

Tristan was skeptical but Kyara, trusting her instincts, went through the portal. Frusturated, Tristan followed her. They appeared on a road at nightime. They followed the road for a few minutes and came upon a truck stop.

Search for the Spear of Destiny

 * For a full account of the events mentioned here, see Story:Star Trek: Conflict: The Cross.

In 2405, Marshall became a temporary outlaw of the Federation for associating with Edward Shield. The reason for this was that the latter had discovered clues on Earth about a legendary weapon that could grant invincibility. Shield feared that the Federation would destroy it, since it was living proof to the existence of Christ, and asked Marshall if he would accompany him on a quest to find it. Marshall accepted.

The first place they went was a remote planet on the edge of the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants. Shield said that he had been led here by a tablet which he had found on Earth during his first visit to it in the 25th Century. They found a temple on that planet, dating back to the 1st Century AD. The tablet matched the architecture in that temple, which proved that they had come to the right place. The temple had been made by a group of aliens who had visited Earth in the year 0031 AD and had witnessed (without interfering) the Crucifixion. Upon returning to this, their homeworld, they brought with them the spear that had pierced Christ. This became an object of worship, which the aliens imbued with their own natural energies.

Over time, the spear became so imbued with the collective energies of the many aliens that it became a weapon of invincibility. Wars were fought over its possession, during which their planet was decimated. The last living of the aliens, fearing what would happen if any race would ever find it, chose that it would be best that no one ever possess the weapon. To prove that he acted out of wisdom and not out of selfishness, he made records of his story in tablets of stone that were sent to Earth. Over the years, they were lost or destroyed, until the one that Edward Shield found remained - which even that was scarcely helpful.

After this, they continued reading the hieroglyphs on the temple until they discovered a passage that gave direct mention to the current location of the spear. Soon the Ultari Empire learned of the weapon and seeking a way to destroy the Federation soon began seaching for it themselves. Seeing the Empire as a greater threat than the Federation, Tristan suggested a temporary alliance with Jean Luc Picard in order to find the spear before the Empire did (another reason was that he wanted to hook up with Fredrick Drake, who was touring the Enterprise at the time). Though Shield was extremely distrustful of Picard, he followed through.

With the help of the "superior" USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) and USS Templar (NX-573912), they found the planet where the Spear rested and beamed down onto it. Picard then had Shield arrested and detained aboard the Templar while he ordered Tristan to destroy everything, the Spear and its shrine. Tristan said that it would be wrong to destroy these ancient artifacts. Picard told him that this is the last bit of evidence: he had destroyed the temple on the planet of the aliens, leaving only this shrine and the Spear and the last real proof of the existence of Christ. Fredrick said that Christianity is the worst enemy humankind has ever faced, and that he, as a citizen of humanity and a loyal son of the Federation will defy Christianity, for the common good, even if it meant he had to spit in the face of Christ Himself.

Tristan didn't n believe what he was hearing. He was having a crisis of faith. He didn't even know if he really belived in Christ. Picard and Fredrick continued to try to convince him to destroy the spear. They remind him of all the terrible things caused by Christianity like the Crusades and The Holocaust. But before he could do anything, Picard recieved a message on his communicator. The crewman told Picard that they were under attack but the message was cut off. They hear the sound of sombody beaming in and turn and see Shield with a group of Ultaris. Shield, who had been excommunicated and marked for death by the Federation, chose to ally with the Ultari to protect the spear from destruction. The Ultaris demanded that they surrender the spear or die. Tristan refused. A fight ensued. While Picard and Fredrick were locked in battle with the Ultaris, Tristan managed to fight his way to the shrine and he grabbed the spear. Once he touched it, he saw visions of carnage and death caused by the spear. He realized that the weapon was once good but had been polluted and taineted by all the bloodshed caused by it. He made his mind up and destroyed the spear so it could never be used for evil again.

Shield attacked Tristan. The two grappled, Tristan broke Shield's knee and he fell off a cliff. Tristan grabed Shield's hand and pulled him up. The Ultari are defeated and Shield goes to prison willingly (though he is rescued a few days later). Picard told Tristan that he's proud of the personal sacrifice he made for the good of the Federation, but then asked why he destoyed the spear after searching for it so much. Tristan said that he doesn't believe that Christianity itself is evil but the people who persecute and murder in the name of it are. Tristan and Fredrick return to the Templar.

The Second Eugenics War
The Second Eugenics War began when Arthur Rosslyn found the plans for Khan's Augment army on Ceti Alpha 5 and began using them to create an army of his own. This further helped to tighten the case surrounding his expulsion, since creating genetically augmented people was against Federation law. Shortly thereafter, the refugee Augments who had escaped Ceti Alpha 5 in the 23rd Century began attacking outlying Federation colonies. They began taking key sectors of space as their own. Several battle were fought between the Templar and these Augments.

Rosslyn and his Augments attacked Earth and attempted to take the Federation President hostage. Jean-Luc Picard, Tristan's old friend, captured Rosslyn and halted this attack. When Tristan came, he listened to Rosslyn's version of his life's story. Picard, however, told Tristan that Rosslyn had to die since he was an enemy of the state. Rosslyn asked Tristan if he was really following his own instincts or just blindly taking orders. In the end, Picard's influence won out and Tristan killed Rosslyn. Though Picard told him that he did the right thing and that no wrong was done, Tristan could not help but feel that he had sacrificed his freedom on the altar of blind obedience.

Some of Rosslyn's Augments escaped and joined their brothers, prolonging the conflict for antother four years. During the second year of the war, the Romulans and Cardassians joined the fight; siding with the Federation and the Augments respectivly. Although some of his crew were nervous about having Romulans aboard the ship, they were allowed to join the crew and together they helped win The Battle of Ontasia 7. This key victory gave them a strong foothold in Augment space. A handful of the crew to make sure that this base stayed intact.

Seeing the need for as many captains as possible, Fredrick was promoted to captain of his own vessal the USS Ragnarok. Tristan was saddend by the prospect of seeing his best friend leave but knew it was nessesary. The Ragnarok was sent to help refugees of the war get to saftey. The Templar's next mission was to free a space station that was being held up by Cardassians. The battle didn't start off well. The Cardassians had been expecting them and had laid a trap, knowing that the Templar was one of the flagships in the war. But the Templar managed to fight it out and free the station. Sadly, the battle cost Kyle Lennox his life.

Death
Tristan retired from Starfleet to live out the rest of his life with his wife (who was expecting a child). When he officially announced his retirement, he made a grand speech before Starfleet Command, the Federation Council and billions of others across the Federation, admonishing them that the Ultari would one day return to take their vengeance upon humanity and that the Federation should be ready for that return.

But his message was forgotten as the years went on and no Ultari invasion occured. By 2422, the Ultari were no longer believed to be in existence any more.

It was during that time that the Ultari came once again into prominence. After their crippling defeat at the hands of the Federation, the Ultari of the 25th Century contacted those of the 34th Century - from Kyara's time - and began planning a joint invasion of the Federation. It was successful and the Ultari even took control of the Federation and its president.This would seem incongruous with their otherwise "scorched earth" policy against humans, but they decided that the best way to destroy all of the humans, and their Federation allies, would be to conquer them all first and then systematically eliminate them.

Starfleet Command called Tristan Marshal out of retirement to battle the enemy he alone had defeated in years past. Kyara, though she had to go up against her own people (her own family in fact, for her father was commanding the 34th Century Ultari fleet), volunteered to aid him in any way she could. Before the battle, Kyara went into labor. She gave birth to a baby boy who she and Tristan named Clayton.

The invasion was halted after Tristan sacrificed himself to destroy the main Ultari capital ship on February 18th, thereby severing all communication between the ships and allowing for the invasion to be ended.

Legacy
Tristan's brave heroism made him one of the most famous and respected captains in Starfleet history. Upon his death they erected a statue to him at Starfleet Academy. Fredrick Drake took command of the Templar, which was active for another 5 years. It was destroyed in a skirmish with the Borg.Tristan's son Clayton became just as famous as his father as the captain of the USS Claudius.