Richard Hughes

PO3. Richard Hughes serves in the security department on the USS Odyssey.

## Background

Hughes grew up as a normal child in Bristol, Earth, attending school there and then going to Bath University for a course in Computer Science, as he felt this to be the best way to achieve his goal of becoming a software designer. But in the middle of the last year of his course the Third World War began in earnest, the complex web of alliances and treaties that had formed collapsing into all-out global war as they did at the start of the First World War. Hughes was conscripted into the King’s Royal Hussars, a regiment in the army of what was quickly becoming a new British Empire. While the Hussars is a Cavalry regiment, meaning they extensively use armoured vehicles, Hughes was attached to an infantry brigade within the Hussars, which mostly went in the places that the Hussars needed to go but which were impassable to armoured vehicles. He completed his basic training, and was immediately sent to the front in allied Germany, helping to slow the Slovakian invasion. After two years there, learning first-hand of the horrors of war, he was briefly recalled to London for leave before being sent off to the Canada-USA border conflict, Britain wanting to defend Canada, one of only a couple of nations that had willingly joined the new Empire. Hughes quickly found to his surprise, fighting in widely-spaced infantry sections of a dozen or so men which often took heavy losses and left privates in command until the sections were recalled, that he was actually a rather good tactician. His unit's officers recognised this as well, and after about a year on the front he was returned again to London for NCO training, leaving as a Lance Corporal, from whence he returned to Canada for a few months before he was sent out to the Siberian front, trying to push from the small island of British-controlled soil in and around Petrozavodsk down into St. Petersburg, hoping to spend six months consolidating their control of the surrounding land before mounting an offensive from there into Moscow and taking control of the core of the Russian Federation. The offensive was, however, badly planned, and the attacking troops were largely massacred, the Russian army mounting a large and well-organised counterattack that allowed them to push far into British-occupied territory. The officers of his squadron killed, Hughes, now a Sergeant, took command of the squadron by virtue of having been the Platoon Sergeant of the senior platoon, and was able to return most of the squadron through a hundred kilometers of almost entirely enemy-occupied territory by pushing them through deep forests and avoiding confrontation wherever possible. While they were discovered and attacked several times, often more than once in one day, each time they were able to escape and at least temporarily escape detection with limited losses, and 94 of the 132 squadron members were returned safely to friendly territory.

Having shown himself to be capable of leading larger groups of soldiers, Hughes was given a field commission by the Lieutenant Colonel of his battalion(while the officer training corps were still training officers, they had not been and still were not able to cope with the increased load in this worldwide total war) and became a Second Lieutenant, put officially in command of his squadron which was sent back out to continue the fight and prevent the loss of more land.

After two more years of this, and two harsh Siberian winters, the war spread to outer space, with fights breaking out between the crews of asteroid mining vessels and lunar mining facilities, which expanded into full scale war after the war’s factions started to provide military support to those in space. Hughes was assigned to lead a platoon to defend a rare earth element mining platform on the Moon, where he and his platoon gained a lot of experience fighting on an airless world with low gravity. For the first time Hughes was using armoured vehicles - it would be impractical to travel without them, as EV suits are meant for external maintenance rather than long journeys on foot. There were losses, but also successes, and those in the platoon who survived for more than a few months quickly became the closest thing in existence to veterans of space combat. As such, it was they who were chosen for a dangerous mission in late 2036 - an assault on an Eastern Coalition station in high Jovian orbit. This facility was being used as an observation post to keep an eye on troop movements down on Earth and had led directly to the deaths of thousands of soldiers, so it was vital that a skilled team be sent to take control of the station, and that there be no warning of the attack. As such, there were no official records of the mission outside of the minds of those involved in its planning and execution, and the soldiers’ families were told they had gone missing inaction, while they were actually put onto a cryogenic “sleeper ship,” equipped with suspended animation technology similar to that entering commercial use at the time. The craft used had a tiny flawed component in its main thruster, which caused it to use its fuel inefficiently, miss its target and sail into deep space. When the generals on Earth didn’t hear word of the destruction or takeover of the station, they assumed their assault team had been killed.

However, they had not been. The ship, having solar escape velocity, continued out into interstellar space for 375 years before being discovered by the USS Saragossa, a science vessel. After centuries, only six of the cryogenic pods were still functioning, one of which was Hughes’. Following his return to Earth, it took Hughes several months to even begin to get used to living in the post-scarcity of the Federation. Eventually he came to the conclusion that he’d be unable ever to fully acclimate to life on Earth, so he decided to enlist in Starfleet, the organisation which had rescued him from his vessel. He attended the Starfleet Technical Services Academy, and his aptitude and experience allowed him to do something very rare, and leave the Academy as a Crewman First Class, in 2412. After three years' service on the Sovereign-class USS Laugnihl (named for a Trill emperor of a couple of thousand years ago), he was promoted to Petty Officer, Third Class and transferred to the USS Odyssey, which, as a long term exploration mission, promises to be much more interesting than his time on the Laugnihl.

## Appearance

Hughes is slightly above average height, but he’s slim enough that he looks a few inches taller to someone who isn’t close enough to properly judge his height. His brow, beneath short, parted blonde-brown hair, is wrinkled from years of constant furrowing, and he’s allowed a thick but short, stubbly beard to grow over some of the various scars on his face, which is lined beyond what might be expected for someone of his age. He has scars which are quite extensive from his time in the Army.

## Other Information

Likes, Dislikes, Personality: Hughes has been deeply affected by his years of frontline war; he was once a jovial man, but now, at least when he's on duty, he conducts himself with an almost Vulcan stoicism. He takes his work seriously, and will stick to protocol wherever possible. He tends to overanalyse himself and his mistakes, and is quick to point out others’ flaws as well. He is still frequently amazed by 25th century technology and its cultures, and can sometimes be nervous around nonhumans.