Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. Tomb Raider and the situations therein are the property of Square Enix. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit. Stardates were calculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com and may be slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.
Hoshi's Tale
Shuttle One Crew, Samantha Hayashi's Log, morning of Day Two, Stardate 81630-something, I suppose :
I managed to find Carlin. I met her in the camp of a Cardassian survivor from a previous crash: a man named Matan who claimed to be a teacher. Carlin treated my wound and sedated me…and now I wake up here, wherever here is.
I am beginning to seriously hate this planet. We may discover the answer to the enigma of the ancient Japanese Sun Queen Himiko here, but I have to wonder if it will be worth it. I have a bad feeling that what I endured in the cave at the hands of that creepy Bolian scavenger was only the beginning…
Sam's first thought on waking was that her side no longer hurt. There was a dull ache when she rolled over, but nothing more. Her next thought was that something was definitely not right. She remembered falling asleep on dirt next to a campfire in the forest, but now she felt warm metal beneath her cheek. Her eyes snapped open. Oh, bad, oh very bad!
She was no longer in the forest, and she was pretty certain she wasn't any place Carlin would have willingly taken her either. Instead, she was in the gloomy remains of an old Type-18 shuttlepod. The interior had been gutted and the outer hatch torn away, replaced by a set of thick metal bars, locked from the outside. A similar set of bars had been welded in place over the original cockpit windows-which had all been broken out-and over every other gap in the hull. It's a cage, she realized. They've turned it into a cage-and I'm inside it...alone. There was no sign of Carlin, Commander Drel, Doctor Mor, or the Cardassian survivor, Matan. It was possible they'd escaped whoever had taken her to this place, but it was unlikely. Carlin wouldn't have left her, she knew that much. That means they're around here somewhere, possibly in another of these makeshift cells.
The good news was that she was alone. There was no sign of guards or sensors. She tapped her combadge. "Hayashi to Agran," she whispered. "Hayashi to Drel...This is Lieutenant Sam Hayashi to anyone." Nothing, not even static. Great, that polaric radiation Drel was talking about must still be around.
She stood slowly and the shuttlepod shifted under her feet. Okay, that's not good. That means either whoever built this thing put it somewhere precarious...or worse. She stepped over to the cell door and looked out. Yep, that's worse. The shuttlepod-turned-jailcell was suspended in a large cavern, a good four meters off the floor. The only light was filtered sunlight coming in from one of the passageways that led out of the chamber-which, she supposed, led to the surface. She opened up her tricorder and ran a scan. The range was limited, but it was enough to tell her that the shuttle was held in place by thick duridium chains, leading to an anchor point among the stalagtites of the cavern's ceiling. Great, just great!
She punched a new scan into her tricorder. Whoever had taken her captive this time had made a mistake by leaving it with her, and she intended to take full advantage of that. I'm going to find Carlin and the others and we're going to get off of this planet and back to the Nautilus, she thought. But so far the thought was just that: a thought. She needed a plan, and the shuttlepod itself might help. Maybe whoever stripped this thing missed something. She paced the interior of the shuttlepod, scanning. Most everything had been stripped from the shuttlepod, or else broken beyond repair. The atmospheric thrusters, however, had been built integrated into the aft bulkhead of the Type-18. There was no way the scavengers could remove it from their makeshift cell without also, effectively, taking out one of the cell's walls. They'd chosen to leave them in place, removing only the power systems and the flight computer, leaving them useless.
Unless, of course, you don't really what to fly so much as you want to sling a suspended shuttlepod into a cavern wall and knock a new hole in its hull. She smiled. This actually sounded like fun-supposing she could get the impact just right: hard enough to break the cell, but not enough to break her. The seats had been left in the cockpit, complete with crash-harnesses, so that would help. The only tricky part would be getting enough power to the engines. There were still power circuits attached to the engines, but they didn't lead anywhere, since the scavengers had taken the reactor and auxiliary batteries out. But if I can attach them to a new power source...
She knelt by the access panel and opened the back panel of her tricorder. She gently removed the power leads from the tricorder and attached them to the frayed ends of the engine's power circuit. Sparks popped and she nearly scorched her finger. "Ouch! Well, at least I know it works now." Unfortunately the tricorder had never been designed to power the atmospheric engines of a shuttlepod. It would take hours-twelve of them, by her estimation-for the engines to charge up for even the briefest of burns.
Just then, Sam heard voices, coming from one of the tunnels. She snapped the access panel closed and stood quickly, pretending to pace her cage restlessly. She could see three figures approaching...and one of them was very short. Doctor Mor? Okay, as good as it is to know where he is, I do not want him for a cellmate. She examined the other two. There was a human man carrying a torch and wearing ragged clothes. She didn't recognize him. The other figure was a Cardassian man whose costume was much more...elaborate, if still ragged. He wore a gray cloak with a cowl over his head and a tunic that left much of his chest and arms bare. He carried a large staff with a rusted metal disk bound to it. Somehow he looked familiar. It took Sam a moment to realize why. "Matan?"
"That's Father Matan, Outsider," the Human man corrected.
"Father of whom?" asked Sam, crossing her arms. "I don't see any other Cardassians in the room, or am I missing something?" The Human clenched his jaw, but fell silent. She turned to Matan. "So, Matan, care to explain what's going on here?"
"You insolent little-!" the human began.
Matan cut him off with a gesture. "Silence, John. Let it pass. She is unacquainted with our ways." He stepped toward her. "You and your shipmates are captives of the Solarii Brotherhood."
"And I suppose that's the preferred name of the Creepy Scavenger Society of Yamatai," Sam quipped. She remembered the crazy Bolian in the cave and wondered briefly whether it was wise to be antagonizing his associates just now, but she shrugged. Neither of them seemed to be armed, and her cage was a long way off the ground. Besides, it helped keep her mind off of the disappointment of what she'd just heard confirmed. So they have all of us this time. She didn't let her feelings about that show though. "Congratulations on passing yourself off as a harmless teacher," she said instead.
"I assure you, Miss Hayashi, it was no act," said Matan. "While I may not be harmless, I am a teacher. I teach the crash survivors the Sun Queen brings to this planet. I teach them how to survive. I give them organization, unity, and purpose. Most importantly, I teach them to serve the Sun Queen Himiko-I teach them to see the light!"
"And I am fully willing to learn all about the light and service of Imego and all of that," Mor said quickly, giving a smile that was very obviously forced.
Matan ignored him. Sam did the same. "You're insane," she said to Matan. "There's a real possibility that Himiko was a myth to start with. Even if she wasn't, she never was worthy of worship, and she's been dead for two thousand years now."
"Oh, I assure you, the Sun Queen is very much alive, and in power," said Matan. "But I do not expect you to believe it. You are Outsiders, not yet tried in the Pit-unworthy to accept her light. The only reason you're not in the Pit now is because you have something I want, something I need."
"Which is?" Sam asked, leaning against the bulkhead.
"I'll give you anything!" Mor added.
"Knowledge," he said. "Even I do not know all of the Sun Queen's secrets. You two know something of her, and of Yamatai. Tell me what I want to know, and I will set us all free."
"All of us?" Sam repeated. "I only see one person in need of freedom right now, two if you count Mor."
Matan shook his head slowly. "I may not be surrounded by bars, but I am no less a prisoner of this planet than you are. All of us are imprisoned here, even the Sun Queen herself."
"Well at the moment the imprisonment doesn't seem to be quite so egalitarian," she retorted, tapping the bars. "So, why should I tell you anything?"
Matan gestured and the Human, John, seized Doctor Mor's shoulders, forcing him to kneel. "You are Starfleet," said Matan. "Your mission is ostensibly to seek out life, and you value all life. You are duty bound to protect the innocent. I, however, have no such compulsion." With lightning speed, he drew a Cardassian phaser from his robes and pressed it to Mor's forehead.
The Ferengi squealed in terror. "Please! Please! I'll tell you anything you want to know about Imego, Yamatai, and the Jahpanese!"
"You have already given us your notes, Doctor," said Matan. "If your death is necessary, we will make do with those." He turned back to Sam. "I don't think Miss Hayashi will let that happen though, will you?"
Sam swallowed and straightened. She may not like Mor, but she couldn't just let him die. "What do you want to know?"
"When we spoke before, we were interrupted. You never explained what happened to the Sun Queen, why her power over your world came to an end," said Matan. "You will tell me now."
"I didn't explain because I don't know," said Sam. "Nobody knows!"
Matan fired his phaser into the chamber wall, shattering stone, then pressed it back to Mor's head. The Ferengi looked like he was going to cry. "There will not be a second warning shot," Matan promised.
"Fine! Fine!" Sam raised her hands and wracked her brain. "There is something...something my Grandmother told me, a story. That's all it is though: a story, completely unreal-a myth."
Matan lowered his phaser. "All myths are usually based on some version of the truth. Tell it to me!"
Sam took a deep breath, trying to remember the story as Iku had told it to her. The only reason she'd remembered it at all was because of the compelling way she'd told it—almost as if it were a memory rather than a legend. "Once, long ago in the village of Mino on the north side of Shikoku Island in Japan, there lived a young girl named Hoshi, the daughter of Hiiro and Kokoro, who were rice farmers."
"This…Mino on Shikoku, it is a real place?" Matan asked, lowering the phaser slightly.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that the story—"
Matan pressed his phaser back to Mor's head. "Continue," he demanded.
Sam swallowed and resumed the story. "One day Himiko, the Sun Queen, came to the village of Mino. At her command, all the girls of the village were brought before her to receive her blessing, but for some there was more. It was said that all of the most beautiful, most intelligent, and most talented girls of Japan were chosen by the Sun Queen to become her priestesses. This was the honor bestowed upon Hoshi. When she was presented to the Sun Queen, the Queen's face shone upon her. She smiled as young Hoshi answered every question put to her. Then, the Sun Queen declared that Hoshi was chosen to become one of the Priestesses of the Sun. She was to leave the village that very night. Her mother wept, but her father beamed with pride. It was a tremendous honor for a family to have one of their daughters chosen as a Priestess. Hiiro and Kokoro would be allowed to leave the village of Mino and travel as nobles to the great island of Yamatai, from which the Sun Queen ruled."
"And what of Hoshi?" Matan demanded. "She seems the more important character in this story."
"I was just getting to that," said Sam. "Hoshi would not live with her parents. From that day forward, she was no longer the daughter of rice farmers from Mino, nor even the daughter of an esteemed couple on Yamatai, but the daughter of the Sun Queen herself. Adopted as a Daughter of the Sun, Hoshi lived in the grand palace on Yamatai and studied beside the other Priestesses. She learned languages, etiquette, history, and warfare—all of the skills needed to rule. The Sun Queen was warm and attentive to her, like her own mother. Himiko made sure she wanted for nothing and that her every need and desire was quickly met."
"Very nice story, but what does this tell us, exactly?" John interupted. Matan pointed the phaser at him, and he immediately fell silent.
Sam squeezed her eyes shut, trying to transport herself into the story-and away from here. "Hoshi was well-cared for in every way, and the Sun Queen doted on her, but she was uneasy. At first, she dismissed it as simple nervousness, to be in the presence of so powerful a ruler. But the feeling did not go away. It grew with each passing day, and as the Sun Queen marked Hoshi as her favorite, the feeling of dread grew stronger. Hoshi consulted with the other Priestesses and learned that each of them felt the same private fear of the Sun Queen. The greatest wish of any girl on the day she was chosen as a Daughter of the Sun was to be named as the Sun Queen's successor, but Hoshi found that all of them now dreaded being chosen for such a thing. Hoshi's own fears grew more and more as the Sun Queen grew old and became increasingly attentive to her, dressing her in her in her own robes, brushing her hair, and constantly keeping Hoshi in her presence. She doted on Hoshi, called her my precious daughter, but Hoshi was unsettled beyond words."
"Don't draw the story out, Miss Hayashi," Matan warned. "Even my patience has its limits."
Sam's eyes snapped open and she glared at him. She couldn't help it, this was her favorite part of the story, and he was interrupting. "If you don't shut up, I won't be able to finish the story and you'll learn nothing."
"And if you don't shorten it, Doctor Mor here won't live to hear the end," said Matan. The Ferengi whined.
Sam's hands bunched into fists, but she forced them to relax. "Fine. I can't shorten it too much or you won't get anything out of it—supposing there's anything to be got—but I'll make it as short as I can if you promise not to interrupt me again…and shooting the Ferengi counts as interrupting! Do we have a deal?"
Matan regarded her for a moment, then tucked his phaser away. "We have a deal," he declared.
Sam closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from wondering if she'd regret this. "So where was I? …Right, Hoshi was having lots of angst and existential dread; the Sun Queen was being a creeper," she said and sighed. Iku told this story so much better. "It took some time, but at last Hoshi realized what it was that bothered her about the Sun Queen Himiko. She realized that every time the Sun Queen gazed at her, she wasn't seeing Hoshi, the girl from Mino or even the Priestess of the Sun, she was seeing herself. She was gazing at Hoshi as she would gaze at her own reflection, as if she someday would wear Hoshi's face herself. When she asked about the ritual of succession, she found her fears confirmed. Every generation, the Sun Queen would choose a favorite and enter the Chamber of the Sun alone with them. After the ritual, the former favorite would emerge as Queen, but would have all of the same knowledge, memories, and behaviors as the old queen—only her face would be different. When the other Priestess would enter to the chamber afterward, they would find an old body, already decaying, with no face. It was then that Hoshi realized that the Sun Queen was a koh, one of a race of face-stealing demons."
Sam paused. She had expected Matan to react to that, but he said nothing. He must really want to hear how the story ends. She continued. "Hoshi was determined to put an end to the koh's evil ways. When the day came for her to enter the Chamber of the Sun with Himiko, she stole a dagger from the Sun Queen's general. She knew she could not fight such a powerful demon, but she determined to defeat it another way. When the Chamber was sealed and the ritual begun, Hoshi plunged the dagger into her own heart. The koh's old face and old body had already begun to dissolve, and with Hoshi dead, she could not take another. Her true form revealed at last, the Sun Queen cried out in rage and left this world, never to return. Thus ended her reign." Sam fell silent and slowly opened her eyes.
Matan's look was calm, but he managed to make even that frightening. "A blasphemous tale with many falsehoods, to be sure, but an important link in knowing the truth. Now I know how my Queen managed to become a prisoner here, and I can assure that it does not happen again. I can set her free. I need only two things. The first is the location of this Chamber of the Sun."
"It's a myth," said Sam.
"I'll find it for you!" Mor volunteered.
"And for that, you may have your life, and your freedom," said Matan, motioning for John to release him.
The Ferengi quickly stood up and brushed off his shoulders. "You won't regret this," he promised.
"I'm sure I won't," said Matan. "Between your expertise and the notes left by the Dominion scientists, I'm confident we shall find the correct site soon."
Dominion scientists? Sam shook her head. "You're crazy. What makes you think anything will still be standing after two thousand years?" She had seen the ruins from orbit, but this was just insane.
"Have a little faith, Miss Hayashi," he said, smiling. "Meanwhile, I have other plans for you. You shall undergo the Ritual of Fire, to show us the Sun Queen's will!"
Sam bit her lip. Ritual of Fire. Now there's a name that's distinctly foreboding, she thought. "I don't suppose this ritual has anything to do with whether or not I can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, because let me assure you, I can't. Commander Saganami tried to teach me but—"
"Be silent," Matan said simply. His hand brushed his sash, where his phaser was hidden, and that was all the threat he needed. Sam stepped back, further into her cell.
Fortunately for her, at that moment something in Matan's robes chirped. He turned and fished out a heavily-modified communicator. "I gave strict orders that I was not to be disturbed," he said.
"Forgive me, Father!" said a voice from the communicator. "We've just received word of trouble at the communications base on the Main Island. Two of the Outsiders have infiltrated the base. There's been heavy fighting and they're on their way to the control room."
"How do you know this?" Matan demanded.
"Brother Robert is still in the control room. He's heard weapons-fire near his position, and none of the others in that part of the base are responding. He's sabotaged the controls, but the Outsiders will be approaching his position soon."
Matan's face darkened. "Tell him to die with the others, if he cannot hold his post," he said. "Tell the others to hold to the last. As for you, make sure to get the warbird's communication system ready to take over for the tower as soon as possible."
Sam straightened. Her friends were alive and free. She didn't know how this was possible, but she was nonetheless thrilled. You give it too 'em, Carlin and Drel! her thoughts urged.
"And what if the Outsiders manage to get out a distress call anyway?" the voice from the communicator asked.
"That Starfleet shuttle had to come from somewhere," John confirmed. "They must have a starship nearby."
Matan simply smiled. "If they do, we shall see it shortly-and after it crashes, I shall educate any survivors in the ways of the Solarii. Prepare the hunting parties!" He closed the channel and strode away, down the tunnel. John followed on his heels and Mor scrambled to keep up, with only a quick backward glance at Sam.
Sam frowned. This did not look promising at all. She opened the access panel and peeked at her tricorder inside. Only eleven hours and thirty minutes to go, she thought. Supposing I live that long…
Author's Note: This chapter is not in the game at all. It's pretty much all original. In the game, you never get the perspective of any character but Lara, but in this story, obviously I have to be broader to be consistent.
Sam's cage is based on the helicopter-cage that the Endurance crew is locked up in during the game. The Type-18 Shuttlepod is a warp-capable Federation craft smaller than a normal shuttle which was carried by the Defiant (DS9: "The Search, parts 1 & 2"). The story of Hoshi is based on some of the documents found during the game. I had to alter it to make it third person and have a coherent story-format rather than being first-person snapshots. The original is quite good and you should read it. It's available on the Lara Croft wiki. Mino is an actual place, a town now absorbed into the city of Mitoyo in the Kagawa Prefecture of Japan, on the north end of Shikoku Island. Putting Hoshi's home village there was originally supposed to be a tribute to the legend of the jikininki, a man-eating monster that haunted the area disguised as an old priest—which was originally planned to be the type of monster Himiko was identified as in Hoshi's story. In the end, though, I wound up going with something else entirely. Koh is not from Japanese mythology: it is a face-stealing spirit from the animated series Avatar: the Last Airbender. In the game, Himiko is not implied to be a supernatural being of any sort (though she clearly has supernatural power), so if Sam calling her a koh sounds completely off…well, that's my fault and I'll own it!
The story of Hoshi was one of my favorite parts of the game. Seriously, I would like to see more of this. If anyone knows a fan-fiction which explores her story to greater depth, I'd be happy to see it!