Chapter 13: Redemption

Vice Admiral James Leyton had been among those who had jumped at the opportunity to side with the new Emperor. The old monarchy as led by a woman was weak and unable to do more then become the whore of the galaxy, letting the dregs of society suckle on the milk of the Terran Empire. But not Riker. Emperor Will Riker had brought a renaissance of military might to the Empire. The Dominion was bottled up, unable to do anything except what his good friend Ross would allow them.

Even now, with the Gorn and Breen offensive, he knew they would win. For Riker had said so. And he believed in Riker the First. He had been given the task of leading the armada of three fleets against the forces in the Delta Vega system. They would rue the day they had thought to defy the Empire.

The ISS Okinawa would once again bear him to victory as it had during the Terran-Tzenkethi War. The losses of the Dominion conflict had not stopped the Emperor from making grand plans. He was throwing so much weight into this massive gamble. He felt the eyes of his second officer, Captain Erika Benteen, boring into his back.

"Yes Benteen?" he asked.

"I have done everything I could to advance to this position of command of this ship," she said, "And did you not say I was the best officer to take over after you left?"

"I did indeed," he inclined his head.

"Then why, sir, have you taken command of this ship?" she asked, a little anger flaring up, "You could choose any ship of this fleet!"

"I could have," he said, hands behind his back, looking back at her, "And believe me, it has nothing to do with your performance. You have done wonders with this ship."

"Then why?" she pressed.

"You might have done wonders," he said, "But your combat experience is very limited. Much of the time you were sick during engagements we had. And also, I need a crew that is comfortable with me on board. A crew I know the extent they can go. Believe me, Erika, I am doing only what is best for the fleet."

"Perhaps best for you," she said, "But not for this fleet."

Leyton rubbed his brow. She would never accept whatever he had said. Her pride was wounded and try though he might, she was not going to be able to understand his reasons. Despite the validity of them. All she saw was him barring her way to advancement. Not that was what he saw.

"I will be at the replomat," he said, turning away from the spacious star view he saw, "Alert me once the last of the ships has arrived. You have the bridge."

"Yes sir," Benteen said, barely able to hold her tongue in check.

"Lieutenant Tal'aura," the bald Human commander ordered, standing infront of a massive chamber, "Increase the output by seven percent."

"Do you think that's wise?" she asked, the Romulan sitting behind a console, "We barely can keep this thing stable as it is."

"I have full confidence in your ability to keep us from being vaporized," he said, hands behind his back. A massive vortex of green light and particles swept around in the chamber, the whole mass contorted as if it were a changeling in the throws of pain.

The Romulan was unconvinced and she looked imploring at him. "I really think that would be a mistake," she said.

The man turned to her, his dark eyes flashing. He was a man who accepted no negative answers. He was a ruthless commander, so ruthless that the now-deceased Empress Mallor had ordered him taken off the front-lines. His hand rested on the dagger at his side.

"Then would you like to explain to the Emperor why we haven't finished producing the Thalaron weapon yet?" he demanded, his voice cold as a Breen winter. "He wants this done by the end of the day. He wants to use it as soon as it is ready. Now you shall increase the output by seven percent. Or should I fetch someone to do it? A Reman perhaps?"

Tal'aura looked away from his cold glance and pushing a few buttons on the console screen before her, slid a level on it ever so slightly. The massive vortex of green energy seemed to speed up in fury. Round and round it swept. It was soon going at such a speed that it looked like it could have broken through the chamber in it's speed. It sounded like a tornado inside the case, the wind howling over everything. But, just when Tal'aura reached out to shut it down without authority, the vortex stopped spinning. In it's place was a pillar of green particles, with near the bottom ribbons of particle that swirled slowly around it.

"Check the results," the man ordered, not turning from the sight.

"The thalaron particles have stabilized," Tal'aura said, after taking a second to get over her shock, "It's a bit high in the teritary EM band. But that I think it's more or less successful."

"Let's send the results to the Emperor," he ordered, "I am sure he'll be pleased to hear-"

"There is no need to send it to me," Riker's voice called out from the door, which had opened during the excitement, "Congratulations, Commander Shinzon. I see the plan to create a clone of Picard was not wholly a bad choice."

Shinzon bit his tongue, in the metaphorical sense. He absolutely detested the need for everyone to compare him to Picard. He had done much with his own talents. Then why couldn't anybody see him as but a shadow of the man that had been Picard. He had a vision, that long after Picard's name had fallen into dust, his would live on forever. The victory of the Echo over the Voice.

"Thank you, sire," he said, bowing his head.

"How long will it take to get these weaponized?" Riker asked, waving his hand towards the chamber, walking with continual glances around him, as if expecting at any second an assassination attempt.

"About three days," Shinzon said.

"What?" Riker said, turning an accusing glance at him, "Why three days?"

Shinzon waved his arms at the radiation. "We need to make sure the torpedoes we put them in fit all the criteria for transportation. Density, temperature, things of that nature."

"You have sixteen hours," Riker said, looking over at Tal'aura.

"We can't do it in that short of time, sire," Shinzon shook his head, "too much could go wrong."

"I can find ways to motivate you," Riker said, now standing behind Tal'aura. She looked nervously at Shinzon. Suddenly, a dagger was in Riker's hand, and grabbed her by the tip of her ear slashed downwards, separating the ear from the side of the face in a torrent of blood. Tal'aura screamed as Riker then shoved the ear in her mouth, and with a thrust of his hand, forced her to chomp down on it. And grabbing the back of her head, smashed it against the console, breaking a good section of it, the Romulan crying in pain, tears and blood streaming from her eyes and wounds.

"Sixteen hours," Riker said, and turning around, strode out of the room. Shinzon had never been one to show pity or compassion. His record spoke of that. But, in this case, even he had been taken by surprise at the sheer brutality he had witnessed. He stepped up to Tal'aura, and putting a hand on her shoulder as she sobbed, he wondered what type of madman Riker could possibly be.