AVATAR OF TOMAD, DEEP SPACE
JUNE 6, 2376
Emperor Valdus was on his way to the senate meeting on Romulus. He walked along the deck of his ship, the ship he loved, the ship that
took him anywhere, the Avatar of Tomad. They
would arrive at Romulus in less than two hours. He was traveling this way because he was at a conference on Calder II for
five days. He was happy to finally
be heading home, back to the world he loved, to his wife. He suddenly heard the alarms of trouble, and walked swiftly to the
bridge.
He got there just in time to see two Warbirds attacking the Avatar of
Tomad.
"What are they doing? Hail
them." He asked
"They're not responding, Sir." Replied the helmsman.
"Return fire. Get me---" Valdus was interrupted.
"Sir, our shields just went down!" Cried the tactical officer.
"Raise them!"
"I can't, malfunction, Sir."
In that instant, his last second of life, he realized that he had left no
son, no daughter to take his place. No
one would lead the Empire into the next decade. His last thought was that he failed, and the Empire would not survive. The two other Warbirds secretly opened up a wormhole and vanished without
a trace. The wormhole glowed a
brilliant flash of blue light, and was gone.
ROMULAN WARBIRD CEZA, ROMULUS
JUNE
7, 2376
Transmission
from Romulus to Tomalak:
Emperor Valdus's ship was destroyed yesterday by an unknown ship, no
survivors, and no witnesses. Orders
are to discover identity of unknown ship. Could
possibly lead to civil war in the Empire. End
transmission.
Tomalak could not believe it, Valdus had been killed. Who would lead the Romulan Empire? Valdus
had no son. Trel, his
second-in-command and most trusted friend, stood at his side.
Trel spoke, "Who will take his place as Emperor? If I may speak frankly, I think it should be you who takes over."
"It is not that simple, there are others, like Sela, who also want the
position." Replied Tomalak. "I
will fight her, if she does not withdraw it shall plunge the Empire into civil
war, but I will need help. Sela is
a general, and so had her own fleet. I
believe I know of a general who may help us."
The two beamed down to the Capital City on Romulus. They walked into a bar next to the Senate building. Tomalak looked around the room and saw who he was looking for. She sat at the bar, drinking a large glass of Romulan Ale; Tomalak came
up beside her with Trel in tow.
He said, "Greetings General Seletrel, I wish to speak with you."
"Tomalak! Its so good to see you again! How are your wife and kids?" She
replied.
"Fine, they're all fine. Tron,
our oldest, is about to start military school. Tral, our youngest, is always home playing with his toy ships. Tal, my wife, is still the same as always."
"Very good, I will have come and see them sometime soon."
"I'm sure they would like that very much." Said Tomalak.
"Now, what did you want to speak to me about?" asked Seletrel.
"As you know by now Emperor Valdus was killed yesterday. Sela has assembled a fleet to take over the Empire, with your help I plan
to challenge her."
"I see." Seletrel said as she nodded her head. "What exactly is in it for me?"
"I will give you a position in the Romulan Government, we could rule
the Empire together. The Romulan
Empire could become an empire once again."
"Okay," she said. "Let's
do it. Let's take Sela down."
SELA'S FLEET, REMUS
JUNE
7, 2376
Sela already knew who it was who had
killed the Emperor, it was Tomalak, and she would soon prove it. Then the position would be all hers. She wanted to make the Empire better, that was the
Emperor's job. The Emperor was
supposed to protect the people from corruption. Tomalak would never do that, he was too power hungry; he wanted
everything right now and wanted it his way. She thought about what she would do after she became Emperor. The Romulan Government had many problems right now, the entire fleet
needed to repaired and refitted, but there wasn't enough money. She had an idea of how to get more money. The actual problem was that Government officials were paid too much
money, and she would take care of that when she got to be Emperor. She knew she wanted to get rid of the Tael Shi Ar, sure they were the
Emperor's personal bodyguards, but they also couldn't be trusted.
"General, Tomalak has assembled a fleet on Romulus." Said the Tactical officer.
She turned to her second-in-command saying, "Set course for Romulus,
maximum warp."
"I Sir. Why are we heading for Romulus?" came the reply.
"We are going to give Tomalak a grave surprise and attack him when he
least expects it."
SELETREL'S FLEET, ROMULUS
JUNE
7, 2376
Tomalak was happy with the way things were going so far. Seletrel had delivered on her promise to assemble a fleet for him. She commanded most of the entire Romulan fleet. Any day now he would become Emperor, he should be happy, but at this time
he wasn't. The fall of the Empire
was unstoppable. This civil was
would eventually tear the Romulan Empire in two, and all that he had worked for
would be lost. He still had not
found out the identity of the unknown ship, but he guessed it was one of
Sela's ships. He was thinking
about what he would do after he got to be Emperor, conquer the Federation
perhaps? It would be the time, they
had lost most of Starfleet to the Borg a few months ago, then the Furies came
and wiped out the Borg completely. No
other Romuluan had ever tried to conquer the Federation. Some thought that the Federation would be needed again, especially if the
Borg or Dominion began a full-scale invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. Most; however, thought that if anyone attacked the Federation, the
Klingons would come to the rescue, and vise versa. The Romulans had the power to destroy one fleet, but not two combined. In the end the Federation/Klingon alliance would win by shear
number. He knew that could destroy
the Federation, then take care of the Klingons, the Dominion, even the Ferengi. The Romulan Empire would be spread across the entire galaxy. Suddenly he was surrounded by blaring alarms and red lights flashing. He quickly made his way to the bridge.
He got there just in time to see Sela's fleet attacking and getting
ripped apart.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Seletrel
yelled.
It was to late, most of her ships lay in utter ruins. Then Tomalak saw the Vengeance, Sela's command ship, coming straight
towards them. He closed his eyes
waiting for his body and ship to be torn apart. After several seconds there was nothing, he opened his eyes and looked,
all of her ships were gone. She had
spared him, why? He would not have
if he was in her place. Seletrel
barked a few orders and got to work fixing her ships for another day.
PROCONSUL
NERET'S SHIP, DEEP SPACE
JUNE
7, 2376
Proconsul Neret was here investigating the murder of Emperor Valdus and
his crew. He was sent to by the
Romulan Government, who believed that some outside force was at work here. They were currently running sensor scans of the area where the Avatar of
Tomad was last reported.
His
personal assistant, Ambassador Tehrol soon said, "Sir, you had better take a
look at this."
"What
is it?" Neret asked coming over to the console.
Tehrol
continued, "We have been running scans of the area, and have discovered
something interesting." He point to the screen, Neret saw what he meant instantly.
"That
looks Romulan."
"Exactly,
Sir, it's a Romulan warp signature."
"Are
you saying the Avatar of Tomad was destroyed by another Romulan ship." Neret
said.
"Yes,
however, the warp signature contains traces of elements not found in this
quadrant."
"What?"
"I
would hypothesize that this is possibly a remaining ship from the strike by the
Obsidian Order on the Founders.
"Who
would do this? Why?" Neret asked.
"I
don't know, Sir, but we better blame it on somebody or else the government
will not back your policies." Tehrol
exclaimed. Proconsul Neret nodded in agreement. They would have to make up a story, because the government
was down his throat to find out who was behind this.
Neret
proclaimed, "If we can't tell the truth, who can we blame this on?"
"Maybe
it would be better if some inside force was behind it."
"Indeed."
Replied Neret, nodding his head. "What
about the Teal Shi Ar?"
"Excellent
choice, Sir." Said Tehrol.
"They're
so caught up in duty and honor, that they wouldn't even realize this was
blamed on them. Send a transmission
to Romulus.
REMUS NEWS
JUNE
8, 2376
"Two
days ago, Emperor Valdus's ship was destroyed by an unknown ship. We now have a confirmed report as to who was behind that attack. Minutes ago, the Romulan Government issued a statement saying
Proconsul Neret has investigated this and found it was the Tael Shi Ar. Again, we have a confirmed report, the Teal Shi Ar behind the assault on
the Avatar of Tomad."
SELA'S
FLEET, ROMULUS
JUNE
8, 2376
Sela couldn't understand, the Tael Shi Ar killed the Emperor, she
tought for sure if was Tomalak. The
Tael Shi Ar had sworn their lives to the Emperor's protection, there had to be
something more, something the government wasn't telling anyone. Why would they do this? To
gain power for themselves? To be
rid of her? To be rid of Tomalak? Then she saw the flashing red lights. She looked up and heard the red alert sounds of trouble. She ran to her bridge.
When she got there she saw what was going on, Tomalak's fleet had
uncloaked and were attacking. Her
entire fleet was getting ripped in pieces. Her ships continued to fight and hold their own, but Tomalak's fleet
was larger and better equipped. This
lasted until only her ship remained. Her
last thought was that she failed, and the Empire would be overrun by darkness. She knew it was hopeless and she closed her eyes and waited
for the shadows to come for her. Tomalak's
entire fleet went towards the Vengeance and pounded it with every weapon they
had. In a lbue flash of light its
shields vaporized, and then the Vengeance was ripped apart in a giant ball of
flames.
CAPITAL
CITY, ROMULUS
JUNE
8, 2376
Tomalak had gained victory, there was only one thing left to do, seize the Capital. His and Seletrel's troops surrounded the Senate building. They silentlyburst through thedoor, and ran swiftly to the Senate floor.
The Senate was in session today, when everyone in the room heard shots
outside the door. A second later
the first troops burst through the door, and troops and more troops filled the
entire room.
"What's the meaning of all of this!!!!"
Tomalak came forward and spoke, "Ah. Proconsul Neret, How are you?"
"Tomalak, what do you think you're doing?"
"Well, you see I have defeated Sela, and thus the Emperor's thrown is
mine. I have come here to seize and
take complete control of the Government. I
have Seletrel's entire fleet under my command, you will not stop me. Sela's fleet is gone, and you have no fleet.
Neret sat there and thought, this was it, the legend of shobah had come
true. He remembered that legend,
the one that said on day a shadow would come upon us all. He nodded in agreement with Tomalak, the day of shobah had finally come. The Empire had not survived, and all that he had worked for
and built up was lost forever. Soon
a horrifying thought came to him, that maybe someone had planned this whole
thing and the fall of the Empire had been deliberate.
OTHER
SIDE OF THE GALAXY
JUNE
9, 2376
On the other side of the galaxy, a face, a dark face, a predator laughs. Not just any laugh, but a victorious, evil laugh. He looks out over the bridge of his ship at the viewscreen, and sees a
line, two ships long. The ships seem familiar, their long necks and tapered wings
resemble a bird, a bird of prey. He
speaks in a cold voice, "Phase one is completed, proceeding with Phase two."