Darth Chaos exited the Galileo and examined the planet Talos IV. He walked past the remains of what seemed like a megaopolis. He walked along a long street which was littered with crumbled buildings, which seemed to have been abandoned and destroyed eons ago. "So this is Coruscant," he said with a mocking tone. "Such pitiful fools." Suddenly he heard a voice in his head.
"SONAL…"
"There is no Sonal," Chaos thought to himself.
"IT IS THE NAME OF YOUR TRUE SELF. DON'T LET YOUR MOTHER'S KILLER CORRUPT YOU THE SAME WAY HE DID MY FATHER."
"Your father?" Chaos said in an annoyed voice." And what do you know of my mother?"
Suddenly the spirit of the voice took the form of a man dressed in a gold and white outfit and a golden robe. "At least you got the chance to know your mother. I never knew mine, Son of Suns."
Suddenly, Chaos had a vision of standing on the bridge of a large space station which was serving as the observation deck of a galactic-wide battle, with small one-man spacecrafts attacking ships larger than a thiusand Enterprises put together. He saw the man now dressed in black, and he was engaged in a fierce duel against a larger man dressed in black armor and a frightening helmet which amplified the voice behind the mask.
"YOUR FEELINGS FOR THEM ARE STRONG. ESPECIALLY FOR…SISTER…"
He saw the man fly into a rage and attack the armor-clad man with unrivaled passion, eventually striking down the larger man by cutting off his hand.
"NOW FULFILL YOUR DESTINY, AND TAKE YOUR FATHER'S PLACE AT MY SIDE."
Chaos recognized the voice: Palpatine. He saw the young man cast his sword aside.
"I AM A JEDI, LIKE MY FATHER BEFORE ME."
With those words, Chaos felt great conflict. And he heard words which shook him to his very core.
"EVEN IF YOU STRIKE ME DOWN, I SHALL RETURN. I ALWAYS RETURN, I FORSEE A YOUNG MAN MILLIONS OF YEARS FOR NOW. HE SHALL DO MY BIDDING. I SHALL HAVE HIM LEAD ME TO HIS OWN PARENTS, WHO ARE STRONG IN THE FORCE, AND I SHALL STRIKE THEM DOWN AND MAKE HIM THINK HE DID IT."
Suddenly, Chaos found himself back on Talos IV. And he felt sadness. Great sadness. "Mother…" He felt his heart break into a million pieces. He collapsed on the barren ground, and despite his Vulcan physiology, his human and Riomulan emotions took over, and for the first time since he was a young child, he cried out in sorrow. "Mother, please forgive me." He was Sonal once again.
The spirit walked up to Sonal, and gently embraced him. "I know you're hurting, son of suns. It's not your fault. It's the Dark Side of the Force. It's the Sith. They corrupt, and corrupt absolutely. The vision that you saw was my own conflict. I tapped into the Dark Side to fight my father, and when I realized what I was about to become, I rejected Palpatine." There was a long pause. "The Force runs strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And...my ancestor has it."
"Ancestor?" Sonal said in a voice which was a mix of certainly and uncertainty.
"Sonal, I am Luke Skywalker. Millions of years ago, I was in the same place you were. I was unsure of what my destiny was, but with the guidance of my masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, they helped me resolve the conflict. They helped me and my friends free the galaxy from the clutches of Palpatine. And…" Another spirit formed in front of Sonal."
"My son redeemed me," the form said. "He broke me free from the clutches of Palpatine and helped me rediscover my true self."
"Anakiin," said Sonal softly.
"Sonal," said Luke, "Palpatine has sensed your turning away from the Dark Side. He is summoning all the power of the Dark Side to create a weapon so powerful it will destroy a planet. That planet, you know as Romulus."
"He's going to kill my father," said Sonal.
"If you fail to stop him," said Luke, "not only will he kill your father, but he will reclaim his Empire, and the entire galaxy will fall into tyranny. You have always had the spirit of the Jedi in you." Luke and Anakin saw Picard, Riker, and Troi walking up. "Look at your friends, Sonal. They know you were received and used as a pawn and as a vessel."
"But worry not, dear padawan," said a gravelly voice which morphed into thr shape of a dimunitive creature with green skin. "Heir to the Jedi, you are. Glory to Jedi and Vulcan, you will bring. Now, go you must. Walk to abandoned Jedi temple, you must. Meet descendents of Yoda species, you will."
"The Talosians," asked Sonal.
"Talosions, they are."
"Now Sonal, you and your friends must go to the Talosians," said Luke. "Only they – with all their strength in the Force – can give you the clarity that you need to conquer Palpatine and restore balance to the Force."
"I will," said Sonal in his cold Vulcan voice. "I shall bring balance to not only the Force, but also to the entire galaxy." Sonal raised a Vulcan salute to the spirits of Luke, Anakin, and… "Yoda. Your nake is...Yoda." The small spirit nodded in affirmation. "Live long and prosper."
To his surprise, the three spirits raised their hands in the Volcan salute, and in unison, stated "May the Force be with you."
The party left the area and walked to a rocky alcove which featured a door which looked like it had been blasted open by phasers at full setting. "Captain, I believe this is the same area reported by Captain Christopher Pike during his discovery of the Talosians." Sonal took a tentative step toward the door. He closed his eyes. "There is a great presence in the Force here. This must be the Talosians' home."
Worf stepped forward. "I...do not like this." He looked at Sonal with disdain.
"I sense your anger, Worf," said Sonal. "And you have every right to be angry at me." Sonal looked up at Worf. "But anger, fear, hatred, they are weapons used by the Sith to control and corrupt. Palpatine used my hatred of the Borg to seduce me. And he used Picard's hatred of the Borg to allow me to alter history." Sonal paused for a second. "I regret going into the Forbidden Temple and reawakening a past which should have been forgotten forever."
Suddenly the Klingon's anger melted away, and he felt sympathy for the Vulcan who nearly killed him on the Enterprise. "Perhaps...it was your destiny to discover and reawaken the past. And...now I know that you did not mean me any harm. I...forgive you."
"Thank you, Worf," said Sonal. Suddenly, a small elevator rose up and stopped at the blasted away entrance. "Let's go." Sonal and the party went to step inside when a voice spoke. "Sonal, you shall be accompanied by Picard and Troi, and they alone." And with that, Riker and Worf waited outside as Sonal, Picard, and Troi rode the elevator down.
Once they arrived in a lower chamber, they walked until they came across what seemed like an old Earth cottage. Sonal knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again. Once again, there was no answer. "Nobody home," said Sonal. They began to walk away, and the door opened, and out stepped a m,an wearing an old Federation uniiform.
Picard instinctively knew who it was. "Captain Christopher Pike," the current captain said. "Captain Pike, I am Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Federation starship Enterprise."
"Enterprise? She's still in operation?" Pike looked at Picard with bewilderment.
"Actually, Captain Pike," inerjected Sonal,"your Enterprise was decommissioned many years ago under the helm of Captain James T. Kirk. It was destroyed in the Mutaru nebula. However, everybody survived except for the mutaineers who hijacked the ship. Since then, there have been five ships also named Enterprise." Sonal looked at Pike. "But that's not why we're here. We're here to warn the Talosians that they are under grave danger."
"Danger from who," Pike asked. "Danger from the Federation? Or danger from - " Suddenly Pike morphed into a physical body whose visage haunted Sonal from the time he discovered him in the Forbidden Temple on Vulcan. The black hooded robe. The sunken eyes. The wrinkled skin. The deathy yellow eyes." - yourself?" Palpatine replied in a sickly voice, amd he suddenly blasted Sonal with lightning bolts from his fingers."
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Picard shouted in horror as Sonal rolled on the floor in agony whike Palpatine tortutred the young Vulcan with lightning bolts.
"I offered you a sense of purpose!" Palpatine suddenly stopped zapping Sonal. "I offered you the entire galaxy to rule alongside me. And...you paid me with….scorn and...betrayal."
Sonal struggled to catch his breath. "You...were the one why betrayed me. You killed my mother!" Sonal suddenly screamed in agony as another wave of pure lightning blasted him. "AND YOU PLAN TO KILL MY FATHER!"
"And that is why you - " Palpatine said before he was suddenly replaced by a short humanoid with a large head – "pass the test." Picard sighed in relief as the Talosian crouched down and placed his palm on Sonal's forehead. "My child, you have been through so much in your life. But now I sense the strength in you. You shall avenge the Jedi for everything the Sith has ever done."
"Vengeance…." Sonal sald. "Vengeance is...illogical. The Jedi and the Sith...are one and the same. This is why Surak buried the ancient Jedi artifacts in the Forbidden Temple." Sonal looked at the Talosian. "I will defeat Palpatine, but remember this. I am Vulcan. Same as my father before me. Same as his father before him. We embrace logic, not absolutes. And that is why...the Jedi and the Sith must both be destroyed."
Suddenly, Sonal, Picard, Riker, Troi, and Worf found themselves back on the bridge of the Enterprise. "So Sonal," asked Picard, "how do you go about destroying the Jedi and Sith all at once?" With those words, Q showed up.
"Greetings, mon capitan," said Q. "There is only one way that the Jedi and Sith can be destroyed at once. " Q looked at Sonal. "Sonal, you must face Palpatine in a battle of lightsabers. You must destroy him with both lightsabers."
"I thought Palpatine was unrivaled in lightsaber battle," said Sonal.
"He is," Q replied, "but you can do it, Sonal. After you defeat and destroy Palpatine, you must take the lightsabers to Vulcan and cast them into Mount Surak, the only remaining active volcano. Then, the Jedi and Sith will be no more...but as a cost."
"What cost?" Sonal asked.
"The cost of the last vestiges of the Force. The Talosians' extra sensory powers will cease to exist. The empathic abilities of Betazoids will cease to exist. And...the Whills of the Force will cease to exist as well."
"You mean you'll die?" Picard asked.
"Mon capitan," Q interjected, "I don't see it as death. I see it as a necessity. For many years, the Q species have wreaked havoc on you primitive humans. And not just myself." Q looked at Sonal. "Oh the hell that Trelane put Captain Kirk and your father Spock through…" Q laughed, and he was delighted to hear a small amount of laughter from Sonal. "Sonal, you must branch out with your feelings if you are to defeat Palpatine. Embracing logic does a Vulcan good, but in this case, logic is not enoigh. You must stretch out with your feelings." Sonal nodded. "But don't forget. Bury your feelings of fear, anger, and hatred. Those feelings will lead you back to the Dark Side, and for most, once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
Sonal looked coldly at Q. "I will not allow myself to be Palpatine's pawn ever again."
"Good." Sonal walked away. After Sonal left, Q walked to Picard. "I'm worried, Jean-Luc. What if he...falls to the Dark Side and…"
"Destroys Palpatine," Picard stated softly. "Then we would be forced to destroy Sonal."
"And the anicent powers of the Sith will continue to exist and inhabit aniother host," Q said. "And the cycle will repeat." Q looked at Picard sterny. "That is why it's very important to destroy the lightsabers." Suddenly, klaxons begar blaring over the ship. A voice came over Picard's com-badge. "Captain, Worf here. Long range scanners have detected a circular ship orbiting Romulus."
"That sounds like a Borg transwarp conduit," Picard said. "I thought Sonal destroyed all the Borg!"
Worf replied over the com-badge. "Sir, the markings of the ship do not match any Borg ship. In fact, there are no records in the Federation database for such a vessel!"
"I'm on my way to the Bridge." Picard raced for the turbolift. As soon as he stepped on the bridge, he assumed his place in his captain's chair. "On screen." The ship viewing screen showed the planet Romulus, and it had an addition. A moon-sized metallic object was orbiting it. It had what looked like a trench runnling along the equator. And above the trench was a round indention which looked like a crater on Earth's lone natural satellite, Luna.
"Captain," Data stated, "I am detecting a ship taking off from the planet's surface. And Captain, I am detecting life signs aboard the ship." Data paused and punched in numbers on his terminal. "And Captain, one of the passengers is Ambassador Spock." Sonal suddenly rose from his station.
"Data," Sonal said, "patch through to the ship." Data pressed more buttons, and the viewing screen changed to an image of the interior of the Romulan ship. Facing the screen was a tall, thin humanoid dressed in a black hooded robe. He removed his hood, and raised his Vulcan eyebrows as he saw his son. "It is...most pleasing to see you, Father."
"As it is to see you, my son." Spock held a pensive look. "Sonal, I sense the anguish that you have felt. And I sense the sacrifice that you are willing to make in order to make things right. I...am not my father. I know that feelings and emotions can do good. That is why…" - Suddenly the signal cut out.
"Restore contact," Picard stated.
"Unable to do so, sir," Data said. "The unknown ship is jamming transmission." Without warning, green lights originated from the depression on the ship. Then they merged together. Finally, a single laster blast shot from the joining of the four lasers, and it fired directly at the Romulan ship. Within nanoseconds, the Romulan ship erupted in an explosion of fire and metal.
"Father…" Sonal said softly as he collapsed on his knees. He stared blankly at the image of his father's ship being destroyed. He looked down and wept as his last survivng family member was cruelly taken away from him. He was jerked back into reality as the Enterprise began to shake.
"There is no escape, traitor," said a voice bellowing over the shipwide intercom. "You will not defeat the Dark Side of the Force, for the Dark Side lives forever. Now...if you want these weak, pathetic friends of yours to live, you will return to your rightful place...BY...MY...SIDE."
Sonal walked to Picard. "I know what I must do. But I cannot state it out loud. My thoughts...to your thoughts." Sonal placed his hand on Picard's head and mind-melded with the Captain. "This is what I must do, Jean-Luc. I must go to him. I must destroy him. And...if I fail, you must destroy me along with Palpatine, and you must take the lightsabers to Mount Surak and destroy them." Sonal broke the mind meld. "You win, Palpatine. I...will return to you."
