A Family of Ambition

[NDak 0]

The capitol of the Romulan Star Empire was a glittering, glistening parade of lights in the night. Her reflection sparkled on the horizon against the deep purple oceans which it bordered. Among the towering spires of modern construction, the Senate Citadel stood at the heart of the Empire. It was told to every young Rihannsu that not only was that the place the far travel ships had set down upon the Two Worlds and where the new empire was born, but also the location from which the very pulse of the empire originated.

 

On an opposing hill, another citadel stood in the shadows. For as long as anyone could remember, the sprawling complex in the southern portion of the city had inspired both fear and pride. At its center the nineteen story tower Ellae’Sher (Watchful Eye), stood as an ever present reminder of the authority the Tal’Shiar held, and the respect they commanded.

 

From an eleventh story window, a lone figure stared into the night. The eye of the Empire never slept, and in the ambiance she could hear the buzzing of conversations outside her office door. Her eyes drifted across the night sky to the Senate compound. As a young child she had looked out of her window to the opposite view every morning and wondered what the view she now held would be like and what power such a view would grant. As childhood fantasies went, hers had turned out to be rather accurate.

 

A lieutenant colonel in the Tal’Shiar, Savu N’Dak had in many ways eclipsed her elder brother, even though their ranks were roughly equivalent. He served as an executive officer aboard a ship known for getting into trouble more often than not under an infamous commanding officer of dubious character, while she, on the other hand, had risen quickly through the ranks of the Tal’Shiar and now served as commander for a team of operatives underneath the fast-rising and powerful Sub-director of the Internal Security division, Chaelon tr’Naierth, whose star had rapidly ascended following the ascension of his former boss cum Senator Jalon Llhvae to position of power and was by all accounts well on his way to the position of Proconsul and leader of the opposition party Sihhus Lakhraem. Of course, like her brother’s own rise, she did have to attribute some of it to her pedigree, her father has served as lieutenant colonel in the Tal’Shiar before turning to politics, and her great-great aunt had once served as the Director of the Tal’Shiar. In all, her own ambition, competence and connections had given her power and reach beyond the provincial desires of her elder brother.

 

It was that ambition which had brought her to this very point. For all of her accomplishments there was one thing she could never have that her brother had: heir to the power and fortune of the House S’N’Dak. No, for all her objective superiority, his birth order and the preference of both their parents would always keep her in his shadow. Just as she had glanced towards the Ellae’Sher and wondered what the view would be from there, she had ever looked up towards her brother and the privlidges he had and wondered what that power would be like. Soon, she told herself, she would know.

 

For three years she had planned, plotted, schemed and devised a plan to bring him down. She’d tried outright assassination – though she found those crude. When that had failed, she began plotting more devious ways to bring her brother down. That was when a certain member of the Galae had given her an unexpected assist after one his missions went awry (that she of course had nothing to do with) and in no uncertain terms decreed that if anything happened to t’Rexan, Destorie would be held responsible.

 

Two birds with one stone! How lucky could she be? Not lucky enough, apparently. After she’d seen to it that a group of her men were assigned to the Talon for their yearlong mission in the Gamma Quadrant (which was such a dangerous place after all), she’d seen to it that they would arrange for a mutiny to start up at the first opportunity, which knowing how insane t’Rexan and her brother were and how much their crew hated them both (not that she could blame them.)

 

Apparently, that much had all gone off without a hitch. It was the “and make sure you kill that crazy, one-eyed, one-handed witch” that hadn’t. And while apparently the circumstances under which she had lived were more than dubious, Destorie and her were closer than ever. On the other hand, those dubious circumstances had given her another opening to finish off t’Rexan and thusly doom Destorie.

 

Yes. Those dubious circumstances had led certain members of crew to question whether or not t’Rexan was actually alive and real, not some sort of clone. That doubt had created an atmosphere wherein people among the crew were ripe for turning against her and fall right into her hands. One such person was perfect for picking, like a ripe fruit high hanging low on a tree.

 

Fortune, she’d decided, had a funny way of smiling upon her. Though her initial attempts to be rid of her brother had largely failed to produce the desired results (namely him being dead), they had provided opportunities for her to take out more targets along the way. Sar’vek t’Jhiin – or should she call her t’Crahn – provided her yet such another opportunity. Not only did she apparently hate both t’Rexan and her brother with the burning passion of a thousand lovers, but she also provided an opportunity to sting a rival household.

 

House s’Crahn, to which Sar’vek had been bonded into, had long stood as a thorn in the side of house s’N’Dak. They weren’t a primary rival, but they were an annoyance that when the opportunity arose, a proper N’Dak would not miss to thwart them. Sar’vek’s bonding, as it turned out, had not been the love-filled affair like the ios shown on the hologlyphs. Na, na at all. It had ended when her mate, the head of the house, had died under dubious circumstances. Circumstances which publically had been declared ‘natural causes,’ but that privately were known to have been poisoning; and while many wanted him dead, none of the usual suspects proved to have been responsible. The Tal’Shiar, for its part had assumed that whoever did it had done them a favor, but the family had never completely absolved the aforementioned Sar’vek of culpability. They had henceforth spent the years trying to disinherit her from the estate completely, and had taken the opportunity while she was out of the quadrant to deliver their coup de grace.

 

Which set the stage for Savu to kill three birds with one stone; her mother always did say she had an eye for a bargain. Smiling deviously, she turned from the window and glanced towards the young man who’d entered her office.

 

“You’ve made contact then?”

 

“Ie, she made herself available.”

 

“Mehnka… vhri’mehnka.”

[KhreRiovtRex 0]

It was the “and make sure you kill that crazy, one-eyed, one-handed witch” that hadn’t.

 

Hey!!!

 

Nice log NDak, look forward to seeing more.