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<BR>// Romulan Star Empire Fleet's Flagship, Bird of Prey 'Nhorazz' \\<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<I></I>He had watched the laughable "fleet" come straggling out from behind the planet, and pictured in his head their terror and dismay as they saw the Empire's vast armada laid out before them, uncountable like the stars shining over the Valley of Chula on ch'Rihan (Romulus). He had to laugh out loud. Stupid Humans, like set'leth, like animals, they lacked the proper mindset, the proper experience, the proper HUMILITY when faced with such overwhelming odds, such overwhelming intelligence and daring. Out-gunned, out-maneuvered, out-CLASSED. Should he even /bother/ with them? He pondered this question for a moment. If /this/ was the best they could offer -- the Earthers, the Andorians (hated, hated alien freaks), the Tellarites ... and the /Vulcans/. He had a look on his face like he'd just eaten something vile and rotten. Vulcans. Bastards of the galaxy. Pretenders to logic!<BR>
<BR>
That was his answer! Divert a very small portion of the fleet in order to make certain none of their /cousins/ made it out alive. He hated Vulcans like nothing else, even the Andorians took a pale second seat to the vileness, the utter despicable villains that were the Vulcans. "Squad 44 ... send them out to destroy the infidels."<BR>
<BR>
"Yes, Centurion!"<BR>
<BR>
On the viewscreen, a squad of 20 fighters peeled away from the rest of the fleet and made their way toward the alien fleet, which had come to a full stop. The Centurion grinned. Of course they stopped -- what /else/ were they going to do? Ridiculous. When the two Earth starships moved off on their own, and the rest of the cowards ran like set'leth, he laughed again. Typical! Ally yourselves to Klingons next time, he thought, and they'll die for you by the droves, driven by their /honor/. Again -- ridiculous. What Klingons knew of honor would not even scratch the surface of /true/ honor -- honor as the Rihannsu (Romulans) knew it to be.<BR>
<BR>
As the Vulcans tried to run, the fighters harried them, along with the rest of the fleeing fools. But what was this? The Earth vessels had ... what ... launched escape pods? What were they thinking? Had not the Vulcans told them that the Rihannsu did not ever /ever/ take prisoners? Did they think to escape death by fleeing in those flimsy little craft? He said, lifting an indolent hand to point, "those pods. Destroy them."<BR>
<BR>
"Yes, Centurion!"<BR>
<BR>
But the little pods were flying very erratically. What kind of course was that? They were flying directly into the heart of the Rihannsu armada. Suicide? His face sneered. Suicide had its purposes, but to do it as a coward's act, that was indescribably disgusting. He would never understand these weak fools. The gunners did manage to hit several of them, which exploded into shrapnel. Satisfying. <BR>
<BR>
The Earth ships, after delivering their cowardly cohorts in their suicidal escape pods, were now reversing and leaving. Perhaps they meant them as a diversion? Or ... something more? "Evaluate the pods."<BR>
<BR>
"Yes, Centurion!"<BR>
<BR>
The viewscreen latched onto one of the pods, one that was still intact, just as a small internal explosion popped it open. "Scan it. Repeat scan on one of the destroyed pods."<BR>
<BR>
"Yes, Centurion! Scans show ... no life forms within the pods. Getting a reading ... an energy signature I've not encountered before, Centurion."<BR>
<BR>
"What are you saying?" He sat up straighter, scowling at the viewscreen.<BR>
<BR>
And then the universe erupted. Soundless, stark white surrounded them, immediately plunging the Nhorazz into utter chaos. Alarms foretold the slam of energy as it blasted the ship, knocking everyone off their feet and against the bulkheads, flames sprang into being, every console exploding into a shower of sparks and shrapnel. He lifted his head from the deck and peered through the blood that sheeted down his face. He tried to speak and gurgled blood, spewing green from his lips, coughing and gagging on it. He looked over at the gunner, who was sprawled alongside him, tried again to speak ... and then noticed that the gunner's gray heart lay exposed, pumping no more. Screams filled his ears, fire consumed the bridge ... and then the shockwave hit.<BR>
<BR>
// RSE Ship ch'Unghtal \\<BR>
<BR>
They watched as the flagship was utterly consumed by the white fire that the Earth ships had launched at them. "Nucleonics!" came the shout from the gunners. From the far edge of the armada, they watched as their comrades were decimated, taking a staggering blow. It was astounding, incredible, unbelievable! They barely managed to ride out the main explosions, but then were taken by surprise by the shockwave that followed it. The ch'Unghtal was tossed about like a piece of driftwood in a stormy sea, tossed about and then thrown into the Rag'akul, which was its formation mate. Both ships were mangled together, then both ships went up in a brilliant conflagration as both their cores interacted and exploded.<BR>
<BR>
// RSE Ship M're'Chigal \\<BR>
<BR>
The humiliation suffered by the Romulan Star Empire was complete. The destruction of fully nine tenths of the armada was a crushing blow. Word slowly passed down that the remainder of the fleet, any ship that could still do so, was to return to the Beta Quadrant at all speed. The M're'Chigal helped in the mop-up of the damaged ships, hurriedly making sure none of the technology was left behind for the aliens to find, that none of the Romulan dead could be studied. It took only moments for the remainder of the fleet to finish up what the nucleonics had left behind -- there wasn't much. Romulan ships too damaged to continue were destroyed after the living were tranferred to other, more spaceworthy vessels. The alien fleet did not return -- the commander of the M're'Chigal hoped that meant that /they/ had been destroyed as well.<BR>
<BR>
As one, the remainder of the Romulan fleet limped off toward home, humiliated, defeated ... and with an anger burning inside them that would never abate.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Romulan Star Empire Fleet<BR>
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