Change of Plans

Posted on Thu Feb 27th, 2025 @ 12:05am by Sinisiub Pallis & Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa

1,740 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Indivisible

When Pallis regained consciousness, he was in an unfamiliar place: The Elachi had clearly teleported him, but it was not aboard one of their ships. He had toured Elachi facilities with other Tal Shiar officials, and as such, had become familiar with Elachi architecture. However, the architecture that appeared before him was foreign. Perhaps these were the Elachi's shady masters...

As Pallis took in his surroundings, he deduced that he was being kept in some kind of holding cell. Then, he noticed that he was being restrained. He was lashed firmly to... Something. Though what exactly, he couldn't tell.

After what seemed like hours a door opened and a tall strange looking alien floated into the room. It wore a strange long robe, had dark purple skin and six red skit-like eyes. In its hand it held a black sharp edged staff and it seemed to float above the floor on a dense cloud of black smoke.

"You are the leader of the Humans?" The strange alien demanded.

"Publicly, yes." Pallis responded, assuming his stately demeanor. "Though, if you are in fact the Elachi's masters, you might know me as Agent Pallis of the Tal Shiar."

"I do not. Nor do I care," the alien said. "I only care for the information you will provide my masters."

"So, you are not the master, but the apprentice?" Pallis surmised. "I'm afraid I cannot simply give sensitive information to a low-ranking official, if that is what you are after?"

"You are not worthy of speaking directly to my masters. I am the highest authority you shall be honoured with." The alien said. "For you are speaking to the personal herald of L'Miran!"

L'Miran... Where had he heard that name before?

"If you are concerned that the project is proceeding too slowly..." Pallis said. "Let me assure you that a coup does not happen overnight: The people's trust must be completely and totally won in order for a takeover to be viewed as an... Evolution."

"What project do you speak of Romulan?" The Herald asked simply.

"The only project that matters:" Pallis said. "The restoration of the Greater Romulan Realm. An alliance between the Romulan Star Empire and a transformed Federation so powerful, to oppose it would be futile. That was what I was promised when the Tal Shiar partnered with the Elachi."

"You are a fool." The Herald said. "My masters have no intention of those puny powers joining together. The process of your eradication has already begun."

"Eradication?" Pallis asked. "That was never in the deal!"

The Herald didn't seen phased at all. "Why would my masters want lower life forms to stand against them. My masters are the true rulers of this galaxy." The Herald said its voice sharp. It held up an arm and a holographic image appeared in front of Pallis. The image was of a pregnant Human in what was her late twenties, she had pink hair and had been stripped to just her underclothes.

Another image appeared next to her, a similar woman but with Romulan features and ears, also visibly pregnant. "The Elachi have provided us with valuable genetic information on Human and Romulan gestation. My masters plan to prevent future gestation. Over a few hundred years, your species will be all but extinct."

Slowly the Herald turned to look at Pallis. "We predict that in that time the powers known as the Romulan Star Empire and The United Federation of Planets will be cease to exist."

"I should have known the shady bastards wouldn't uphold their end of the agreement." Pallis muttered. "If your masters are the true rulers of the galaxy, what good does ruling over a wasteland do you? Empires thrive on the exploitation of lesser beings."

"You stood against us once. Achieved together what you could not achieve alone. Therefore we are taking a more cautious method." The Herald said simply. An alarm began to wail which caught its attention. Without another word the Herald left the room.

"Cautious indeed." Pallis muttered sarcastically once the Herald was out of earshot.

While the Herald was otherwise preoccupied, Pallis had some time to reflect on his life: His loyal, yet duel servitude to both the United Federation of Planets and the Tal Shiar. And this was where his loyalty led him? He could tell by the way the Herald conducted itself that it had no intention of letting him leave wherever this place was alive. And he took this valuable time to accept his fate, and to welcome death as an old friend when the time came.

His only regret would be that he would die unable to alert Miyahara to the change in plans...

It seemed that the length of time that the Herald was gone was just long enough for Pallis to make peace with himself.

"So, about that information your masters desire..." Pallis said when he sensed the Herald re-enter the cell.

"What are the defense codes to the planet's known as Earth and Romulus?" The Herald asked simply.

"I do not know the defense codes for Romulus. I was never entrusted with that information." Pallis explained. "However, the codes for Earth, I took an oath of office to protect with my life, and it's an oath that I shall keep until the very end..."

"Very well then." The Herald said. Slowly it raised an arm and Pallis's head was suddenly thrown one way. A loud crack echoed across the room as his neck was snapped quickly and easily, killing him instantly...

...And yet, after an indeterminate amount of time, Pallis found himself regaining consciousness, as if waking up from a dream.

"What the hell?" Pallis gasped.

"I restored your life Romulan. Your life has no meaning to me." The Herald said simply. "I can kill you a thousand times. And I can bring you back everything should I wish. You are powerless here. So you will tell me what we want to know. For death is no escape here."

It took a few moments for Pallis to grasp the Herald's words, but once they sank it, the Romulan was filled with a weird sense of elation: If these Heralds had all the time in the universe, then the best thing Pallis could do was waste it...

"Well, I hope you have plenty of time..." Pallis snickered. "I'm looking forward to learning all the creative ways to die."

"I can sense that you are not going to be co-operative," the Herald said. It held up another arm and a screen appeared behind him. An image of a lush blue and green planet was being displayed. It was a live image and small civilian ships could be seen in orbit.

The image switched to show an image of a settlement below. You could make out thousands of people on the streets going about their daily business. Everything from the working people to a group of school children on a day trip. It looked peaceful, quiet and safe.

"You recognise this planet?" The Herald asked.

"I do." Pallis responded. "That world, in my younger days, went by a different name. However, in more recent years, the name was changed to New Alvatar. Need I explain why?"

"It's name is not important." The Herald said. "For this planet has an active gateway on it. You are familiar with protomatter I presume?"

"The Tal Shiar experimented with protomatter explosives at one time." Pallis admitted. "But the research was abandoned. As it was too dangerous, even for us."

The Herald did nor reply. However a gateway opened in the middle of the street on the screen. Strange construct like beings emerged holding similar staff's to the Herald, beams of purple light cutting people down as they fled. The sound of screaming echoed through the room and the cries of children joined them. Finally three of the constructs placed a strange looking device in the middle of the street and then disappeared back through the gateway.

Several of the Romulans who had fled approached the device curiously. More could be seen peeking out from various hiding spots, including a group of young children dressed in what looked like some sort of school uniform.

Then it went off. A strange pulse exploded from the device. Anything biological that came into contact with this strange pulse vanished, turned to dust as the bonds between their cells were destroyed. To put it simply, they literally 'fell apart' into billions of pieces, forming little pills of dust amongst their clothing where they had once been.

The wave spread across the entire planet, destroying everything biological from Romulans down to the insects and bacteria in the air. Even plants and entire ecosystems were destroyed, right in front of Pallis's eyes.

"This is only a fraction of the power my masters wield." The Herald said. "We have more populated Planets we can use. They say that you Romulans and Humans can be persuaded if you feel that others of your race are in danger."

"So you've perfected the protomatter bomb." Pallis said, seemingly indifferent to what just happened. "Impressive."

He turned his head toward the Herald.

"I wonder how long it's going to take you to realize I've outlived my usefulness." He said. "You can kill me a thousand times and destroy a thousand worlds; those codes will not leave my lips."

"We have other methods." The Herald said. "Those codes are memories. Those are simply chemical bonds stored within your brain structure." The Herald said. It lifted another arm, the screen disappeared.

On the otherside of the room a door opened and three of the strange constructs filed in. Each of them holding a strange device. "The Romulan refuses to give up information our masters need. Extract it from him."

The constructs lifted their device. At each end a green flame like a plasma scalpel could be seen. They approached slowly their strange devices ready. The Herald looked down at Pallis. "You will not survive this procedure."

With that said the Herald turned and left as the constructs came closer, and closer positioning their cutting torches towards Pallis's head; ready to 'extract' the information as ordered.

As the constructs closed in, Pallis closed his eyes, accepting his fate, and hoping that this would be the last time...

It was.

Posting by:

Siniub Pallis
Former President
United Federation of Planets
Former Tal Shiar Agent

Herald of L'Miran
Herald

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