# Backlog #
Location: Alpha Quadrant
Planet: Rigel IV
NeoDyne Industries – Corporate Headquarters
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<<Directly continued from Part I>>
"The Gathering Clouds - Part II"
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“They made you a captain”, Merikai said quietly to himself as he sat at his desk his thoughts focused like a laser beam on one man. “Zane Akina – what passion drives you to plague my existence? What fire burns within you that drives you to tempt fate yet again? You ruined my father’s name with your meddling and brought disgrace to my family the taint of which will never be completely erased or forgotten! Why have you returned from the shadows? Why must you constantly chase me like the dog that hunts the fox?!”
Merikai stood grabbing his earlier glass of whiskey and downed the entire drink in a single swallow. Moving to a nearby wall he stared into a photograph which hung prominently near his desk. The picture was of Merikai and his late father. Merikai was in his twenties at the time and both of them were smiling. He remembered that day with crystal clarity. His father now gone had been a visionary, a pioneer of business, of capitalism, of foresight, and of ambition. He had sought only greatness. Not just power, but superiority. Complete superiority over everyone and everything through technology and science. His vision was a galaxy free of war, politics, and petty infighting between races and cultures. NeoDyne would help to unite the masses under one banner. Those that followed would be accepted into a new order, a utopian vision of a brighter future. Those that resisted change, who defied NeoDyne would be crushed, relegated to the dusty pages of history.
That had been his father’s dream. As his son, it was now his dream as well, having taken up the torch pressing forward toward a magnificent goal that the empires of the present would never accept given their inflexibility. Their lack of vision made wars inevitable, conflict a certainty, and the Federation’s banner of peace was simply a flag the diplomats waived at elite social gatherings. True peace wasn’t possible unless everyone was united by one force, one goal, and one leader.
The power he needed to achieve his father’s dream was just inches from his grasp yet continued to elude him. Half of the power he had managed to acquire – its secrets were carefully locked away in the most secure of NeoDyne’s vaults. The loss of the Astate facility was a blow albeit minor disruption to his grand plans. Acquiring the second and final piece had been his main objective. Four years had passed and during that time he had come so close so many times.
Despite his company’s vast resources, personnel, and influence he had been unable to acquire one man and the information which swam inside his body. That information was the second and final key he needed to create an unstoppable army with superhuman abilities. With an endless army of loyal NeoDyne soldiers he could achieve his father’s dreams and aspirations and bring order to the chaos that existed between the feuding empires and their petty differences.
The second key could also hold a secondary promise – the holy grail of humanity which NeoDyne would grant to those it deemed worthy. Vastly extended life spans, perhaps even the promise of eternal life itself, coursed through the veins of a single man. One man selfishly denied the galaxy what could be the most promising medical advance in human history. With in his veins flowed the genetic blueprints for the sword that could finally bring peace to the galaxy. One man was the keeper of vast power and yet this man, aware of his great potential and prominent place of reverence and distinction in a new order, relegated himself to hiding in the shadows away from NeoDyne’s eyes and ears determined to selfishly protect the amazing gift he had been given of which he did not appreciate or understand. A man capable of incredible physical feats, intelligence, daring, and cunning – he had kept Merikai from his ambitions for far too long.
Merikai turned his gaze to a second framed picture that hung on his wall. Though burned and torn the antiquated photograph printed on antique film displayed another family. The photo had survived a fire thirty years ago and was prized by his father as an important document. Displayed in the quaint family photograph were the parents, now dead, and their two sons. NeoDyne had secured one thirty years ago, but the other had escaped and was now a Starfleet Officer under the protective wing of a ranking intelligence admiral. Keeping tabs on the captain was difficult – for that was his sole mission in life. He had no other objective, but to keep his secrets out of Merikai’s grasp.
Taverain Ramius, the second of identical twin brothers, was the second key needed to bring his father’s dream to life. The recipients of genetic code from an extinct alien race of superior abilities, the Ramius twins were now the last keepers of that genetic legacy as the original alien samples had been destroyed in an accident twenty years prior.
And yet, despite his best efforts, the child turned adult, was an unobtainable item which could not be purchased at any price. The man was clever, cautious, and highly intelligent thanks to his unique and wonderful gift. A gift Merikai sought to obtain at virtually any cost.
Staring at the child’s face on the damaged photograph Merikai gazed into the child’s eyes. “Where are your Taverain”, he asked quietly. “Where are you hiding now?”
Finding no answers in the image, Merikai turned his gaze back to the photograph of his father. A wave of emotion again washed over him as the recent revelation that Zane Akina was again digging up secrets on his company no doubt going for the jugular with some twisted passion to see NeoDyne destroyed. What fueled Akina’s actions eluded Merikai’s comprehension, but he knew all too well Akina was a dangerous, highly skilled, and resourceful man who posed a critical risk to the company and to Merikai’s ambitions. Finding and eliminating Akina had to be his top priority. He should have done so years ago. His hand holding the empty glass shook as he stared at his father as the past images of Akina giving testimony to Federation judges filled his vision.
His anger grew with each passing moment as Akina’s voice still echoed in his ears as he berated his father like an animal before hundreds of onlookers with falsehoods and lies going so far as to call his own father a traitor and an ambitious criminal whose greed knew no limits.
A crack of thunder shook the room and seconds later the sound of shattering glass echoed off the walls of the Predient’s silent office.
Merikai looked down raising his arm in mild fascination as he stared at his own hand that was slick with blood. He had shattered the drinking glass in his own anger filled grasp.
Glancing past his bloody hand, Merikai gazed again at the image of his father.
“I will avenge your death father. I promise I will not rest until Zane Akina is dead and Taverain Ramius is at last mine! I swear to you I will see our family name restored and your dream for a brighter future made a reality. The universe has left us a remarkable gift and a chance at universal salvation – I swear on our family name that no one man shall be allowed to hold its potential hostage and deny the galaxy its only chance for true peace and order! Father, grant me the final key to your grand legacy! Grant me the power to usher in the glorious new age you envisioned!”
A crack of lightning and the roll of thunder cried out amidst a pouring rain on Rigel IV as a single man plotted with ruthless ambition to forever change the lives of those living below and in fact the lives of every sentient being within his reach.
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Only four other men in the universe knew of the NeoDyne President’s mad ambitions. They made up the fledgling vanguard that protected the galaxy’s best kept secret and had sworn to themselves to deny NeoDyne its ultimate prize which is fervently sought in every corner of the known galaxy as its agents hunted a single man and the secrets he quietly protected.
In an epic game of cat and mouse – the balance had been maintained. Neither side held an advantage over the other in a deadly chess game where losing could cost far more than plastic pieces on a checkered board. The fate of billions swung on every move and counter move between two sides one dark and sinister the other white, cautious, thoughtful, seeking to counter the darkness where possible while protecting its king from attack. Its pieces were few in number, but what the white pieces lacked in quantity they made up in positioning and strength.
The chessboard pieces were in constant motion. White had two knights, and a king they had sworn to protect at any cost. However, the final piece, White’s unstable queen had its own unknown agenda. Taverain’s twin brother, Aiden Ramius, remained as elusive as his brother having escaped NeoDyne’s grasp. His deep resentment of the company after years of imprisonment and vile experiments made him and his motives just as dangerous as NeoDyne itself.
Facing them where the agents of darkness and its pawns, knights, rooks, and bishops. Its king sat well protected by its minions leaving its opposite opponent with little choice but to play a defensive game waiting, watching, and hoping for an opening to checkmate the dark king and finally end the deadly game once and for all.
[ To Be Continued... ]
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Chairman Alistair Merikai
President, NeoDyne Corporation
(APB Tav)
