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#3: The Romulan Commanders' Logs
From Kathy McCracken
April 1997
For this installment of Major Rakal's Romulan Theme Decks, the Tal Shiar
has graciously provided us with excerpts from a number of Commander's Logs.
Close inspection of these logs will reveal to you the dedication of our
heroic commanders in the service of the Romulan Empire, as well as the
basic composition of the deck. (For the benefit of readers who may not be
familiar with the Imperial calendar, all dates have been converted to
approximate Federation stardates.)
[SEED DECK = 23]
Missions (6)
Investigate Massacre
Covert Rescue
Strategic Diversion
Iconia Investigation
Quash Conspiracy
Pegasus Search
Doorways (3)
Alternate Universe Door
Q-Flash
Q's Tent
Other Seed Cards (2)
Romulan Outpost
Iconian Gateway
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Dilemmas (12)
Borg Ship
Iconian Computer Weapon
Ancient Computer
Thought Fire
Outpost Raid
Edo Probe
Q
Shaka, When The Walls Fell x2
Zaldan
Matriarchal Society
Female's Love Interest
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[DRAW DECK = 37]
Personnel (17)
Tebok
Thei
Tomalak
Bochra
Alidar Jarok
Taris
Mendak
Selok
Toreth
N'Vek
Palteth
Major Rakal
Sirol
Takket
Telak
Taul
Soong-type Android
Ships (5)
Decius
Devoras
Khazara
Haakona
Terix
Equipment (2)
Medical Kit
Engineering Kit
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Events (2)
Kivas Fajo - Collector
Genetronic Replicator
Interrupts (7)
Asteroid Sanctuary
Wrong Door
Q2
Kevin Uxbridge
Palor Toff - Alien Trader x2
Amanda Rogers
Doorways (4)
Q's Tent x4
Q's Tent (11)
Captain's Log
The Traveler: Transcendence
Red Alert
Res-Q
Thermal Deflectors
Q2
Stefan DeSeve
Galen
Soong-type Android
Maques
D'deridex
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Commander's Log, Stardate 41986: Commander Tebok reporting. Following the
destruction of several of our outposts near the Neutral Zone, I was given
command of one of the new D'Deridex class warbirds. My orders were to cross
the Neutral Zone and determine whether the Federation's Starfleet was
responsible for the destruction. Subcommander Thei and I made the first
Romulan contact with the Federation in 53 standard years when we
encountered the U.S.S. Enterprise near Tarod IX, only to discover that
their border outposts are also being destroyed in the same manner as ours.
We agreed to exchange any information either of us may obtain about our
unknown mutual enemy.
(Mission: Investigate Massacre; Episode: The Neutral Zone)
Commander's Log, Stardate 42609: Subcommander Taris reporting. Under
cloak, I followed the Enterprise to a rendezvous with another Federation
ship within the Neutral Zone, intercepting transmissions of the Yamato's
logs for later analysis. When the Yamato exploded catastrophically, I
decloaked, denied Picard's accusation of destroying the ship, and demanded
that the Enterprise withdraw at once. He agreed to do so after
investigating the cause of the Yamato's destruction, but a short time later
proceeded further into the Neutral Zone, to a world dangerously close to
our borders. I demanded again that they withdraw and stated my claim to the
planet for the Empire. The first officer refused, but warned me to destroy
a probe launched from the planet's surface that attempted to scan us.
Before long, the system malfunctions that had begun to plague the Haakona
escalated until the auto-destruct sequence initiated spontaneously, and I
was unable to deactivate it. When Picard mysteriously appeared on my
bridge, I was certain that he had somehow caused this, but he was beamed
away before he could die with us. At the last moment, the Enterprise
transmitted instructions to us for purging our systems of the invading
program which nearly caused our destruction.
(Mission: Iconia Investigation; Episode: Contagion)
Commander's Log, Stardate 43349: Commander Tomalak reporting. After our
scout ship Pi crashed while on a covert mission in Federation territory, I
took the Decius into the Neutral Zone in hopes of rescuing her crew of two.
When I discovered that the Enterprise had already intercepted her distress
call and had captured the critically injured Subcommander Patahk, I
proceeded to the crash site on Galorndon Core despite Captain Picard's
warning not to enter Federation space. There I demanded Patahk's return,
but was informed that he was dead. As I prepared to open fire, they beamed
aboard one of their officers who had also been stranded on the planet,
along with the Pi's other officer, Centurion Bochra, who assured me that he
had not been mistreated and that, in fact, the Federation officer
had assuring Picard that the incursion was the result of a navigational error.
(Mission: Covert Rescue; Episode: The Enemy)
Commander's Log, Stardate 43462: Commander Tomalak reporting. As a test of
his loyalty, the Romulan High Command has been feeding disinformation to
Admiral Alidar Jarok for several months, convincing him that a secret base
had been established on Nelvana III, in the Neutral Zone, in preparation
for an invasion of Federation space. He proved his disloyalty when he stole
a scout ship and defected to the Federation. He was given asylum on the
Enterprise, where he informed Picard of the supposed base. When Picard
violated the Neutral Zone to investigate, three warbirds including mine
decloaked and demanded surrender of the Enterprise. Unfortunately, the
Enterprise was accompanied by three cloaked Klingon warships, so I effected
a strategic withdrawal.
(Mission: Strategic Diversion; Episode: The Defector)
Commander's Log, Stardate 44390: Admiral Mendak reporting. We have
successfully retrieved our deep-cover operative, Subcommander Selok, who
has been posing as the Vulcan Ambassador T'Pel for the last 20 years, and
who was supposedly meeting with us for peace negotiations. Although we
attempted to disguise the retrieval by simulating "T'Pel's" death in a
transporter accident as she beamed from the Enterprise to the Devoras,
Picard somehow saw through the ruse and accused us of kidnapping the
"Ambassador." Imagine his chagrin when he discovered that he had
unwittingly assisted in the repatriation of a Romulan spy.
(Mission: None; Episode: Data's Day)
Commander's Log, Stardate 46519: Commander Toreth reporting. I was
recently ordered, supposedly by the Tal Shiar, to take aboard the Khazara a
mysterious cargo of unknown origin or content, and transport it to the
Kaleb Sector. The Tal Shiar officer guarding the cargo, Major Rakal, proved
to be a traitor, as did my Science Officer N'Vek, who surreptitiously
beamed the cargo to the Federation starship Enterprise while pretending to
fire on the ship. My pilot Palteth immediately killed N'Vek for his
treachery, but the Enterprise beamed the Major away from the Khazara before
I could interrogate and execute her.
(Mission: Quash Conspiracy; Episode: Face of the Enemy)
Commander's Log, Stardate 47457: Commander Sirol reporting. Following our
discovery of a piece of debris from a Federation starship in the Devolin
System, I was ordered to locate the rest of the ship. We soon encountered
the Enterprise, whose captain claimed they were conducting geological
surveys. Unable to prove otherwise, we continued on our search but returned
to the area later, to discover the Enterprise had entered a large cavity in
an asteroid. Suspecting that they had discovered the missing starship, I
directed the Terix's disruptor beams on the opening, sealing them in. I
then hailed Picard and offered to help them out of their predicament by
beaming his crew onto the Terix and taking them as our "guests" to Romulus.
He declined, and shortly, to my astonishment, his ship decloaked outside of
the asteroid. This clear violation of the Treaty of Algeron was explained
by Picard as the fault of a treacherous admiral aboard his ship. We are
assured that the admiral will face a court-martial for violating the
Treaty.
(Mission: Pegasus Search; Episode: The Pegasus)
Commander's Log, Supplemental: Notes from Major Rakal
Five Romulan commanders and a subcommander were chosen, with six missions
based on episodes in which they appeared. All the pertinent Romulan
characters from the referenced episodes were included to enhance the theme,
even though a few are not strictly useful in terms of skills. Because there
were no SECURITY personnel shown in these episodes, and only Taris has
MEDICAL skill, Telak, Taul, Takket, and a Soong-type Android were added.
Also, with nine OFFICERS in your deck, a Medical Kit and an Engineering Kit
should mean you have no lack of those skills. And with all those OFFICERS
turned medics, the Genetronic Replicator, together with Thermal Deflectors
from your Tent, should keep your Away Teams alive through most of those
killer planet dilemmas. The major skills weaknesses are SCIENCE, Empathy,
and an AU icon for staffing the Decius (just one each), so be especially
protective of N'Vek and Major Rakal. Backup personnel for these skills and
others and a spare Soong-type Android are included in Q's Tent, along with
a spare ship.
Because the five unique ships match five of the commanders for Captain's
Log benefits to Weapons and Shields, this event is included in Q's Tent to
aid you in dispatching an opponent's ship or two in between solving
missions. In fact, any two with Captain's Log in effect can destroy most
other (unenhanced) ships outright; three can destroy an outpost.
Asteroid Sanctuary (from The Pegasus) will hide you from battle in case you
haven't got your Captain's Log or the right captain out when a Klingon
armada gangs up on you, and Wrong Door can be used either to misdirect your
opponent if he should have the audacity to try to slip through your Iconian
Gateway, or to counter a Q's Tent or a Revolving Door.
The only theme-related dilemmas are the Borg Ship (the likely cause of the
mysterious destruction of the outpost at Tarod IX) and of course, the
Iconian Computer Weapon. Other dilemmas may be replaced to suit your
expected opponent, but all can be used in good combinations for any deck.
All the other usual events and interrupts are either in the draw deck or
the Tent (the omnipotent trio, Palor's and Res-Q, Traveler, Red Alert, and
Kivas Fajo), with four Q's Tent doorways in the draw deck to help retrieve
your cards. The Iconian Gateway and your outpost should go under Strategic
Diversion; with six Treachery in the draw deck and two more in the Tent, it
has by far the easiest requirements to meet.
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