consider it the great symbol of the empire.  but the bird-of-prey holds planets. romulus, remus. their destinies conjoined.
yet for generations one of those planets has been without a voice. we will be silent no longer.
join us, commanders. now what's the disposition of the fleet?
and?
it's imperative we retain their allegiance or our great mission will be strangled before it can truly draw breath.
and they'll have it. tell the fleet that the days of negotiation and diplomacy are over. the almighty federation will fall before us. as i promised you.
the time we have dreamed of is at hand. the time.  of conquest.
cut off the dragon's head and it cannot strike back.
none.
the scimitar will serve my needs.
i came this far alone.  we came this far alone. we require no assistance from the fleet. now leave me to my thoughts.
are we prepared?
so many years for this moment. bring him to me.
i hope you'll forgive the darkness.  we're not comfortable in the light.
captain picard.  jean luc picard.  i don't mean to stare, it's just -- well, you can't imagine how long i've been waiting for this moment. i always imagined you taller, isn't that odd? you may scan me without subterfuge, commander data.
no?
commander worf. i greet you as a valiant warrior.  and as my brother.
i've never met a human woman.
deanna troi of betazed. empathic and telepathic abilities, ship's counselor. all of this i knew.  but i didn't know you were so beautiful.
i am, commander riker.  .  may i touch your hair?
on the world i come from there's no light. no sun. beauty isn't important. i see now there's a world elsewhere.
yes, i'm sorry, captain. there's so much we have to talk about.
unity, captain! tearing down the walls between us to recognize we are one people. federation and romulan. human and vulcan and klingon and reman. i'm speaking of the thing that makes us the same. we want peace.
i want to end the centuries of mistrust. i want to be your ally, not your enemy. as a first step i propose we eliminate the neutral zone and begin a free and open exchange of goods and ideas.
i have dissolved the senate.
right now, you're thinking this all sounds too good to be true?
and you're wondering why the scimitar is so well armed. is this the ship of a peacemaker? or a predator? .  but you're also thinking the chance for peace is too promising to ignore. above all, you're trying to decide if you can trust me.
then perhaps the time has come to add some illumination to our discussion. computer, raise lighting four levels.
allow me to tell you a story that i hope will clarify my position. when i was very young i was stricken with an odd disease. i developed a hyper-sensitivity to sound. the slightest whisper caused me agony.
no one knew what to do. finally i was taken to a doctor who had some experience with terran illnesses and i was finally diagnosed with shalaft's syndrome. do you know of it, captain?
then you know it's a very rare syndrome. genetic. all the male members of my family had it. eventually i was treated. now i can hear as well as you can, captain.
i can see as well as you can. i can feel everything you feel. in fact, i feel exactly what you feel. don't i, jean luc?
do you trust me now?
come to dinner on romulus tomorrow. just the two of us. or just the one of us.
i know.
tomorrow then, captain. we have so much to discuss.
imzadi. this is so good.
he can never know you as i know you.  he can never touch you as i touch you.
can you feel my hands.  are they real? can you feel my lips, my loins?
i'm with you, imzadi.
i'll always be with you now. now and forever.
you don't have to understand.
i have a purpose.
silence, romulan!
you must learn patience, commander. do you know where i learned it? in the dilithium mines of remus. spend eighteen hours every day under the lash of a romulan guard's whip and you'll soon understand patience.
now go. i have some personal business.
and when i was ready they were going to replace you with me, an exact biological duplicate. put a romulan agent at the heart of starfleet to influence your command structure. it was a bold plan.
as happens so frequently here on romulus, a new government came to power. they decided to abandon the plan -- frankly, i think they were afraid i'd be discovered and it would lead to war. they weren't ready for that.
romulan ale -- i'm surprised. i can't stand it.
it's not quite the face you remember.
a lifetime of violence will do that. my nose was broken four times. and my jaw.  but so much is the same. the eyes, you recognize the eyes.
our eyes reflect our lives, don't they? yours are so confident.
they sent me there to die. how could a mere human survive the dilithium mines? it was.  .  i was a slave. and a monster. the only thing the romulan guards hated more than the remans was me. but one man took pity on me: the man who became my viceroy. he taught me how to survive. and in that dark place, where there was nothing of myself, i found my reman brothers. they showed me the only kindness i ever knew.
for thousands of years the romulan senate has met in this chamber and dictated the fate of its sister- planet.  but the time has come for us to live as equals.
no race should be a slave to another.
you don't trust me.
of course you do. if you had lived my life and experienced the suffering of my people.  you'd be sitting where i am now. at least i hope you would.
all i have is my personal feelings. i wasn't raised with the ideals of the federation. but i'm trying to understand them now. to live up to them to live up to you.
i want to know where i come from. the remans gave me a future. you can tell me about my past.
were we always explorers?
looking up at the stars.
and you dreamed about what was up there. about.
age before rank, jean luc.
i always hoped i would hit two meters.
there is that.
i know.
i'm honored to think i might someday speak with such eloquence.
in time, jean luc.
he's gentler than i thought. and he has a sense of humor.
my time. i'll spend it how i choose.
we'll return to the scimitar. prepare yourself for the bonding.
imzadi.
very logical, deanna.  but your heart doesn't constrain itself to mere logic. .  your heart longs to discover me. to know me.  .  to leave all of this behind and be with me.
i can feel your desire, deanna.
i can feel your hunger to know the reman ways.  the old ways.
don't fear what you desire.
find her again.
do as i tell you!
on my way.
have the doctors prepare. i'll be on the bridge.
transport.
welcome home. begin the download.
tea, hot.
hello, jean luc.
i was lonely.  perhaps i'm not aging as well as you did.
i need a sample of your blood. what do your borg friends say? resistance is futile.
yes. the bait you couldn't refuse. i learned there might be an existing prototype from a cardassian historian, then went to a great deal of trouble to find it and scatter it about on kolarus iii. i knew it would pique your curiosity and conveniently make the enterprise the closest ship to romulus when i contacted starfleet.
don't be so vain. after we found it, we made a few modifications. an extra memory port, a hidden transponder. perhaps your eyes will be a bit less confident when you learn i've gained access to starfleet's communications protocols. i now know the location of your entire fleet.  .  you may go.
out of my sight.
maybe i'll train it to do little tricks for me like your robot does. or maybe i'll snap its ugly head off.
it's about destiny, picard. about a reman outcast who --
and i'm not quite human. so what am i? what do you see? do you see a life you might have led? lost youth never to be recaptured?
i see an old man, set in his ways, afraid to live without a uniform to prop him up and a starfleet regulation to tell him what to do. i see the man i will never be.
my life is meaningless as long as you're alive. what am i while you exist? a shadow? an enigma?
oh, but it does. we will no longer bow like slaves before anyone. not the romulans and not your mighty federation. we're a race bred for war. for conquest.
it amazes me how little you know yourself.
i think the facts speak for themselves. the same noble picard blood runs in our veins. had you lived my life, you'd be doing exactly as i am. look in the mirror, and see yourself.
consider that, captain. i can think of no greater torment for you.
not for long, captain. i'm afraid you won't survive to witness the victory of the echo over the voice.
tractor beam! now!
the enterprise is immaterial! they won't make it back to federation space.
i thought we discussed patience, commander.
commander suran, the games are over. in two days the federation will be crippled beyond repair. does that satisfy you?
and when i return.  you and i shall have a little talk about showing proper respect!
how long?
how long until we reach the rift?
target weapons systems and shields. i don't want the enterprise destroyed.
can you learn to see in the dark, captain?
you're too slow, old man. attack pattern shinzon theta.
captain picard, will you join me in your ready room?
you can't trace my holographic emitters, captain. so don't bother. and you can't contact starfleet. we're quite alone.
it's just the two of us now, jean luc, as it should be.  your ship and mine.  you and me.
to accept your surrender. i can clearly destroy you at any time. lower your shields and allow me to transport you to my ship.
i have little interest in your quaint vessel, captain. if the enterprise will withdraw to a distance of one hundred light years, it will not be harmed.
i know.  you'll all gladly die to save your home world.
long ago.
childish dreams, captain. lost in the dilithium mines of remus. i'm what you see now.
he is what his life has made him!
yes.
i don't know.
that's your life.  not mine.
it's too late.
i have no choices! i can't fight what i am!
i'll show you my true nature. your nature. and as earth dies -- remember that i'm forever shinzon of remus! and my voice will echo through time long after yours has faded to a dim memory.
disable their weapons!
report!
target the flanking warbird. all forward disruptor banks on my mark.
let her pursue -- drop cloak on the aft port quadrant and prepare for full emergency stop.
you heard me.
not yet.
full stop and fire !
restore the aft cloak.and bring us about.
prepare a lateral run -- all starboard disruptors.
what is it?! focus on your job!!!
prepare a boarding party -- bring me picard!
get the cloak back! and target shield coordinates beta three. all disruptors. fire!
open a channel.
i hope you're still alive, jean luc.
don't you think it's time to surrender? i'll have my cloak back in a matter of minutes and your poor ship is shot to pieces. why should the rest of your crew have to die?
hard to port !
divert all power to engines. full reverse!
target disruptors. destroy them.
deploy the weapon. kill everything on that ship. then set a course for earth.
our greater goal is more important, brother.
some ideals are worth dying for, aren't they, jean luc?
i'm glad we're together now -- our destiny is complete.