[center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/27/Flag_of_the_United_Federation_of_Planets.svg/800px-Flag_of_the_United_Federation_of_Planets.svg.png[/img]
[i]I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.[/i][/center]

[b]Presidential Mansion
Lake Victoria, African Region
Earth, Sol System, Sector 001
United Federation of Planets[/b]

The halls of the Presidential Mansion rung with the thousand frantic calls of what had happened across the Neutral Zone, the President insisting on status updates every fifteen minutes. He summoned the Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, and the Chief of Starfleet Operations. All the communiques which filtered out of from the Neutral Zone confirmed the same thing.

Romulus was no more.

President James Aquilina, elected as a reformer who would move the Federation out from the shadow of the Dominion War, with all its chaos and strife, and into a new age of prosperity and peace, could only thing of one thing. How much it would affect him on the polls. A refugee crisis? Destabilization of the Quadrant? The end of the Congress of Bajor? That all meant he would be confirmed to a single, terrible term. History would forget him, lost in a sea of Presidents, nameless to all except a few studious bookworms.

He, his ministers, the CSO, and the Klingon Ambassador - brought to the Mansion by the CSO’s insistence - gathered in the war room at his mansion overlooking the grand Lake Victoria. The view, which commanded a stunning view of the Alexandra Nile as it flowed into the illustrious lake, was Aquilina’s favorite, and he wondered how much longer he would be able to enjoy this sight.

“We must send some kind of force into the Romulan Star Empire, or what remains of it, before it falls into total and complete anarchy. That will not be good for anyone, not us, not the Klingon Empire, and certainly not the Romulan people. A whole stretch of space, fallen to piracy and warlords! We cannot allow that!” Grand Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, Chief of Starfleet Operations, declared. It had been eight years since the event on the Enterprise-E, deep in Romulan space, brought him from the captain’s chair to an admiral’s desk, “Ambassador Torak, surely the Klingon Empire agrees?”

“The Klingon Empire must not have chaos on her borders! If the Federation is willing to enforce order, then we likewise will send our own force into Romulan space,” Torak concurred with Picard’s view, even if they had a different outlook on what that intervention force would be doing, “Is Starfleet up to the challenge, Picard? To fight these Romulan petaQs as they are pushed against a wall? Is today a good day to die?”

“Ambassador, if the Federation does get involved, it will be for humanitarian aid and peacekeeping only,” Foreign Minister Ramadhani Shamasdin spoke up, after deliberating his words carefully, “the Federation will not take part in a campaign of retribution and conquest of what remains of the Romulan Empire.”

Ambassador Torak simply scoffed and sipped at his glass of water, turning his gaze towards the Lake and refusing to answer. Picard looked over and, seeing the President looking disinterestedly in the same direction, began to speak towards him, “Mr. President, I must ask you to forget your notions of retaining power. Right now, it is the time to act, a time to step up to what your office stands for. You represent the United Federation of Planets, the greatest force for good the Galaxy has ever seen, and you must not allow billions of lifeforms to be swept into civil war and chaos.”

“Admiral Picard, if I may interject….” Defense Minister Thuzok Rossah butted in, “I don’t believe we have the resources to commit to another full-scale conflict, which this will surely spiral into. Who knows what’s beyond Romulan space! Or what’s in it, for that matter! They’ve never let us know the true number of client races within their Empire. We have no reason to do anything except increase security along the Neutral Zone.”

“And if we do that, Mr. Rossah, we’ll only be delaying the inevitable flood of refugees. It will be like the Hunnic hordes storming across the Rhine and into Rome. Do you wish to be the one who causes that, Defense Minister?” Picard looked from the Defense Minister and turned his gaze towards the President, “Or you, Mr. President? If not, you must act decisively and you must act now.”

“Alright, Jean-Luc…” Aquilina murmured, after spending what seemed like an eternity in silent thought, “You always are a bully when it comes to getting what you want, but you always have a point…” He chuckled dryly, “you’ll get your task force, Picard. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me…” Aquilina gestured to his two ministers, “we have a press conference to prepare for. The Prime Minister is going to tear us to shreds…”

As the President and his ministers left, Picard walked over towards the large panoramic windows, admiring the still relatively untouched beauty of Africa. A flock of white-bellied storks flew in the distance, gliding over the waters of Lake Victoria, “Admiral Picard, you have great honor. Your reputation is well-known throughout the Empire,” Torak spoke from behind Picard, still nursing his glass of water, “it is a privilege to meet you.”

“As you, Ambassador,” Picard nodded, turning around to face the Klingon, “your fleet action at Ioya V during the War was astounding. I remember reading the after-action reports and…”

“Enough of my track record, Admiral,” Torak smiled, cutting off Picard with a wave of his hand, “We have a problem, that only men who have tasted combat will ever see…” He had Picard’s attention, “The Romulan space must be absorbed into our states. There is no other option. It is a simple fact, that no one wants to come out and say! Oh, how you Federation types love your word games. Whatever we do, peacekeeping and securing space, just delays when we must face up to that fact.”

“They will be admitted into the Federation if they so choose, Ambassador…” Picard spoke, but he knew the Klingon spoke wisdom.

“As your War Advisor pointed out, there is much out there that we do not know of.” Torak paused, and then turned his gaze towards the lake, “This view reminds me of my home. Except there, it is much more beautiful.”