Fleet Admiral Aventeer Vokar.
Aventeer Vokar's final statement is an important document in the recent history between the United Federation of Planets, the Reydovan Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire. It was sent from Vokar's flagship, the Romulan warbird ch'Rhian's Talons, kept under heavy Federation guard near Aquarius Station.
The Romulan Empire had recently been defeated by the Federation and the Reydovan Empire in a brief, costly (and some would say pointless) war, which involved several bloody battles, including the siege and occupation of Betazed and Criforia, Reydovan General Allan Bressler's battle against Tal Shiar General Delon Terrh'vnau's forces on occupied Angosia, the Battle of Aquarius, and the planned siege of Bajor. The end was insured when the Hydran Kingdom - the Romulans' allies in the war - saw the pointlessness of the conflict and withdrew their forces just as the assault on Bajor was to begin. Outmanned, outmanuevered and outgunned, the Romulans called for a ceasefire on September 12, 2384. Vokar, as supreme commander of the military, was crushed emotionally by the humiliating defeat, but a new threat arose in the Empire. The corrupt administration of Senate Proconsul Gaius t'Rllaillieu, who had attempted to overthrow Emperor Rag'Noseh Tre'Onveh and create a "new beginning" for the Romulan people (while ensuring it with more pointless murders and torture), had incurred Vokar's ire, and Vokar attempted to assassinate the Proconsul and escape. But it didn't work; t'Rllaillieu survived, and declared Vokar an enemy of the Empire.
Fleeing to Federation space, Vokar prepared his final statement. In the Romulan legal system, the Right of Statement allowed him to give one last statement before he was to be executed - and he knew that if t'Rllaillieu's lackeys caught him, he would be. In his statement, he revealed everything he knew, including the Romulan connection to Reydovan terrorist Artimus Devaneaux. He transmitted it to Romulus, Earth and Reydovan Prime four days after the cease-fire was called, ensuring that all would hear what he had to say, and take what he had revealed into consideration.
Vokar believed that this was the best thing for his people - not a supposed "new beginning" like t'Rllaillieu proposed, but a great Empire led by honorable Romulans, as it had been since the days of old. It had the right effect, as the Federation, the Reydovan Empire and his own people saw what he had revealed was true. The newly-appointed Praetor, H'daen tr'Rehu, asked Vokar to return to his old post, proving that the people of the Romulan Empire had indeed heard and understood what he had said.
Vokar's Statement[]
Vokar's statement was brief, but to the point, much like the admiral himself.
Meant as a warning and a revelation to his people, and to our old foes in combat
I am Aventeer Delon'Hatham Vokar the Second, son of Aventeer Vokar the First and former khre'Enriov of the Rihannsu Galae, and I stand before you as a condemned prisoner. But prisoner or no, I am Rihannsu, and to that end I have prepared this, my final statement. No matter the outcome of either my meeting with the Federation, or if I am to be turned over to my people to be tried for treason, I am a proud officer of the Empire, and have been since the days of my father.
I have been a witness to political intrigue in recent days, including the attempts by the Proconsul and his ilk to replace the Emperor and downplay his power. Now the Proconsul, Gaius t'Rllaillieu, tries to cover his military ineptitude and general idiocy with words of diplomacy, trying to lead our people to a "new beginning" - while he tries to put down anyone who disagrees with his plan. The Proconsul attempts to control every matter of our government and military - so much so that he even tried to supercede my authority as commander of our forces. While I believe our new Praetor is an honorable man, I believe the man who is at his right hand is not. I believe this discord and strife in the Empire is intended by this puppet of Chaos to distract us from our true enemy, the one-eyed, white-haired Reydovan traitor who controls him. You call this man "the Defiler", and perhaps that is appropriate. His name is Artimus Devaneaux, and he tried to manipulate us from the day he met us. The Emperor, his Lady, and I, as well as my wife and son, seemed too strong-willed for him, but a weak, gullible man like Gaius seems to fit Artimus'...specifications.
And furthermore, there is the matter of the Emperor's cousin, S'nara Tre'Onveh, and her forced marriage to then-Ambassador t'Rllaillieu...the fact that she was brutally beaten and tortured. She tried to communicate with the outside world, and managed to get ahold of me. I tried to help, but Gaius' men destroyed the communications link. I have not heard from her since then, and I fear the worst. This is how he treats his "wife"; how will he treat the people? My answer, my fellow sentients, is that he will treat them as horribly as the slime-coated trash we called governors, who murdered millions on your worlds of Betazed and Angosia.
My fellow Rihannsu, take this how you will. You can insult me how you wish, or you can agree - in your way. Former foes in the Federation and the Reydovan Empire, know that I did not take any part in the murder of your people on Betazed and Angosia, and I wish to reiterate that we had nothing to do with the attack of the Reydovan city. I am not a monster - I have a wife and a son, and we did not teach our son to kill innocents, like the two Tal Shiar trash, nor did I teach my son to kill anyone who disagreed with him, like the Proconsul. I ask the people of ch'Rhian, and all the peoples of the Empire, to remember that we were once a great Empire, and it is people like Gaius t'Rllaillieu and Delon Terrh'vnau who bring it to its knees.
I thank you for this statement, and I hope you need the warning of one lone officer.
Long live the Empire.