On morality, savagery and world domination.

[nooniensingh]

Oh, this is going to be rather interesting, isn't it? Well, then, for the record, my dear, the second you veer from my purpose is the second I abandon you. I have more important things to do than listen to you mewl and bleat. I aim to conquer, and you will do as I say.

You always did have a soft spot for "villains," didn't you? Quite the moral failing. I believe there's an apt quote; "And so at last, in your despair, you turn to me."

You're on your last chance. Don't make me destroy you.

Comments

[selfsacrificing]

If you think none will stand in your way, you are mistaken.

[nooniensingh]

Now why would I think that, commander? I expect it. Great men must always struggle against those of...lesser vision.

[selfsacrificing]

Your vision is the lesser one, Khan. It is nothing more than the plague of a civilization that has long since evolved past the need of it.

[nooniensingh]

Tell me, what do you know of living conditions in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge in the year 1989?

[selfsacrificing]

I know enough. I have studied Earth's history.

[nooniensingh]

Of course you have. You're nothing if not thorough.

So you're familiar with the so-called "Eugenics Wars," and my part in them. You're familiar with the geo-political power I wielded. You're familiar with what I did for nearly three billion people on the brink of starvation and collapse, living under sub-human conditions.

Of course you're familiar with all of that.

[selfsacrificing]

Have you studied anything of the Earth you occupy presently? There is no famine, no poverty, no genocides. Your desire to conquer is antiquated and unnecessary.

[nooniensingh]

Is it? Is that not what your Federation has done? Conquered? Is all of Earth so complacent with their benevolent government?

As for genocides...well. I will restrain myself from pointing out the obvious.

[selfsacrificing]

The Federation does not conquer. And if anyone on Earth is displeased with their government they are capable of speaking out and of enacting the change they desire to see.

You need not.

[nooniensingh]

No? You don't wish for me to avoid the obvious, painful subject of the destruction of your home planet? A genocide which the Federation was complicit in? Or at the very least failed to prevent?

You Vulcans truly are a race of no emotion. Or rather...were a race.

[selfsacrificing]

[ Ouch. ]

The destruction of my planet was the result of the actions of one madman, much like yourself, who thought that a perceived wrong justified the destruction of entirely uninvolved, sentient life on an inconceivable scale.

The Federation did everything in its power to prevent the attack, at the cost of many of its own ships and lives, and it is illogical to think to hold it accountable. It has also has aided in the restoration efforts of my people.

[nooniensingh]

[Sorry not sorry.]

Following that logic, however, leads you to the inevitable conclusion that the "lone madman" was created by the Federation. Specifically, one particular Federation ambassador...

[selfsacrificing]

[ well this has been a bone-chilling reminder of just how high Khan's starfleet clearance had been ]

Are you attempting to elicit an emotional reaction?

[nooniensingh]

Perhaps.

Or perhaps I simply wish to remind you that the shining edifice of the Federation is built on a foundation of lies. Pretty, convenient lies, which men like Admiral Marcus weave to keep power.

I come merely as a soothsayer. A truth speaker. The truth is never pretty, and it is rarely convenient.

[selfsacrificing]

Men like Admiral Marcus are insane, and do not represent the Federation.

You say you speak the truth, but only as you understand it, not as it actually is.

[nooniensingh]

My understanding is thorough, believe me. Admiral Marcus could not have gotten where he was without support, material, moral, and otherwise. Section 31 did not just appear out of thin air.

And you, and all other Federation officers, are complicit.

[selfsacrificing]

Were that so, he would not have endeavored to keep your presence a secret. He certainly would not have abused his authority to fabricate a false identity for you to work within Section 31, nor would he have classified any and all information pertaining to your existence even from others within the Admiralty.

His behavior went against the principals of the Federation as any who enlist know them. However, your objections to the morality of the people whom you fired on while unarmed while you already had in your possession a means to escape the system is duly noted.

[nooniensingh]

Ah, always so high and mighty, so ready to judge.

Sometimes, death is the only lesson that men will heed. There are no innocents in this world. I did what I did to teach Marcus and those around him that actions have consequences.

I am fully cognizant of my actions and their morality. Are you?

[selfsacrificing]

By its very nature, death teaches nothing to those that it has been inflicted upon.

I am.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

Fascinating.

[nooniensingh]

Oh? And what exactly piques your interest, Ambassador?

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

You are the second man that I have met who calls himself Khan Noonian Singh. As you seem to know me, might I assume that you know of him, as well? ...And of his motivations?

[nooniensingh]

What's that charming phrase? If it swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

Dopplegangers and alternate histories do not faze me. I am not simply calling myself Khan Noonien Singh.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

That remains to be seen. What, may I ask, are your intentions here?

[nooniensingh]

That would be tipping my hand. I am not your typical villain, after all.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

And yet you introduced yourself here, in this public place, chiding your typist with regards to your 'purpose'. This is, in my experience, the epitome of typical villain behavior.

[nooniensingh]

Oh? And do you have no purpose in your life? No goals? Idle hands are the Devil's playground.

Believe me, if you knew my...mun, as they're so charmingly called, you'd be reminding her of her place, too.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

Perhaps instead I shall speak to her about yours. For if you are who you say you are, then you are much too dangerous to be left unchecked.

[nooniensingh]

[He laughs slowly, a low and disgusted laugh.]

I have done nothing in your time. Nothing but obey the commands of your Admiral Marcus. I hardly understand why this condemns me.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

So, you were just 'following orders'?

[nooniensingh]

Clever, clever.

Put yourself in my shoes, Spock. You are awakened centuries after your birth, by the head of a powerful government, who holds your family hostage. And he promises you freedom and power, in exchange for your knowledge. You are adrift, alone and helpless.

Would you not obey those orders? Knowing your family was in danger? That you were the only one who could save them? Knowing that you stood no chance of survival alone, a stranger in a strange land? Come now, even a Vulcan would acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances behind my obedience.

[notinfrontoftheklingons]

If you are attempting to garner sympathy, I can assure you, you will not succeed. Regardless of your motivations for your most recent offenses, you still committed them. And that is not even beginning to address the crimes against sentient life you committed during the Eugenics Wars back on Earth.

I am afraid that I have no choice but to request that your mun confine you to a game of her choosing, where you will be unable to enact harm against any living thing.

[nooniensingh]

Yes, feeding and clothing and supporting the world's poorest and weakest, my crimes were quite unconscionable. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. What are a few thousand dead, in comparison to billions saved?

But...have it your way, Ambassador. I'll be a good little boy, and not do anything to aggravate your delicate sensibilities.