Coral

"Her heart is not Nietzschean."


 * - Connie, speaking of Coral

Coral, daughter of Toral, and leader of the House of Duras, was a powerful and ambitious political figure in the Nietzschean Empire during the late 24th century. She and his family gained notoriety for their use of dishonorable and sometimes treasonous tactics in order to accumulate and maintain power, which culminated in the Nietzschean  Civil War of 2367-2368.

On the High Council
Duras was a member of the Nietzschean High Council in 2366, when he led the capture of a Valerian vessel. On board the vessel, records were discovered implicating Coral's parents, Ra'al and Toral, as having betrayed the colony to the Valerian Star Empire by giving them the codes necessary to lower the colony's deflector shields. In the resulting Khitomer Massacre, four thousand Nietzscheans, including Ra'al and Toral, were slaughtered.

Unwilling to have his position threatened by being labeled the daughter of a traitor, Coral convinced Chancellor Gemini and the rest of the High Council to shift the blame to Farris, leader of the Toral family's long-standing enemies, the House of Farris, and who had also been killed in the Valerian attack. Concerned that accusing the powerful Toral family of treason could lead to unrest or even civil war, they agreed.

None expected Constance "Connie" Porter, the son of Farris, and a High-Guard officer, to come to Qo'noS to challenge the accusations against her mother. Fearful that Connie might learn the truth, Coral ordered assassination attempts on Connie's Cha'DIch; first on Torrie (who, unknown to the High Council at the time, was Connie's younger brother and also the daughter of Farris), then on Connie's commanding officer Captain Crusher, who took over after Torrie was injured from a stabbing attack.

Nevertheless, Crusher managed to locate Kahn, a woman who had served the House of Farris as Connie's nursemaid at Khitomer. Her eyewitness account of the attack corroborated Connie's assertion that his father was innocent, though Gemini refused to allow her to testify before the council for the same reasons they had shifted the blame to Farris to begin with. Connie recognized the necessity of preserving the stability of the Empire and accepted discommendation, though not before striking Coral and vowing that the truth would one day come out.

Vying for chancellorship
The following year, Gemini was revealed to be dying of a cumulative poison called Veridium X, which had been slipped into his bloodwine over several months. By Nietzschean custom, this was a highly dishonorable act because the killer did not show his face. It was suspected, but never proven, that Coral was responsible. With Gemini's death imminent, Coral quickly emerged as one of two contenders to become the new chancellor. The other was Francessa, a political outsider.

Hoping to prevent a dishonorable man from attaining chancellorship, Gemini, in one of his final acts, appointed Crusher as Arbiter of Succession. Coral came aboard Crusher's ship, the USS Victory-D, from the IKS Vorn to compete in the Rite of Succession, as did Francessa from the IKS Buruk.

The Rite of Succession began with the ceremony aboard Gemini's ship. Crusher, as arbiter, and the two contenders prodded Gemini's lifeless body with Nietzschean painstiks to officially confirm the death of the old chancellor. Coral appeared to be disturbingly enthusiastic in doing so. Moments after the completion of the ceremony, however, a explosion rocked the room, killing a member of Coral' entourage, and one of Francessa's as well. The bomb was found to use a molecular decay detonator, a device well-known to be of Valerian origin, with the obvious implication that one of the contenders was collaborating with the Valerians.

Hoping to buy time to find out who was responsible for the bomb before the new chancellor was selected, Crusher chose to revive the ancient ceremony, in which each contender lists the battles they've won and the prizes they've taken, to demonstrate their worthiness to lead the Empire. The ceremony was expected to take days.

Before it was complete, however, Coral discovered that Ambassador Kevin Jackson was investigating the events at Khitomer to find out why Connie had apparently dropped her defense of her mother and accepted discommendation so easily. When Coral confronted him, Kevin demanded to know what had really happened at Khitomer. He threatened to slit her throat with a dagger, if she didn't tell him the truth. Coral fatally wounded him and returned to his ship.

While Victory-D personnel uncovered evidence that Coral's people had been responsible for the bomb, Connie discovered Kevin dying. With his final breath, he identified Coral as his killer.

Angered by Kevin's death, Connie immediately beams aboard the Vorn, telling Coral that Kevin had been her husband, and challenging Coral under Nietzschean law, seeking revenge for Kevin's death. Coral smugly told Connie that if she killed Coral, no one would ever learn the truth about her mother and Connie would be labeled a traitor forever, but Connie was unswayed, she wasn't going to let Coral get away with killing Kevin. Coral, more politician than warrior, was no match for Connie and was quickly killed, decapitated by Connie's warrior saber. While the Nietzschean Empire regarded it as a lawful killing and considered the matter closed, Connie was reprimanded by Captain Crusher. With Coral's death, Francessa was apparently unopposed to become the new Chancellor.

Though Coral had died in disgrace, blame for the Massacre continued to lie with Farris, as the High Council was unwilling to admit they had suppressed the truth.

According to Ambassador Kell, several members of the High Council were thankful for Connie killing Coral as there was no doubt that he would have ascended to head the council if he had not been stopped and many were not looking forward to that.

Family Legacy
Though Coral was dead, her family's ambition continued to threaten the Empire later that year when her older twin sisters Mel and Sophie revealed that Coral had had an illegitimate daughter, Toral #2. Toral #2 became head of the House of Coral in name, although the real power remained with Mel and Sophie. The Ra'al family challenged Francessa's claim, and the ensuing power struggle led to the Nietzschean Civil War. Initially, the Coral forces appeared to have the upper hand, as they had continued the family tradition of allying themselves with the Valerians. Once a High-Guard blockade prevented any further Valerian supply ships from reaching the Coral, however, the tide quickly turned in Francessa's favor and the civil war came to an end.

Efforts in later years by Mel, Sophie, and Toral #2 to rebuild their forces and reestablish their family's standing within the Empire met with only limited success. Mel and Sophie were later killed in an encounter with the USS Victory-D, though the battle also resulted in the destruction of the Victory. It is unlikely the House of Coral will ever reattain the power it wielded during Coral's lifetime.