Shaal's commander was an otherwise unnamed 23rd century Romulan man who served as the commander of his warship, a Stormbird-class D7 battlecruiser, in the 2260s decade.
Biography[]
In the year 2269, he and his ship investigated unprovoked attacks on vessels near the Romulan Neutral Zone that sensors showed were the work of Starfleet. Detecting the Federation starship USS Enterprise nearby, he chose to attack, resulting in a stalemate with both ships heavily damaged. When Captain James T. Kirk claimed they were similarly investigating attacks on their shipping lanes, the commander accused Kirk of being a liar. The commander said he'd share information, then launched a probe armed with an antimatter charge that collapsed the last of the Enterprise's shields.
But when a Romulan freighter was suddenly attacked by an unknown alien starship a few hours away, he agreed to a truce to consider the possibility of being duped, and to share resources and information. As the intruder approached, the agreement led to his first officer Shaal trading equipment that allowed his ship's phaser banks to be repaired.
When attacked, his vessel could fight back and, at the cost of all hands, he was able to destroy the invader. (TOS comic: "Deadlock")