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Duel
IKS Ki'tang, Year of Kahless 1032, Day 317, 05:17 hours
Nita of the House of Morath's personal log:
The Second Rite of Ascension begins in only a few minutes. The first test will be a duel to first blood with bat'leths. While we can choose any opponent, K'mar has made it clear that he intends to choose me, and not only beat me, but kill me if he can. I'm confident I could best him with a light mek'leth, but the traditional bat'leth is too heavy. I need to be careful about this and come up with a plan, or I'll never be a warrior and I might just end up dead!
Nita sat on one of the benches in the training hall of the Ki'tang, her bat'leth across her knees, watching as K'mar practiced his forms. He could see her watching him of course. He had challenged her to join him, but she'd made no reply. She knew she had to save her strength for the duel. More than that, she knew she had to come up with a plan before the duel came. If she didn't, K'mar might well kill her, and he'd certainly prove Paq's dire warnings correct. She had to come up with something clever. There's a way past any obstacle, if you're clever, she reminded herself.
K'mar wasn't clever, he was angry and he was strong. He was also not very good with his bat'leth forms. Although he performed most of the basic forms tolerably well, the more advanced forms he threw in to round out his style were sloppily executed. Nita noted the openings as she watched him perform the Three-Talon Attack and the Warlord's Defense. Both left openings and opportunities she could have easily exploited with her mek'leth, but mek'leths were not allowed in the duel and Nita's actual weapon would be much heavier and slower. The only opening she thought she could exploit with her bat'leth was in the Horns of the Kri'stak Targ. When K'mar practiced it, he held is blade unevenly, too high on the right side when it was supposed to be level. It was obvious he was over-eager to switch his grip to be ready to deliver the killing blow with Kang's Crescent as a follow-up move. The opening was small, but it was there, and Nita thought she could dodge around to his right side and attack the back of his leg before he could respond. It would be a near thing, though, and she had no idea how she'd get him to perform the Horns of the Kri'stak Targ in the first place. It was a fairly simple move, but also a pretty uncommon one. It was only used when one had the high ground and a good opening between oneself and one's opponent, and wanted to knock them down for that deadly downward swing from Kang's Crescent.
Before she could think on it any further, Doran entered the training hall. She gestured to both of them. "It is time," she said. "Follow me to the transporter room."
Nita stood and followed Doran and K'mar to the transporter room. Morath, B'kangder, and Paq were waiting there, already on the transporter pad. Doran joined them, and K'mar took one of the last open spots in the front of the pad. Nita stepped up beside him on the pad, her bat'leth in hand, as was his. He glared at her.
Then Morath said, "Ch'gren, beam us to the Warriors Hall: K'mar and Nita into the area, and the rest of us to the observation deck.
Ch'gren nodded and punched a command sequence into the control console. The whole group vanished in a cascade of red sparks.
Warrior's Hall, First City, Qo'noS; Year of Kahless, Day 317, 06:00 hours
When the red sparks cleared from Nita's vision, she found herself standing in a dimly lit hall. In the center of this hall was a large circular metal platform, raised several steps up off the main floor. The platform was plated in gold, with red lights embedded in its steps illuminating Klingonese script that extoled the virtues of a warrior. Around the edges of the platform stood three large square braziers, fully enclosed in red metal, which gave off most of the light in the hall. Just beyond the farthest of these braziers stood a podium emblazoned with the distinctive Klingon trefoil: the three-pointed symbol of the empire. The podium was inaccessible from the ground floor, but could be accessed by a catwalk leading to the second-floor galleries along the perimeter of the hall. The galleries themselves were railed balconies, separated from the arena by the barely-visible red hue of a forcefield and supported by the statues of great warriors which lined the walls all around the hall. The balconies were filled with Klingon spectators, with more beaming in all the time. The sounds of the Warrior's Anthem, sung by a hundred voices, filled the hall, echoing over the sounds of the spectators pounding their fists in time with the beat as they watched and passed around bloodwine.
On the floor of the arena, Nita stood among a cluster of nearly twenty young Klingons, and one Gorn. Each of them was armored like her and held a bat'leth ready in their hands. They eyed each other nervously, waiting for the first sign of an impending attack, each of them wondering whether or not they should strike first. Nita made her way slowly and carefully through the crowd, trying to keep her distance from the other combatants as she tried to make distance between herself and K'mar. K'mar saw her though, and he followed her. The look in his eyes was almost eager. He was so confident that he would beat her this time, and put an end to their rivalry once and for all. Nita knew she could not escape him, so instead she prepared herself as best she could. She positioned herself on the steps of the platform in the center of the arena and put her back to one of the braziers, forcing K'mar to approach her from lower ground, with the light in his eyes. The disadvantageous position did not dissuade him though, and he continued stepping closer, till he was almost in striking distance.
Suddenly there was a tremendous cracking sound from the top of the podium. Sparks rained down on the arena as a white-haired Klingon in black robes slammed the metal sphere in his gauntleted fist against the metal surface of the podium repeatedly. "There will be silence! And order!" he shouted, his gravelly voice amplified by the podium's sound systems. The singing died down, and the warriors in the arena below stopped circling each other in nervous anticipation. All eyes went to the Klingon judge in the podium. "You in the arena come before us to become warriors in the tradition of Kahless the Unforgettable, as laid out in the ten precepts of the qeS'a'! Today, you will be tested, and those of you who are worthy will become warriors. You will be tested in strength, skill, endurance, and bravery, but most of all you will be tested in your ability to uphold the precepts of the qeS'a' in the most arduous of circumstances," the judge announced.
He swept the arena with his gaze before he continued. "The seventh precept of the qeS'a' is that a warrior leaves nothing for tomorrow. Accordingly, you will complete these trials today, or not at all. There will be no second chances!" He paused to let that sink in, but everyone present already knew that they'd get only one chance to pass the Second Rite of Ascension. "The eighth precept is to choose death over chains. Accordingly, if you fail in this trial, you may leave one of two ways: either through death and Hegh'bat, or through chains when you are carried forth to spend your life serving those who passed through the Rite you failed. With this said, let us begin the single-combat duels to first blood." He pointed a gauntleted hand at K'mar. "You! You seem eager to fight. The spirit of a warrior may indeed rest in your heart. You will be the first to duel."
"He is of a minor House! We should go first!" another initiate objected. Nita recognized the sigil of the House of Torg on his armband.
The judge pounded his sphere against the podium, throwing up a fresh cascade of sparks. "Silence! I have no House or name, nor do I favor any. My only allegiance is to the traditions of Kahless, and to Klingon law! I say who will go and who will wait, and this one will go first!" He turned back to K'mar. "The first precept of the qeS'a' is to choose your enemies well. Choose who you will fight!"
That was a foregone conclusion. K'mar tipped his bat'leth at Nita. "I will fight her!"
"Then both of you obey the second precept: strike quickly, or strike not!"
K'mar shouted a battlecry and rushed Nita, swinging his bat'leth at her head. She dodged and struck at his side. He blocked the blow in time, but just barely. He shoved against her blade, hard. His superior strength forced her back into the metal stand of the brazier. She could feel the heat on her neck and shoulders. She wondered how close she was to having her hair catch fire. She twisted her bat'leth, forcing K'mar to momentarily disengage, then she spun around to the left, getting clear of the brazier.
"The third precept of the qeS'a'! Always face your enemy!" the judge shouted.
Nita faced K'mar. He approached her slowly, circling. They traded a couple of probing attacks. Nita tried to launch an earnest attack when her back was to the brazier again, but K'mar blocked it and counter-attacked with such force that Nita felt the jarring, painful impact all the way up her arm. She side-stepped his next blow, made a swipe at his right side, but she was too slow. He blocked it.
"The fifth precept! Reveal your true self in combat!" shouts the judge. "Speak your names!"
"I am K'mar, son of Morath!" The Klingon took his bat'leth in an aggressive grip with both hands on one end. "I am Morath's only child and heir!" He made a powerful swing at Nita's head. She blocked the blow, though it sent sharp jolts of pain through her shoulder. She pushed back feebly. He took the bat'leth in a more balanced grip. "Today, I am a warrior!" He made a full body swing at Nita.
She managed to block it, but the blow was so powerful it knocked her over. She went rolling down the stairs around the base of the central platform to the main floor. Her arms ached from the impact, and there was something wet on her lips. She wiped at it with one hand. It was spit, not blood. She raised her bat'leth and assumed a ready stance. "I am Nita, of the House of Morath," she said. "I am the daughter of a starship captain, and today I am a warrior!"
K'mar roared. He came charging down at her, his blade held unevenly, too high on the right side, as he attempted to use the Horns of the Kri'stak Targ to knock her off her feet for the killing blow. Nita saw her opening. She dropped to one knee in a fluid motion, taking herself under the rushing blade, around on K'mar's right side. She swung her bat'leth around at his legs. Its tips sunk into the back of his right knee. At the same time, he brought his own blade around. Nita felt a sharp pain in her right arm as the tip of K'mar's bat'leth tore into her flesh, just below the shoulder. They both cried out in pain.
"Hold!" The judge slammed the metal sphere into the podium. Sparks flew everywhere. "Officers, examine them!"
A pair of Klingon officers in KDF uniform materialized in the arena, shoving past the other initiates till they reached K'mar and Nita, still locked together, their bat'leths still embedded in one another's flesh. "They both bleed!" one of the officers reported.
"Then both shall pass on to the final challenge!" He slammed the sphere down once more. "Beam them to the Initiation Chamber!"
The officers laid a hand on each of them, then one of them touched his wrist comm. "Four to beam out!" he said, and the arena vanished in a cascade of red lights.
Author's Note: None of the bat'leth techniques named in this chapter are from the canon or from any novels either. There are a few bat'leth techniques named in some of the TNG novels, but they're portrayed as advanced techniques, like the supposedly impenetrable B'Arq's defense. All of those are rather above the skill level of Nita and K'mar to perform at this point. Kri'stak is the name of the volcano from whose fires Kahless supposedly forged the first bat'leth (TNG: "Rightful Heir").
The Warrior's Hall in part two of this chapter is based on the the Warrior's Hall in First City seen in the Klingon faction mission "First City." In fact, as near as I could, I tried to make it the same hall. The major departures were putting onlookers in a balcony shielded by a forcefield (to prevent friends and relatives from cheating and helping an initiate win his or her first duel), and the podium. The judge is based on the judges that appear in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country and ENT: "Judgement". I wanted some one to organize and give structure and narration to the duel rather than having it be a free-for-all, and given the importance of being a warrior in Klingon society, I thought it fitting that the person be a judge. I also used the qeS'a', as laid out in The Klingon Art of War, for more inspiration here. I admit that book inspired a lot of this story!