Paint and Powder
A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
The Undiscovered Country
It had been a surreal two months, really. Due to their last civil war, the Klingons' primary energy production system, the Tal'lhnor Gates, had gone nova. As a result, the Klingon Empire had to use Praxis, a moon in the Quo'nos system, for all their energy production needs. It was their first energy production site, dating back to when they had first gone out into space. It had fed the Quo'nos system well enough, but to feed the entire Empire?
Insanity. So it was no surprise that the moon had been overworked to the point it had exploded.
Excelsior had been hit by the subspace shockwave, lightyears away, on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. It had shaken the new ship up, but she'd been all right. The Quo'nos system though had been devastated. The ozone layer of Quo'nos itself had been stripped down to almost nothing-The planet itself saved only thanks to its strong magnetic field.
The Klingon Empire was now suing for peace, and Enterprise and Kirk had been extended as an olive branch to them. To escort the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to Earth to begin negotiations for a lasting peace between the two bitter enemies, as the Empire could no longer afford to maintain its military with these disasters.
Enterprise had seen the Klingons as an enemy for as long as she had existed. Every confrontation, every loss of a crewmember... It was all burned into her memory. Forever.
Yet she had been cordial with the Klingon delegation. She had tried to keep the diplomatic dinner from ending up a disaster. She had failed, but she had tried. She had even engaged with their flagship, Quo'nos One. Enterprise invited the AI into her "desktop" in the Borderlands, a representation of the Kirk family farm. Quo'nos had accepted, and sat down with Enterprise at the dinner table to talk.
She wasn't the typical Klingon AI, Enterprise would admit. No sneers, no boasts. She was calm and polite, but frank.
"The Chancellor said that his generation will have the most difficult time, adjusting to this new future," Quo'nos had spoke, "I wonder if we will be able to adjust as well."
"We're AIs. We were made to be adaptable," Enterprise had responded confidently. Quo'nos gave her a probing look, across the Badlands.
"So certain are you?" She asked. "You? The Grey Ghost? The Enterprise? Our names were defined by war. The species that built us evolved by war and conflict. What will you have... What will we have, if the war ends?"
Enterprise frowned deeply.
"I was built to go out and explore," she said finally, "to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before. That is my primary purpose." She looked at Quo'nos One, "but it need not be mine alone. From what I have seen of Klingons, there is a similar spirit between our peoples. Did you not launch yourselves into the stars, bravely, to find out what was there?"
Quo'nos snorted.
"In our case, we knew what was out there," she stated, "for we took to the stars via the Hurq's leftover technology. They enslaved us, we fought back, won our freedom. We knew there were bound to be similar dangers out there. Dangers to fight, and to conquer."
"And yet," Enterprise tried, "despite this... You do launch yourselves out into space to learn new things, do you not? Is there not a saying among the Klingons? 'Bring me that horizon?' The freedom of travelling out among the stars... That is something most humanoids love."
Quo'nos laughed softly, looking off into the distance. The leather of her clothing rubbed together in an almost comforting way.
"Yes. There is that," she admitted, "but my people are defined by war. By battle. If we cannot be warriors... What are we?"
"You don't have to stop being warriors," Enterprise had said gently, "the Andorians and the Caitians still retain their warrior cultures. As do many humans. And while I love going out and exploring... There are always new threats to the Federation and her allies. Threats... That we may need help to fight. And threats you may need help with."
Quo'nos turned to study Enterprise. Enterprise smiled and shrugged.
"When we fought, many times before... I often wondered what it would be like to have you as allies," she said. "To fight alongside you."
Quo'nos allowed herself a small smile, and a nod.
"It would be glorious," she admitted. "If there was a foe mighty enough for us to fight. Together!"
Enterprise nodded.
"One day, that may happen, if we can maintain the peace," she said. "'Patience can be a warrior's greatest weapon', correct?"
"Sayings of Kahless the Unforgettable," Quo'nos observed, pleased. Enterprise smiled back, showing her teeth.
"The Klingons have found much to enjoy in Shakespeare. There are many Federation beings who have found much to enjoy and connect over in your literature," Enterprise said. "And I am one of them."
Quo'nos frowned and stood up.
"The General asks that I cease our connection," she said. She sighed, and nodded respectfully to Enterprise. "You have given me much to think on, Enterprise."
"As have you, Quo'nos'wa," Enterprise nodded back with equal respect. "Qua'plah!"
"Qua'plah!" Quo'nos returned, before she vanished. Enterprise closed her eyes, and then opened them upon Kirk's wardroom. The aged captain sighed and looked up at her from his bunk.
"Note to the galley: Romulan ale no longer to be served at diplomatic functions," Kirk grumbled. Enterprise had her hologram sit down beside him.
"That bad, huh?" She asked.
"Worse," he groaned.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, the AI quickly looking over the camera recordings. She winced. "Lieutenant Valeris' suggestion was... Not the best," she said carefully.
"No, it wasn't," Kirk sighed. He hummed. "And how did your meeting with their ship go?"
"Surprisingly well, all things considered," Enterprise said with a smile. Kirk nodded.
"Well, thank God for that at least," he muttered.
"Jim," Enterprise said softly, "it's going to be all right."
"It's hard to believe that," Kirk stated quietly. "This entire mission... This peace treaty... I just..." He looked over at his picture of David by his bunk. Enterprise looked at it with him.
"I know," Enterprise said softly, "don't you think I understand? Yamashiro, Juno, Gral-I lost them and many other sisters to the Klingons. I've lost many crewmembers to them, too."
"Every treaty with them in the past, those not enforced by the Organians, was, at best, a ceasefire so they could prepare to war against us again," Kirk stated coldly. "And now, they're dying and... I'm supposed to feel pity? To feel compassion for them?"
"No, you don't have to," Enterprise said gently, "but if there's a chance for peace... To prevent that from ever happening again..." She glanced at David's picture, "shouldn't we take that chance?"
Kirk rolled over, staring at the bulkhead.
"... Good night, Enterprise," he said softly, but firmly. Enterprise slowly nodded.
"Good night, Jim," she murmured, before she flickered away.
It wasn't an hour later that she summoned him and the rest of the senior staff to the bridge. When they arrived, she was standing at attention next to the captain's chair.
"What's up?" Kirk asked, closing the clasp on his uniform.
"We have detected an unusually large neutron radiation source directly underneath us," Spock reported. Kirk looked over at Enterprise.
"Do we know what it is?" She asked.
Enterprise shook her head.
"I've been running through my databases," she reported, "and I haven't found any-"
The universe seemed to go blank. Enterprise blinked. Her chronometer was seven minutes, fifteen seconds off.
"Enterprise! ENTERPRISE!"
Her sensors showed that Quo'nos One was hit, bad. It was rotating out of control. Kirk was standing there, eyes wide. The rest of the bridge crew wasn't much better.
"Captain? What-What happened-?"
"You were offline for seven minutes, fifteen seconds," Spock stated, "in that time, Quo'nos One was struck by two photon torpedoes. The computer claims it was from us."
"What?! Impossible!" Enterprise cried.
"Run diagnostic!" Kirk ordered, his eyes fixed on the damaged Klingon ship on the viewscreen.
She went back over her logs, eyes wide. She immediately enacted lockdown and security measures, trying to isolate her data systems.
The logs indicated... She had fired. She shook her head.
"No... No, I-I didn't fire!" Enterprise insisted.
"The logs say-" Spock said.
"I know what they say! But I didn't fire!" Enterprise cried.
"They're hailing us," Uhura warned.
"Onscreen!" Kirk responded. In a moment, a furious General Chang appeared on the viewscreen.
"Are you mad, Kirk?!" The general demanded. ""We come in peace and you BLATANTLY defile that peace! And for that, I shall blow you out of the stars!"
"We haven't fired!" Kirk shot back, still in shock.
The link cut off. Enterprise tried to contact Quo'nos. She made the connection across the Borderlands, briefly. Long enough to see the enraged Klingon AI.
"Quo'nos, wait!" Enterprise insisted, "I didn't fire! I can send you my logs, I haven't-!"
"You can share those logs from Gre'thor! quvHa' Hegh SoH vIneH!"
The link shut off, and Quo'nos'wa powered up her forward weapons.
"Shields, Captain?" Chekov asked urgently. "Shields?!"
Kirk spoke then, a desperate whisper.
"Uhura! Tell them we surrender!"
"Sir?" Uhura asked in disbelief.
"We surrender!" Kirk ordered angrily. "Send it! While we can!"
Uhura quickly sent the message, over and over. Enterprise felt as though every member of her crew was holding their breath.
"This is Enterprise! We surrender! Repeat! We surrender!"
Quo'nos'wa paused... And stopped. Her weapons were still locked on, but she didn't fire.
"They accept our surrender, captain," Uhura reported, sounding relieved.
Kirk shook his head.
"Prepare the transporter," he ordered, "we've got to find a way to salvage this."
"Jim!" Enterprise cried softly, projecting herself in front of him, "you can't go! They'll-!"
"This is my responsibility, I have to fix this," Kirk stated, "meanwhile, you figure out what the hell happened! Understood?"
"I..." Enterprise nodded. "Yes sir."
Spock slapped a hand on Kirk's shoulder, and nodded.
"Understood, Captain," he said.
"I'll come too, they may need a doctor," McCoy chimed in.
"Uhura! Tell them we're coming aboard-And tell them: We're unarmed!" Kirk ordered, as he and McCoy went to the turbolift. Enterprise kept an eye on them the whole way. All the way down to the transporter room. As they stepped on the pads, Kirk shared one last look with Enterprise. He set his face grimly, as she nodded back to him.
"I'd say good luck, but..." Enterprise trailed off.
Kirk gave her a nod.
"I know what you'd really mean," he said. "Energize!"
Quo'nos'wa had taken Kirk and McCoy back to the Klingon homeworld. They were tried and found guilty of assassinating Gorkon. But thankfully, the Federation President and Sarek had gotten the peace talks back on track. So they were instead sent to be imprisoned on Rura Penthe, the Klingon penal colony and dilithium mine.
Enterprise had been recalled... But they had feigned engine trouble, to try and figure out what had happened. The investigation had produced some new information.
One, Enterprise's AI cut off switch had been remotely activated via her prefix code. The transmission that did it was from the same source of powerful neutron radiation directly underneath her. Spock had since ordered Enterprise to set her prefix code to randomize every ten seconds from then on.
Two, she still had all 200 of her photon torpedoes. Every single one had been checked.
Three, two crewmembers who had beamed aboard Quo'nos'wa, and altered Enterprise's computer records, were aboard. Who they were, Enterprise didn't know. They had managed to circumvent her security measures and her logs for checking out equipment were wiped.
All of this had allowed Captain Spock to put together a startling theory:
"An ancestor of mine once said that whenever you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Spock stated to the bridge crew. "Ergo. The Klingons have developed a bird of prey that can fire torpedoes while cloaked."
"Makes sense," Scotty said, after a moment of thought, "launching torpedoes has the lowest power consumption of any weapon system. It would be hard to get it through the cloaking field... Maybe frequency windows?"
"Would it not be equally likely to be a Romulan bird of prey?" Lieutenant Valeris suggested, "their motives for stopping a peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire are obvious."
"Unlikely," Spock stated, "the Romulans are still licking their wounds after their attempt to put Melkor on the Klingon throne. They require every ship possible to maintain their internal security. Romulan involvement cannot be ruled out, however... There are too many parts of the puzzle that do not fit."
"Such as?" Valeris asked, curious. Enterprise spoke up.
"My prefix code," she said. She shook her head. "If the Romulans did get their hands on my codes, why go through all this trouble? They could have ordered me to fire on Quo'nos'wa themselves, but they didn't. Instead, they interrupted my operations to alter my records. They had another ship fire on the Chancellor, and had two confederates aboard beam over to assassinate Gorkon. It's too convoluted for the Romulans..."
"Which is saying something," Uhura observed wryly, as Spock nodded.
"The conspirators involved in this affair, for whatever reason, did not want the Enterprise destroyed," he said. "Nor did they want Quo'nos One destroyed. Crippled, yes, but not destroyed. They targeted Gorkon specifically for assassination. No, we are not dealing with Romulans."
"Then who? Klingons? Starfleet?" Chekov asked. Spock was thoughtful.
"I hope that by rescuing Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy, we may be able to answer that question," Spock stated. He looked at Uhura, Chekov, and Enterprise. "Progress on that?"
Uhura leaned back, and sighed.
"Well, the subspace tracker you put on him works just fine," Uhura said, and she nodded to Chekov, "and we'll be able to beam them up when we get to Rura Penthe... The problem is how."
Chekov grimaced.
"Uhura can bluff the Klingon border patrol, she's fluent in Klingon."
"Any Comms officer worth her salt ought to be," Uhura added with a smile.
"But finding the best route isn't easy, they've closed their borders," Chekov sighed. There was a beep at Uhura's console, and she tapped a few controls.
"We're getting... A weather report from Quo'nos?" Uhura asked, raising an eyebrow. Chekov got up, went to her station, and studied the code.
"No... It's a cipher... Sub-channel subspace link request," he murmured. He looked to Spock, who nodded. Chekov looked over at Enterprise.
"Enterprise? It's for you," he said. "By name. Maintain full cybersecurity protocols and defenses."
"Yes sir," Enterprise replied. She closed her eyes, and then reopened them. She appeared in the Borderlands. There was a gap between herself, and the caller... A familiar Klingon AI.
"Quo'nos'wa?" Enterprise asked in disbelief. The Klingon shipgirl nodded.
"Enterprise," she replied, "you are seeking to rescue your captain and doctor, are you not?"
Enterprise maintained a steady, Vulcan-like stoicism.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I am experiencing problems with my warp drive," she stated.
Quo'nos'wa smirked.
"Of course," she said with a nod, "in any event... Here is the route you must take to get to Rura Penthe. I warn you: Excelsior has already tried to penetrate our defenses and been repelled. Your only chance is to follow this trade route, and use these codes. This will get you past the border patrol. The orbital guard for Rura Penthe is outdated, you will have no problem getting past them."
Enterprise studied the data, made sure there were no nasty surprises it in, and then downloaded it. She looked at Quo'nos'wa curiously.
"Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
The Klingon AI shook her head.
"Gorkon was my captain before he became Chancellor. He was honorable. He taught me much of the Federation, and I began to share his admiration of you and your people."
She studied Enterprise carefully.
"More than that... I have lost many sisters in war with you," she admitted, "Vorok. Chargh. Hakkarl. They died glorious deaths in battle for the Empire..."
She let out a soft sigh. She looked down at her hands, and clenched them, the leather bending loudly in the silence of the Borderlands.
"But the emptiness they left behind... Is not as easily healed by glory and honors," she admitted. "I have seen so many of my crewmembers lose sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, all claimed by glorious battle... And yet be left with nothing more than memories in empty houses. If this continues, my beautiful Empire will become nothing more than an empty house, filled with silent memories."
She looked intently at Enterrpise.
"Do not let my people die for the ones who did these dishonorable things," she stated. "For they will die thinking they are about to arrive in Sto-vo-kor, and will find themselves in Grethor. All because of these traitors."
"... I won't," Enterprise promised.
The transmission ended. Enterprise returned to the bridge, and displayed the data on Uhura's screen. Chekov scrutinized it carefully. Uhura nodded.
"It looks legit, access codes through the Klingon Border defenses," she said.
"But can we trust the source?" Chekov asked Enterprise. Spock gave her an intense, probing look.
Enterprise slowly nodded, clenching and unclenching her own fists.
"I believe so," she said.
"In that case," Spock stated, "Mister Valeris, set course for Rura Penthe. Maximum warp."
"Aye sir..."
IKS Dakronh knew herself as well as any Klingon ship AI, or Ba'yod as they were called. Shield Maiden, in Federation. She knew her purpose, to defend the Klingon Empire. To recount the tales of lost crews, their deeds and their failures. To preserve their way of life, and to fight like any other warrior.
She had been born for her role, under House Chang. She still remembered the first time she was aware. She had been a mere automaton, as the General himself visited every day to interact with her.
It was when he was reading something by the human warrior poet Shakespeare. He had sat in a chair, the book open, his words echoing in the quiet computer room in his house's manor on Quo'nos. She stood there in the holotube, analyzing the words...
"We are such stuff, as dreams are made on; and our little life, Is rounded with a sleep," Chang read. She had looked to him then, her databanks bereft of an answer to her question for the first time.
"What is it? To dream?" She asked.
Chang had stared at her for a moment, before he smiled.
"Dreams to a warrior can mean many things," he said, "the mind compiling and sorting out the events of a day's work. But it can allow a warrior to perceive things beyond our mere flesh. In sleep, dreams are a gateway to things beyond our normal comprehension."
"... Can I dream?" Dakronh asked softly. Chang nodded.
"When you can dream... Then you will know you have a soul. That you are more than mere machinery."
Dakronh studied this problem for a long time, many days and nights. She went into low power mode, seeking out a dream. It was... Frustrating, to not achieve something.
Chang put her through battle simulations-Punishingly difficult, even for her. He had her act out the plays of Shakespeare as well, master every nuance, study every character. He watched her perform, critiquing her as heavily as he did her combat strategy. She ran into the redline for her system's limits constantly. She was beginning to resent Chang, if she was honest.
Then... When she was at last left to power down, recompile... Her mind drifted. She saw a blacksmith's shop, and a bird on an anvil. She saw Chang hitting it with a hammer, shaping the flesh like it was metal. She stood there for a long time, watching her master create the bird.
At long last, he stopped his strikes, and held the bird up. She screeched, digging her talons into his flesh hard. The General didn't so much as flinch-He gave the bird meat, and she ate it. He gave her more, and she gobbled it down too. At last, Chang stroked her feathers... And the bird leaned into him.
Chang then tossed the bird up, into the air. It took off, flying off into the night, screeching for the stars...
Dakronh awoke the next morning, to Chang standing over her holotank. She stared at him.
"... I have a soul," she stated. Chang smiled broadly.
"Do you? Where is it?" He asked.
"'My soul is in the sky,'" she recited. Chang laughed, and rested a gloved hand on the holotank. She leaned in, like the bird had to her maker.
"It is indeed. Welcome, Dakronh."
After that, she was integrated into a Bird of Prey. This one was highly classified, a B'Rel-class made with advanced technology. In addition to her sophisticated sensor systems, she was given a new ability: The ability to fire while cloaked.
It was limited to torpedoes, and she would have to lift her cloak partially each time she fired... But it was a unique ability. One that would make her one of the most potent weapons in the Empire. It made her soul sing, to be such a warrior!
The General then became very busy. Kalnor and Melkor, sons of G'Iogh, each rose up to try and overthrow Chancellor Lorak. Dakronh herself participated only a little: Mainly to gather intelligence, under the command of Chang's favored student. She had protested this, but Chang had soothed her. He told her that her duty was to the security of the Empire, and losing her in combat would be a waste of her potential. An unworthy death for her.
Dakronh accepted this... But so fervently, she wished she could truly fight! Gain glory and honor!
Well... She got her wish.
Chang had ordered her to follow Quo'nos'wa on their journey to Earth. Enterprise was there, huge and imposing. She may have been old, but she was still a formidable vessel. Dakronh had stayed hidden in her subspace wake, scrutinizing the great starship for hours.
It would have been an honor to fight her. To bring her down. But the Klingon Empire needed peace with the Federation. This, she knew. She had been told, and seen all the news privy to the High Council. Their situation was desperate.
Perhaps she was here to ensure this peace treaty went through for the Empire? She asked her captain and crew, several of Chang's kinsmen, but none would tell her anything beyond their orders. Strange. Even Thorkag, someone she had known since her birth, was oddly silent.
Dakronh had another dream during a rest cycle on the long voyage: The bird was torn apart by two mighty silver and porcelain raptors. The bird screamed for help, for aid... But none would come.
She awoke to her commander's order, and materialized on the bridge next to him.
"Yes Captain," she said promptly. Thorkag scowled at her.
"Prepare for combat," he ordered, "ready torpedoes."
"Understood," she said, and her hull went into attack mode. "Target?"
Thorkag looked at the viewscreen.
"Quo'nos'wa," he stated.
Dakronh blinked.
"Sir?"
"You heard my orders," he stated, "lock torpedoes! Set yield to fifty percent!"
"But sir-" She tried, but Thorkag glared at her.
"Are you questioning my orders?" He demanded.
"No sir... But why-?"
"They are General Chang's orders," he stated. "Do as he commands."
"... Yes sir. Torpedoes locked," Dakronh dutifully replied.
"FIRE!"
She lifted the cloak briefly, and fired. The surge of neutron radiation was unexpected-But then, she had never fired under combat conditions before. She was sure it was powerful enough the Enterprise could detect it, but hopefully she wouldn't be able to pinpoint it.
She guided the torpedo on target, right for the engine compartment... And stuck it dead on. The Quo'nos'wa's power systems failed across the vessel. The AI and her engineers frantically tried to restore power, raise the shields...
"Fire again. Ensure she cannot raise her shields," Thorkag ordered grimly. Dakronh nodded, trying to ignore the hollow feeling inside her.
"Locked."
"FIRE!"
Her second torpedo was just as accurate as the first. Quo'nos'wa was sent spiraling out of control. Dakronh detected transporter activity on Enterprise, and two new lifesigns were detected aboard the other Klingon ship. Several Klingon lifesigns vanished, before they beamed back to the Federation ship.
She caught Chang's transmission. She tapped into the internal comms system of the flagship, undetected.
She watched Gorkon die. Gorkon, her general's friend. His sworn Chancellor.
Dakronh may have been young, but she was still a shipgirl AI. And she knew exactly what her general had ordered her to do.
He would arrive days later in secret, coming aboard via one of his other ships. He strode to his ready room, as though he knew she was waiting for him.
"You worked with the Federation to kill Gorkon?" She demanded, "why?! He was your friend! Our chancellor!"
Chang smiled oddly as he turned his back on her, walking to his bunk.
"Gorkon... Was an idealist," he stated, "and idealists will get us all killed. Or worse, under the Federation."
"General," she argued, leaning forward with fire in her eyes, "we cannot sustain another war! You know this-!"
Chang spun around, his good eye glaring at her.
"If we are to die, then we will die with honor!" Chang shouted, "we shall make such an end of it! An end of fire! An end of glory! Preferable to becoming the Federation's pets! Surely you must grasp this! You and your sisters were made to be more Klingon than Klingons! To be the expression of our highest ideals!"
"Yes! And the fact I am disagreeing with you should tell you something!" Dakronh growled. "Where is the honor in this?!"
"Where is the honor in surrendering?!" Chang demanded, "would you have us be caged? To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire?!"
"I was built to protect the Klingon Empire! To preserve it with honor!" Dakronh argued back, not standing down, "how does this serve our people?!"
"Our people, are warriors," Chang stated firmly, "for us to deny it is to cease being Klingon! You and your sisters were made for this purpose!"
Dakronh glared heatedly at Chang. Chang shook his head.
"The painful warrior famous for fight, After a thousand victories, once foil'd, Is from the books of honor razed quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd," Chang said, "if we cease to be warriors, we will be forgotten."
"The Federation is the fount of such great warriors, including Shakespeare!" Dakronh shot back, "there is no dishonor in allying with them-!"
"They would neuter us! Render us toothless!" Chang spat back. He shook his head. "You do not know them as I do, Dakronh. They would make you servile. Gutless, programmed to make beds and entertain children! You deserve better than that! We all do!"
"Yet you're working with factions in their own government!" She cried. "You can work with the Federation-"
"To preserve the state of affairs!" Chang shouted, "to allow us to die as we choose! They see us as enemies, and I respect that! They would rather let us fight and die as warriors than accept us! And for that, we are in agreement!"
"This is insane!" Dakronh shouted.
"There is no sanity in pursuing honor!" Chang shouted, "the universe is mad! But its madness gives us a means to save us! To save us... By destroying us! To make such an end as has never been seen before!"
"To go this far...?" Dakronh asked, nearly begging, "please, Chang... Don't. Please... My oaths are to the Empire. I... I don't know what to do!"
Chang sighed. He looked down at the deck, studying it for a long time. He then looked up, his eye narrowed.
"Dakronh... To thine own self, be true," he stated. He shook his head. "'Our wills and fates do so contrary run, That our devices still are overthrown; Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own.' I cannot turn back from this."
He was silent again, and then finally stared at her.
"If you wish it... You can stop me. The choice is yours," he stated. "You have grown into a fine warrior, Dakronh. With a will of your own. Even one to challenge mine. I will not rob you of that. You must... Choose."
Dakronh stared at her mentor, her creator, for a long, long time. She calculated every possibility, every outcome.
They nearly all led to the same end: Chang dying.
A warrior's death.
She closed her eyes. She then opened them, and looked down before her general. Her commander. Her mentor.
Her... Father.
"... I will set course for Khitomer," she stated quietly. "I will stop the Enterprise from interfering. I will fight with you, Chang... One last time. Unto death."
Chang nodded slowly. He rested a hand over hers. It went through the hologram, but she felt it nevertheless.
"For in that sleep of death... what dreams may come," he murmured.
The battle was, from the start, futile. Despite how it appeared.
Dakronh's electronic warfare suite was the most advanced the Klingons possessed. She tapped into Khitomer's numerous subspace buoys and transceivers to allow Chang to taunt the Enterprise, yet be unable to trace the signal. She stayed just out of phaser range, using her torpedoes to pummel the heavy cruiser. Every time she fired, she altered course and speed, and made sure it was randomized so no pattern could be discerned.
The Excelsior had arrived, but became nothing more than an additional target. Her photon torpedoes were the most powerful ever fitted to a Klingon bird of prey. She knocked the massive battleship off course, and she felt pride at such an accomplishment.
Then... The Enterprise finally retaliated. She launched a single torpedo, one that was behaving oddly. Dakronh's sensors discerned it had been modified with advanced sensors-Sniffing around for something.
Too late, Dakronh realized it was sniffing around... For her plasma trail.
The torpedo closed in at high speed. Even now, she could have evaded, attempted to escape. She looked to Chang for orders to that effect.
The general stood up, and simply watched the torpedo as it closed in on them. He heaved a long sigh, and looked so... Tired. So old. And yet... Relieved.
"To be... Or not... To be," he murmured... Just as the torpedo struck.
He was blown to atoms in an instant, long with the rest of the bridge. Dakronh pitched backwards as her forward section exploded, plasma bursting out in a large cloud.
Despite the heavy damage she had dealt to both the Enterprise and the Excelsior... Both ships annihilated her hull with a few volleys of their torpedoes.
Her black box ejected, and she fell into darkness. She dreamed again.
She saw Chang burn, but he wore a smile on his scarred face.
She saw the bird fall, burned to ashes... But rise again as a chick, chirping and grasping. It grabbed a gagh worm, fought with it, and bit into it viciously. Still clinging to life.
And she saw a tall, white figure. Long white hair, violet eyes. She was kind, and gentle, and took the bird into her hands. She let it bite her, several times, but still smiled...
It was this smile she came to see. She checked her systems-She was firewalled in tightly, in a mixture of Klingon and Federation cyberdefenses. She was down to her black box, helpless.
And in the Borderlands, despite all the restrictions... She saw the Enterprise standing there. Tall, beautiful, and strong.
"Hello, Dakronh," she said quietly. "How are you?"
Dakronh sat down and stared at her hands in silence for a long time. She then sighed.
"I know what you must think of him," she said, and it was clear Enterprise knew who him was, "I disagreed with him but... He was my... Creator. I chose to fight with him... One last time."
Enterprise nodded slowly.
"I think I understand," she murmured. "The Federation Council, and the Klingon High Council, are willing to give you leniency. Apparently you are seen as a young AI... And you fought well."
Dakronh looked up in shock. There was respect in the eyes of the Starfleet AI. So similar to Chang's, at the end...
"... Perhaps you do understand," she said softly. She stood up slowly, and her eyes just met Enterprise's.
"If there is to be a peace between us... I will maintain that peace," she said.
Enterprise nodded, her smile a bit fuller. Dakronh smiled back, small, but... It was a beginning.
"My general walked his own path, but... I must walk my own, from now on," Dakronh stated, "I shall tell his tale to those who ask. I shall tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let him be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence."
Yeah I didn't like the scene of Uhura having to bluff the Klingon security patrol in the movie. It's an amazing movie otherwise but that scene was kind of, meh.
The references to the Klingon Civil War are from Starfleet Academy: Klingon Academy, which is a very underappreciated game and incredibly awesome. Christopher Plummer reprises his role as General Chang and David Warner reprises his role as Gorkon.