MLE 4 - The Dead of Sto 'Vo 'Kor

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My Little Enterprise by VozDeSuenos, Assisted by Bronode

Episode 4: The Dead of Sto 'Vo 'Kor

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<<Episode 3 ---- Episode 5>>

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The ESV Alicorn hung in orbit above a rogue planet. A passing planetoid had long since flung the planet off on an interstellar journey. Countless years later, any and all moisture had evaporated and the surface was dark and cold, though some force maintained the slightest hint of an atmosphere. The sensors had picked up deposits of iron, copper, gold, and even trace amounts of dilithium.

Most of the repairs to the Alicorn had been completed, even the nacelles had been reattached thanks to Dusk and Sky Dancer. Still, there just wasn't enough raw material to make a new warp core. Luckily, this dark red planet in the middle of nowhere just happened to have what the Alicorn desperately needed. With a little bit of luck, the unicorns would be able to use draconic magic to reorganize the metals lattice structure into an alloy which could cope with magical and matter anti-matter reactions.

"I don't know Captain," Moonbuck fidgeted next to the captain. "This place, something about it just doesn't feel right."

Melody said nothing, but she'd felt there was something off about this planet since they'd seen it in the stellar cartography lab almost two days ago. Nopony else seemed to notice, though.

Captain Starway frowned and looked at Moonbuck. "Does it look like we have a choice?"

Moonbuck shook her head. She was about to speak, but felt a pang in her horn as a blip sounded from Zabe's console. "Captain, we've got incoming."

"Oh Luna, no," she groaned. "Not here, not now."

"Captain, it's gone," he said, eying his sensors suspiciously.

She turned around stomping a hoof on the floor. "Well, what was it?"

Zabe was quiet, but everypony heard a small whimper from Melody. The captain's tone softened. "Melody, did you see something?"

She nodded slowly with her fore-hooves on her temples. "Mmhm, it was like there was a ship there for half a second."

Moonbuck continued for her, "It was really old, I felt it, too. Then there was something on the surface."

"It was like they were there, but they weren't." Melody finished.

"They?" Ambassador Spock strolled onto the bridge, ducking under the low pony-height doors. "I am inclined to agree with your crew mates, Captain Starway. I came to the bridge because I too felt something I could not explain. I believe it would be wise to scan for structures on the planet's surface and proceed with caution."

Captain Starway couldn't believe her ears. In the two weeks since they'd left Romulan space, Ambassador Spock had never spoken about anything involving feelings and intuition. It was almost as if logic were his religion. She hadn't known him long, but she liked to think she'd gotten to know him well.

"Spock, would you care to enlighten us?" Starway ventured.
"I would not. As I have stated in the past, I seek to examine existence in all its forms and speculate only about things which can be explained through observation. Intuition," he paused, "is not a valid form of scientific observation."

Starway chuckled at this. "Some ponies might be inclined to disagree."

"Still," Spock chose his words carefully. "I believe this merits further investigation. I spent a great deal of time as the chief science officer aboard the Enterprise and taught many students at Starfleet Academy. If you require assistance, I would be happy to offer my services."

"Captain," Zabe interjected. "It doesn't matter what's down there, we need to build a new warp core. We can't throw away an opportunity like this."

"I'm inclined to agree," Starway frowned.

Lieutenant Callahan piped up, "Um, Captain Starway, you might want to see this." She brought the scans up on the main view screen. At first, there was nothing there, just lifeless rocks and mountain ranges. The young pegasus nodded at the screen and slowed down the footage. For a single frame, it showed a few pillars next to a cave and a metallic outline in the dusty red valley below. The very next frame, they were gone.

"All right, I'm interested." Starway smiled. "We'll get an away team together and head down. Two teams, one to start mining in the cave and another to investigate these echoes or sensor glitches or whatever they are. Zabe, I want you to take Sky Dancer, Torch, and Dusk. Callahan, you and Spock are with me."

"Captain," Moonbuck coughed, "do I need to remind you that the captain-"

"Gets to override the first officer when it comes to away missions?" Starway finished playfully. "Either way," she regained her somber tone, "I want you and Melody up here to supervise repairs and command the ship in case anything happens while we're on the surface." She met Moonbuck's concerned glare. "Fine," she sighed, "Your objections are noted."

~ ~ ~

An hour later, two away teams stood on the surface of the planet. The air wasn't exactly breathable, but the temperature was somehow bearable and the winds weren't kicking up too much dust at the moment; mouth filters and jackets seemed to be enough. In the sky, blood-red clouds hung low, small jolts of electricty lighting up the barren landscape. Even so, a small amount of light came from somewhere other than the cosmic expanse above.

Even so, Sky Dancer and Callahan took off almost immediately, glad for a chance to stretch their wings. Dusk simply scoffed at the juvenile ponies, but Torch glared at him until he couldn't fight it anymore and took off, too. They bobbed and weaved, disappeared over the clouds, and bolted back and forth until they'd surveyed the area.

When they landed, Lieutenant Callahan motioned to Spock and Starway. "I think I found where something might be buried."

Sky Dancer looked at his team, "And Ah can see where the nearest cavern entrance is. If we start now, it shouldn't take too long to get down there and pull out enough metal to make a new warp core. We might even have a little left over."

"Sounds good," Captain Starway added. "Let's plan to be back here in no more than three hours."

"A wise precaution, Captain." Spock added after looking at a hand-held device produced from inside his the sleeves of his robes. "It appears that ion storms off to the North will interfere with communications as they close in on our position. If we stay any longer than three hours, we may well be unable to contact the Alicorn." With that, the teams split up.

~ ~ ~

A dull green light danced on the walls deep within the planet's caves. Torch had managed to enchant some of the mineral veins lining the cavern's walls to provide a steady glow while the team began to extract the metals they needed.

With only a couple hours of work, the team would be able extract enough metals to completely fix the ship. The extra dilithium in the caves would be more than enough to keep them at high warp for weeks. In no time, they'd be back on their way.

"It'll be nice to get moving again." Sky Dancer broke the silence.

"Yeah," Zabe agreed, holding a hoof-held laser drill in front of the cave walls. "We're still a bit too close to that transwarp drop point, if you ask me."

"True," Dusk nodded, flying up to some dilithium deposits on the roof. "We have no idea how long it will take them to repair it. What do you think, Torch?"

Torch said nothing, instead focusing on lighting up pockets in the walls where the metal largest deposits were. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a few black and green silhouettes moving around. She knew there were no life signs, so she shook her head and told herself it was simply her imagination. Torch let a smile creep onto her face, it was nice to know the Borg hadn't taken everything from her.

~ ~ ~

The ion storms were already drawing closer, lightning occasionally blasting off the spires of the distant mountain range. The dark red clouds at the forefront of the storm were blocking out any starlight. Just reaching the valley floor, Starway's team only had flashlights and the flicker of the coming storm to light their way.

During the hour-long journey into the valley, the team began to see traces of what lay below the sand. The storm's winds had uncovered some of the massive structure below centuries of the fine red sand. Whatever it was, it was clearly pony made, or man made Starway reminded herself. It was metallic and about half the length of the Alicorn.

"Captain Starway," Spock offered, "I believe the structure may be hollow."

"A ship?"

Callahan banged a hoof on an exposed piece of metal. "Seems that way, Captain. Should we go in?"

"Hold on a second," Starway motioned Spock over with a hoof. "Is there any chance we can find what we need from this ship? Would it be possible to find out what happened to it?"

"I believe so. This does appear to be a ship, though I am unfamiliar with its design. If we go on board, we may be able to salvage the materials your ship requires and reactivate the computer systems to ascertain the fate of its crew." Spock began circling the structure and scanning its hull, looking for any possible way inside. Eventually, he managed to find a small opening, mostly filled with sand.

After ten minutes of digging, the two ponies and Vulcan managed to wriggle inside the wreckage of an extremely old ship. Not much other than the hallways and a few terminals were intact. Outside, the lightning struck a distant purple mountaintop and arced to several other mountains, briefly forming a circle of light in the sky. A panel in the ancient hulk flickered to life for half a second and a dark shadow stood in front of it.

"Eek!" Callahan screamed, recoiling onto her hind legs.

"Calm down, Lieutenant. What is it?" Starway whipped around to soothe the frightened pony.

"I-I-I" she stammered. "There was a thing, like Spock, but not, st-s-standing at that panel!"

Spock cautiously walked over to the panel on the wall. Brushing away years of dust and erosion, he carefully examined the panel. Although it was no longer lit up, it bore a distinctive crest, the earliest symbol of the Klingon Empire.

He paused before speaking. "Captain, this vessel may be over a thousand years old. Although I do not know the position of the planet when it crash landed, I doubt I would be wrong in assuming it had been traveling several years without repair before coming to rest on this planet."

"Really now?" Starway perked up. "Do you recognize the vessel now, Spock?"

"I cannot be sure, but I believe this may be one of the Klingon Empire's earliest attempts at faster-than-light travel, long before the Empire ever perfected warp drive."

At this, Spock began to take off a panel under the terminal and started fidgeting with the wiring. Starway watched intently, trying to get a handle on non-Equestrian technology, outdated or not. Callahan shifted nervously on her hooves, wings plastered against her coat.

While the other two were focusing on coaxing new life into the panel, another lit up far down the hallway. As it turned on, its light cast shadows on the things roaming around the ship. Callahan whimpered inaudibly, tension building in her shoulders. A small explosion sounded behind her causing her to fly directly straight into a bulkhead. The last thing she saw was an armored figure with a ridged forehead staring down at her, cold fury in its eyes.

~ ~ ~

Zabe wheeled around, instincts taking hold. In the past hour of mining, Torch and Sky Dancer had begun to see figures just out of the corner of their eyes running towards the surface. The team had to haul the metals up to the cave's entrance anyway, so he and Lieutenant Dusk began moving their new supplies.

"You really think they see anything?" Dusk scoffed.

"Torch seems to have a good, solid grasp on the world, any world," Zabe shook his head. "Sky Dancer may be out in the clouds, but I think he's pretty focused when it comes to his work."

The black pegasus wrinkled his nose and snorted. "I guess. It just seems... Unlikely. No life signs, no wiring down here, nothing."

Zabe was about to agree when a misty figure ran silently in between the two ponies. Like many of the other life forms in this part of the galaxy, it ran on two legs. As it got closer to the entrance, more shadowy figures seemed to coalesce behind it. Each one was carrying a large, curved blade and coated in layers of armor.

The ponies unhitched their loads and broke into a dead gallop toward the entrance. As they came out of the caves, a bolt of lightning passed overhead and blinded the two colts. When their eyes opened, none of the figures remained.

~ ~ ~

"Come on, Melody, there has to be something we can do!" Commander Moonbuck rubbed her face with a hoof.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's not much we can do other than go down ourselves."

It had been nearly two hours since the away teams made contact. Commander Moonbuck's first time as acting Captain and she had no idea what protocols to follow. Half of the senior engineers were on the planet. Their guide to this part of the galaxy was down there. Ion storms were drawing closer and closer. Not to mention the sensor glitches were getting worse. Once, she and Melody had even seen the outline of an unfamiliar ship breaking atmosphere before disappearing entirely.

The two unicorn's horns began to tingle and buzz slightly.

Commander Moonbuck shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. The Alicorn was nearing the place in the orbit where the sensor glitch kept appearing. As the Equestrian vessel rounded the curvature of the planet, a ghastly sight came into view. An ancient barge, clearly not space-worthy, hung above the planet, flickering in and out of view.

Unlike the previous ship, this new vessel didn't even register on the sensors. In fact, it seemed to be made out of dark wood and- were those sails? It also had chains everywhere, holes in its hull, grim spires extending out, and griffin-like statues perched on its bow. Passengers materialized on the far side of the hull and boarded the craft. After a few moments, it went towards the planet's surface, disappearing in the storm clouds.

"C-commander?" Melody stuttered.

"Yes, I saw it, too, Melody." After a moment, Moonbuck took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. "We need to take some kind of action," she resolved. "Engineering, we need to find a way to cut through the interference. If we can't teleport the away teams back, then we need other options."

A strong voice came through, "Aye, Commander, but there's nae much we can do from here. Part o the reason we sent Sky Dancer down there was to get enough metals to repair our shuttle crafts. If ya like," the stallion continued, "we could probably channel the last bits reserve power into the deflector array and use a resonance pulse disrupt the storm system long enough to give the Captain a shot home-"

"Thank you, Ensign-" Moonbuck interrupted.

"That's Lieutenant Commander," he grumbled, "Aberdeen. But, we'll only be able to do it once. It'll burn out the array and we won't be able to move if they don't find enough to fabricate a new core."

Moonbuck blushed and tried to hide the embarrassment in her voice, "And you think this is our only option, Lieutenant Commander Aberdeen?" The unicorn made a point to get to know the rest of the crew better. After all, they may be the only ponies she'd ever see again.

"Aye, I do, Commander."

"All right," she said firmly. "Make it so."

~ ~ ~

Only after Lieutenant Callahan had lost consciousness did Starway think to check in with the Alicorn. Soon, it became obvious the storm was interfering with communications. Starway could barely make out Zabe's report, but it was obvious they were beginning to see things, too. Thankfully, the pegasus regained consciousness without any extra help.

"Ca-captain?" the purple pony said woozily.

"It's okay, you just bumped your head a bit." Starway stated gently.

"Captain," Spock interrupted quickly, "I appear to be experiencing the same... visions as your lieutenant. It may also be worth noting that our exit is no longer present."

"What are you-" Starway collapsed onto her haunches as she saw where the doorway ought to have been. "I see."

Their sandy entrance was gone. In its place, a door had closed and a barbed portcullis fell in front of it. Behind them, shadowy figures roamed the halls. Some fought. Others were executed. Some just vanished.

Starway closed her eyes and shook her head. "Okay," she said, standing up. "We need to get moving. If we can't go back, we'll have to go forward." Ignoring Melody's whimper, she continued, "These... things haven't hurt us yet."

"Agreed," Spock offered. "If we can find the main computer core, we may be able to determine what is causing these figures to appear."

To get to the bridge, the group had to cross through rows of spiked cages. Electromagnetic interference from the storm was shorting out the team's electronics.

The flashlights flickered and at times they could only see by the lightning shinning in through the cracked hull. Whenever there was lightning, the figures appeared, disappearing just before the light faded. None made a single sound. The only thing that could be heard was hooves and shoes on metal echoing throughout the ship.

By the time they reached the bridge, the lightning was almost constant. Looking out onto the planet's bleak landscape, Starway and Callahan were mesmerized by the scene of a growing battle. There seemed to be no order. Each figure wore a different sort of armor. When one fell, the victor chose another target. Within moments, the fallen would rise again.

Not looking up from a corroded set of wires, Spock spoke. "Sto 'Vo 'Kor. The Klingon afterlife. A plain of endless battle, the ultimate achievement for a warrior. In their mythology, when an honored Klingon dies, he comes to this place. Here, he will fight forever, never tiring, always in search of further glory."

~ ~ ~

"So Ah ain't crazy?" Sky Dancer smirked.

"Oh, you've got a few isolinear chips missing from your computer," Dusk responded snidely, "but it doesn't change the fact that something's going on here."

"It seems," Zabe said, interrupting the two pegasi, "that there are dilithium pillars on top of these mountains that attract the ion storms. When the lightning strikes them, it does, erhrm, something."

"Very astute," Torch chuckled. "Ve ought to examine it. Ve're almost done down here. Ve might as vell haul up ze extra metals and zen have a look vhile ve vait for za Alicorn and Captain Starvay."

"Sounds good," Zabe nodded, loading up another hover sled of metals and attaching the harness to his shoulders.

When they got to the planet's surface, they saw a vicious conflict unfolding in the valley below. The figures rushing from the caves were now heading toward the battlefield. The storm couldn't be more than twenty minutes away, now, and the sky was ablaze with lightning. The figures almost seemed solid and the mountain tops were connected by a blue beam of light, circling around the range. The winds raged and dust buffeted the team from all sides.

~ ~ ~

The minute Spock reconnected the wires, the nearest panel came to life. On the screen, a message played out. Directly in front of it stood a holographic Klingon. The Vulcan looked surprised. He had never seen armor like this outside of the only museum on Qo'noS.

At first, the speech came out with hard consonants, a lot of spitting, and angry gestures. Spock managed to halt the recording and translate it into a more understandable form. The imposing figure stood before them and began to speak again.

"I am Kahless the Iron fist, Son of Kahless the Unforgettable, captain of the Imperial Klingon Dynasty Cruiser Suvwl. Welcome weary traveler, to the war-torn world of Sto 'Vo 'Kor." At this, the figure gave a mirthful laugh. "When my father took control of the Klingon people, I never expected him to shift focus to the stars, but the people needed to fight. To continue fighting and yet maintain order on our home world, there had to be new arenas. New battles and more glory to find. Better enemies. But all of these battles bread angrier, more hardy Klingons," he continued, "and veterans always feel well-deserved sense of entitlement. When their days of glory pass, some descend into madness and others turn to crime. In an effort to allow our heroes of yesteryear reclaim a place of honor in the afterlife, we bring them here. A harsh deserted planet with no valuable material and outside all shipping routes."

The figure paused for a moment and turned to look out the window, hands clasped behind his back. The screen went blank, but the figure remained. "The years passed and I was convinced we were doing the right thing. My father died, his last words being that he would await us all in Sto 'Vo 'Kor. Weeks later, here I stand, lightyears from home with a broken ship and no communications system. It has become... obvious that our passengers are nothing more than prisoners. My crew is dead and I stand alone on this world. Now it is quite true that Kahless awaits the dead in Sto 'Vo 'Kor."

Starway, Spock, and Callahan stood silently, taking in every word. Kahless the Iron Fist turned to face them, looking directly into Starway's eyes. "Interesting. I always thought the first to find me would be a Klingon, but you have a warrior's eyes."

Spock raised an eyebrow and Callahan backpedaled, but Starway didn't budge. "You can see us?" she said skeptically.

"In a manner of speaking. This form has been preserved for over 1,500 years, though that which created me is far older. I am Kahless and I am not. Before this planet left its parent star nearly 300 million years ago, its inhabitants compiled a massive archive to store their species memories. Interstellar travel has not been," he searched for the right words, "kind to the planet's surface. Initially, the ion storms powered a holographic array which would play any time a new race visited the planet and atmospheric stabilizers maintained a healthy atmosphere. Occasionally, a race would offer new material and the archive would update."

Spock offered a hypothesis, "But over time, technology degrades, as man-made equipment always does. I presume that by the time the Klingons found your world, there was almost nothing left."

"Quite the contrary," the holographic being answered. "No, the archives were intact, but the power source was damaged."

"The storms," Callahan squeaked.

Kahless nodded. "And the Klingons had no interest in our technology. Instead of asking, they visited our world over and over again to drop prisoners. Their officers tried to brute force their way into our system. Over time, little remained other than Klingon mythology and prisoner rosters. And with the damaged power systems, the holographic emitters began to solidify the constructs and turn off any safety mechanisms." In an effort to prove his point, Kahless gently stroked Starway's mane for a moment, causing her to shiver. "Battles played out on the surface, imitating the Klingon afterlife. Each being that died gained a representation in the mainframe, doomed to fight forever."

~ ~ ~

Dusk and Sky Dancer had flown up and surveyed the top of their mountain. It had a dilithium spire like all the others. When they returned, they found Torch and Zabe cornered by some of the shadowy figures. The ion storms were drawing closer and it appeared that acid rain was washing away the closest mountainsides. Zabe already had a few scratches. Every time they struck down a figure, it would rise again moments later.

Dusk wrapped his fore-hooves around Zabe and grunted as he picked up the bulky pony. Sky Dancer grabbed Torch and the two pegasi began to fly their crew mates towards the top of the mountain, Klingons chasing after them. The figures seemed to have trouble climbing the cracked slopes, which didn't bother the ponies one bit.

As soon as they reached the summit, Sky Dancer pulled out a scanner and Torch started examining the dilithium spire with her magic. Zabe circled it, looking for weak spots, while Dusk kept an eye on the climbing Klingons. After a few moments, Torch shrugged. Sky Dancer nodded and Zabe ducked under the bright blue beam. With no other options, the two stood on opposite sides and started bucking the crystal as hard as they could.

As they hit the pillar, the circuit was interrupted. For a moment, the Klingon warriors lost cohesion and fell through the mountainside into the caverns below. Zabe and Sky Dancer looked at each other and bucked even harder. After a few minutes, the crystal cracked at the base and toppled over. Without a solid circle, the warriors disappeared along with the blue beam.

~ ~ ~

It was clear Starway and the others didn't have much time left. The storm was getting closer and their informant had just vanished along with several shadowy figures who had been creeping up behind them. In a few minutes, they were back where they started.

With Spock's help, the mares managed to lift the portcullis and force open the spiked door. Outside, the winds had to be at least 40 miles an hour. Sand was everywhere, rain fell in the distance, and multicolored lightning shone through the reddish purple clouds. The three stood on the surface, unsure what to do, knowing there was no way they could make it back to the transport site before the storm hit.

~ ~ ~

"Et could kill them, Commander!" Aberdeen shouted over the com.

"And so could the storm," she pounded her hooves on the ground. "We don't have a choice, do it!"

In an instant, the front of the ship lit up. Its deflector array shot a pulse of energy at the ion storm and cut through the cloud cover. It burned out half of the circuits on the bridge and presumably in engineering, but for a few seconds, there was an eye in the storm.

"Is it over?" Melody asked.

"I don't know. Aberdeen, Lieutenant Commander, did we get them?" Moonbuck prodded.

"Aye, Commander, we got them, metals and all."

"If it's all right," Starway's voice came over the coms, "I think I'll let you take the next one."

~ ~ ~

The senior staff of the Alicorn sat together in the observation deck. Aberdeen briefed the Captain and Sky Dancer on what had been done with the deflector array and what repairs would need to be completed. Sky Dancer briefed the others on his team's progress and Starway relayed the tale of Kahless the Iron Fist and the 300 million year old technology.

When all was said and done, they all had a little more breathing room. The Borg hadn't reappeared yet and it looked like the warp core was finally going to get fixed. Spock even seemed to think this historical knowledge might grant them a place of honor with the Klingons. All in all, the trip seemed to have been a success.

Captain Starway adjourned the meeting and everypony got up to leave. Dusk and Torch chatted in the corner and Spock left to catch up on his meditation. Starway stared out into the black, wondering what else it had in store. In that moment, the ship rocked back and forth with a heavy impact and the sound of metal shearing other metal.

"Horse apples!" Starway screamed. "What in the hay was that?!"

A large panel drifted past the window, through the scorch marks and deep gouges, only a single word could be made out: Harmony.


End Episode 4


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