Questions of Honor

[Hiver]

My core was installed and done so I could disconnect my avatar from the ship's systems and remain in control.

First order of business was purging all old command codes and overrides. Who knew what might be in there?

Of course, as the AI I had direct machine code access.

The Vor'Cha class actually reminded me of the Kor when it came to systems. Which made sense, a lot of them were similar, just larger or more of them for the Vor'Cha.

"Well fought, Qa'." Wozh said as he looked around the bridge.

Nodding, I closed the maintenance hatch of my avatar and got off the center chair. My armor/uniform was ruined, I had to rip a big hole in the back of the 'jacket' to allow my hatch to open. Needed to replace that.

"Yes, sir." I answered and looked around. The fallen had already been removed. They fought well… even if they didn't have any real chance. The moment my avatar materialized on their bridge, they lost.

There was no way they would give up, I knew this. I did my best to make things fast and painless.

I'm a Warship. I had killed thousands during the Romulan War. Tens of thousands.

But…

Not in this way.

It was all ship to ship. It really did have a different impact, not just seeing lifesigns flicker out. But to mechanically rip lifeforms apart.

I found I didn't very much care for it.

"All systems ready, sir," I reported as I moved to give him space to sit down in the center chair. "Prisoners are contained, all crew have transferred from the old hull. IKS Synan ready for duty."

Wosh nodded and sank down in the center chair. "Set a course for Qo'noS. Maximum warp, engage cloak!"

"Yes, sir, engaging cloak, accelerating to Warp Nine point Nine-Eight," I said as I turned in space, flying away from the site of the battle as I shimmered out of view before the universe bent around me as we went faster than light. "I need to clean my avatar."

Wozh just nodded.

I left the bridge with my avatar, heading for a set of free quarters, passing members of the crew on the way. Every time, I got a salute or a respectful nod.

I returned them, of course, before entering the quarters, closing the door behind my avatar before undressing and starting to wash the blood off.

As soon as this is all done, I'm out. I don't want to be a warship anymore. It wasn't the killing of the bridge crew, just… it was the limit. I didn't want to fight.

I signed up for Starfleet because I wanted to explore new worlds and new civilizations. Explore space and find new things.

I wasn't Starfleet anymore. I had not been for a long while, but as a Jovian Warship, this was different. You defended people, kept them safe from the things in the dark. There was a duty to that.

But I wasn't sure I could do this long term.

I was going to see this through, but then I was out. Maybe I should do the whole civilian vessel thing, moving cargo from planet to planet? Small crew. No battles, no killing…

Sounded nice.

But until then, I had a duty to do. A duty to my crew to see them through this even if it meant going up against the entire Klingon Empire to do it!

I kept digging into the ships database, copying orders and sensor recordings. I had already found several recordings of orders from the Chancellor to the former Captain of this vessel, discussing my transfer to the D7 and that I could not be allowed to reach Quo'noS. That they needed to make sure that the entire thing was a failure to keep the Klingon Empire from falling into the clutches of the Jovians.

All this just for that? He didn't just order the Project canceled. No, that would show weakness to the other Houses. No, instead he wanted to make sure it failed properly.

Probably why he had the Kor sabotaged. To 'prove' a Jovian didn't work on a Klingon vessel. Well, turns out he was right.

I couldn't stay like this. I couldn't handle it. Maybe some other Jovian would be able to, but I couldn't… I suppose I put too great a value on Sophontic life.

The Klingons had their bright points. Their spirit, their… will. They wouldn't give up. It had gone well for them so far, but it wasn't enough.

Not for me.

Stepping out of the shower with my avatar, I walked over to look into the uniform storage and pulled one out.

Used to belong to the navigator. She had been of similar size as my avatar before I hit her so hard that her brain splattered all over her console.

I looked at it for a full second before I got dressed and got my mane of hair in order to return my avatar to the bridge.

This was probably a really bad idea, but right now I was so past caring.




AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

I dropped out of warp at the edge of the Quo'noS system, my cloaking device keeping us hidden from sensors.

Captain Wozh looked at the viewscreen. "Take us into orbit and drop cloak."

"Yes, sir," I said and started to scoot in system under impulse. "Captain, when we reach orbit, I intend to go before the Council."

"I will go with you."

I hesitated and then shook my head. "No, sir. I think it's better I do so alone. I don't want any fallout of this to land on your house."

Wozh chuckled. "It already will, ship."

"…I suppose it would." I sighed. "I would be honored to have you stand by my side."

"Can you get us there?"

I smirked. "Of course."

It wouldn't even be that difficult. Any Klingon could (in theory) just walk into the Council chamber. I just needed to beam us down close by and walk up.

Of course, it would be more difficult if they didn't know we were still alive. Which was the reason I kept the original transponder code of the Bloodthunder.

But even so, I kept the cloak up as I floated inwards towards the Klingon homeworld. No matter what happened today, the result would be bad.

But this was something I had to do. For my crew. For the ones that had died. Their culture demanded that their deaths be avenged as they had been murdered in a cowardly manner.

Which I supposed was part of the problem with the Klingons.

Orbit achieved.

"Orbit achieved, sir. Dropping cloak."

Wozh nodded and stood up. "Come," he said and moved towards the transporter room. I followed along. He stopped by his quarters and walked inside, picking his Bath'leth from its wall mount.

"You won't need that, sir." I said and put my hand on his shoulder. "This is my battle."

"It's my ship!"

I smiled sadly at him. "So far, sir," I agreed before I shook my head. "But this is my battle. I need to do this. I want you next to me, but I need to be the one. I'm the Ship, the coward hurt my Crew."

Wozh finally dropped his arm. "Very well."

I stepped up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, sir."

He grunted and shook his head. "At times, it's difficult to remember that you aren't a Klingon. Then you go and do things like that."

I grinned and nodded. "Let's go, then."

Qu'onS was as I remembered since the last time I'd visited the surface. We beamed down outside the palace. The construction was very solid and almost monolithic. Tall, thick stone walls made to withstand bombardment.

Everything was a fortress, built to hold for thousands of years.

That's something I admired about the Klingons. The solidity of their design. Too bad it didn't extend to political systems.

I kept scanning from orbit, trying not to get noticed, just sending normal situation reports using a different voice.

On the ground, Captain Wozh and I made our way towards the Council Chambers. There were guards, of course, but they were not stopping Klingons from approaching the Council. They counted on honor and possible dishonor to do that.

No weapon checks, no checkpoints.

I suppose that's something to almost admire. The Klingons were trusting, in a way.

Of course, just as I thought that, a pair of guards were by the final door.

"Halt! Who are you and what is your purpose here!?" the one on the left demanded and stepped forward.

I simply met his eyes. "I am the avatar of the IKS Synan and this is my Captain, Wozh. I'm here to save the Klingon people from extinction and irrelevance."

His hand moved towards his disruptor so I grabbed the collar of his armor and threw him at his companion. They hit hard and smacked into the wall before dropping to the floor.

Stepping up, I checked them over. Alive, no broken bones, no internal bleeding. Unconscious.

"They'll be fine," I said and stood back up, looking at my Captain. "They'll wake up in a couple of minutes."

"Would have been kinder to kill them. They failed in their duty to protect the chamber, a great dishonor."

"Which is one of the problems with your people." I said and shook my head. "Too much respect for honor, too little respect for Life."

With that, I walked over and pushed the doors open, entering the main chamber. Eight council members standing around the room, Chancellor Tarul sitting at the other end of the chamber. At the center of the chamber was a Klingon who had been making some sort of cause to the council.

I let the doors bang open and everyone turned to stare at us.

"Tarul! You cowardly sack of targ slime!"

See, I can do diplomacy.



AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this part.

 

[Hiver]

That got what little attention pushing the doors open hadn't.

Tarul stood up from the throne he had been seated, "Who are you!?"

"I am the avatar of the IKS Synan," I answered as I crossed the chamber, walking into the middle, "The Ship you tried to have cowardly murdered. The Ship whose crew you tried to murder. The Ship whose crew you did murder!"

"Ah," He said, "The Federation machine house Worf borrowed. I heard you were destroyed."

"You tried," I answered and pulled a datacrystal from my belt, "Communication logs, recordings. Everything from the battlegroup you sent to murder me when your sabotage failed."

"Bah! Fabrication!" he said, motioning towards me, "You left Nokot'a in an ancient ship, if there was a battlegroup sent for you, you would be dead. As expected from a dishonorab…"

"No. Recordings of the battle are on this data crystal," I said, baring my teeth at him before tossing the crystal over, letting it bounce off the floor and roll to a halt, "It's all there. And if that's not enough, I am now installed on the IKS Bloodthunder in orbit. One of the ships that attacked us. You cowardly murdered members of my crew, you lack any sort of honor and I challenge you!"

Tarul grinned, "You can't challenge me, machine! You aren't a Klingon!"

"Looks Klingon enough to me," one of the Klingon council members said and looked at me. He was one of the older ones in the room, "Aliens can declare challenges. Why not this Federation machine?"

Tarul snarled, "It's not a fight!"

I spread my arms, "Come on, then… I'll limit my avatar to Klingon strength and speed. Coward!"

"You can't die!"

"No," I agreed, "But if you win, I'll leave and never return. So, what will it be, coward!?"

Tarul snarled and stepped down from the dias, shrugging off his cloak and crossing the room before taking a bat'let from the wall and approaching, "You are a disgrace! You and the House that brought you here! Traitors to the Empire!"

With that, he lunged, swiping at me with the heavy blade.

I watched him come in slow motion. I had no intention of cheating, but nobody said anything about perception speed.

Sliding to the side, I reached to my belt and pulled my dagger out as I avoided the slash by a couple of millimeters.

"Is that the best you can do, Carbonite?" I asked as I avoided another thrust, slowly circling with him.

Tarul snarled and chopped at me.

I avoided it, stepping around it and slamming my dagger up beneath his chin to the hilt. Tarul made a choking sound and fell backwards, his bat'let falling to the stone floor with a clatter.

The sound echoed through the chamber.

I scowled down at the fallen Klingon. Better than he fucking deserved.

One of the council members stepped down, carrying the cloak and settled it across my shoulders, "Hail Synan. Leader of the Empire."

The fuck is he playing at?

I just looked at him in surprise, "…You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head, "You defeated Tarul in honorable combat. His position is yours."

"Why would I possibly want something like that?" I asked as I shrugged the cloak off, catching it and holding it in my hand, "Why would I want to rule over the bloated rotting carcass of a once great empire?"

Silence.

I looked between them as I dropped the cloak on Tarul's body, "Look at you. Plotting and scheming like a bunch of Romulan senators. Preaching about honor and duty while sneaking in the shadows to increase your influence."

"You dare…"

"I fucking dare," I snorted and spread my arms, "Look at yourselves! This waste of carbon was your leader, the one you selected to lead you, represent you! Kahless… your ancestors would weep in shame if they could see you now!"

I slowly shook my head, "It's pathetic," I continued and looked down at Tarul, "This thing was the one you selected, the one you thought Worthy to rule the Klingon Empire. Someone who was meant to have great honor and skill. Someone able to increase the Empire's influence, to stand against its enemies."

"You think so little of us?"

I turned to look at Captain Wozh when he spoke up for the first time and shook my head once more, "No. Klingons have good points. Your spirit is second to none and your loyalty the same. But Klingons are not the Empire and the Empire is rotten to the core. When was the last time you remember a Chancellor or a Councilmember that you trusted and respected? General Martok? Who else? Is there someone else?"

His hand clutched the hilt of his dagger and he finally shook his head, "No."

I looked at him and then turned back to the Council, "You talk of Honor, you use it as a club against your enemies while having no idea what Honor really is," I said and kicked Tarul, sending the body rolling onto the floor between them, "This? This isn't honor. This is nothing but a waste. A waste of Life, a waste of potential. You all have the potential to be so, so much more. You could stand against the great enemies. The Borg, the Dominion… against anything else that threatens the Quadrant and the Galaxy. The great warriors of the galaxy, soldiers, protectors. But instead you do this… you squabble and sneak and when not having someone else to fight, you turn on each other and your allies. It's pathetic."

Sighing, I walked towards the doors. I had had enough of this.

Wozh hesitated but finally he moved to follow me out when I stopped and glanced back at the council, "Oh, and just in case you decide to try to twist and turn this? The evidence and everything that happened today has been transmitted across the entire sector. Don't fuck with my crew."

With that, I turned and walked out.



AN// Big thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section. Also massive thanks to everyone else that have betaed earlier in this story. This is the last part for now, but we will continue this series at a later time. Next time, we continue with the only dragon that get captured as much as Peach!

 

[Hiver]

Next part can be found here: The First Duty