Location: Everfree Forest
Time: 7:21 PM
For the past half-hour, Kor’tokh has made his way through the brush, pushing aside the many different branches and vines that stood in his way. He was determined to get out of this Kahless-forsaken forest as soon as possible. Hopefully, he can find some civilization outside, so he can finally get off of this unknown world. But for now, Kor’tokh knew he had to fulfill his three requirements for survival: food, water, and shelter. However, seeing how he was trained for combat up in space, and wasn’t prepared for situations like these, Kor’tokh knew that he was in for a long and rough night.
Eventually, Kor’tokh reached a sizable clearing, and stopped to take a good look around him. The clearing appeared to be 20-30 feet, wide enough for him to set up camp and get a fire going without burning down the whole damn forest. He also noticed that there were many dead branches strewn across the ground, ‘Good,’ Kor’tokh thought, nodding to himself, ‘I won’t have to look very far for firewood.’
Satisfied, Kor’tokh took this opportunity to do a quick check on his equipment. He started with his weapons, pulling out his disruptor first. Kor’tokh inspected it thoroughly, noting that the pistol will have enough power to last at least a few more months. ‘ Hopefully, my stay here should be much shorter.’ He then moved on to his trusty d’k tagh knife. Pulling it out of the sheath, he began inspecting the blade. Despite not having seen combat for years, the knife was in excellent condition. Its main blade was as sharp as a razor, and the hinged side blades popped open instantly, giving the d’k tagh’s blade a wicked trident-shape. After sheathing the knife, Kor’tokh moved on to his final weapon: his father’s bat’leth. It was a double-ended scimitar fashioned into a crescent shape, with three handles running along its spine. It was also his father’s last gift to him.
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9 years ago on Qo’noS…
Kor’tokh watched as Kulan, his father, spoke with his commanding officers, making his final preparations before embarking to fight the empire’s mortal enemies: the Romulans. Kor’tokh’s family has long fought for the glory of the Klingon Empire, stretching back to the days of Kahless Himself, and now his father is going to continue this grand tradition, and some day, so will he.
After finishing his arrangements, Kulan saluted his superiors and walked towards his then-teenage son, carrying an object wrapped in a crimson bundle of cloth. Kor’tokh looked at the bundle with a feeling of excitement coursing through his body, it was as if he instinctively knew what it was. His father then carefully unwrapped the fine cloth, to reveal a newly polished bat’leth underneath. Kulan lifted the deadly blade towards his son and said, “This blade has been in our family since the death of Emperor Kahless. It has seen many battles on land and in space for many generations, and now I bestow it upon you.”
Kor’tokh couldn’t help but tremble with joy as his father handed the sword over to him. Kulan noticed this and smiled back at him, feeling pride in his heart. He then placed his hand on Kor’tokh’s shoulder, wearing a more serious expression on his face now. “Treat it well my son, for only the most foolish and idiotic warriors allow their weapons to become dull. I need you to become the man of the house while I’m gone, passing the family blade down to you is my way of saying that you are now responsible enough to bear the mantle of our legacy. And who knows?” Kulan said smiling again, “I just might bring back a Romulan skull as a souvenir, that is, if I’m not feasting in the Black Fleet alongside our ancestors!”
The two of them shared a laugh at the little joke, for there’s no such thing as fatalism among their kind. “Farewell, Kor’tokh. May Kahless guide you to a glorious future.”
Kulan then turned around and headed towards the shuttlecraft. As the airlocks closed behind him, Kor’tokh could only grip the bat’leth’s handles tightly, knowing that he had to be strong for his family. “Farewell father, batl da-KOW-loo-takh (you will be remembered with honor)” He said as he watched the shuttle leave the atmosphere.
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His father died during the conflict a few months after he left, so Kor’tokh took solace in knowing that his father has joined their ancestors in the black fleet of Sto’Vo’Kor, where the honored dead would feast, drink, and fight alongside Kahless the Unforgetable for all eternity. Smiling at this, he finished inspecting the blade and attached it to his back.
Kor’tokh also inspected his survival kit, knowing it wouldn’t be able to get him very far in the long run. Since the crew of the B’Moth was assigned with the task of patrolling the Neutral Zone, none of them were expected to find themselves stranded on any uncharted worlds, much like he was. So the survival kits that the crewmembers were assigned with only consisted of a few days’ worth of water and military rations, along with little in the way of medical supplies. Due to their natural endurance, the Klingons have placed little emphasis on medical treatment, and have therefore always favored toughing it out. So it looks like Kor’tokh would have to make do on his own.
After finishing up his inspection, Kor’tokh gathered whatever dead branches he could find, and began getting a fire started. As he got the campfire going, however, Kor’tokh heard some rustling in the bushes, as well as the snapping of a few twigs.
Immediately, he stopped what he was doing, and turned around.
“Who’s there!?”
As if on cue, four creatures leaped out from behind the trees and bushes. They were four-legged, had glaring yellow eyes, and were breathing what appeared to be some kind of gas from their mouths. Upon further inspection, Kor’tokh managed to make out what they were,
They were wolves… wooden wolves made up entirely of sticks and twigs, and most importantly, were alive.
Despite clearly being in grave danger, all Kor’tokh could do at that point was stare at them, thinking, ‘Okay… now I’ve officially seen everything.’
As he stared at the wooden wolves, they began circling around him, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Kor’tokh narrowed his eyes, and pulled out his d’k tagh, waiting for one of them to act, much like what they were doing with him.
Finally, one of the wolves found an opening, and lunged forward, biting onto his arm. Crying out in pain, Kor’tokh took the arm that was still holding the d’k tagh, which also happened to be the arm that wasn’t serving as a fleshy chew-toy, and jammed the knife into the base of the creature’s skull, causing it to finally let go. Wasting no time, Kor’tokh took out his bat’leth, and began hacking the creature into tiny splinters. The other three wolves took this chance to attack, sinking their teeth into the Klingon warrior’s legs and torso.
Enraged, and bleeding like crazy, Kor’tokh decided that he didn’t have all night for this, and knew he had to finish the fight quickly. So he began giving the other three beasts the same treatment that he gave to their little friend. He shook the first wolf off, before raising his sword up high, and bringing it down on the second one, who was biting his left side; slicing the thing in half.
As for the third wolf, Kor’tokh began prying it’s maw open with his bare hands. The pressure that the wolf was putting in closing his jaw was strong, but Kor’tokh was stronger…
Snap!!!
Before long, the wolf’s upper jaw snapped off, officially killing it. Kor’tokh then picked his bat’leth back up, just as the wolf that he shook off of himself began coming back to him. As the final wolf leapt up into the air to pounce on him, Kor’tokh seized the initiative by leaping to the side, and slicing the wolf’s head off while it was in midair.
With all of the wolves (supposedly) dead, Kor’tokh went to pry his knife out of the skull of the one he had stabbed. As he began to walk back to his fire, however, something caught his eye; all off the different sticks and branches that made up the wooden wolves began moving on their own, before starting to form an even bigger version of the wolves he had just fought.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kor’tokh muttered in disbelief, spitting out some blood in the process. Around this time, the giant wolf finally finished putting itself together, and celebrated its rebirth by breathing some of it’s noxious gas right into Kor’tokh’s face.
‘Sweet mother of Kahless! This smells worse than liquid dilithium!’
The wolf then began walking towards Kor’tokh, dwarfing him by at least 6 feet in height. When suddenly, one of it’s hind-legs accidentally stepped on the small campfire that Kor’tokh made recently; and I kid you not, it began yipping like crazy while hopping around, cradling the paw that stepped on the fire, much like a guy that just stepped on a tack.
Kor’tokh then face-palmed himself, both physically and mentally, ‘Fire! Of course! Why didn’t I think of this before!?’ Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Kor’tokh pulled out his disrupter and shot the wolf two times, causing it to burst into flames. The creature then began thrashing about in pain and agony, knocking over a few trees in the process. Before long, it gave out one final roar, before finally collapsing, dead as a doornail.
Kor’tokh would’ve celebrated his first kill, if it weren’t for the fact that, A: he was badly wounded and bleeding up a storm, and B: the now-flaming wolf just started a quickly growing forest fire.
Way to go, Einstein.
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Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle…
Princess Luna, having arrived at the castle a few minutes ago, was deep in thought as she walked through its marble corridors. ‘How in the world am I going to explain to her what just happened?’ Luna then began mentally playing out the scenario in a sarcastic tone, ‘Excuse me Tia, some random object just fell out of space and I don’t know if it’s a comet, would you be so kind as to DROP EVERYTHING and order the guards to go on a wild goose chase just to make me feel better?’
As she was having these thoughts, Nocturne Breeze, one of Luna’s famed Night Guards, as well as her personal bodyguard, walked up to her and took notice of his princess’s unease. “Princess Luna, is everything alright?” he asked with a worried tone in his voice, wanting to know what’s wrong.
Luna took note of her bodyguard’s concern. Nocturne Breeze was one of the many descendants of the original Night Guards that came about during the era of Nightmare Moon, and has served as a close companion to Luna during the year between her redemption and the incident on Nightmare Night that occurred back at Ponyville. Thanks to the fear that the Equestrians still held for her during that time, and Luna being out of touch with modern society, she secluded herself within within Canterlot throughout the year, away from everypony. Due to this, Nocturne was the only one Luna could share her thoughts with (aside from Celestia, of course). In fact, one might argue that the two of them are a couple, although she herself refused to admit it.
Luna looked at her faithful bodyguard, with her face filled with anxiety. “Nothing, Nocturne, just thinking about something I saw earlier.” She finally answered, as they neared the throne room. “Might I ask what it is?” Nocturne inquired, suddenly becoming curious as to what is bothering his princess.
As soon as he asked this however, they were at the entrance. “I’ll tell you inside, my sister might want to hear this.” This left Luna’s bodyguard curious as to what could worry her to the point that she didn’t want to talk about it.
The two of them then entered the castle’s massive throne room, the walls bearing massive stained glass windows depicting the land of Equestria and her history; from the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns uniting into one nation, to Nightmare Moon. As Luna walked inside, she glanced at the most recent one to grace the castle, a depiction of the Elements of Harmony once again imprisoning Discord, the lord of chaos, after he escaped from his thousand-year prison. Luna had to stifle a laugh as she saw the look on Discord’s face in the picture, it looked absolutely ridiculous, ‘Even more than before’ she added. She then shook her head, knowing she had to stay focused, ‘Remember why you’re here, Luna. You’re here because something not from this world has suddenly crashed into the badlands, and you’re worried that this might threaten Equestria.’
On the throne sat her sister, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, and alicorn of the sun. Celestia was just wrapping up the royal court, having discussed with her councilors weather production in Cloudsdale, shareholding in Manehattan, as well as arrangements for this years Hearths Warming Eve pageant, with plans of having the Elements of Harmony play the founders of Equestria. That one was definitely fun for her. The princess was now dealing with an interesting case from Fillydelphia, where griffon delinquents have spray-painted on a major landmark pictures of Celestia in some… interesting poses. As a group of ponies from that city voiced their complaints to her, Celestia noticed her sister enter the throne room, with the kind of face a young filly would have when she accidentally flooded the house, but didn’t know the right way to confess it.
“Those bird-brained vandals have not only defaced Fillydelphian property, they’ve also shown complete and utter disrespect to you, your majesty! These crimes simply can’t go unpunished, they-“
Wanting to know what was bothering her sister, Celestia decided to put this session on hold.
“This is indeed very disturbing news, but I’m afraid I currently have other matters I need to attend to. Shall we take a brief recess?”
Taking their cue to leave, the group began leaving the room, passing Luna and Nocturne as they left.
Luna then stepped up to her sister’s throne, wanting to at least get a conversation going before telling her what just happened.
“So… Tia, how was today’s court?” Luna asked nonchalantly
“The same as usual, ponies coming in with different reports from across the country. That one with the griffons surprised me though, can you believe they’re still running that ‘Princess Molestia’ joke around?”
“I’m just surprised that joke was even around in the first place” Luna chuckled
“*Sigh*, don’t remind me. I keep telling everypony, that whole affair with Starswirl was just a one-time thing! And don't even get me started on those Royal Guard rumors!” Celestia grumbled before changing her mood into a more serious one. “But enough about me. I can see that you’re upset about something, might I ask what it is?” she asked in a caring manner.
‘Am I really that transparent?’ Luna thought before answering her sister. “… I saw something fall from the heavens, and sail across the sky before crashing into the badlands. At first glance it almost looked like a comet, or a meteor, but I have a bad feeling it might be something else entirely…”
“… you have a feeling it might threaten the safety of our land in some way.” Celestia finished for her, with an expressionless face, yet at the same time with fierceness in her eyes.
Luna could only nod in agreement, knowing fully well that Celestia’s love for peace and harmony can only be rivaled by her desire to protect her subjects.
The two of them could only stand there quietly, when Nocturne broke the silence for them. “Your highnesses, I have a new batch of recruits who have just completed their training a few months ago. With your permission, I can take them to the Badlands to investigate this object.”
Celestia considered this for a moment, before responding to Nocturne’s suggestion. “How soon can they be dispatched?”
Luna’s bodyguard put his front hoof to his chin, thinking for a few seconds, before shrugging, “A few days, at most.” He finally answered.
Celestia then smiled and looked over to Luna, “What do you say, sister? It’s your call.”
Luna smiled back, nodding to her. Then she turned to Nocturne, “I hereby grant you permission to investigate this strange object in the badlands. Find out everything you can about this object, and then report as soon as possible.” She said as she tapped Nocturne’s shoulders with her horn.
“I shall get right to it, your Highness. Besides…” Nocturne then smirked, “The Night Guard has long gone without any important missions for months, maybe this will help kill their boredom.”
Nocturne then began to leave the room, only to be stopped by a royal guard bursting through the doors, “Your Majesties!! A report just came in from Ponyville, a massive fire just broke out in the Everfree Forest!”
Celestia’s eyes widened upon hearing this report. “Are the townsfolk currently taking action?”
The guard nodded, “Yes, but without further support, the fire might spread further, eventually reaching the center of town!”
Celestia quickly rose from her throne. “Send a detachment of guards down to Ponyville at once, my student and her friends live there, they must be protected, as well as the townsfolk!”
The guard saluted the princesses, before rushing back out. After promising to hear the Fillydelphians’ case tomorrow, Celestia and Luna flew up to the balcony at the top of the castle’s highest tower. As two sisters began observing the now-raging forest fire from afar, Luna couldn’t help but feel uneasy. “A massive forest fire suddenly breaks out of nowhere, AND a strange object falls from the sky?!” Luna exclaimed. “Am I imagining this, or do you have a strange feeling these two events might be connected as well?”
Her sister could only stare off into the distance, unsure about this whole affair. After a long period of silence, Celestia finally responded.
“… You know what, Luna? I think you may be right.”
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Meanwhile, back at the Everfree Forest...
“Arrgh!! Dammit!!”
Kor’tokh yelled out in pain as he tried to escape from the flames. Ever since he killed that wolf, or whatever the hell that thing was, he’s been running for his life to avoid being cooked alive. He may live by a strict honor code that frowns on cowardice, but even the most seasoned warrior wouldn’t pointlessly die in a forest fire, especially if he can avoid it.
After a while, Kor’tokh finally managed to outrun the fire. His body was at its limit, unable to run any longer without having to at least catch his breath. The battle with the wolves was also taking its toll, forcing him to rest against the tree nearest to him. Kor’tokh was growing tired from the past few hours, his injuries, while not too serious, made him lose a lot of blood, so he was forced to rest in order for them to heal properly.
‘Damn wolves, just where did they come from anyway?!’ Kor’tokh thought as he looked at his injuries. His eyelids were beginning to droop as sleep began to overpower him. ‘I’ll have to do something about these wounds, before I bleed to deat-‘ those were his last thoughts before sleep finally overcame him.