Post by magicmuggle01 on May 9, 2019 9:52:13 GMT
Three old Klingon warriors reunite on Deep Space 9, seeking Curzon Dax, with whom they entered into a blood oath to one day exact revenge on an enemy for killing the warriors' firstborn sons. Finding Jadzia as worthy a warrior as they felt Curzon to be, she joins the Klingons in completing their vendetta.
Summary
Koloth
In his bar, Quark complains to Odo that an elderly, drunken Klingon is monopolizing one of the holosuites, endlessly re-fighting the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, a battle the Klingons won over the Romulans a century ago. He has only paid for an hour, but has been in the holosuite for three. With Odo standing by, Quark shuts off the power, and the Klingon, Kor, storms out with a bottle of Breshtanti ale in his hand. He lunges drunkenly at Quark, but Odo pacifies him by telling him a "victory celebration" is awaiting him, and leads him to a holding cell to sleep it off.
Koloth, Kor's friend, comes to bail him out; however, when he sees Kor is still quite drunk, he furiously tells Odo to keep him. Shrugging, Kor passes out again, while Odo rolls his eyes.
Act One
In Ops, Odo brings a report to Major Kira and apologizes for being late, as it's been a "Klingon afternoon." Dax overhears the name at her station and has Kor released. She reveals to him and to Koloth that she is their old friend and comrade, "Dax" – Curzon Dax having been the last host of the symbiont now inside her. Kor is delighted that their old friend now inhabits a beautiful woman's body, but Koloth protests that some mistake has been made. Dax realizes that their meeting has been arranged by another old friend, Kang, who arrives and tells them that he has finally found "the Albino."
Eighty-one years ago, the three Klingons and Curzon swore a blood oath to hunt down and kill the Albino, no matter what. After Dax does some convincing to Kang that she really is Dax, Kang explains he has finally tracked him down to a hideout in the Secarus system – and, to ensure that no warning causes the Albino to flee before they can reach him, Kang killed the traders who disclosed the location to him.
Act Two
Walking alone with Dax on the upper level of the Promenade, Kang muses that times have changed, and nothing is quite the same as it was in the Klingon Empire, not even a blood oath. With that in mind, he tells Jadzia that she has no obligation to honor her past host's commitments, and formally releases her from Curzon's oath.
"When you take someone's life –
you lose a part of your own, as
well."
While on duty in Ops, Dax asks Kira about her experiences in the Bajoran Resistance and how she felt when she killed Cardassians. Kira is very uncomfortable talking about those days, but wants to know why Dax is asking. Dax reluctantly explains; the Albino was a heinous criminal who led pirate raids on several Klingon and Federation colonies, until a task force commanded by Kang, Kor, and Koloth destroyed his power base. Although many of his followers were captured, the Albino escaped and promised revenge on the firstborn children of Kor, Koloth, and Kang. Four years later, he managed to keep his promise by infecting each of the three Klingons' firstborn sons with a deadly genetic virus; Curzon was godfather to Kang's son, who was named Dax in his honor, and swore the oath along with the other three. Kira tries her best to dissuade Dax from her mission, reminding her that it was Curzon's godson who died, not Jadzia's and that she should not be expected to pay keep her former host's commitments. Dax is unswayed, telling Kira she still remembers the boy's funeral and how she felt when her godson died. She feels like she owes it to Curzon to fulfill the oath, even if the other Klingons don't expect her to. Kira finishes by answering Dax's original question; "when you take someone's life, you lose a part of your own as well."
Dax talks to Kor at Quark's, who is as joyful as ever: "Oh, of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing, a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!" But when she asks him to speak with Koloth and Kang on her behalf, he hesitates, calling himself an old man whose influence and power are long past.
Dax confronts Koloth in a holosuite while he is practicing his bat'leth techniques. He believes she is too young and fragile to accompany them, so she challenges him to a duel to show him that she still retains Curzon's skill with the weapon. After a few rounds, Koloth concedes that her presence will do honor to their cause, but Kang remains adamant in his refusal.
Act Three
Outside the holosuite in Quark's, Dax presses the matter: ultimately, Kang does not have the right to deny her vengeance against the Albino, who killed Dax's godson. Angrily, Kang agrees to allow her along, storming, "come and be damned!"
As Dax packs in her quarters, Commander Sisko arrives to preemptively deny her a leave of absence, telling her that he cannot condone murder in the name of vengeance, nor can he understand why Jadzia feels the need to do so to honor a commitment Curzon made. Dax tells him that Curzon is a part of her, and Curzon understood and embraced the Klingon concepts of honor and vengeance. When Dax begs him not to make her disobey a direct order, Sisko does not prevent her from leaving, but warns her that she shouldn't expect to just return to the station like nothing has happened. Dax responds that the consequences she faces are up to him.
Act Four
Aboard Kang's ship, on the way to the Albino's hideaway, the Klingons and Jadzia discuss their strategy. Kang advocates a surprise frontal assault on the compound's main gate. His intelligence indicates that the Albino only has forty guards, and the shock and awe of their appearance will give them a decisive advantage. Koloth and Kor endorse the plan and march out of the room triumphantly to sharpen their blades but Dax stays to confront Kang. Unlike them, she can see that the plan is suicide, and demands to know what Kang is really up to. In fact, she says, if she didn't know better, she'd think Kang had been paid to lure them into a trap.
Kang admits that when he first learned the Albino's location, he visited the system to see if it was true, and was contacted by the Albino. The Albino offered Kang a "glorious" battle against forty of the Albino's best warriors and Kang accepted, believing that if he could not kill the Albino, he could die trying.
Believing that Klingons embrace death too easily, Dax urges him to consider an alternative strategy. Kang insists that the Albino's defenses cannot be penetrated by the four of them, and victory is impossible. But Dax has the idea of disabling the guards' phasers, by reconfiguring the ship's disruptors to bombard the compound from orbit with tetryon particles. The resulting dampening field will disable any energy weapons inside. Although the Klingons will likewise be unable to use their hand disruptors, they will have a significant advantage over the guards in hand-to-hand combat. Kang agrees, saying, "perhaps it is a good day to live."
Act Five
Kor
After beaming down to Secarus IV, Dax scans the area with her tricorder and detects a gravitic mine buried inside the main entrance: the Albino obviously never intended to keep his bargain with Kang. On the other hand, the booby-trap gives them the advantage, since the Albino will be focusing his defenses on the main gate. The four of them quickly work out an alternate plan of attack: Dax will create a diversion by sabotaging the compound's armory, drawing a fair amount of the guards away from the main house, while the Klingons disable the power station, knocking out the Albino's communications and scanners.
However, Kor points out that if the Albino lied to Kang about facing him down honorably, he might not be in the compound, or even on the planet. Koloth tells everyone to wait for a few minutes while he goes and asks somebody. The others wonder if he's gone insane, but sure enough, he comes back a few minutes later, having stealthily ambushed a "very helpful" guard, who has confirmed the Albino's presence. The four warriors prepare to split up to fulfill their roles in the attack, and Kang locks hands with his fellow Klingons: "May Kahless guide us on this day of vengance!" After a moment's hesitation, Dax puts her hand on the others'.
When the armory explodes, the Albino realizes that his trap has been outmaneuvered. Before he can order his guards to draw back into the house, the power station is sabotaged, leaving him trapped inside his main hall with his Markalian aide and only a few guards, with no way to signal the others and no functioning phasers. The Klingons and Dax storm into the hall and fight his guards hand-to-hand. Koloth is mortally wounded when a guard stabs him in the back, while Kang fights his way up the stairs through to the Albino.
The Albino manages to mortally wound Kang, but turns to find Dax's bat'leth at his throat. She introduces herself as the former Curzon Dax, and he smirks that she doesn't have it in her to murder him, alluding to the traditional consuming of the enemy's heart once they have been slain. She hesitates, and meanwhile Kang stabs his knife into the Albino's back. He falls to the bottom of the stairs to his death. On the surface, he thanks Dax for the act of friendship in "letting" him have the death blow, but the knowing eyes between long friends hints at the deeper reality: that Kang has saved Jadzia from being forced to make the decision to kill the Albino. Kang utters, "It is a good day to die," before dying. Dax murmurs sadly, "It's never a good day to lose a friend." The only Klingon left standing, Kor, sings in honor of his fallen comrades, as he stands over the body of the dead Albino.
Dax returns to the station and resumes her post; however, it is clear from the looks of both Kira and Sisko that they may not be able to regard her the same way again.
Memorable quotes
"Shut off the power."
"He'll kill you!"
"No, he said he'll kill you – shut it off."
- Odo and Quark, evicting a drunken Kor from the holosuite
"How did you get in here?"
"I am Koloth."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes, it does."
- Odo and Koloth, in Odo's office
"I do not go into battle with one whose honor is washed away in Breshtanti ale... Keep him!"
- Koloth, seeing the drunken Kor
"Security reassignments, major. Sorry it took so long; it's been a Klingon afternoon.
"A Klingon afternoon?"
"Every time Klingons visit the station I wind up with a Klingon afternoon – but this is definitely one I'll cherish forever."
- Odo and Kira
"I don't have to tell you what this oath meant to Curzon."
"Jadzia Dax took an oath, too, when she joined Starfleet. You're subject to orders, Lieutenant."
"Don't do it, Benjamin. Don't make me disobey a direct order!"
- Jadzia Dax and Benjamin Sisko
"This is a mistake! Kang must not have known..."
"Ah, but what a beautiful mistake!"
- Koloth and Kor, referring to Dax's new identity as Jadzia
"Is Kang coming?"
"Of course he's coming; he's brought the four of us together after 81 years!"
"Could it possibly mean that he's..."
"Yes... that is exactly what it means: I have found The Albino."
- Dax, Kor, and Kang
"This time, we will reach the Albino! And when we do, I will cut his heart out and eat it, while he watches me with his dying breath!"
- Kang
"The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations, I walked out on you, right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody had ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did."
"I almost killed Curzon that day."
- Dax and Kang
"You've said to yourself, 'Every new life for a Trill has to be a new life'! If not, you'd wind up paying off old debts forever. These Klingons can't possibly expect you to keep this oath!"
"No, they don't... that's just it! They say I have no obligation to them... but I do! I know it – I feel it!... if not to them, then to Curzon."
- Kira and Dax, regarding the blood oath
"Quark, you devious little Ha'DIbaH! Bring wine."
- Kor
"There is tension on your face, Koloth! You ought to drink more."
- Kor
"Of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing; a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!"
- Kor, to Dax
"Wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find out if he's inside."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"I'll ask somebody!"
- Koloth, offering a simple solution, and Kor wondering if he's gone mad
"May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance!"
- Kang, before the Klingons storm the Albino's compound
"Look upon your executioners, killer of children!"
- Kang
"That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang."
- Kor, after Dax tells Kang about the mine
"I was right, Dax. It is a good day to die."
"It's never a good day to lose a friend."
- Kang's dying words to Dax
Summary
Koloth
In his bar, Quark complains to Odo that an elderly, drunken Klingon is monopolizing one of the holosuites, endlessly re-fighting the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, a battle the Klingons won over the Romulans a century ago. He has only paid for an hour, but has been in the holosuite for three. With Odo standing by, Quark shuts off the power, and the Klingon, Kor, storms out with a bottle of Breshtanti ale in his hand. He lunges drunkenly at Quark, but Odo pacifies him by telling him a "victory celebration" is awaiting him, and leads him to a holding cell to sleep it off.
Koloth, Kor's friend, comes to bail him out; however, when he sees Kor is still quite drunk, he furiously tells Odo to keep him. Shrugging, Kor passes out again, while Odo rolls his eyes.
Act One
In Ops, Odo brings a report to Major Kira and apologizes for being late, as it's been a "Klingon afternoon." Dax overhears the name at her station and has Kor released. She reveals to him and to Koloth that she is their old friend and comrade, "Dax" – Curzon Dax having been the last host of the symbiont now inside her. Kor is delighted that their old friend now inhabits a beautiful woman's body, but Koloth protests that some mistake has been made. Dax realizes that their meeting has been arranged by another old friend, Kang, who arrives and tells them that he has finally found "the Albino."
Eighty-one years ago, the three Klingons and Curzon swore a blood oath to hunt down and kill the Albino, no matter what. After Dax does some convincing to Kang that she really is Dax, Kang explains he has finally tracked him down to a hideout in the Secarus system – and, to ensure that no warning causes the Albino to flee before they can reach him, Kang killed the traders who disclosed the location to him.
Act Two
Walking alone with Dax on the upper level of the Promenade, Kang muses that times have changed, and nothing is quite the same as it was in the Klingon Empire, not even a blood oath. With that in mind, he tells Jadzia that she has no obligation to honor her past host's commitments, and formally releases her from Curzon's oath.
"When you take someone's life –
you lose a part of your own, as
well."
While on duty in Ops, Dax asks Kira about her experiences in the Bajoran Resistance and how she felt when she killed Cardassians. Kira is very uncomfortable talking about those days, but wants to know why Dax is asking. Dax reluctantly explains; the Albino was a heinous criminal who led pirate raids on several Klingon and Federation colonies, until a task force commanded by Kang, Kor, and Koloth destroyed his power base. Although many of his followers were captured, the Albino escaped and promised revenge on the firstborn children of Kor, Koloth, and Kang. Four years later, he managed to keep his promise by infecting each of the three Klingons' firstborn sons with a deadly genetic virus; Curzon was godfather to Kang's son, who was named Dax in his honor, and swore the oath along with the other three. Kira tries her best to dissuade Dax from her mission, reminding her that it was Curzon's godson who died, not Jadzia's and that she should not be expected to pay keep her former host's commitments. Dax is unswayed, telling Kira she still remembers the boy's funeral and how she felt when her godson died. She feels like she owes it to Curzon to fulfill the oath, even if the other Klingons don't expect her to. Kira finishes by answering Dax's original question; "when you take someone's life, you lose a part of your own as well."
Dax talks to Kor at Quark's, who is as joyful as ever: "Oh, of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing, a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!" But when she asks him to speak with Koloth and Kang on her behalf, he hesitates, calling himself an old man whose influence and power are long past.
Dax confronts Koloth in a holosuite while he is practicing his bat'leth techniques. He believes she is too young and fragile to accompany them, so she challenges him to a duel to show him that she still retains Curzon's skill with the weapon. After a few rounds, Koloth concedes that her presence will do honor to their cause, but Kang remains adamant in his refusal.
Act Three
Outside the holosuite in Quark's, Dax presses the matter: ultimately, Kang does not have the right to deny her vengeance against the Albino, who killed Dax's godson. Angrily, Kang agrees to allow her along, storming, "come and be damned!"
As Dax packs in her quarters, Commander Sisko arrives to preemptively deny her a leave of absence, telling her that he cannot condone murder in the name of vengeance, nor can he understand why Jadzia feels the need to do so to honor a commitment Curzon made. Dax tells him that Curzon is a part of her, and Curzon understood and embraced the Klingon concepts of honor and vengeance. When Dax begs him not to make her disobey a direct order, Sisko does not prevent her from leaving, but warns her that she shouldn't expect to just return to the station like nothing has happened. Dax responds that the consequences she faces are up to him.
Act Four
Aboard Kang's ship, on the way to the Albino's hideaway, the Klingons and Jadzia discuss their strategy. Kang advocates a surprise frontal assault on the compound's main gate. His intelligence indicates that the Albino only has forty guards, and the shock and awe of their appearance will give them a decisive advantage. Koloth and Kor endorse the plan and march out of the room triumphantly to sharpen their blades but Dax stays to confront Kang. Unlike them, she can see that the plan is suicide, and demands to know what Kang is really up to. In fact, she says, if she didn't know better, she'd think Kang had been paid to lure them into a trap.
Kang admits that when he first learned the Albino's location, he visited the system to see if it was true, and was contacted by the Albino. The Albino offered Kang a "glorious" battle against forty of the Albino's best warriors and Kang accepted, believing that if he could not kill the Albino, he could die trying.
Believing that Klingons embrace death too easily, Dax urges him to consider an alternative strategy. Kang insists that the Albino's defenses cannot be penetrated by the four of them, and victory is impossible. But Dax has the idea of disabling the guards' phasers, by reconfiguring the ship's disruptors to bombard the compound from orbit with tetryon particles. The resulting dampening field will disable any energy weapons inside. Although the Klingons will likewise be unable to use their hand disruptors, they will have a significant advantage over the guards in hand-to-hand combat. Kang agrees, saying, "perhaps it is a good day to live."
Act Five
Kor
After beaming down to Secarus IV, Dax scans the area with her tricorder and detects a gravitic mine buried inside the main entrance: the Albino obviously never intended to keep his bargain with Kang. On the other hand, the booby-trap gives them the advantage, since the Albino will be focusing his defenses on the main gate. The four of them quickly work out an alternate plan of attack: Dax will create a diversion by sabotaging the compound's armory, drawing a fair amount of the guards away from the main house, while the Klingons disable the power station, knocking out the Albino's communications and scanners.
However, Kor points out that if the Albino lied to Kang about facing him down honorably, he might not be in the compound, or even on the planet. Koloth tells everyone to wait for a few minutes while he goes and asks somebody. The others wonder if he's gone insane, but sure enough, he comes back a few minutes later, having stealthily ambushed a "very helpful" guard, who has confirmed the Albino's presence. The four warriors prepare to split up to fulfill their roles in the attack, and Kang locks hands with his fellow Klingons: "May Kahless guide us on this day of vengance!" After a moment's hesitation, Dax puts her hand on the others'.
When the armory explodes, the Albino realizes that his trap has been outmaneuvered. Before he can order his guards to draw back into the house, the power station is sabotaged, leaving him trapped inside his main hall with his Markalian aide and only a few guards, with no way to signal the others and no functioning phasers. The Klingons and Dax storm into the hall and fight his guards hand-to-hand. Koloth is mortally wounded when a guard stabs him in the back, while Kang fights his way up the stairs through to the Albino.
The Albino manages to mortally wound Kang, but turns to find Dax's bat'leth at his throat. She introduces herself as the former Curzon Dax, and he smirks that she doesn't have it in her to murder him, alluding to the traditional consuming of the enemy's heart once they have been slain. She hesitates, and meanwhile Kang stabs his knife into the Albino's back. He falls to the bottom of the stairs to his death. On the surface, he thanks Dax for the act of friendship in "letting" him have the death blow, but the knowing eyes between long friends hints at the deeper reality: that Kang has saved Jadzia from being forced to make the decision to kill the Albino. Kang utters, "It is a good day to die," before dying. Dax murmurs sadly, "It's never a good day to lose a friend." The only Klingon left standing, Kor, sings in honor of his fallen comrades, as he stands over the body of the dead Albino.
Dax returns to the station and resumes her post; however, it is clear from the looks of both Kira and Sisko that they may not be able to regard her the same way again.
Memorable quotes
"Shut off the power."
"He'll kill you!"
"No, he said he'll kill you – shut it off."
- Odo and Quark, evicting a drunken Kor from the holosuite
"How did you get in here?"
"I am Koloth."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes, it does."
- Odo and Koloth, in Odo's office
"I do not go into battle with one whose honor is washed away in Breshtanti ale... Keep him!"
- Koloth, seeing the drunken Kor
"Security reassignments, major. Sorry it took so long; it's been a Klingon afternoon.
"A Klingon afternoon?"
"Every time Klingons visit the station I wind up with a Klingon afternoon – but this is definitely one I'll cherish forever."
- Odo and Kira
"I don't have to tell you what this oath meant to Curzon."
"Jadzia Dax took an oath, too, when she joined Starfleet. You're subject to orders, Lieutenant."
"Don't do it, Benjamin. Don't make me disobey a direct order!"
- Jadzia Dax and Benjamin Sisko
"This is a mistake! Kang must not have known..."
"Ah, but what a beautiful mistake!"
- Koloth and Kor, referring to Dax's new identity as Jadzia
"Is Kang coming?"
"Of course he's coming; he's brought the four of us together after 81 years!"
"Could it possibly mean that he's..."
"Yes... that is exactly what it means: I have found The Albino."
- Dax, Kor, and Kang
"This time, we will reach the Albino! And when we do, I will cut his heart out and eat it, while he watches me with his dying breath!"
- Kang
"The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations, I walked out on you, right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody had ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did."
"I almost killed Curzon that day."
- Dax and Kang
"You've said to yourself, 'Every new life for a Trill has to be a new life'! If not, you'd wind up paying off old debts forever. These Klingons can't possibly expect you to keep this oath!"
"No, they don't... that's just it! They say I have no obligation to them... but I do! I know it – I feel it!... if not to them, then to Curzon."
- Kira and Dax, regarding the blood oath
"Quark, you devious little Ha'DIbaH! Bring wine."
- Kor
"There is tension on your face, Koloth! You ought to drink more."
- Kor
"Of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing; a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!"
- Kor, to Dax
"Wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find out if he's inside."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"I'll ask somebody!"
- Koloth, offering a simple solution, and Kor wondering if he's gone mad
"May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance!"
- Kang, before the Klingons storm the Albino's compound
"Look upon your executioners, killer of children!"
- Kang
"That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang."
- Kor, after Dax tells Kang about the mine
"I was right, Dax. It is a good day to die."
"It's never a good day to lose a friend."
- Kang's dying words to Dax
