Malkus Artifacts
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The Malkus Artifacts (also known as Instruments of Malkus or Instruments of Power) were four sinister devices designed by the alien known as Aidulac for the mad tyrant, Malkus of the ancient Zalkat Union over 90,000 years ago. Legends claim that Malkus ruled for over 1,000 years using the artifacts. Aidulac designed the artifacts to be completely indestructible and immune to the ravages of time. Indeed, after 90,000 years, only one of the artifacts showed even the smallest damage.
Upon Malkus' eventual defeat millennia ago, those who came into possession of the artifacts decided that if the artifacts couldn't be destroyed, they should be separated to the four winds of the Alpha Quadrant.
There were four artifacts, each with a specific power. One had the ability to unleash a deadly plague upon a population, one was used to control a planet's weather, one was a powerful telekinetic energy weapon, and the last artifact allowed Malkus vast mind-control powers over his subjects. All four objects also had the ability to "imprint" itself upon any persons in the vicinity of an energy pulse it would release if deactivated. This pulse would allow Malkus' living essence to later dominate those imprinted.
The first discovery of the artifacts' existence came in the year 2151, when the crew of the Enterprise (NX-01) discovered a "chronicle" of Malkus' reign on the world Beta Aurigae VII. This discovery led to the eventual establishment of Starfleet's General Order 16, which required that any object that matched the artifacts' energy signature be confiscated by Starfleet.
The first of the artifacts, the one that inflicted a deadly plague, was discovered in 2266 on the planet Beta Proxima. An emergency situation arose as the artifact's discoverer, one Tomasina Laubenthal, unleashed the plague upon the world's population. The situation was resolved, and the artifact recovered, by Commodore Matthew Decker of the USS Constellation and Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and their respective Chief medical officers.
The telekinetic artifact was discovered in 2370 on one of the moons of Bajor by the Bajoran terrorist Orta, who tried to use it to actually align Bajor's moons in order to facilitate an ancient Bajoran prophecy. This situation was resolved by Colonel Kira Nerys of starbase Deep Space 9 and Captain Declan Keogh of the USS Odyssey.
The weather-controlling artifact was discovered in 2371 in the Demilitarized Zone by the Andorian member of the Maquis know as Tharia ch'Ren Tharia used the artifact in a brutal vendetta against the Maquis' enemies, and was finally stopped by efforts from both members of his own Maquis cell (including former and future Starfleet officer Chakotay, and under-cover Starfleet officer Tuvok of Vulcan), and Captain Robert DeSoto of the USS Hood.
The final artifact was discovered in 2376 on the world of Narendra III by a Klingon sculptor named J'lang. This artifact housed Malkus' consciousness, and he summoned all of those that had been imprinted upon the artifacts. It took the combined efforts of the crews of the IKS Gorkon and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) to break Malkus' hold over Narendra and deactivate the artifacts.
The artifacts are kept at the Rector Institute on Earth.
[edit] Sources
- Star Trek novels The Brave and the Bold, Books One and Two.
