PLANETOID
Rura Penthe
Captain James T. Kirk, Doctor Leonard McCoy, and Martia on the surface of Rura Penthe.
Full name:	Rura Penthe
Alternate name:	The Alien's Graveyard
Affiliation:	Klingon Empire
Location:	Beta Penthe star system, Beta Quadrant
Dominant Species:	Klingon

Rura Penthe is a dilithium-rich asteroid used as a penal colony by the Klingon Empire. As the extremely low surface temperature of Rura Penthe makes it uninhabitable by most life forms, the mines are located underground. This "Gulag" is known the galaxy over as "The Alien's Graveyard".

Life in the penal colony is extremely harsh, with few prisoners surviving more than a year. Therefore, a sentence to the mines of Rura Penthe is one of the most feared punishments throughout the galaxy, often said to be worse than death. The penal colony has no stockade, guard tower or electronic frontier. It only has a magnetic shield that extends over a significant part of the planet's surface, preventing beaming. As well as its warden's animals resembling both a Klingon targ and Terran sabre-tooth tiger. The most common form of punishment given to prisoners is banishment to the freezing surface, where they don't survive for long. One of the prison's commandants in the late 23rd century made a point of banishing at least one troublemaker each time that new prisoners arrived, so that they would know from the start the penalty for working badly or disobeying the rules.

At some point after he delivered his information to the Klingon High Council in 2151, Klaang was sentenced to life at Rura Penthe to his being dishonored by being saved by humans. (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)

The only known escapes from Rura Penthe are Earth Starfleet Captain Jonathan Archer in 2152, and Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Leonard McCoy in 2293. (ENT episode: "Judgment"; TOS movie: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

In 2371, the Warden of Rura Penthe was involved in a plot to assassinate Chancellor Gowron. In turn, the warden was assassinated by agents of the Klingon Honor Guard. (TNG video game: Klingon Honor Guard)

In the year 2381, the Borg laid siege to Rura Penthe during their blitz of Federation, Romulan, and Klingon space. (Star Trek: Destiny novel: Lost Souls)

Alternate realityEdit

In 2233 of an alternate reality, the Narada sat crippled near Klingon space and soon attracted the attention of the Klingons. A fleet led by Captain Kor of the IKS Klothos attacked. The Narada's crew did their best to repel the Klingons, but despite killing many could not hold back the stronger Klingon force. The Narada's crew was detained on Rura Penthe, while the Narada was put in orbit above. (TOS comic: "Nero, Number One")

Twenty-five years later in 2258 the Narada's crew escaped Rura Penthe and reclaimed the Narada, destroying forty-seven Klingon warbirds in the process. (TOS novelization: Star Trek)

External linkEdit

• Rura Penthe article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.