Start recording.

So… There I am.

I die with honor

Everyone else fled. Cowards. They’re afraid to face the Federation. How dare they call themselves Klingon? I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen. They stabbed me with a d’ktagh, and left me to die. Figures. I guess some of them thought it was poetic justice…

I will probably die soon, but at least I still stand by my master, M’Tang. I die with honour. Still, if only I could have died in battle…

This datarod won’t just hold this recording… it also holds all the information about the Empty House, M’Tang and the cloning research, should show exactly what happened. Hopefully someone else can continue my work, so that the Empty House won’t be destroyed forever. While our propaganda might say otherwise, I fear this is a very real possibility.

Let me start at the beginning. I am Mar’zeth, M’Tang’s chief scientist. I was the one who perfected the cloning procedure. I’ve made a total of six clones of our beloved leader, but they’re all dead now. The USS Malta, and Captain Sophie Johnson, got in the way. Damn that woman. To think I actually cloned her too, one time… I should have killed the original when I had the chance.

I’ve experimented with other subjects too: I once had access to the DNA of the entire USS Gibraltar crew. I’ve even cloned Captain McMillan. There was something wrong with that clone though… something wrong with the DNA. So I abandoned that research. I always blamed it on the Borg technology I used to work with, but… ah well, at least I learned a thing or two. It’s all here, on this datarod. All my research.

All of my accomplishments might have been in vain, though. If the Federation have indeed learned the location of this moon, then there will be Starfleet soldiers here soon. Unfortunately, the self destruct mechanism isn’t working: too much power is needed to keep M’Tang – the original one – alive. Without him, there wouldn’t be any of the M’Tang clones.

Truth be told, we always knew that this moment could come. That was why we started talks with the Romulans. They were interested in the cloning technology, and in return they gave us some advanced cloaking technology. But… argh, I still don’t know what went wrong, exactly. All I know was that at one moment, I was forced to kill their representative. Good riddance too. I never liked that woman. Always bragging that she was important or something. I won’t mourn for her.

Wait… what’s that? Computer, report?

…

A Starfleet strike force

Ah great. Apparently, a Starfleet strike force beamed to the surface. With only limited power available, I can’t activate any of the automated defense systems. Still, we’re hidden pretty well. There’s very little chance they can find a way into the base.

…

Unbelievable. They are more resourceful than I had thought. They are coming this way, that much is certain. I cannot stop them… I barely have any strength left. It is up to M’Tang. He must… he must stop them. Or the Empty House will fall.

I hope that whomever finds this recording, will continue my research. Much of it, is located on this datarod. I will hide the rod on my person, so that Starfleet won’t find it. Whatever happens, they must not be allowed to uncover all the secrets of the Empty House.

I feel the life slipping away from me. I won’t hold out much longer. M’Tang must live… the Empty House must survive. Nothing… is more… important… *coughs violently*

Wait… I… I hear something…

…

Captain Sophie Johnson quesstions Mar’zeth

The datarod records everything that happens next. Captain Sophie Johnson and the crew of the USS Malta arrive, questioning Mar’zeth. The Klingon tries to resist, but ultimately succumbs to the Malta Captain’s questions. Mar’zeth finally lets out his last breath of air, and slumps to the ground, his soul in its way to Sto’vo’kor… or Grethor.

But while the Klingon scientist is dead, the datarod keeps recording. It records the Malta crew recovering the body of a fallen Romulan female, who appears to be a member of the Romulan imperial family. It records the final confrontation between Sophie Johnson and the last, original version of M’Tang. And it records Johnson shooting the evil, insane Klingon three times: once for the Malta crew, once for Captain McMillan and once for Commodore Braveheart.

The datarod records M’Tang’s storagetank exploding in a burst of fire. Now that the energy isn’t needed to keep it active anymore, the self destruct sequence is re-activated. As the Malta crew race to get to safety, the datarod keeps recording… until the entire moon explodes.

But the datarod is built to last. With the dead body of Mar’zeth protecting it from the worst of the blast, it survives the initial explosion, only to be thrown away by the force. As the moon explodes around it, chunks of debris keep on barely missing it. Miraculously, it survives, and begins its long, long journey through space… until someone finds it. It might be days, it might be centuries… but one day, someone will find it. And when that day comes, that someone will have all of Mar’zeth’s and M’Tang’s cloning data at their disposal, along with all the information the Empty House was able to gather…