Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #6!Star Trek has confirmed the awesome potential of an iconic Klingon weapon. A fierce but honorable warrior race, the Klingons have many powerful weapons at their disposal, weapons that are just as brutal as the warriors who wield them. In Star Trek: Defiant #6, the titular crew find themselves caught in the midst of a full-blown uprising on the Klingon home world; all seems lost until one of the Defiant’s crew finds a novel use for one Klingon weapon.
In the issue, the crew of the Defiant have arrived on the Klingon homeworld, which is engulfed in chaos. Emperor Kahless and his fanatical Red Path cult have led an uprising, and the Defiant crew have split up. One contingent, consisting of Doctor Crusher, the Romulan commander Sela and a still-unnamed Orion medic, find themselves in the capital city. As the situation deteriorates around them, Sela wishes to stay hidden, leading to an argument with Doctor Crusher. While the two argue, the Orion medic takes a Klingon painstik she pulled off a Red Path member. She fiddles with it for a second and then throws it into the fires, creating a chemical reaction that wipes out nearby Red Path members and clears the way to the Capitol Building. Star Trek: Defiant #6 is written by Christopher Cantwell, drawn by Angel Unzueta, colored by Marissa Louise and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Klingon Painstiks Are No Joke
In the Star Trek universe, the Klingons are an honorbound warrior race. At times, they have been enemies of the Federation and other times staunch allies. As a species who lives for combat and glory, the Klingons have created a number of awesome and terrifying weapons, such as the disruptor (a far more lethal version of the phaser) as well as the iconic bat’leth blade. Compared to this, the painstik has been considered an afterthought, but here it’s clear that in the right hands, it has untapped potential.
The Painstik Has Destructive Potential the Bat’leth Doesn’t
While not as iconic or as popular as the bat’leth, the Klingon painstik is still a vital part of their culture. Making its debut during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s second season, the painstik is a weapon only a Klingon could make. As the name implies, it is a long stick that when it touches flesh, creates intense pain. Despite its potential as a weapon, it was used for ceremonial purposes during its most memorable appearance; in the episode, Worf underwent the ‘River of Blood’ rite, which involved running a gauntlet of painstiks. It was a ritual befitting the Klingons.
Yet now, 35 years after their debut, the Orion medic shows a powerful new use for the painstiks. She draws on her extensive knowledge of not only Klingon weapons, but also chemistry, and in the process jury-rigs the painstik into effectively a grenade. In the hands of the Orion medic, the painstik moved from a largely ceremonial use to a far more practical one. Whether the Klingons have ever used painstiks in this fashion before is unknown, but this issue demonstrates that there are those in Star Trek‘s universe who know how devastating this weapon can be.
Star Trek: Defiant #6 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!
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