Malkus Artifacts

The 'Malkus Artifacts were four sinister devices designed by the alien known as Aidulac for the mad tyrant, Malkus of the ancient Zalkat Union over 10,000 years ago. Legends claim that Malkus ruled for over 1,000 years using the artifacts.

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 essense 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' riegn on the world Beta Aurigae VII. This discovery led to the eventual establishement 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 inflicts a plague, was discovered in 2266 on the planet Beta Proxima. An emergency situation arose as the Artifacts discoverer, one Tomisina Laubenthal, unleashed the plague upon the world's population. The situation resolved, and the artifact recovered, by Commodore [[Matthew Decker of the USS Constellation and Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A).

The telekinetic artifact was discovered in 2370 on one of the moons of Bajor by the terrorist Orta, who tried to use it to actually align Bajor's moons in order to facilitate an ancient prophecy.

The weather controling 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 againt the Maquis enemies, and was finally stopped by efforts from both members of his Maquis cell, and Captain Robert DeSoto of the USS Hood.

The final artifact was discovered in 2376 on the world of Narendra III by a Klingon sculpter 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 IKS Gorkon and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) to break Malkus' hold over Narendra, and deactivate the artifacts.

The artifacts are kept in safekeeping at the Rector Institute on Earth.