Federation Relations with the Klingon Empire
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[edit] First Contact
In April 2151, humans made first contact with the Klingon Empire, when a ship containing Klaang, a Klingon on the run from the Suliban, crashlanded in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Klaang was shot by a local farmer, but survived to be treated by Dr. Phlox, who was working for Starfleet Medical.
The Vulcans advised Starfleet Command to kill Klaang, but Admiral Maxwell Forrest decided that Captain Jonathan Archer and the newly launched Enterprise (NX-01) would transport Klaang back to Qo'noS, in an attempt to establish relations with the Klingons.
Despite an attempt by the Suliban to capture Klaang, Enterprise succeeded in getting Klaang back to Qo'noS, where he completed his mission to have the Klingon Chancellor draw blood from him, allowing scientists to find data about the Suliban threat to the Empire encoded in his DNA. (ENT episode: "Broken Bow")
[edit] An Uneasy Peace (2151 to 2223)
Throughout the 2150s the Enterprise had several dealings with the Klingons. In 2152, the Enterprise stops the Klingons from bullying the inhabitants and hoarding deuterium from a mining colony. (ENT episode: "Marauders") Later that year, Captain Archer stood trial for conspiring against the Empire on Narendra III. Archer was sentenced to life imprisonment to the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe. However, Archer was rescued by Subcommander T'Pol and the Enterprise crew. (ENT episode: "Judgment")
Between the 2160s and 2210s, contact between the new United Federation of Planets and the Empire was sporadic, as the Federation was more concerned with the aftermath of the Earth-Romulan War.
In 2218, the Federation decided to try and re-establish contact with the Klingons, and sent the USS Sentry to meet with Klingon representatives aboard the IKV Devisor. (TOS novel: The Final Reflection) The meeting did not go well, however, and several weeks later the USS Ranger was destroyed by Klingon forces while conducting a first contact mission to Agbar IV. (RPG reference: Starfleet Operations Manual)
Over the next 5 years the Klingons launch several sneak attacks on Federation starships, but the biggest and most daring sneak attack was on the Ardan IV colony in 2223. (RPG: Last Unicorn).
[edit] Rising Tensions (2223 to 2267)
Following the attack on Ardan IV, hostilities increased between the two powers, with more and more skirmishes every year. In 2228, the USS Bastion was engaged by five Klingon vessels near the Mutara Nebula. The Bastion managed to destroy all five vessels, but unfortunately, the ship exploded due to the extensive damage. (RPG reference: Starfleet Operations Manual)
[edit] The Reflective Game
Despite the increased skirmishing, the Federation was able to send its first ambassador to the Klingon High Council, Dr. Emanuel Tagore, in 2227.
- (other events from The Final Reflection to be added)
In the 2230s and 2240s Klingon attacks on Federation colonies became more and more commonplace, with the attack on Omus II (2239) and Bandek's Planet (2241), the most vicious. (RPG reference: Starfleet Operations Manual)
[edit] The Battle of Donatu (2244)
The rising tensions between the Federation and the Empire reached boiling point in 2244, when the Klingons launched an attack on the Federation colony on Donatu V. Only one Federation starship was in the system at the time, the Icarus-class USS Endeavour, which was on a resupply mission.
The Endeavor was quickly overwhelmed and boarded by the superior Klingon forces. Before the Endeavor was boarded, they managed to get a distress call to the USS Yorkshire, another Icarus-class vessel. When the Yorkshire arrived in the Donatu system, the starship managed to inflict some damage on the Klingon fleet. As a result the Klingon commander ordered that the Endeavor 's crew be executed by flushing them into space out of airlocks, in the hopes that it would draw the Yorkshire into lowering their shields and transporting the victims aboard.
Things looked bleak for the two Federation starships, with Klingon reinforcements on the way, but the tide turned when Admiral Walter M. Jefferies arrived on the Constitution-class prototype USS Constitution. Although the Constitution had no functional weapons systems, its deflector shields were much more powerful than the Yorkshire. So the two ships ran in tandem with the Yorkshire firing on the Klingon ships, and hiding in the Constitutions shields.
There was no victor at the battle, the Klingons withdrew, and the Yorkshire and the Constitution were severely damaged, while the Endeavor was lost. While the Federation considered the matter over, the Klingons viewed this as a focal point of hatred against the Federation, and begin plotting their revenge. (TOS novels: Killing Blow, River of Blood, Seeds of Rage)
[edit] The Cold War (2244 to 2267)
The Battle of Donatu came as a wake-up call to the Federation, as they began to realise that the Klingons were a serious threat to them. Although the Constitution class was to be a flagship for science and exploration, Starfleet began to work on weapons upgrades for this class, as well as developing new classes of starship that would defend the Federation, including the Saladin-class and Surya-class.
Similarly, the Klingons were working on upgrading and improving their own military, with the introduction of the D7-class a rival to Starfleet's Constitution-class.
Skirmishes between the two powers were still common place throughout the 2240s and 2250s, most notably in October 2246 when an attack on the USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Robert April, by Commander Kor, delayed urgently needed supplies reaching Tarsus IV, resulting in the death of 4,000 colonists at the hands of Governor Kodos. (TOS short story: "Though Hell Should Bar the Way")
Despite the tensions between the two powers, both signed the Seldonis IV Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war in 2248.
In 2251, a rare early example of the two powers working together begun. The Klingons had exiled many M'tachtar prisoners to an uninhabited planet in the Klingon Neutral Zone. In a secret agreement with Starfleet, both a Federation starship and a Klingon warship are to check the planet sporadically. The first starship to do so is the USS Republic, under the command of Captain Rollin Bannock. The Republic delivered forcefield barriers and surveillance equipment to the planet. (Republic novel: Enterprise)
Mutual hatred and fear of the Federation led the Klingons to found a colony on Chal in 2253, along with the Romulan Star Empire. The inhabitants of Chal were genetically engineered to survive the aftermath of any war, and flourish in total destruction. (TOS novel: The Ashes of Eden)
In 2262, a skirmish occurred between Federation and Klingon vessels in a wide expanse of space claimed by both sides. (RPG reference: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update)
The president of Kobax VI was assassinated in 2263 by a covert Klingon agent as a precursor to invasion of the Federation planet. The invasion is deterred when order is quickly restored and the identity of the assassin uncovered. (RPG reference: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update)
In 2265, the Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, proceeds to the prison planet of the M'tachtar with Admiral Ellen Mangione aboard. On the planet the landing party was ambushed and the M'tachtar managed to take control of the Enterprise. Qadar, leader of the M'tachtar, had half of the crew beamed down to the prison planet, and then set course for Qo'noS to meet with Emperor Grannoch.
Captain Kirk and a small party managed to escape from the Enterprise and are rescued by the IKS Doj, under the command of Commander Kang. Kang allows Kirk an hour to regain control of the Enterprise, which he succeeded with, and the M'tachtar were returned to Qo'noS for execution. (TOS novel: Enterprise)
Later that year, a serious skirmish broke out involving heavy casualties suffered by both Federation and Klingon forces. This incident was regarded as the prelude to imminent war between the two powers. (RPG reference: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update)
[edit] War and Peace (2266 to 2293)
[edit] Prelude to War (2266 to 2267)
By late 2266, war between the Federation and the Klingons, was deemed inevitable by Ambassador Robert Fox. After months of negotiations, a stalemate had been reached, and Fox warned Admiral Robert Justman and Lieutenant West of Starfleet Command that war was only seven months away.
The Klingons increased their readiness for the coming war by increasing the number of agents in Klingon space. One of their key missions was to kill Captain Kirk, who would take a key role in the coming war. To do this, Agent Kell was surgically altered and took the role of Starfleet security officer, Jon Anderson and placed him aboard the Enterprise. Other agents were also placed in Starfleet Command with orders to assassinate Admiral Justman and other key command personnel.
As well as fighting a stealth war, the Klingons also made an agreement with the Orions. (TOS novel: The Edge of the Sword)
- More to come.
[edit] Friends and Foes (2267 to 2284)
- Details from "Errand of Mercy", "Friday's Child" and First Strike, The Case of the Colonist's Corpse, "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Day of the Dove", Treaty's Law and The Rings of Tautee.
[edit] Pawns of the Gods (2285)
- Details from The Wormhole Connection, The Only Good Klingon, Errand of War, and Deadly Allies.
[edit] The Genesis Incident (2285)
[edit] Target: Kirk (2286 to 2293)
Details from second DC Comic TOS series, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and In the Name of Honor.
[edit] Uneasy Allies (2293 to 2373)
[edit] Aftermath of Praxis and the Undiscovered Country (2293 to 2344)
- Details from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Ashes of Eden, The Last Roundup, and The Art of the Impossible.
[edit] Debt of Honor (2344 to 2372)
- Details from TNG (Esp. "Yesterday's Enterprise", and how close it came to going in a different direction)
[edit] The Way of the Warrior (2372 to 2373)
- Details from DS9 Seasons 4 and 5
