Praxis

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Praxis (Klingonese: pIraqSIS) was a moon of Qo'noS.

For many years, the Klingons used the molten core of Praxis to provide the Empire with energy. The Klingons were noted as the first people to test such a procedure and their work was duplicated by the Bajorans who tapped their moon of Jeraddo to provide a similar source of energy for Bajor. (DS9 - Millennium novel: The Fall of Terok Nor)

In 2293 over-mining and insufficient safety precautions led to the destruction of Praxis in a massive explosion. The shockwave from the explosion damaged Qo'noS's ozone layer, and the remains of the moon formed an asteroid belt around Qo'noS which threatened all life on the Klingon homeworld. Klingon scientists estimated Qo'noS would not be able to support life just thirty-four years after the disaster and the Federation predicted the fall of the Klingon Empire within fifty years as a result. (TOS movie: The Undiscovered Country; TOS novel: Sarek; TOS comic: "The Order of Things")

The devastation also opened a political rift within the Empire, half of the High Council favoured a typical Klingon response of striking out to take whatever the Empire needed to recover from the disaster. However the other half, led by the Chancellor, Gorkon, suggested requesting aid from the Federation to help the Empire repair the damage. The Council finally decided in favour of Gorkon's plans and opened peace talks with the Federation. (TOS comics: "Against Their Nature", "Losses"; TOS movie: The Undiscovered Country)

[edit] Mirror universe

In the mirror universe, starting in 2289, Praxis was the sight of a secret facility used to construct special Birds-of-Prey which could fire torpedoes while cloaked. To power the production, and the cloaking field that kept it hidden from Terran spy arrays the energy production on Praxis was tripled.

Four years later, in 2293 Praxis exploded, causing massive ecological damage to Qo'noS: toxic elements from Praxis' crust began to break down the atmosphere and contaminate water supplies, threatening the end to higher-order lifeforms within fifty years. Additionally seventy percent of the population were inflicted with deadly xenocerium poisoning.

However unlike the regular universe the incident did not inspire peace between the Klingons and Humans, despite an offer from Emperor Spock to provide medical and scientific assistance. Instead the Klingons formed an alliance with the Cardassians and a few years later conquered the Terran Republic, using the fleet of modified Birds-of-Prey begun at Praxis. (TOS novel: The Sorrows of Empire)

It seems probable the ecological effects of the Praxis explosion in the mirror universe will have been the same in the regular universe. It is also possible the cause - over taxation of the moon for the secret production of modified Birds-of-Prey - was the same, or similar, in both continuums.

In an alternate version of the Mirror Universe, Praxis was destroyed by Klingon terrorists in 2293, in an attempt to create chaos among the Terran colonists residing on the surface of Qo'noS. (ST roleplay module: Through a Glass, Darkly)

[edit] External link

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