 |
The Klingon Empire |
First Contact with the
Federation: 2215
Home planet: QuoŽnos
Planet class: M
AGE OF EXPANSION OF EMPIRE
The development of primitive warp technology led to an explosive expansion of the Klingon Empire. They found many planets in the next few years, some with indigenous populations, some without, and conquered all of them in the name of the Klingon Empire. It was during this time that the concept of kuve and the fact of the Klingon race became incompatible. Other races were now considered kuve and Klingons were the rightful masters of all. One of the most revered figures of this time is Kahless. Kahless was a captain of a Klingon expansion vessel and was a brilliant warrior and a student of Kang the Seer. Unlike many Klingons who only gave Kang lip service, Kahless was a true student, a fact reflected in his many conquests. In their journeying in the stars, Klingons found several races that had also developed star travel technology. In their conquest of these worlds, Klingons faced many battles among the stars. Kahless was recognized at his time and is still studied as one of the most brilliant strategists of his time. He never took an unfair advantage of an opponent, yet was undefeated until 2125. Kahless was also a philosopher of sorts, and his personal logs are studied today as a marvelous commentary on the thoughts of Kang the Seer. One of Kahless' most well-known sayings regards the lip-service so often given to Kang. He realized that many people still used treachery as a weapon and had no scruples about honor, as long as they won. Kahless warned himself in his log, "Watch your back. Friends may become enemies in less time than it takes to draw a dagger." Kahless should have paid more attention to his own advice. In 2125, K'ashked, the Klingon Emperor, grew concerned at the popularity Kahless was achieving. He knew that Kahless was descended from the same Kamorh'dag stock that produced Kapek and Kang the Seer and thus, Kahless had a rather weak claim on the throne that could be raised through Jha Jook. He sought to rid himself of this threat and was able to recruit the services of several young Klingon captains who were currying Imperial favor. He sent three of these young captains to the edges of the Empire to murder Kahless. That far from the homeworld, he thought, no one would ever know what happened. If the three were lost, he could name them rebels and name Kahless a hero again and worry later about getting rid of him. However, if Kahless lost, which was likely given the power which he sent against the captain, he could claim that Kahless was the traitor and that he intended to wrest the throne from K'ashked and possibly foment a Civil War. What the Emperor did not know was that Kahless regularly sent letters containing log entries he had made to his consort back on Klinzai. Kahless' last log entry was never received, but his first officer knew about the consort and sent her an account of Kahless' last battle. Kahless was always known as an honorable man, but his honor and bravery were accentuated by the way that he saved his crew during this final battle. None of them wanted to leave the ship, but they could not disobey a direct order from the captain. Kahless bound his arm to his command chair and ordered his first officer to conduct the crew to safety. Thus no one could say that he had left his command chair or that another had been in the chair at the ship's death. All of the crew escaped, and K'ashked committed another grievous error by not ordering the captains to kill them. The Emperor was concerned at the blood feuds that would develop had he had the entire crew killed. Since Kahless' parents had both died without any more offspring and since he did not discover the consort, he though himself safe from feuds from that direction. Although nothing was ever proven, K'ashked was removed as emperor, through the process of qIchQagh, a modified holdover from ancient times when emperors were killed and he died a resentful old man without power. The phrase KahlessDaj ghop, or Kahlesste kaase in the speech of the chDogan region that Kahless came from, is still used today to honor a Klingon who takes the destiny of himself and others in hand and manipulates it to his own uses in a memorable and honorable way.
FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN THE FEDERATION AND THE KLINGON EMPIRE
By 2215, Klingons had developed technology capable of maintaining warp 4. It was in this year that the Imperial Klingon Vessel Devisor met up with the Federation ship Sentry. This was before the Federation had instituted the Prime Directive and the Federation agents who were received by the Klingon Emperor tried to change the fabric of the Klingon society. The Klingon emperor of the time was a strong believer in the philosophies of Kang and Kahless and was a man who had lost 10 sons to treachery and backstabbing courtiers. He agreed with the Federation and tried to help them change Klingon society. The Klin Underground rose again from a group of Klingons who did not agree with the Emperor's plans and blamed the Federation for the turn of events. In 2220, General Kagga, leader of the Klin Underground, led an abortive coup attempt against the Emperor. The Emperor failed to recognize the true motives of the Underground and believed that they only felt he was moving too quickly. In an attempt to placate them he granted a partial victory to General Kagga. The Emperor decreed that, although he was forced to kill Kagga for his presumption, he would permit Kagga to sit on the throne and rule for "the 20th part of one day." He considered this "a grand end move of the komerex zha" and completely honorable. However, Kagga pulled a final coup and topped the Emperor's end move by having the Imperial crown "branded, on the flesh around his skull." This endmove and counter made Kagga a martyr for his cause. The Klin Underground gained more popularity than it had ever enjoyed. The Klingon people saw their Emperor as weak and considered it a by-product of his dealings with the Federation. In 2225, Keth Kazar, leader of the Klin Underground, assassinated the Emperor. Keth, coming as he did from a lineless family that had only with the advent of the galactic empire ceased to be considered kuve, was not eligible for the Jha Jook, and assassination was his only option. He was only 20 when he took the leadership into his own hands and he lived another 65 years, a remarkable longevity for a Klingon, whose normal lifespans are on the order of only 50 Standard years. Citing his advanced age and his desire to influence the lives of his grandchildren, he stepped down in 2280 at the age of 75 and for the next 10 years was advisor to his nephew Kang. Keth the Ruthless, as he became known, took imperishable gold as his crown and at his coronation, had the Federation ambassadors killed for entertainment. This began an intense human-style war with the Federation in which the Empire learned that for all their soft looking exterior, humans have sharp teeth. This war lasted until 2240 and finally ended in a treaty which established the neutral zone. In 2265, war broke out again between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. However, this war was abruptly ended by the power of the Organians. In 2268, Keth was approached by the Federation regarding the establishment of the planet Nimbus III. The Federation wanted to establish a planet mutually ruled by both their governments as an experiment in working together instead of always warring. Keth was able to talk the Federation into including the Romulan Empire in their grand scheme. Keth's personal logs show that his actual intentions were quite different from the smiling face he presented to the Federation. Keth assumed that since the Klingon Empire already had a alliance with the Romulan Empire, the two of them could easily subjugate the settlers on Nimbus III. Then it would only be a matter of subjugating the Romulan commander. Finally, those subjects of each Empire caught on the planet could be sold back to their respective governments at the price of military secrets. Unfortunately, Keth's plan didn't work because the Klingon and Romulan agents were unable to work together. By the time Keth's nephew Kang came to power in 2280, assignment to Nimbus III, or "The Planet of Galactic Peace" as it came to be called by the Federation, was considered an intense punishment for a commander.
KANG THE MERCIFUL AND THE IMPERIAL RACE
In 2270, Keth's nephew Kang began consolidating his power and learning his future role as Emperor. Kang grew into another Klingon visionary, but in 2267 when he first encountered the Federation captain James T. Kirk, he was still caught in the Klingon web of distrust of the Federation that his uncle had helped weave. However, Kang's experiences on the USS Enterprise began the process by which he learned that the Federation was not his mortal enemy. Kang's ship encountered a distress call from a planet that he later learned was only a trap set by a creature that fed on hate. When he first arrived on the planet, he found Captain Kirk of the Enterprise and immediately blamed him for the loss of a Klingon colony that never existed. Kirk tricked Kang and had him put under guard on the Enterprise. When Kang's ship was about to blow up, Kirk saved what members of the crew that he could, even though they were all placed under guard on the Enterprise. Eventually, Kang and his crew escaped and began skirmishing in what could have turned into an interminable war with the Federation crew. Kang and Kirk finally discovered what was actually causing all the strange events and the trouble. After that, Kirk repatriated Kang and his crew. Upon his return to the Empire, Kang was relieved of his command for six months as punishment for being caught. Those six months gave him time to think about his uncle's view of the Federation and how it contrasted with what he saw on the Enterprise. Upon her return upon the Enterprise, Kang's consort Mara, who also was on the Enterprise, saw that the stories fed to the Klingon people about the Federation were untrue. She realized all of Kang's crew was well-treated aboard Kirk's ship. These events made her realize that there was no purpose served by the cold war with the Federation and she began to adamantly believe that immediate negotiations would be beneficial to both governments. She formed an underground movement on her homeworld, Pineli. She also bore Kang's son, Aethelnor, without Kang's knowledge and kept him hidden from the future-emperor for several years, eventually using him in a plan to get Kang to talk to the Federation. In 2275 when the Klingons faced a blight and a severe famine, Kang kidnaped the Federation agent Jean Czerny. With her help and the hearty new Czerny strain of quadrotriticale, Kang solved the crisis and began to see the truth in the words of Kang the Seer. It was also at this time that he learned about his son. Aethelnor spent part of his early years in the Federation and this unique upbringing, straddled between the two superpowers, also contributed to the growing understanding between the two peoples. Kang the Merciful, as he became known, was a student of Kang the Seer and of Kahless. Kang ascended to the throne in 2280 and chose gold and sliver for his crown. He chose these metals for many reasons, chief among them the fact that he was beginning to feel that different peoples could, in fact, work together and draw something from the differences between them. Under his rule an understanding of the Federation began to come about and many people began to see that the two did not have to be enemies. Unfortunately, even though many people agreed with Kang in his quest to end the cold war between the Empire and the Federation, many more saw their chances for power and glory in battle being lost. It was this group, a bastardized form of the former Klin Underground, that claimed responsibility for assassinating Kang in 2281. Once again, a violent Federation-hating brand of Klingon ruled the Empire. However, this time they were a mutation of the secret eugenics/radiation experiments conducted under Keth. They gave themselves the name Imperial Klingons and began, in 2282, a purge of all Klingons not of the Imperial race.
THE SWIFT WAR
Incomplete Klingon records of this time suggest that the members of the Imperial race of rulers may have been collaborating with the Romulan Empire and fomenting a war. In any case, the Swift war began in 2289. There were many reasons for the outbreak of this war. Klingon excursions and violations against the neutral zone brought had brought Federation retaliation. The Klingon Imperial race would not have admitted to the people that they were, in fact, the ones breaking the treaty and they claimed that the Federation was breaking the treaty and trying to take over the Empire. The Imperial Klingons promised full support of their Ambassador to the Federation's vow in 2286 that "there shall be no peace as long as [Captain James T.] Kirk [of the USS Enterprise] lives!" The rulers also twisted the words of Kang the Seer and Kahless and used them to support their argument in favor of war because they said the Federation was trying to dictate Klingon policy. In truth, the Federation had expressed deep concern, bordering on a violation of their Prime Directive, regarding the purging of the nonImperial race. Regardless of the various causes, the Swift War broke out in 2289. There were many reasons for it's rapidity. One, the seemingly expected Romulan help didn't materialize. Quite possibly, given the apparent Romulan psyche, they were letting the two superpowers fight it out while they sat back and waited to pick up the pieces. Another cause for the rapid end was stubborn Klingon pride. Since one of the reasons for the war was the declaration that Kirk should die, every Klingon considered it the greatest mark of honor if he could be the one to kill Kirk. Despite their trained obedience, many Klingons found themselves disregarding orders when they were in the vicinity of Kirk, hoping for that glorious kill. Unfortunately, the glorious kill was always their death, for Kirk was always quite disciplined when on the bridge of his ship and his cunning was enough to almost qualify him, a human, for the Jha Jook. Even the Emperor was swayed by this pride. Records show that he sent the T'ong, a sleeper ship, out in 2290. The plan was for this ship be scanned as floating space debris and to be ignored. Then the crew would awaken in a year and to attack Kirk from within his own boundaries. Unfortunately, the controls malfunctioned and the ship was not discovered until 2365, ironically, by the USS Enterprise, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Of course, the Klingons would not have believe it if a human told them they were not still at war, so Captain Picard had his Klingon security officer play the role of captain and order the crew of the T'ong home. But the reason given the most credence for the rapidity of the Swift War was the changing attitudes of the Klingon people. Many people who had formerly supported the Imperial race grew disenchanted when the realized the extent of the purging. They feared for their own lives, since the Imperial race was still a minority. They were quite a gifted and talented minority, but a minority nonetheless. Most of the population of Klinzai was of nonImperial stock. These people found in the writings of Kang the Seer, Kahless, and Kang the Merciful the guidance that it took to turn their world around. They began strikes and riots in all the major cities on Klinzai in 2290. By 2291, the Imperial race realized that it couldn't fight a war on two fronts -- in space and at home. They ended the Swift War with the Federation and turned their attention to the problems at home. By this time, however, it was too late. The leaders of the Imperial race were quickly executed. The rank and file, however, were absorbed into the general population upon swearing a vow to follow the teachings of Kang. There was one factor in which the Imperial race was quite superior, though -- genetically. Within five generations the superior genetics of the Imperial race had filtered its way into the majority of the general population. The purges were never considered again because it had become simply too impossible to tell who was Imperial and who was not. During this time, the people turned more and more to the writings of Kang. Many still gave only lip service, but it was gaining more real appeal with the general population.