Info
Species Physiology:
Like most humanoids, the essence of the Klingon anatomical form consisted of a head, neck, torso, and four limbs. The most notable physical feature of a Klingon is the pronounced cranial ridges, as well as ridges that went down their chin into their neck which expanded into ridges on their upper chest and shoulders, with less pronounced ridges present on the nose, their sharpened fangs and the protrusion of the spinal column visible from their backs, all features evolved to aid in their warlike nature. Klingon features of the remainder of their bodies are very much like most other Humanoids, with most, although not all of them, possessing darker complections.
Internally, the Klingon anatomy was markedly different from that of other humanoids. There was a great deal more multiple redundancies in their organs, a principle they called brak’lul. This allowed Klingons to survive severe injuries in battle. They had twenty-three ribs, two livers, an eight-chambered heart, three lungs, two urinary tracts, and even redundant neural function as well as multiple stomachs. Some geneticists believed that the extra organs, notably the third lung, evolved to give Klingons greater stamina on the battlefield. Klingons had relatively little knowledge of their own biology and their medicine was very poorly developed.
Culture
Klingon society is extremely complex. Before its decline in the mid-22nd century and again in the late 23rd century, Klingon society was based on a feudal system organized around traditional Great Houses of noble lineage, to which various parts of the population owed fealty. The Great Houses are traditionally represented in the Klingon High Council, which is led by a Chancellor, replacing the heredity leader of Emperor. Sometime after the augment virus took hold of the Klingon Empire, a new regime took control, turning the Empire into an authoritarian state that kept tabs on all who served. The old ways returned in the latter 23rd and early 24th centuries respectively.
Males traditionally dominate public life in the Empire, assuming the leading roles in politics and the military with only rare exceptions. There were three notable exceptions to the prohibition of women serving on the High Council. In 2257 L’Rell rose to High Chancellor and Dennas served on the High Council. The third instance occurred in 2293 when Azetbur became Chancellor of the High Council after her father, Gorkon, was assassinated.
Women traditionally dominated the household and the management of the family’s affairs. Klingon women are treated as equals, except in politics and matters of inheritance. Law prohibits them from serving in the High Council and they cannot take control of their Houses unless they have the money and no male successors of the lineage. Otherwise, Klingon women are expected to exhibit the same physical prowess and lust for blood and honor as the men.
Klingon society functions through a system of family reputation and honor. Tradition is an integral part of their lives and breaking from observances is considered a grievous insult to society, an insult not forgotten easily. An offense usually brings shame to the offender’s name for several generations. The highest shame is discommendation, an action by the High Council to officially strip a Klingon of his or her personal or family honor. Bloodlines and relations are also taken very seriously by any “true” Klingon. Lines comprise more than mere family members.
An integral part of tradition is the various rituals that marked milestones in a Klingon’s life or the history of the Empire. Most notable of the rites is the Rite of Succession, which a future leader of the Empire has to complete with a valid Arbiter of Succession (Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in the case of Gowron) overseeing the proceedings. Before the Rite can begin, there is another elaborate ceremony needed to confirm the death of the previous leader. This is known as the Sonchi ceremony.
Klingons are extremely territorial. According to the first known Klingon linguist, there was no such thing as an “insignificant corner of Klingon space”, something which still remains a key tenet of the Empire’s mentality.
History
Brief Canon History
According to Klingon lore, Qo’noS, the Klingon homeworld, was ruled by Molor in the 9th century AD. While Molor was a tyrannical dictator who was generally unpopular among the people, the chimneys of the planet’s volcanoes housed shrines in which live sacrifices were thrown in his honor. Kahless the Unforgettable, a commoner, emerged as a champion of the people, and stood against Molor’s troops at Qam-Chee. Here, Kahless and the Lady Lukara fought a pitched battle in the city’s Great Hall while the rest of the city’s garrison fled before the five hundred soldiers. Shortly after their victory, the two began what became known as the greatest romance in Klingon history. Kahless eventually slew Molor in single combat at the River Skral using the first bat’leth, the Sword of Kahless – an event that centuries later was still celebrated in the Empire through the Kot’baval Festival.
By 2016, the Klingons had developed warp technology and had colonised at least as far as H’atoria. In this year, they made first contact with the Vulcans, when a Vulcan ship entered Klingon space near H’atoria, prompting the Klingons to destroy it immediately. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, the Vulcans henceforth fired first whenever they crossed paths with Klingons until formal diplomatic relations were established. As Commander Michael Burnham later put it in 2256, “They said ‘hello’ in a language the Klingons understood. Violence brought respect. Respect brought peace.”
In the mid-21st century, the imperial monarchy, which claimed to trace its origins to the legendary warrior Kahless, came to an end when the last Emperor died and the leadership of the Empire fell to the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council.
By the 22nd century, the Klingons were a major regional power, fielding a formidable military, referred to as the Klingon Imperial Fleet, which would later evolve into the Klingon Defence Force.
In the late 2140s and early 2150s, the Klingons were engaged in a fierce internal struggle that, while not amounting to actual civil war, threatened to become a more intense conflict. Numerous attacks had taken place throughout the empire that were blamed on various Klingon factions; it was not realized at the time that the attacks had actually been launched by the Cabal, who were taking orders from a mysterious individual who was an operative in the Temporal Cold War.
Klingon society of this era was divided into several castes, including a warrior caste. While martial abilities and honor had always been important in Klingon society, the warrior caste became more influential during the 22nd century. Other professions were regarded as less important, with most young people aspiring to become warriors. According to Kolos, by 2153 every victory was regarded as bringing honor and glory, even one against an inferior, helpless enemy. The warrior caste also gained control over the Klingon legal system.
Although the Klingons had occasional contact with the Vulcans since 2016, they had not met Humans until the Broken Bow Incident of 2151, in which a courier named Klaang crashed on Earth while pursued by two Suliban soldiers. After a brief disagreement between the Vulcans and the Humans, Captain Jonathan Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise returned Klaang to Qo’noS, averting a potential civil war in the Empire by proving the unrest was caused by the Suliban.
The Klingon Empire nearly went to war with Earth during the Augment Crisis a year later, in May 2154, when a group of genetically-engineered Humans hijacked a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and ejected its crew into space. In response, the Empire sent scout ships to the vicinity of the Human Proxima colony. Planning to devastate Humanity, the Augments tried to escalate the incident by annihilating the Klingon Qu’Vat Colony with a biogenic weapon. Fortunately, war was averted when Enterprise destroyed the rogue Humans responsible and saved the colony.
A short time later, the Klingons found genetic material of the Human Augments within the wreckage of the hijacked Bird-of-Prey. Fearing that Starfleet may be attempting to create genetically superior Humans to take over the Empire, they tried to adapt this genetic engineering to improve themselves. An unanticipated side effect was that the Augment DNA caused the Klingon cranial ridges to dissolve. The test subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but then their neural pathways started to degrade and they died in agony. One of the subjects was suffering from the Levodian flu, which was modified by the Augment genes to become a deadly, airborne plague that spread rampantly within the Empire, posing its gravest threat since the Hur’q invasion. In the first stage of this plague, a Klingon’s physiology mutated to become more Human, for which the degeneration of the cranial ridges was a symptom.
With the help of a Klingon scientist named Antaak, Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise was able to formulate a cure that halted the genetic effects of the virus in the first stage, retaining the changes in appearance along with some minor neural re-ordering, but with no development of stage two characteristics, such as enhanced strength, speed or endurance. This left millions of Klingons, mostly in the warrior caste, without their ridges. As these alterations were even passed on to their children, Phlox and Antaak theorized that surgical cranial reconstruction might become quite popular for Klingons who would want to restore their outer appearance. By the year 2373, Lieutenant Commander Worf would reflect on this that Klingons “do not talk about it with outsiders.”
In 2223, Klingon-Federation relations had degraded to a point where both powers were in a state of constant unremitting hostility. Although encounters with the Federation were very rare since the mid-22nd century, they included a Klingon “terror raid” on Doctari Alpha in 2236, as well as the inconclusive Battle of Donatu V in 2245. As there was barely any communication between both sides during this period, almost no one in the Federation had seen a Klingon up until 2256.
As of 2256, the twenty-four Klingon Great Houses were waging war on each other, the Empire having been in disarray for generations. However, in that year, T’Kuvma, a Klingon of noble heritage but not a member of the High Council, successfully started a Federation-Klingon War by provoking – and being martyred at – the Battle of the Binary Stars. Under the creed “remain Klingon”, T’Kuvma, as the first Klingon since Kahless, thereby managed to rally the Empire to a common cause as he had portrayed the Federation as an existential threat, whose space had encroached unacceptably close upon that of the Klingons.
Until his ship was destroyed, the war propelled General Kol of the House of Kor to the top of the High Council, partially via the dissemination of early cloaking screens to loyal commanders as leverage. (DIS: “Choose Your Pain”, “Lethe”) After Kol’s death, the Empire again was without clear leadership; this did not end the war, however, as the various Great Houses separately tried to inflict as much damage as possible on Federation targets, including the destruction of an entire colony, the capture of Starbase 1, and attacks on hospitals and food convoys.
The war concluded in 2257, when Starfleet desperately resorted to a direct assault on Qo’noS after it had lost one-third of its ships and twenty percent of Federation territory was under Klingon control. Without official orders, the commander of the assault planted a hydro bomb within the underground volcano system of Qo’noS. However, the detonator was eventually handed to L’Rell, an early follower of T’Kuvma, who used it to seize power over the Empire and continue her former mentor’s work of uniting the disparate Great Houses. The war was then ended by a peace accord in Paris on Earth, and L’Rell became the High Chancellor.
Despite minor cooperation, relations between the Federation and the Empire remained tense. In 2267, negotiations broke down and both sides declared war. Again, the Klingons launched an immediate offensive, seizing several planets, including the strategically important planet Organia. Unexpectedly, this new Federation-Klingon War was brought to a sudden conclusion just days after it had begun, when the Organians, noncorporeal beings who had covertly observed both Klingons and Humans more than a hundred years earlier, intervened. By rendering all weapons inoperative, they forced an end to all hostilities and an Organian representative simultaneously appeared before the Klingon as well as the Federation leaders on Qo’noS and Earth, respectively. The Treaty of Organia was then imposed, establishing a neutral zone that separated the two powers and instituting a procedure, to be overseen by the Organians, through which planets along the border could be claimed and settled by both sides.
Despite the Treaty of Organia, a number of confrontations, albeit of limited scope, between the Klingons and the Federation occurred over the next decade. These included hostile encounters at Capella IV, the Delta Triangle, Neural, Elas, and Beta XII-A, as well as disputes over Sherman’s Planet and the Archanis sector, both of which were eventually ceded to the Federation. In most of these confrontations, the Klingons tried to gain a strategic advantage and/or secure mining rights for valuable minerals, such as dilithium and topaline, often by manipulating indigenous populations.
Although a certain relaxation in their relations was indicated by the Klingon Empire formally relinquishing its claim on the Archanis sector to the Federation around 2272, tensions between the two again came to a head in the 2280s, with the revelation of the secret Project Genesis. While this was devised as a scientific program developing an advanced method of quickly terraforming worlds, it could also be abused as a weapon of mass destruction. While the Klingon Empire was negotiating openly with the Federation, a Bird-of-Prey under the command of Commander Kruge tried to covertly obtain the secrets of the Genesis Planet. The Klingons planned to accuse the Federation of duplicity in developing Genesis as a weapon of awesome power and using the negotiations as a cover. However, when the crew of the USS Enterprise, commanded by James T. Kirk, managed to capture the Bird-of-Prey, the Klingon Ambassador proclaimed a vendetta against Kirk in 2286, vowing, “There shall be no peace, so long as Kirk lives!”
Although negotiations had proceeded intermittently since the imposition of the Organian Peace Treaty in 2267, no major progress was made in establishing any firm relationship between the Klingons and the Federation. In that same year, a brief but ultimately unsuccessful thawing in relations occurred between the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire, with the founding of a jointly managed colony on Nimbus III. Dubbed the “planet of galactic peace,” the colony quickly became an embarrassing failure for all three governments, although regular meetings, including Klingon representative General Korrd, did take place at the colony for at least the next twenty years.
The situation abruptly changed with the explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis in 2293. The disaster caused major problems for the Klingon economy and military, as well as a major ecological crisis on Qo’noS itself. The Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, Gorkon, took the controversial move of proposing a full peace treaty and establishing a process for dismantling the military fortifications and outposts along their mutual border – the military emplacements and warships that the Klingons could no longer afford.
However, peace did not come easily. While en route to a meeting with the Federation President on Earth, Gorkon was assassinated by two crewmen from the Enterprise-A who were part of an extensive conspiracy opposed to any peace treaty between the two enemies and including members of both sides, such as Admiral Cartwright and General Chang, as well as Romulan Ambassador Nanclus. Gorkon’s daughter, Azetbur, was appointed as the new chancellor in her father’s place. Despite enormous pressure from her advisers to abandon the peace initiative, she chose to press forward and see her father’s vision fulfilled.
The ensuing Khitomer Conference resulted in the signing of the Khitomer Accords, a treaty which became the foundation for peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. For the Romulans on the other hand, it would become a defining motive of the coming decades to re-shift the balance of power by sabotaging this peace.
Despite the Khitomer Accords of 2293, Klingon-Federation relations remained rocky for the following decades, although negotiations for a new peace treaty had begun by 2344. It was in that same year that a single courageous act by the crew of a Federation starship finally changed relations for the better, when the USS Enterprise-C responded to a distress signal from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III, which was under attack by the Romulans. Despite overwhelming odds, the Enterprise-C rushed to the rescue and was destroyed. The crew’s conspicuous heroism and ultimate sacrifice, in attempting to protect potential enemies, left a lasting impression on the Klingons, paving the way to further rapprochement towards the Federation.
In 2346, two years after its attack on Narendra III, but at a time when it was supposed to be “an ally” of the Klingons, the Romulan Star Empire attacked the Klingon planet Khitomer and killed almost all of the 4,000 colonists. The raid was made possible by the traitor Ja’rod of the House of Duras, who supplied the Romulans with the deactivation codes of the colony’s defensive shields. With the USS Intrepid it was again a Federation vessel to be the first ship responding to the distress signal. In order to protect the powerful House of Duras, the treason would later be blamed on another colonist, Mogh. 23 years later, Worf, son of Mogh, would discover a Romulan prisoner camp on Carraya IV in the hopes of finding his father there. After learning that Mogh died in the original attack, Worf agreed to keep the camp a secret as the Klingon prisoners had adapted to a peaceful coexistence with the Romulan guards and thereby dishonored themselves.
By 2353, the Treaty of Alliance was signed, finally establishing a firm friendship between the two former enemies – just as the Organians had predicted almost eighty years before. Sarek of Vulcan as well as his son Spock were key figures in devising and negotiating the treaty. Despite the alliance, as late as 2362 there were still Klingon raids against Federation targets. As of 2364, certain Klingons such as Korris, were disillusioned with the attitude of peace within the Empire, going as far as to call their leadership traitors and go rogue.
Despite the establishment of a full peace treaty with the Federation, the Empire did not remain at peace for very long. During the reign of K’mpec, the longest-reigning ruler in Klingon history, two rival factions developed in the Klingon High Council. One, led by Duras, who was also secretly allied with Romulan interests who were seeking to split the Federation-Klingon alliance, advocated setting an independent and aggressive policy. In 2366, K’mpec, with the help of Worf, even had to conceal the treason committed on Khitomer twenty years earlier by Duras’ father, Ja’rod – simply to avert civil war. The other faction was led by Gowron and favored continuing the peaceful relationship with the Federation. After K’mpec died of poisoning in 2367, the two factions were on the verge of starting a new civil war.
Although Duras was killed by Lieutenant Worf, Duras’ sisters, Lursa and B’Etor, continued the struggle in their brother’s place. They presented Toral, the illegitimate son of Duras, to challenge Gowron for leadership of the Council. Because the majority of the Council had been corrupted by the House of Duras, they sided with the Duras sisters and walked out of the Council when Arbiter of Succession Jean-Luc Picard rejected Toral’s claim, making official the division of the Empire.
The civil war, when it finally broke out, was as bold and bloody as any other conflict in Klingon history. The warriors of the Empire threw themselves into the fight with typical zeal – for example, Kurn was heard to shout, “Our time for glory is here!” In the first three engagements, the forces allied with the Duras family decisively defeated Gowron’s allies. However, it was not generally realized at the time that the Duras forces were secretly receiving material aid from the Romulan Star Empire, namely from Commander Sela and General Movar. The Romulans hoped that a victorious Duras family would end the Federation-Klingon alliance, creating a new Klingon-Romulan alliance to shift the balance of power in the quadrant.
However, Starfleet recognized the probability that the Romulans were interfering in the conflict. Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-D led a fleet of starships to the Romulan-Klingon border, establishing a blockade and preventing the Romulans from sending the Duras forces further assistance. When the Romulan connection was finally revealed, support quickly fell away from the Duras family, and Gowron successfully reunited the Empire under his leadership. Although he generally kept a pro-Federation stance for the time being, Gowron quickly moved on to “rewrite” history in order to downplay Starfleet’s part in his victory.
By 2369, the clerics of Boreth had acquired the necessary technology to create a clone of Kahless the Unforgettable using DNA from the Knife of Kirom and imprinting Kahless’ memories, as written down in the sacred texts, in the clone’s synaptic pathways. The clerics’ plan was to counter the corruption and dishonor in the Empire, by restoring a strong leadership and reinstating the position of Emperor of the Klingon Empire. “Kahless'” ascension to this post should follow his faked return from Sto-vo-kor; however, worrying about his chancellorship, Gowron was able to expose the plan of the clerics. Lieutenant Worf then suggested that the clone of Kahless be made Emperor, but only in the sense of a moral leader for the Klingon people with Gowron remaining chancellor of the Klingon High Council.
The Federation-Klingon alliance was sorely tested in the 2370s, in the wake of the Federation’s first contact with the Dominion, a major hegemonic power from the Gamma Quadrant. The leaders of the Dominion, the Founders, had the expressed goal of conquering all of the powers of the Alpha Quadrant, in order to prevent them from ever threatening the Great Link. In late 2371, the Dominion captured General Martok, a trusted adviser to Gowron, replacing him with a Changeling impersonator.
The Changeling posing as Martok convinced Gowron that the recent civilian uprising in the Cardassian Union had been engineered and supported by the Dominion, and that the uprising heralded an imminent invasion by the Dominion into the Alpha Quadrant. To prevent this invasion from occurring, Gowron launched a massive assault against the Cardassian Empire in early 2372. Emperor Kahless condemned the invasion, but was eventually overruled by Gowron, whose goal was to conquer all Cardassian territories to ensure that it could not be taken by the Dominion.
When the Federation Council protested Gowron’s actions, he took it as a betrayal and withdrew from the Khitomer Accords, ending the Federation-Klingon alliance. Although no declaration of official hostilities was made, a state of near-war developed between the two powers. The Klingons even launched a preemptive attack against the Federation outpost Deep Space 9, in order to capture the remaining free members of the Cardassian Detapa Council. However, Deep Space 9 Captain Benjamin Sisko pointed out to Gowron that a war between the Federation, the Klingons, and the Cardassians was exactly what the Dominion wanted – a divided Alpha Quadrant that would be ripe for conquest in the future. Faced with this reasoning, Gowron called an end to the invasion and halted the attack against DS9. In order as not to endanger his position as chancellor, Gowron simply declared victory and returned home. The Klingons also did not leave several captured Cardassian colonies and began fortifying them
In late 2372 and at the Martok Changeling’s suggestion, Gowron demanded that the Federation relinquish claims to a number of territories along their mutual border, namely the Archanis sector, or face war. When the Federation Council refused the demands, the Empire launched an invasion with battles fought for Archanis IV, Ajilon Prime, and Ganalda IV. The Federation-Klingon War was brutal, but short – only a few weeks after it began, Gowron called an end to the conflict after a Starfleet covert ops team revealed that Martok was actually a shapeshifter and the entire war had been engineered to divide the two former allies. However, some hostilities continued after the ceasefire and were only ended when the Dominion began its invasion of the Alpha Quadrant.
When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union in mid-2373, the Klingons were quickly defeated by the Jem’Hadar and driven from all of their Cardassian conquests. Faced with the prospect of a larger war against a much more powerful enemy, Gowron agreed to re-sign the Khitomer Accords and renew the alliance with the Federation. In addition, a detachment of Klingon soldiers was assigned to Deep Space 9, commanded by the real Martok, who had been rescued from a Dominion internment camp.
The Empire and the Federation ultimately fought side by side in the ensuing Dominion War that broke out in late 2373. Many of the most important engagements of the war were conducted in concert, including the Second Battle of Deep Space 9, the attack on Torros III and Operation Return.
The anti-Dominion alliance gained new, unlikely allies in mid-2374 when the Romulan Star Empire declared war against the Dominion. Although the Romulans and the Klingons both harbored deep hatred for one other, the two former enemies managed to put aside their differences, in order to successfully fight the Dominion. One of the most decisive victories of this new triple alliance was won at the First Battle of Chin’toka.
However, ultimate victory eventually came at a very high price. When the Breen Confederacy entered the war in late 2375, the use of the previously-unknown energy dampening weapon effectively nullified the power of Starfleet and the Romulan forces, wreaking havoc on their combined fleets, e.g., at the Second Battle of Chin’toka. Klingon ships were the only ones which could be adapted immediately, but despite quickly deploying 1500 vessels the Klingons where still outnumbered twenty-to-one. Rather than fight a holding action, Gowron ordered that Martok launch a full-scale offensive against the enemy, claiming that they had the advantage of surprise.
Ostensibly, Gowron hoped to achieve quick victory against the Dominion and claim all of the glory for the Empire in winning the war, without the assistance of the Federation or the Romulans. But Gowron’s real plan was much more subversive and political. Gowron feared the growing popularity of Martok, who had commanded the Klingon forces on the front lines and was rapidly gaining heroic status among the soldiers of the Empire. Gowron hoped to reclaim some of that popularity for himself, by personally commanding the Klingon war effort from Deep Space 9 and by discrediting Martok in sending him on numerous hopeless missions, e.g., the ill-fated attack on Avenal.
When no other Klingons protested, Worf challenged Gowron to personal combat, claiming that Gowron was a coward for jeopardizing the very existence of the Empire (and indeed the safety of the entire Alpha Quadrant), in order to satisfy his need for political security. Worf killed Gowron in the fight, thus claiming the right to rule the Empire himself; however, Worf declined the position and nominated Martok instead, who was subsequently proclaimed the new Chancellor of the Klingon High Council. Ultimately, the Empire shared in victory with the Federation and the Romulans, after the final defeat of the Dominion at the Battle of Cardassia in late 2375, during which Chancellor Martok himself led the Klingon forces.
Proposed Post-War History
As predicted a decade earlier by Section 31, it took the Klingons approximately ten years to recover from the Dominion War. During this time, faith in the High Council began to be tested, by the emergence of figures such as General Torg, a veteran of both the Klingon Civil War and the Dominion War, who feels the Empire has lost sight of itself and it’s right to take what it needs. Torg blames the alliance with the Federation for this, and by 2384, General Torg is head of the Klingon Defence Force and one of the most outspoken members of the High Council in his desire to return to the old ways, in spite of the alliance with the Federation.
In 2386, Torg takes his chance to strike a blow at those who wish to maintain peace with the Federation, citing their betrayal of their promise to aid the Romulans in light of the destruction on Mars. As he puts it in the High Council Chamber, “The Federation swore to help save the Romulans from their fate! They swore to protect their allies of war in this time of peace! Then as soon as that became inconvenient, they turned their backs! Do we really believe that such a people can be trusted as part of the future of this great Empire?”
Following this speech, Torg begins to rally more and more members of the Empire to his cause, to the point that Civil War appears inevitable. In the interests of preventing a Civil War that the Empire can ill afford, he is invited to challenge Chancellor Martok to ritual combat for the Chancellorship in 2387, shortly after the destruction of Romulus. Torg bests Martok, sparing his life out of respect for his former Commander and banishing him to his family’s home in the Kether Lowlands, their seat on the Council stripped from them.
Following Torg’s ascension to power, the Empire begins a crusade to take large swaths of what was once the Romulan Star Empire. The Federation attempts to intervene, and although no formal declaration of war occurs, Chancellor Torg puts the Khitomer Accords on hold.
In 2388, the Gorn, attempting to protect their allies within the Typhon Pact, retaliate against the Klingons. Although other members of the Pact stand by their Romulan allies politically, the Gorn are the only ones to respond with military action. This leads to a temporary alliance between the Gorn and the Romulans, splitting the Klingon forces in two.
The Federation attempts to intervene in what ways it’s new isolationist policies will allow, leading to multiple skirmishes between Federation and Klingon forces. This leads to the Federation slowing and cooling political and diplomatic ties with the Klingons, placing them into an unofficial Cold War not unlike that of the latter half of the 23rd Century.
By 2395, Starfleet has re-assigned Obsidian Fleet’s Task Force 47 to the sector of space where Federation, Klingon, and Romulan territories meet, making them unofficial custodians of the fragile peace still in place between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Although the official policy does not allow for either side to cross their respective borders, such crossings are still commonplace, with Klingon Commanders often relishing the chance to cross over and test their metal against Starfleet Officers.
Key Facts
| Facts Table | |
| Name: | Klingon |
| Home Planet: | Qo’Nos |
| Physical: | Humanoid |
| UFP Status: | Non-member |