The Klingon Empire

Total Space: 41,000,000,000 LY³
Disputes: Dispute with separatist Independent Klingon States, Disputes with the Romulan Star Empire.
Planetary Use: Agricultural 12%; Inhabited 52%; Industrial 24%; Unused/Unusable 12%
First Contact: 2150
 

Archanis IV ('archeynIS loS)

A planet controlled by the Klingon Empire until it was given to the Federation. The Klingon-Federation war of 2372-2373 was started when the Federation would not relinquish this planet to the Klingons. Its current statis is unknown.

Boreth (boreH)

The only habitable planet in the star system Kahless pointed and told the people to look for him there. There is no place more sacred to the Klingons than Boreth.

Boreth Monastery - The building where the Clerics of Boreth wait for Kahless to return. It is also used for the Rite of MajQa.

Dayos IV (DeyoS loS) - A world under Klingon control.

Donatu V (Donatu' vagh) - The site of a battle between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Forcas III (vorqaS wej) - A Klingon controlled world.

Galorda Prime - A world controlled by the Klingon Empire.

Gorath - A planet famous for its sulfur lagoons.

H'atoria - A Klingon colony world on the Federation-Klingon border.

Khitomer (QI'tomer) A planet near both Federation and Romulan space. In 2293, the Khitomer Peace Accords between the Federation and the Klingon Empire were started here (STVI). In 2346, the Romulans launched an attack on Khitomer, and only two Klingons were known to survive.

Camp Khitomer (QI'tomer raQ) - Site of the first peace negotiations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire (STVI).

Krios (QIyoS) The only Klingon protectorate along the Federation-Klingon border. The native inhabitants of Krios were at war with a neighboring star system, Valt Minor, for centuries. Before that war ended in 2368, a small rebellion took place against the Klingon governor. The rebellion was funded by the Romulans.

Temple of Akadar ('aqaDar chIrgh) - Seat of the ancient empire ruled by Krios and Valt.

Maranga IV (maranga' loS) - A Klingon world near the Federation.

Mempa (mempa') - Located in the Mempa Sector, it is a Klingon world.

Background

The well-statured warrior race has a genetic predisposition to hostility and a well-known streak of fatalism. It is said that Klingons do not like to be "probed" by empathic species. The culture's warrior ethic runs so deep that rivals in the civil war can meet and drink as equal fighters for periods of time before or after battles, thanks to the Capitol City's neutrality. During these get-togethers, a great deal of growling, wrestling, snarling and generally loud revelry takes place, Klingons seeming to derive tremendous satisfaction from drinking with their enemies on the night before a battle.

A beard is a symbol of courage; a hammer is a symbol of power. A true warrior fights to the death and would rather be killed than taken hostage � an act which brings dishonor on himself and his family for three generations. Their most important historic symbol of leadership, Kahless, said Klingons should fight not just to spill blood but to enrich the spirit. Their scientists are not highly regarded in the culture. Shattering the cranial exoskeleton at the tricipital lobe brings instant death.

In the traditional sense, the Klingon people hold honor above life � although as with any culture, high-level politics and personal gain get in the way. In Klingon culture, lower-ranked officers consider it a duty to kill off a superior who is perceived as weak. Klingons notoriously neither surrender nor bluff, although StarFleet Intelligence questions whether this is an absolute. What is well-known is that Klingons prefer a death in battle, an ethic common to many warrior cultures.

Klingon language had no word for the concept of "peacemaker" until Ramatisian mediator Riva negotiated the early United Federation of Planets-Klingon treaties just decades ago.

Warriors and their families are responsible for each other's actions.  A challenge to clear a family's name, such as Lieutenant Worf's, ends in death if unsuccessful. They believe that death is an experience best shared and view it as a joyful time for one who falls in the line of duty and earns a place among the honored dead, celebrating the release of a dead spirit rather than grieving over what they consider to be the empty shell of the body. One of the most honorable deaths is a kamikaze-like suicide that takes an enemy's life with it. Viewed through their Spartan perspective, illness (especially terminal) is not honorable.  One is not supposed to faint, at least as an adult, a bias that leads to a lack of both research and sympathy for such patients.  Usually cases of paralysis such as Lieutenant Worf's are left to die � or to perform the ritual suicide Hegh'bat.

Klingon culture doesn't forbid exogamous relations, however, Klingon sources have intimated that human females are too fragile for what his race considers love, although that would likely apply to a Klingon of either gender with a human mate. A roaring yell akin to the death wail is the Klingon female's mating call, followed by their hurling of heavy objects and clawing. The male responds by reading love poetry � and ducking a lot.   The actual act of love can be intermingled with pain and include the Klingons' highly developed sense of smell.  Once aroused, the combat as well as passion instinct appears hard to quell.

Klingons usually mate for life, celebrated with a solemn Oath of Union, most often in private, rather than in a public ceremony like marriage; the Oath of Union doesn't appear include much talking, and no dancing or crying as in human weddings. StarFleet's Diplomatic Corps claims that male chauvinism is much more pronounced in mainstream Klingon society than among humans. 

Women cannot sit on the High Council, so even the most powerful Lines must find a male representative (even a puppet nephew will do, in the absence of any powerful male heir, will do) to rule through.

The modern Klingon attitude toward Romulans is extremely hostile, one source within the Empire said that the Romulans "consider humans and Klingons a waste of skin". Romulans and Klingons having been "blood enemies" for 75 years (or since about 2292), after an extremely brief alliance.

Klingons apparently hold the Ferengi with almost as much disdain as they do Romulans, thinking them loud of talk, yet weak in action.

Klingon officers do not let their children live with them as a general rule, although "the son of a Klingon is a man the day he can first hold a blade". Popular wisdom within the Empire says a Klingon "is his work, not his family." However, family bonds remain important in Klingon culture and are even shared outside the immediate family; for instance, the custom of naming godparents or other relatives is practiced among Klingons as well as humans.

Klingons are remarkably skilled hunters, relying on their keen olfactory senses to pick up and stalk their prey. They eat their meat raw, seasoned more strongly than humans prefer, and find the human tradition of "burning their meat" to be somewhat repulsive.

Partisans of Klingon culture contend that love poetry and the great novel both reached their height with the Klingons.

Some Klingon moralists fret that the warrior ethic is becoming  lost among modern Klingons who would open restaurants and such.

Despite the disillusionment and disrespect of some Klingons, Klingon honor still counts among the peoples. In a  recent case, a Klingon court held that a creditor not allowed to claim the House of a debtor based on financial debts alone, and he was stopped and shamed while attacking the unarmed head of the defendant house before the High Council. Klingon military and religious leaders alike sneer at financial matters and normally considered them beneath a warrior's time and attention, charging the plaintiff in the case just cited as  using "money to bring down a great house". 

Challenges to personal honor are settled usually by personal combat. Klingon females � banned from holding Council seats � are not even allowed to head their heirless dead husband's house, except in special cases. The Klingons must have some class system, as personal servants are used, usually among what appear to be the poor. The Klingons' profound hatred of Romulans continues.

Although they believe in an afterlife, Klingons perform no burial ritual and dispose of the corpse by the most efficient means possible � although some archeological digs on Qo'noS revealed different customs at one time.

Recent History

The Klingons first came into conflict with the Federation on Stardate 3198.4. Starfleet suspected that the Klingons would attempt to take over the Organia system, and sure enough, the warriors came - led by Commander Kor. The USS Enterprise, Captain James T. Kirk commanding, was dispatched by Starfleet to meet them. This incursion by the Klingons threatened to escalate into an interstellar war. However, either side had counted on the capabilities of the Organians - who looked humanoid, but were in fact a powerful non corporeal life-form. The Organians used their powers to prevent the outbreak of war between the two sides, and they also imposed the Organian peace treaty on the Federation and Klingons. They also predicated that, one day, the Federation and Klingons would become friends...

On Stardate 4523.3 the Klingons attempted to sabotage the Federation's claim on Sherman's Planet by poisoning supplies of quadrotriticale, a hyrid wheat which, according to some people, was very important to the development of Sherman's Planet. The wheat was being stored on a space station called K-7, which issued a distress call to the USS Enterprise in a bid to prevent the Klingons interfering with the project. With the help of Enterprise personnel, plus several tribbles and some time-travelers from the future, the Klingons plan to poison all of the wheat failed. Klingon Captain Koloth was left with a complaint against Starfleet and a ship full of tribbles - small, cute and furry animals which Klingons hated. In fact, a Klingon Starfleet Officer from the future said that the Klingon Empire had annihilated the Tribbles homeworld (no doubt a glorious victory for the Empire).
 

Soon afterwards, the Klingons signed a deal with the Romulans - the Klingons obtained the technology to cloak their ships - in exchange, the Romulans got their hands on the Klingon design specifications for warships.

On Stardate 5476.3, a life-form which thrives on the emotions of hate and anger lured the USS Enterprise and Klingon forces lead by Commander Kang into a conflict with each other on the planet Beta XII-A. Kirk and Kang were successful in driving the life-form away by generating positive thoughts.

There were anything but positive thoughts however, for three Klingons starships on Stardate 7412.6 - the ships were destroyed by a powerful "living machine" called V'ger. Luckily for the Federation, Admiral Kirk would have better luck at attempting first contact with V'ger. Around this time, the Klingons won a stunning victory over the Romulans at the battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, thanks to Commander Kor.

The Klingons were still determined to gain the upper-hand over the Federation, as the events around Stardate 8210.3 proved. Even while the Klingons were in peace talks with the Federation, Klingon Commander Kruge attempted to steal the secrets of the Federation's Genesis project - which could destroy life on a planet as easily as it could create it. Kirk was successful in stopping the Klingons, but only at great cost - the Admiral lost his ship and son in the process. The death of his son would result in Kirk hating Klingons for years to come...

By Stardate 8454.1, Kirk had been demoted to the rank of Captain, but as far as the Klingons were concerned, there would be no peace with the Federation as long as Kirk lived. Many Klingons dearly wanted to be the ones to kill Kirk, and when the Enterprise was taken over by forces loyal to the Vulcan Sybok, a young and unwise Klingon warrior attempted to kill Kirk, before he was told otherwise by another member of his race...

In the year 2292, the alliance between the Klingons and Romulan Empire ended - under what terms is not clear - but the former allies would become bitter enemies for at least the next 75 years...

Stardate 9521.6 proved to be the major turning point for the relationship between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. The Klingon moon Praxis exploded, causing damage to the atmosphere of the Klingon homeworld. The Empire didn't have the resources to cope with this disaster, and they realized that they could no longer afford to continue the long running conflict with the Federation, not now that they had to look for a new homeworld.

Negotiations between the two superpowers soon opened, and Klingon Chancellor Gorkon agreed to travel to Earth to talk peace with the Federation. However, certain forces within the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Empire and the Federation were scared of what lay ahead in the future if the status-quo was altered by the outcome of these talks - so they arranged the murder of the Chancellor before he got to Earth. Captain Kirk, along with Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy, were setup for the murder of the Chancellor and both men were arrested under Interstellar law by the Klingons.

Captain Spock eventually discovered what was really going on, and he eventually managed to rescue Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy. Despite interference from a prototype Klingon bird-of prey which was capable of firing while cloaked, the crews of the Enterprise and Excelsor (Captain Sulu commanding) were then successful in preventing the assassination of the Federation President who wanted the peace process to continue...

The Knitomer Conference would be the start of a new friendship between the two powers. Peace didn't break out overnight, but peace was achieved over the following years thanks to a better understanding, from a Klingon point of view, of the Federation and what they stood for. The Enterprise-C, under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett, played a major part in cementing the new friendship in the year 2344 by defending the Narendra III Klingon outpost from Romulan forces. Enterprise-C was almost destroyed in the process, but to the Klingons, a Federation starship defending Klingons from destruction was further proof that the Federation was indeed, a worth ally.

However, as if to prove that they hadn't disappeared from the scene all together, the Romulans attacked the Klingon outpost on Khitomer in the year 2346. Thanks to a Romulan collaborator, the attack was successful and 4,000 Klingons lost their lives...

By 2352, the Klingons were enjoying a beneficial relationship with the Federation, to the point that by 2364, when the Galaxy-Class starship Enterprise-D was launched, there was a Klingon Officer on board - Lieutenant Worf, son of Mogh.

Despite the new era of peace, there were Klingons who thought that the Empire has "lost its teeth" (or should I say fangs?) by becoming allies with the Federation. Worf met two Klingons who thought this way on Stardate 41503.7. He was later forced to kill his fellow warriors when they attempted to take over the Enterprise. Later, on Stardate 42901.3, Worf had to help deal with some more Klingons who still thought that the Federation were still the enemy. The crew of the Klingon sleeper ship T'Ong were sent on their mission before the Knitomer peace conference, and when they woke up, they were in Federation space. Thanks to Worf, and Emissary K'Ehleyr, the T'Ong decided to stand down instead of opening fire on Federation planets. There was also some time for Worf and K'Ehleyr to get passionate on the holodeck....
 

By this time, officer exchange programs were in effect between the Empire and the Federation. Commander Riker took part on one exchange on Stardate 42506.5. Despite a misunderstanding between the Enterprise and his Klingon Commander, Riker acquitted himself well....

On Stardate 43685.2, Commander Kurn came onboard the Enterprise as part of the exchange program. Kurn later explained to Worf that they are actually brothers, and that their late father, Mogh, is being accused by the Klingon High Council of betraying his people by giving the Romulans the shield access codes for the Knitomer outpost, which was then destroyed by the Romulans back in 2346. Investigations by the Enterprise crew later reveal that the real traitor was Ja'rod, father of Council member Duras, and that the Council had attempted to blame Worf. The Duras family was very powerful, and if the truth was discovered, the results could have resulted in civil war, or even the end of the peace treaty between the Empire and Federation. In the end, Worf puts the best interests of his people first by accepting the blame, and discommendation from the Klingon Empire....
 

The next year, on Stardate 44246.3, K'Ehleyr returned to the Enterprise with some disturbing news - Chancellor K'mpec, the leader of the High Council, has been poisoned by his enemies. K'mpec fears that whoever carried out this dishonorable act could take over the Empire and plunge it into civil war, so he asks Captain Picard to choose the next leader of the Klingon Empire, since no Klingon could be trusted. The Captain is asked to choose between Duras, who was partly responsible for Worf's disacommodation, and Gowron, a newcomer to Klingon politics. K'Ehleyr also brought back a surprise for Worf - his son, Alexander.

During the ja'chuq (right of succession) process, a bomb exploded which almost killed Gowron and Duras. Both men suspected the other of planting the bomb - which was later revealed to be of Romulan design...

K'Ehleyr uncovered the truth about the High Council's decision to punish Worf to protect the Empire from falling apart, and she confronted Duras with the truth - a major mistake on her part - since Duras kills her to protect the sins of his father...

Nothing could protect Alexender from the awful truth that his mother was dead - Worf tells him to "look - and always remember" - and nothing could protect Duras from the wrath of Worf when the Starfleet Klingon went to Duras's ship. For Duras, the son of Ja'rod, today was a good day to die. Worf was later warned about his future conduct on the Enterprise, and Gowron, who faced no other challengers, became the new leader of the Klingon Empire.

There were still Klingon warriors out there who didn't like how "weak" their Empire had become, and one such Klingon, a exchange exobiologist called J'Ddan, was found guilty of giving the Romulans detailed schematics of Enterprise-D's dilithuim chamber. J'Ddan believed that the Romulans were strong and that they would make a worthly ally for his people - as it turned out, he wasn't the only Klingon who felt this way...

The Romulan Empire around this time had re-doubled their efforts to split the Federation and Klingon Empire. One such attempt was made on Stardate 44885.5 when they kidnapped Enterprise-D's Chief Engineer Georgi La Forge, and then, as part of a clever plan, brainwashed him to kill Vagh, the Klingon Governor to the Kriosian colonies. If the plan had succeeded, it would have dealt a serious blow to the Klingon-Federation alliance. It was later discovered that Klingon emissary Kell was helping the Romulans in their plan by transmitting signals directly to La Forge's Brain. Although this attempt by the Romulans failed, it wouldn't mean that they would give up...

On Stardate 44995.3, Captain Picard was on-route to the Klingon Homeworld to attend the installation of Gowron as Chancellor of the High Council. The Enterprise was intercepted by Gowron himself - he believed that the other members of the Duras family were planning to somehow stop him from becoming leader - sure enough, Lursa and B'Etor, the sisters of the Duras family, discovered that their late brother Duras did indeed have a son - Toral - and they attempted to make him the leader of the High Council (women weren't allowed by Klingon law to sit on the Council). Certain High Council members were friends and allies to the House of Duras, and they decided to ignore Klingon law to follow Lursa and B'Etor. The High Council was split apart, and shortly afterwards, so was the Empire, thanks to a Civil War which rapidly followed. Despite a formal request for assistance from Gowron, Starfleet declined to offer their support thanks to the Federation's Prime directive of non-interference in the political changes of alien races.

By the third week of the war, the Duras family had inflected heavy losses on Gowron's forces. This was despite Gowron's forces destroying the Duras supply base in the Mempa Sector. Many people suspected that the Duras family was receiving help from the Romulans, and so did Captain Picard who pointed out to his superiors that a victory for the Duras family would mean the death of the Federation-Klingon alliance and the birth of a new Romulan-Klingon Alliance. Picard proposed to Starfleet that a blockade on the Klingon-Romulan border should be set up to prevent any Romulan involvement in the war - the blockade fleet would use a tachyon network grid which, in theory, would detect any Romulan ships attempting to enter Klingon space - even when cloaked. Starfleet gave the green light to Picard's plan and the blockade was set up shortly afterwards.

After being warned to leave the border by Commander Sela of the Romulan Empire, Picard asked Gowron to launch a full scale attack on the warriors loyal to the Duras family. The attack went ahead, and soon Lursa and B'Tor were asking their pointed-eared friends for another convoy of supplies. Despite the Romulans temporarily disrupting part of the tachyon grid, they were soon detected within Klingon space thanks to some fine work by Commander Data. Once news of the Duras's connection to the Klingons most hated enemy became clear, support fell away from the House of Duras and the war was over. The Romulan ships returned home, Lursa and B'Tor escaped, Worf spared the life of Toral and honor was returned to the House of Mogh. Six months later, Starfleet discovered that no mention was made of their help to the Klingons during the civil war - Gowron had decided to take all of the glory for himself.

Meanwhile, Lursa and B'Tor had not given up on their dream to rule the Empire. The Duras sisters began to raise capital to make another attempt for power. Their quest brought them to the Bajoran space station Deep Space Nine. There, they sold bilitrium explosives to a Bajoran Kohn-ma terrorist who wished to blow up the wormhole.

On Stardate 46852.2, Kahless the Unforgettable returned, as he said he would, at the Klingon monastery on the planet Boreth. Further investigation by Worf and the crew of the Enterprise revealed that this Kathless was actually a clone, created by the clerics of Boreth. Despite this, it became clear to Gowron that many Klingons were hungry for the spiritual guidance and leadership which even a cloned Kahless could provide. At the advice of Worf, Gowron announced that the clone should be considered by all Klingons as the real Kahless, who was also appointed the new Emperor of the Empire. The political power still remained with Gowron and the High Council.

Sometime later, Klingon warriors Kor, Koloth and Kang, who had all crossed paths with Captain Kirk, successfully gained revenge on "The Albino", who had killed the firstborn children of all three Klingon warriors. However, only Kor survived a most glorious battle.
 

Later on, the Duras Sisters teamed up with Dr. Tolian Soran. Soran needed the support of the sisters to help him return to the Nexus, a temporal energy ribbon which offers complete joy to anyone who successfully enters it. In return for their help, the sisters would get their hands on a trilithium based weapon which was capable of destroying entire star systems. Unfortunately for Lursa and B'Tor, the crew of the Enterprise-D interfered with their plans, and despite the sisters bird-of -prey causing severe damage to the Galaxy-class starship, they were destroyed by a photon torpedo fired from Enterprise-D, which later suffered a warp-core breach in the stardrive section...

Around this time, the Alpha Quadrant was aware of the growing threat offered by the Dominion. There was concern in the Empire about the presence of the Changeling Founders within the Quadrant. Certain Klingons were alarmed when the Cardassian Union was taken over by a new Civilian Government. The Klingons found it hard to believe that the Underground movement on Cardassia Prime could seize power from the powerful Central Command, and the Empire interpreted this change on Cardassia as the first step of a Dominion plan to seize control of the entire Quadrant. This paranoia was fulled by those warriors who had become bored and restless of being at peace with everyone - Klingons they argued, were born to fight and to conquer - not to open up restaurants on Bajoran space stations...

After some pressure from the Klingon Military, Gowron decided to protect Klingon interests in the Quadrant by giving the order to invade Cardassia. Over a third of the fleet was allocated for this operation, which was lead by General Martok. Several people in the Empire opposed the decision to attack Cardassia, among them were Emperor Kahless and Worf's brother Kurn, who by now was a member of the High Council...

Captain Sisko, with help from Commander Worf, discovered the Klingons intentions and warned Martok that a unprovoked attack on Cardassia would probably mean the end of the Khitomer treaty. Martok proceeded with the attack anyway. The Federation Council condemned the Klingon invasion, and as a result Gowron recalled all of his ambassadors from Federation space, expelled Federation Citizens from Klingon space, and - worst of all - he declared the Khitomer treaty to be dead....

The Klingon invasion fleet broke through the resistance offered by the Cardassian Military, and continued on their way to Cardassia to seize control of the planet and to execute the Civilian Government. However, thanks to Gul Dukat and Captain Sisko, the Civilian leaders were able to escape Cardassian space and they ended up on DS9. There, Gowron and General Martok demanded the return of the Civilian leaders, Sisko refused and soon DS9 was under attack from a massive Klingon task force. Fortunately for the crew of DS9, Captain Sisko had decided to upgrade the station's weapons systems a year ago in case the Dominion decided to attack the station. In the event, it was the Klingons who had a first hand demonstration of what DS9's weapons were capable of....

The attack on DS9 ended when Sisko reminded Gowron that this is exactly what the shapeshifters from the Gamma Quadrant wanted - the former allies fighting each other. That fact, plus the news that Starfleet reinforcements were on the way, persuaded Gowron to call off the attack on DS9 and the invasion of Cardassia - despite the comments of General Martok that they could still win this battle. However, Klingon forces were by now occupying several worlds within Cardassian territory. Lieutenant Commander Worf was expelled from the Empire for not supporting the invasion. All lands and property belonging to the house of Mogh were seized, and Kurn was kicked out of the High Council.

Gowron returned to the Klingon homeworld, recalled most of his forces, and declared victory. He also ordered his people to re-assert Klingon interests throughout the Quadrant - this included several attacks on Romulan outposts along the Klingon-Romulan border...

While the Empire was busy fortifying its position within Cardassian space, Dahr Master Kor, Worf and Dax went on a quest to recover the Sword of Kathless, taken from the Klingon homeworld many years ago. The trio travelled to the Gamma Quadrant and were successful in locating the sword. However, they were unprepared for the potential of the sword to divide the Empire, which was demonstrated by the way Worf and Kor turned against each other. They were also unprepared for the appearance of Toral, son of Duras, whose life Worf spared just after the Civil War ended. Toral wished to claim the sword, return home and make a bid for the leadership of his people. Fortunately, he was denied in his quest by Dax, and the sword was released onto a distant part of the Gamma Quadrant, where it could do no further harm to the Empire...

The Empire continued to strengthen its position within Cardassian space. Even when some Bajorans and Cardassians met on the outpost at Korma for a conference, the Klingon attacked and killed them. The warriors responsible for this were tracked down and destroyed by the combined efforts of Major Kira Nerys and Gul Dukat, who in the process claimed the first Bird-of prey to be captured by Cardassia in their conflict with the Empire. Dukat would later wage a personal war against the Klingons, due to the lack of support he received from the Cardassian Central Command for a offensive against Klingon forces.

The Klingons would later prove to the Federation that they were planning ahead for eventual conflict when they attempted to cut of the Bajoran system by surrounding it with cloaked mines on Stardate 49556.2. Their attempt failed thanks to the efforts of the sons of Mogh -Worf and his brother Kurn. Later, on Stardate 49665.3 the Empire attempted to end the Federation's policy of escorting Cardassian relief convoys by engineering a unprovoked attack by the USS Defiant (Commander Worf commanding) on a Klingon Civilian transport. Further investigations proved that there were in fact no Klingon nationals onboard the doomed transport vessel....

Towards the end of the year 2371, the peace talks between the Klingon Empire and the Federation came to an end - the Empire was insulted by the Federation's demands that they should leave Cardassian space. In response, Chancellor Gowron called off the talks and demanded that the Federation should withdraw from the Archanis Sector, an area of space which the Empire had given up its claim to centuries ago.

Meanwhile, Odo, the security chief on DS9, was forced to return home to his people - the Founders of the Dominion. After some time within the Great Link, Odo was punished for the crime of killing another changeling by being made into a "Solid", and his shapeshifting powers were taken away from him. On his return to DS9, Odo reported a strong belief that Chancellor Gowron, the leader of the Klingon Empire, had been replaced by one of the Founders. By now, "Gowron" had warned the Federation that they had ten days to withdraw from the Archanis Sector - failure to comply would mean war....

Ten days later, the Klingon Empire was at war with their former Federation allies. The Empire, answering the call to battle issued by Gowron, were throwing everything they had against the Federation - Starfleet were slowing the Klingons down - but not much else. The result of this, and Odo's suspicions about the true nature of the Chancellor, resulted in Starfleet giving Captain Sisko a dangerous assignment on Stardate 50013.9 - his mission was to infiltrate Tiger Core, the location of Klingon Military Headquarters, and to expose the Gowron Changeling. Sisko, along with other members of DS9's senior staff, disguised themselves as Klingon warriors and with some help from Gul Dukat and his Bird-of prey, infiltrated Tiger Core. However, they were discovered by General Martok, the leader of the fleet which attacked Cardassia a year ago, and Sisko and company were thrown into a holding cell.

There, Martok tells Sisko that he also suspects that Gowron isn't Gowron. The General tells Sisko that at first, Gowron didn't really want a war against the Federation, but then he suddenly changed - suddenly he was the one calling for war and ignoring the advice of his generals. The Klingons were losing warriors and ships thanks to the war against the Federation - yet Gowron still wanted the war to continue. Martok also tells the Captain that he will release them - if they agree to kill the Gowron Changeling. Sisko agrees and soon, Worf and the Changeling masquerading as Gowron are in a battle to the death...

Just before Worf can deliver the death blow (or the blow which in theory, would have proved that Gowron was a Changeling), Odo discovered that, in fact, General Martok was the Founder at the heart of the Empire. Once exposed by Odo, the Martok Changeling was killed by several Klingon Disrupter blasts....

These dramatic events resulted in a cease-fire of the war - Gowron admitted that Martok had pushed him to launch an attack against the Federation - the Dominion were hoping that after Sisko's team had killed the real Gowron, the Martok Changeling would have taken over the Empire and continued the war, thus weakening the Empire and Federation enough so that the Jem'Hadar could invade the Alpha Quadrant with reduced resistance. The cease-fire mainly held, despite some small battles here and there, one of which involved the son of Captain Sisko...

Around Stardate 50560.1 the crew of DS9 learned that a Jem'Hadar invasion of the Alpha Quadrant was imminent. Thanks to the Dominion-engineered war with the Federation, the Empire wasn't in a position to send a fleet of ships to DS9. Starfleet weren't much better off, the Romulans still had the painful memory of what happened to the Tai'Shiar in their minds, and the Cardassian fleet was a shambles, thanks partly to the Martok Changeling. After taking all of this into account, the decision was made to close the wormhole - however, thanks to the work of a Founder onboard DS9, the attempt failed and the Jem'Hadar fleet entered the Alpha Quadrant....

Then, things got worse....

Gul Dukat announced that Cardassia had agreed to join the Dominion the week before, and the Gul escorted the Jem'Hadar to Cardassian territory - once there, they kicked out the Klingon forces which had occupied Cardassian space for the past 18 months. Dukat later revealed that one of the reasons for joining the Dominion was to get rid of the Klingons. He also revealed that he intended to retake all that his people had lost - including DS9....

The battered Klingon fleet was withdrawn to the Bajoran system. There, Captain Sisko asked Chancellor Gowron to consider signing the Khitomer Accords - after all, if the Federation and Klingon Empire could stand united against the Dominion, they both had a better chance of survival. Gowron agreed - and the two enemies were friends once again. Ironic really - the suspected Dominion presence within Cardassia resulted in the Klingon abandoning the treaty - now, the confirmed Dominion involvement in Cardassian affairs resulted in the Empire resigning the treaty...

Soon, a large number of Klingon and Federation ships was in the Bajoran system, ready to defend the station from the expected Dominion attack. A few eyebrows were raised here and there when the Romulans, of all people, joined the fleet. Eventually it was discovered that there was in fact no Dominion fleet on the way to attack DS9, and that this was a attempt by the Founders to destroy the Bajoran system, DS9, and the combined fleet by making the Bajoran Sun go nova. The Changeling's plan was foiled thanks to some fine work by Major Kira and Lieutenant Commander Dax on board the USS Defiant. Later on, it was discovered that the real General Martok was still alive, and had been replaced by his Changeling impostor two years ago (which also meant that the Martok which was in charge of the Cardassian invasion fleet was a Founder). Once he was safely returned to the Alpha Quadrant, Martok was made commander of the Klingon forces which were now stationed onboard DS9, as part of the new Khitomer Accords treaty.
 

Over the next few months, the Dominion sent four convoys through the wormhole to their new Cardassian friends. Starfleet realized that it was only a matter of time before they attempted to take over the rest of the Quadrant. Shortly after another Dominion convoy came through the wormhole around Stardate 50975.2, Starfleet started talking to their Klingon friends about a daring plan to destroy Dominion shipyards within Cardassian space. While the Federation and Klingon fleet were doing this, the Dominion would be distracted by their attempts to stop Captain Sisko mining the Bajoran wormhole. While the shipyards were destroyed, there was a price to be paid - DS9 itself, which was abandoned by all Starfleet and Klingon personnel, leaving the Dominion as the new masters of the Bajoran space station. And so, a year after fighting a war against the Federation, the Empire was now fighting another war, alongside Starfleet, against the Dominion...

Over the next three months, both the Empire and the Federation suffered horrendous losses to the Jem'Hadar. The Seventh fleet for example, lost over 90 ships to the Jem'Hadar in one engagement. The Klingons continued to fight alongside their Federation allies, and one must assume that many warriors were eager to answer the call to battle. When news reached Starfleet that the minefield was about to be brought down by the Dominion, three Federation fleets left Starbase 375 to recapture Terok Nor. Once there, they were met by a large Dominion fleet, and what followed was a most glorious battle! Starfleet were not alone in their attempts to defend the Quadrant, and a large Klingon fleet arrived at DS9 to help.
 

However, the Dominion had not read the script, and during the battle for Terok Nor, they were successful in dismantling the minefield. This was the moment 2,800 Dominion ships on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole had been waiting for.

As the Dominion's reinforcements were travelling through the wormhole, they were intercepted by the USS Defiant. Just before the Defiant was about to be destroyed, the wormhole aliens, also known as the Prophets of Bajor, had a chat with their Emissary, Captain Sisko. They didn't want him to die, but they didn't realize what was about to happen if the Dominion's reinforcements were allowed through the wormhole. The Emissary filled them in on the grim situation, and the Prophets decided that now was the time to act - by making all 2,800 Dominion ships vanish.

With more Starfleet ships entering the battle, the Dominion decided to withdraw from DS9, back to Cardassian space. The battle had been won by the Klingons and Federation, but the war was by no means over. Shortly afterwards, General Martok was made Commander of the Ninth Fleet which was now protecting DS9.

Some time later, the Empire, thanks to Starfleet Intelligence, discovered a Dominion plot to assassinate a Klingon ambassador who had voiced concern about the Klingon�s involvement in the Federation-Dominion war. The actual assassination was planned to look as if Klingons had killed the ambassador, and the whole operation was to be carried out by the Orion Syndicate, who recently became the Dominion�s latest allies. Thanks to Starfleet, the Empire was able to stop their ambassador from making a early visit to Sto-Vo-Kor.

Good news for the Klingons (and potentially most of the quadrant) arrived when news came through of the Romulans breaking the non-aggression pact they had signed with the Dominion. This was due to the death of Romulan Senator Vreenak, the man who had signed the pact with the Dominion. The Romulans believed that the Dominion had killed Vreenak, and so they attacked several Cardassian outposts along the Cardassian/Dominion border. Its unknown at this point if the Klingons know that Captain Sisko and a Cardassian Tailor were heavily involved in the death of Senator Vreenak.

As the year of 2374 came to a close, the Federation decided that it was time to take the fight to the Dominion. The Cardassian system of Chin'toka had been identified as a good place to start the invasion of the Cardassian Union, due to the low number of Jem�Hadar fighters based there. The Klingons were only too happy to help their Federation allies in this offensive, which was joined by the Romulans. Shortly before the allied fleet left the Bajoran system, General Martok told Admiral Ross and Captain Sisko that �...by this time next year, the three of us will drink bloodwine in the halls of Cardassia�s Central Command!�

In the early minutes of the Chin'toka offensive, several Jem�Hadar fighters inflicted heavy damage on Klingon forces by flying into their ships. Despite this, and the orbital weapon platforms within the area, the invasion was successful and Chin�toka was captured by the allies as the year of 2374 came to a close.

In 2375, Kor, the Dahar Master, visited DS9 to ask Worf to help him fight one last battle within the war, so that he may end his life as he had lived it. Worf agreed to help him, but General Martok refused to give Kor command of a ship, due to his application to join the Klingon Defense Forces being denied by Kor years earlier. In the end, Worf had to use his own authority to grant Kor a commission within the Ninth Fleet.

A Klingon �cavalry raid� mission followed, led by General Martok. He took Kor, Worf and five Birds-of-Prey behind enemy lines to strike at multiple targets, including a Dominion starbase. However, the mission didn�t go according to plan, and Kor, while in temporary command of the mission, was betrayed by his poor memory and his desire to relive the glorious days of battle with his long-departed friends. He later redeemed himself by saving the Klingon fleet from destruction by taking on ten pursuing Jem�Hadar fighters with one Bird-of-Prey. The whereabouts of Kor, and if he somehow survived, remains a topic of discussion to this day.

In a war which has taken many twists and turns, one thing is certain - all warriors within the Klingon Empire will continue to answer the call to battle.