star trek - source book] the four years war

7/23/2019 Star Trek - Source Book] the Four Years War

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...- .....ABLE OF CONTENTS~ .....__--------------1 I~ ~

INTRODUCTION 5Editor's Note 5THE PLANET AXANAR 6First Contact 6P art I 6P art II 6

Second Contact 7"Third" Contact 7Sociological Evaluation 8Axanar'. Development : 8THE HISTORY 9UFP/Kllngon Background 9UFP Sociopolitical Background 9UFP Sociopolitical Background:A Criticism 10UFP Military Background 10UFP Military Background A Criticism 11Kllngon Strategy 12Kllngon Strategy - A New Theory 13THE WAR 14The Kllngon Perspec:tlve On Axanar 14Preliminary Skirmishes 15The Declaration Of War 16The Early Months 17Holding The Line 19UFP Fleet Deployment A Criticism 20From Defense To Offense 21The Final Phase 22The Aftermath 24RELATED ISSUES 25Trade And Commerce 25Trade And Commerce A Criticism 25The Romulan Factor 26The Federation Council 26The Ships Of War 27The Advance Of Technology 28THE CONSEQUENCES 29Advance. In Military Technology 29Consequences For Military ShipbuildingTheory 30Postwar UFP/Kllngon Relations 30The Aaxanarlan Missions 31The Axanarlan Perspective 31TIMELINE CHRONOLOGY 32STARSHIP TACTICS 38General Kllngon Tactics 38General Federation Tactics 38Tactics 38

V - a nd U -F orm a tio ns 38S taggered Fo rm ations 39S tra ight L ine Fo rm ations 39P icketPass ing 39D e lta -Z M a ne u ve r 39S ix O 'C l oc k Low A 40C o nv oy B aitin g 40Cochrane Declarat ion 40S ca tte re d D efe ns e 40O th e r F o rm a tio n s 40TASK FORCE COMPOSITIONS 40 ..


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A C oncise C om pilation of lib rary Inform ation on the C onflic t B etween the U nited Federation of P lanets andth e K lin gon E mp ire , S ta rd ate s 1 19 40 9 th rou gh 1 19 80 6A su pp le me nt fo r u se w ith STAR TR EK: T he R ole P la yin g G am e

DEDICATIONT his b oo k is re sp ectfu lly d ed ica te d to R ob ert A . H ein le in a nd Jo e H ald em an fo r th eir skillfu l d escrip tio ns o ff utu re wa rfa re .ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThanks to Ross Babcock for provid ing technica l support and assis tance, and to Forest G . B row n and W m.Jo hn W h ee le r fo r u nk no win gly p ro vid in g a dd itio na l d eta il a nd in sp ira tio n.A lso, thanks to S tan and Fred G oldste in for authoring such an excellent sourcebook.

S TA R T RE K Is a ndemark of Pa ramount P i ct ur e s CorporatIon.S TA R T RE K: The Role Playing Game II publ ished by FASACorpara l lon Inl., exclusive Ilcanle from Pa ramoun t PIctLnI CorparatIon.1he tradernaC op yr ig htC 1 11 68 . 1_ParamountPiduresCorparation. :.A ll r1gh lB reserved. Printed In the um.d S la te a o f AmerIca.

Publ is"ed by :FASA Co rpo ra tio nP.O.Box 6930C hica go ,IL 6 06 80 -6 93 0

THE FOUR YEARS W AR

D lgn and WritingJo hn A . T he ise nEditorial Staff

Editor-In-ChiefLRo ss B ab co cIc 1 1 /Senio r E d ito rDonna Ippolit o

EditorT o dd H uette l

Production StaffP roduc tio n Manage rs

Jordan K . WeismanK a re n V a nd er M ev

Cover A rtDana K n uts on

I l lustrat ionDana K nu ts onLayou t Kar en V an de r M ev

Dana K n uts on

0 -9 31 78 7- 80 -7 FASA 12 00 N o pM01 this book or the c O O t e n I B 01 the buIc g am e m ay be ~ In qform. or." q meena w I Ih cM penwriting fIom the pubIiah...


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______ NTRODUCTION.__ _The text and tlm eU ne chronology conta ine d In th is

p u blic atio n s ho u ld be m ade availab le , e ither as genera lkn ow le dg e o r specific lib ra ry In fo rm atio n, to a nyo ne In S ta rR e el r eq ue stin g s uc h ma te ria l.T h is I nf orma ti on Is derived from diverse sourcea toprovide a balanced, obje ctive , and co ncise su mm ary ofevent. surrounding the Four Years W ar. Any annotat ionsm ad e b y Aca dem ic ian B righ to n w ill ap pear as edito r's n otesin th e te xt. A ll s ta rd ate s g iv en a re R efe re nc e S ta rd ate s.SUM M ARY OF CONTENTS

The P lanet Annar, conta ins log exce rpts fromo fficers m aking the the first and second contacts with th ena tiv e popula tio n . It a lso co nta in s th e h isto ric , fin al tra ns-m i ss io n f rom USS Guliver, a F ede ra tion scout d estroyed byK1ingon shipe a s a p re cu rso r to the Four Years War. Thissection also Inc ludes a b rie f, com para tive socio log ica lp rofile m ad e w ith a sim ilar cu lture on ano the r p lanet, and asu mm ary o f th e e vo lu tio n of A xa na r's so cio lo gica l a nd te ch -no log ica l g row th .

The H latory conta ins deta iled in formation on theh is to ric al e ve nts le ad in g u p to the Four Years W ar. Essayson ttte h istory of FederatlonJK lingon re la tions, ex is tings oc io po rltic al a nd m ilita ry c on ditio ns w ith in th e F ed era tio n,and the o ffic ia l theory of the K1ingon Em pire 's m otives fo rstarting the Four Years War a re Included . The re is a lso asummary of a previously u np ub Rsh ed th eo ry o n th e o rig in sof the Four Years W ar. It c on tra d ic ts th e o ffic ia l v iew po in tan d p ro vid es a new p ers pe ctive o n th e o rig in s o f th is w ar.The War d88C f'l)es the Four Years War itself,cove ring the m ajor ba ttles and s tra te gic e ve nts o cc urrin gd uring th at conflic t. Fed eration po licy is examined and ap erso na l lo g ca ptu re d fro m a K 1ln go n fla g o ffice r is In clu de d.It d es crib es h is co nta ct with Axanarians and p ro vid es s om eIn sig ht In to th e m is sio n o f th e K 1 in go n t as k fo rc e a t A xa n ar .Re latad ...... conta ins in formation on issuesdea lin g Ind ir ec tly with the war. A discussion of commercerestric tions, an Inte lligence report on the Rom ulan S tarE mpire , the effectiveness of the Federa tion Council,In form ation on starsh lpe used In com ba t, and a repo rt ond il it h ium fo r starshlp p ro p uls io n a re g iv en .The ConMqu.ncM exam ines the lasting effectsof the Four Years W ar on m ilita ry technology andFeder at lo n IK Iln gon r ela tio n s, an d deacrlbes the ro le of th e

Axana r Peace and Culture M l Ia Io na . f in ally , a brief exon Axanar's ro le In the Four Years W ar from the Axanperspect ive Is provided.The nrnellne Chronology conta in s a ch ronoof events re levant to Axanar and the Four YearsSpecifIc s ig nH lc an t e ve nts re la te d to F ed era tio n te ch noo r s o ciopo Ii ti cs a re a l s O Inc ludecl .Finally, Star.hlp Tactlca provides aexplanation of KRngon and Federation operatstra teg ies and warsh ip task force compositions,d esc rib es n um e ro us specific warship tactics used byFleet Com mand and the K1lngon Im peria l Navy du ringF ou r Y ea rs W a r.


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___ .......HE PLANET"AXANARFIRST CONTACT

PART IExtrac t from C.pmln'. Log, UNSS Bonaventure ,Hadrian H. Huckleby, commanding (written Stardate016509.15).

We have just fin ished our two-m onth-Iong firstc on ta ct w ith a p re vio us ly u nd is co ve re d a nd In ha bite d w orld .T he pla ne t, c alled A xan ar, Is th e firs t o f three o tbitlng th etype K O orange dwarf star Delta Orcus. The planet's dis-tance from the star is s lightly less than 0.9 AU and has lesso rb it al e oc en tric ity a nd a xia l tilt th an S ol II I, o r T e rrs .According to Ensign Fortine, the star does notp rod uce as m uch rad ian t e ne rgy 88 the sun we are used to ,m aking the clim actic cond itions livable , bu t harshly cold incom parison to Terra. A lso , its tilt and 'flat' o rbit m ake theseasons much more alike than on Terra. They are alwayscold. The other tw o plane ts In the system are gas giantss im ilar to Ju pite r (S ol V) or B ehem oth (A lpha C entauri II),though D elta O rcus III does h av e a n e xc ep tio na lly b ea utif ulr ing fo rmat ion .

Everyone on board is tremendously excited by thefind . The on ly th ing tha t could have been better w ould havebeen encounte ring na tives as peaceful and friendly as onA l pha Cen tau ri .A fter atta in in g otb it an d usin g the sh ip 's grou nd rada rto check fo r life , I decided to order the ship down to thesurface . C hief E ng ineer M a cG regor reported a ll system sw ere o pe rating p erfec tly, an d Fo rtin e w as dis patche d w ith ateam of crew men to stud y a nd e ven tu ally m ak e c ontact w iththe na ti ves .A s reported in his ow n log, Fo rt in e s u ff er ed casu alt ie safter meeting w ith the Axanarians. For the record, I do no th old h im re sp on sib le in any way for the losses. He is anexemplary officer and, so fa r as I know , acted in com ple te

a cc ord an ce w ith b oth r eg ula tio ns a nd c ommon s eo se .A fte r la bo rio us ly Ie am in g th e A xa na ria ns ' fa irly s im plelanguage, Fortine was Inducted into the ir socie ty andexposed to their cu lture 's re lig ious and philosophica lbe lie fs, w hich Inclu de the sac rifice of natives. W hen thetim e came for him to leave, circumstances forced him toprom ile to re turn one day. Only by 80 p rom isin g c ou ld h eg ua ra nt .. th e safety of h im se lf a nd th e o th ers in h is party.I am very excited by the potentia l w ea lth In m ineralsa nd r es ou rc es o f th is n ew Jy -d is co ve re d wor ld . If I have anyreserva tions a t all, they re fe r to t he h o st ilit y of th e n ativ epopula tion . A lso, I am slightly uneasy w ith the eth ics of

Ensign Fortine making a prom ise he cou ld no t keep. Ade liberate falsehood Is hard ly the idea l foundation fo rbuilding a cu lu ral r e la tl onsh_' .," .There I s no doubt tha t we have had a tremendousimpact on the cu lture of Axanar. W hether our effect wasb en efic ia l o r d etrim en ta l w ill re ma in fo r o ur g ra nd ch ild re n to.... Though I w ould act again as l have acted here , we m ayone day have to prohib it In terterence w ith recently -d lsoovered p lane ts to protect the ir p ro per socio log icaldevelopment.

A fina l foo tno te: S tarman M .l. lloyd has been con-

fin ed to q ua rte rs fo r Im pr op e r p ro ce dur e wh .. servingmember of th e c on ta ct par ty . He v io la te d r eg ula tio nse pa ra ting h im se lf from h is p artne r an d re fu sing to a ns

PART TWOExtract from ScIH OffIctK'. Log, UBonaventure , Ensign Colin B. Fortine, (w ritten S taa.ti509.14).

S erv in g a s s cie nc e officer a bo ard th e Unite d NaSpace Ship Bonaven tu re ha s b ee n a w eird e xp erie nc ea t least I can modestly cla im to be the best Axana riagu ist in the Ree l. The peop le o f Axanar are increprimitive by Earth standard. (though they have aadvanced relig ious beliefs rem arkab ly Inconsistenttheir o the r are as of development). Some of the thinwhich I w as exposed there turned my stom ach m orewe ig h tle s sn e ss e ve r w ll.

Axanarians are very much like Humansa pp earan ce, th ou gh a little sho rte r an d w ith a h ig he r mto-heigh t ra tio. They are mos t like the A leutian peopEarth , w ith the ir adaptation to a co ld clim ate , includ ith ic ke r la ye r of e pithelia l tis sue a nd e pica nth la l fo ldsthe eyes. The ir skin co lor Is aomewhat pa le due tovessels being deeper be low the skin , the cone and rodcells in te rpret vis ib le light differen tly, and Inte rnal oa rr an gem en ts a re no t like a nythin g I ha ve see n be foreth es e a re m in or v aria tio ns . It a pp ea rs th ey evolveds om eth in g v ery s im ila r to a nth ro po id s, a da ptin g a cc ordto t he h a rs he r e n vir onment of their wor ld .

A war-like race organized loosely into tA xa na ria ns a re o pe nly h os tile to a ll o uts id ers , s uc ce sskilling half o f m y e igh t-m an contact team In an am bush.rest o f us were taken prisoner. As we were no t searcw e w ere still a rm ed. In my judgement, they c ou ld h av eus a ll in th eir su rp rise at tack, an d 80 I surm ised tha tha d a reason to take captives. I on ly hoped that oncshow ed ourselves to be intelligent beings, a t least ~standards, communication could begin and pearel at ions m igh t fo ll ow .

T hro ug h a te dio us p ro ce ss of h an d ge stu re s an dto-on e w ord-actio n corre spo nde nc e, a l ingua f r ancaved . W hen their chief learned w e ca me from 0 U I a 1 d eworld, he imm ed ia te ly m a de th e c on ne ctio n to outer aan d acc orded th e survivo rs of our party a status akgodhood . He was pleased to have our presence Iv illage , a loo se, m ed ieva l co ng lo mera tion o f vlne -a ndw o ve n h ut s.

S ev era l w ee ks passed as w e s lo wly Ie am edeach other. W hen it becam e neceaeary for us to leavec hie f trie d to p re ven t it by offering up a num ber owarrio rs. Unfortunate ly, the warriors were to sacthemselves by suicidally ~ us.- Even as we sh e o rd ere d m emb ers o f h is trib e t o'p re pa j. e fo r c om b at.


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U nw Blin g to se e any m ore of our crew k iU ed . I swo r e asolemn vow to re turn one day and to ld h im to cease anyk illin g a s it did not p lease us. Though I had the uneasyfee ling we were about to become a majo r e lemen t inA xa na ria n m yth olo gy. th e situ atio n d eve lo pe d in su ch a w aythat I fe lt the re was no o ther cho ice . I spoke too qu ick ly .bu t how else cou ld I have pro tected the rema inder of m y

SECOND CONTACTExtract from Captain'. Log (.upplelfl8nt.'), USSYardley. M arcus A ure lius Johnson, com manding (writtenS tar da te 112008 .06 ).O ur m iss io n w as to e valu ate the lon g-term im pact theUNSS Bona ve nt ur e had on the socie ty and culture of Del taO rcus I (A xan ar). and to d eterm ine w he ther the plan et cou ldbe opened up for in te rste llar trade. A t the tim e o f theBonaventure 's visit . th e P rim e D ire ctive w as no t In e ffec t. Itis. fo r u s.

F irs t. a seven -man con tact team shuttled down .d ressed as Axanarian trade rs. W hen Socio log is t M arqxre tu rned. he repo rted six casualties. The na tives . upond iscovering the team was unknown in the a rea . askedwhethe r they were "o f the 14" (appa rently . the re is som ek ind of m yth rega rd ing that num ber). W hen M a rqx repliedtha t the team . w hile possess ing m any goods for trade andre pre se ntin g m a ny b elie fs . w as no t "o f the 1 4". the na tivesa ttacked. P re sum ably. th ey le t h im retu rn a live so h e cou ldte ll "h is trib e" o f t he s tre ng th o f t he ir b elie f "in th e 1 4".W hile much o f what has happened is obscure . onefact is c lear. S ix of m y crew men w ere killed in co ld b lood byth e A xa na ria ns o ve r a n a pp are nt m yth ica l co nflic t u nkn ow nto us. It is m y recomm endation that th is p lane t be in te r-d ic te d a s a F ed era tio n p ro te cto ra te . w ith v is ita tio n lim ite d toin fre qu en t e va lu atio ns b y qu alifie d su rve y. te am s. M a yb e in50 or 100 years w e c an check again.It is C le ar th is p lane t is in the p rocess o f socio lo gica ldevelopm ent, and as fa r as can safe ly be determ ined, theBonaventure had no im pact. F rankly , I'm surp rised theywere even able to m ake con tact. I con fess I am very ang ryat the dea ths of m y fe llow crewmen , and I'":, g lad these

"THIRD" CONTACTFinal lo g extract from ship's rec:onJer buoy contaiCapt.In'. Log, USS Gull lv.... Sharrir Th'saal, cmandin g (wr it te n Stardate 119404.01).

In stru ctio ns o f cu rre nt a ssig nm en t of USS G ullwere to evalua te Axanar cu ltu re for lifting of NIn te rfere nce D irective . In stru ction s n ot ca rrie d o ut, dup re se n ce o f n o n- Fe d er atio n fo rc es in A xa n ar la n s ys tem .M ade orb ita l app roach to A xanar. D iacovered ealien starsh ips in v ic in ity . C om puter ana lys is of conu ra tio ns re po rt fiv e K 1in go n D -4 c ru is er s. tw o KJingon 0destroyers. Also pre sen t is on e o ther vesse l not knowncom pu te r. U nknown class is : length, 250 m ete rs; w i150 m eters; he ight. 50 m eters; m ass, 73 ,000 m etric tow ea po nry . u nk no wn ; m a newe ra bility . s im ila r to D-16.The ve sse ls a re a wa re of Gulliver a nd p ro ce ed in gengage com ba t. Fo rm ing into th ree g roup s. ad van cin gGulliver forw ard po rt. fo rward sta rboard, and aft. Sh ieup , forw ard lase rs a rm ed . Enem y vesse ls possess gm a ne uv era bility a nd h av e ta ctic al a dv an ta ge . Guliver isa mid sh ip s; ca su altie s se ve re . E xch an gin g fire . bu t Gullh aving no sig nificant effect. S hip h it ag ain . E nem y vesequ ip pe d w ith ad van ced w eap onry an d p rop uls ion . Bcon ti nues , sh ie l ds f a ll ing .

M e ssage from enem y com mander com ing in . C lath is p la ne t a nd a llia nce w ith in ha bita nts o f su rfa ce . E je cre corde r b uoy and hope inform ation con ta ined w illre trieved and use fu l. I m et

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SOCIOLOGICAL EVALUATIONFrom a le c tu rB entit lf ld Axenar and Beta HI It.Comparative Study In Religious Soclopathology,Michael Lindstrom, Univ er sity o f Deneb .

There are som e in te resting com parisons to be draw nbetween Axanar and Beta III. O f course , I served as as oc io lo gis t a bo ard th e Enterprlsf l w hen crew men from thatsta rsh ip beam ed dow n to Beta III and w ere m istaken forc re wmen o f th e s ta rs hlp Archon, lo st m a ny y ea rs a go .O n B eta III, the in trins ic , d ivis iv e fac tor fo r th e pe op lewas whether an Ind ividua l was -of the Body- or no t. Thequestion asked of strangers was -Are you A rchons?-. O fcourse , a powerfu l com puter ca lled Landru ensured thestagnat ion of soc ie ty, essentia lly a feuda l theocracy w itha n a dv an ce d ma ch in e a s its titu la r le ad er.O n Axanar, the question asked of s trangers w as -A reyou of the 14?-. On the surface, it is a s tr a igh tf o rwa rdquestion regard ing the num ber in the party , and requ iring asimp le yes-no answer. However, when the connection ism ad e w ith E nsig n C olin of th e Fort inf l, th e q ue stio n is p la ce din an entire ly differen t perspective . The prom ise EnsignFortine m ade to retu rn in the futu re degenera ted enoughw ith the passage of severa l genera tions to cause a llstrangers to be asked if they w ere -of the 14-. A negativeresponse would evoke the demand -But, we want the 14-,o ft en w i th f at al r es u lts .Due to Fortine's prom ise to re turn someday, theA xana ria n s ba se c la ll hopes, a sp iratio ns , a nd e ffo rts o n th ere tu rn of the de ities tha t once v is ited them , led by them ighty -14-. U nder the Prim e D irective , th is constitu tesflag ra nt in te rferen ce. T o m en d th is d am ag e, G ene ra l O rde rNumber On. was suspended, and the Axanar Cu ltu reM ission was perm itted to systematica lly a lte r Axanar'scu lture to crea te a more productive , p rogressive , andh ea lthy p ro gre ss of development. Hopefully , suchw idespread, sudden d issem ination of Federa tion cu ltu re ,e th ic s, a nd m o re s w ill n ot be ne ce s sa ry i n t he f ut ur e.

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AXANAR'S DEVELOPMENTFrom Psychohlstorlc:.1 Study of Known SpAcadem ician S ir Kflnnflth AF. BIlIhton, ProfessoP sy ch oh is to ly , S ta r F IH t M us flUm , M fIf1 IO I)' A P ha .N um erica l ind ice s d o n ot p os se ss the p syc ho loim pact o f harsh rea lity. S till, it Is possib le , and adm itc ommon p ra ctic e, to u se the F ed eratio n S cie nce C ouT ech nolo gica l a nd S oc io politica l In dic es to e va lu atelevel of deve lopm ent a tta ined by the socie ties o f p lap op ula te d w ith in te llig en t b ein gs . A n o utg ro wth of t he eRichtf lr Scale of Comparative Planetary Anthropothese indices are no w in standard use throughoutFederat ion. As long as the sign ificance of each va lrea lized on a consc ious and tang ib le leve l, I can approt he ir u s e.A t the time of the firs t con tact, Axanar hT ec hn olo gic al In de x of 3 323 11 a nd a S ocio po litica l In d33. A fte r UNSS 80na ven tu rB vis ite d an d left a co lle ctite xts c on ta in in g s cie ntific a nd e ng in ee rin g in fo rm atio nin dic es ch ang ed co nsid era bly . B y th e tim e th e USS Yaarrived , the Tech Index had advanced to 344431, w itS oc In de x remain in g u nc ha ng ed .

By the end of the Four Y ears W ar, afte r the K linh ad o cc up ie d A xa na r, a dd itio na l rapid a dv an ce s o cc ub rin gin g th e T ec h In de x to 556 552 and th e Soc In dex tw ith K lin go n le ad ers fillin g th e ro le o f m o na rc hs -in -a bs enThus, the Axanarians possessed enough unders tand intechnology to be of som e ass is tance to the K lingensw ork o n th e K lin go n b as es b eg an .W ith the continuing work of the Axanar CM i ssio n, tec hno log ica l a nd s ocio po litica l a dva nce s a rbe ing m ade. C urren tly , A xanar has a Tech Index of 67and a S oc Index of 46 , w ith Axanarian leaders now in cof the ir ow n peop le . A ccording to the'las t report filedth e F ed eration S cien ce C ou nc il, th e C ultu re M i ssio n'so f so cio po litic al a dv anc em en t w ill b e ju dg ed co mple tethe Soc iopolitica l Index reaches 66. Th is is expectetake a number o f years, but staff s cien tis ts a re m ores atis fie d w ith th e p ro gr es s b ein g ma de .One in te resting note on Axanar's deve lopmE xten sive bio ch em ic al a nd ge ne tic ex am ina tio ns coth at L lo rle xa L lo yd , a m a gis te r (p olitic al o ffic ia l) in A xag ove rn me nt, is a d irec t de sce nd an t of T ec hn ic ia n S eC lass M a tthew L. L loyd , a crewman aboard UBonaventurB. W e can on ly guess at the long-term eth is w ill h av e o n th e g en etic ;. po ol of Axan It does apthat the crew of the UNSS Bonaven tu rB left mo re th ant ex tb ook s and s chemat ic s of s l,..,. m ac hin ery .. . .


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THE HISTORYUFP/KLlNGON BACKGROUND

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From Historlcsi Insight. Into the Four YHr. War,red Erickson and Loom Aleek-om.

Relations have been strained between the Federationand the Klingon Empire ever since the two powers firstlearned of each other's existence. On Stardate 115105.02,a personal warp-driven shuttle made contact with the USSSentry near Gamma Demetrius. An alien warship calling it-sen the Devisor of the Klingon Empire demanded the returnof the shuttle and its passengers. The Sentry's commanderreluctantly honored the shuttle pilot's request for temporarypolitical asylum, and shots were exchanged briefly betweenthe Federation and Klingon ships. The Devisor then de-parted, promising to return and wreak havoc on the Fed-eration and its citizens. This was the first contact with thehostile government of the Klingons, a race who seemed toenjoy combat sheerly for its own sake. Over the next sev-eral stardates, an assortment of contacts and briefskirmishes were reported between individual Federationpicket ships and Klingon pirate vessels near the disputedKlingonlFederationborder.The second major encounter occurred on Stardate1/6003.04, when a Klingon starship, modified to transmit aFederation scout identification signal, seized the USSFlying Fortress, a slow but heavily-armed prototypetransport. By means of a sneak attack, the Klingons wereable to destroy the transport's bridge, kill ing all commandpersonnel and rendering weapons systems inoperative.The ship also happened to be carrying the first experimentaldeflector shield, although the Klingons never did discoverthat fact. Even though the ship was temporarily in Klingoncontrol, a successful interception by a Federation anti-piracy task force forced the Klingons to release their tractorbeam, returning the badly-damaged Flying Fortress to StarFleet'scontrolwith all itssecrets intact.These increasingly unrestrained acts of piracy andcombat by the Klingons greatly concerned Star FleetCommand and resulted in emergency appropriat ions toconstruct two new Star Bases near the Klingon Empire.Star Bases 22 and 23, completed in Stardate 1/6401 and1/6905 respectively, would serve as centers of operationfor Star Fleet's task forces protecting Federation space andshipping from further incursions by Klingon vessels. Afterthe attack on the USS Flying Fortress, there were no multi-ship confrontations between Klingon and Federationvessels until the Four Years War began. Occasional skirm-ishes and exchanges of fire between vessels of the twogovernments,however,wouldcontinue.One notable period of remarkable inactivity lastedfrom Stardate 1/82 to 1187. The popular belief is that it wasdue to a war being fought by the Klingon Empire alonganother border. Though there is no knowledge of any intel-ligent race on the Klingon Empire's coreward border, thecovert discovery of massive Klingon shipbuilding effortsduring this period would seem to reflect some form of openwarfare with anenemy otherthan the Romulansorthe UFP.

UFP SOCIOPOLITICALBACKGROUNDFrom Psychohlstorlcsl Study of Known SpAcademician Sir Kenneth A.F. Brighton, ProfessorPsychohistory, Star Fleet Museum, Memory Alpha.The early years of the United Federation of Placan be characterized by consistent territorial expanand technological and cultural growth, as warp-driven stravelled between the inhabited worlds of intelligent beiNot including the violent contacts taking place betweenVegan Tyranny and other races, the period betwZephram Cochrane's development of the warp drivStardate 0/4812 and the loss of the USS Atlas to Romuin Stardate 0/9211 was generally a time for peace.establishment of the United Federation of PlanetsStardate 0/8706.06, with its charter permitting the creof a Star Fleet Command, went a long way to ensure sof livesandpropertywithin Federationspace.Still, there were limitations. Technology and thematter warp drive had opened up space, but even warpcould not do the impossible. Advances in propupermitted speeds of up to Warp 3.5, but no higSignificant breakthroughs in interstellar travel would noforthcoming until the discovery of dilithium in Sta117603.After the inconclusive Romulan War of Sta1/0610 to 1/0909, peace again became the watchwithin the Federation. After outposts along the Romborder became operational in Stardate 1/1804,Federation could expand without significant difficulties,began to grow complacent. Research continued on thesign of a practical materializer beam (later calledtransporter), but funding for Star Fleet operations waduceddramatically.In Stardate 113612, the Federation Council vagainst appropriations for a totally new generatiowarships. This, coupled with the monumental design faof a later ship class, resulted in an obsolete, 46-yeadestroyer class serving as the Federation's first lindefense when first contact did finally come with the KliEmpireon Stardate115105.02.In Stardate 115708,a political body calling itseTerra-Return League was formed on Benecia colony.goal, as described in their Proclamation, was to endFederation'S policy of expansion and have all Humanturn to the Sol system from the most outlying regiospace. Observing that mankind had gone deep into sand still had not solved many of Humanity's basic probthe League felt resources were being exploited and abon an interstellar level. They said room enough existethe now-habitable worlds of Mars, Venus, C


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Ganymede, and Titan, and so the Federation should bedisbanded, and Terra observe a strictly isolationist view ofextra-solar activities. The recent contact with thewar-likeKlingens only added to the League's argument.This viewpoint, along with the Scandal of ArchimedesIn Stardate 1n201, resulted in growing dissatisfaction withthe Federation Council. The scandal involved a requestmade to the Federation for specific economic tradeprotections. Th'allt, a small Andorlan colony world veryclose to numerous Tellarite trading worlds, claimedharassment by particularly exploitive Tellarite t. .. rs.The situation, code-named -Archimedes- by StarFleet, was ignored at first and later badly mismanaged bythe Bureau of Interstellar Commerce. The situation becamecritical when a substantial task force of Star Fleet warshipsunder Andorian Admiral Hathari effectively disregardedregulations and encircled the system with a protectiveblockade. Warning shotswere actually fired at Tellar-registered merchant ships,forcing the situation to cometo the attention of the Fed-eration Council itseH.Though all parties wereeventually mollified and cor-rective measures were taken,this momentary crisis vividlypointed out the shortcomingsof the Federation'S complexand occasionally ineffectivebureaucracy. The event alsoheightened the smaH butgrowing popularity of theTerra-Return League. Numer-ous planets even declaredembargoes O n goods fromplanets disagreeing with theirstand on the controversialissue. The final challengecarne at the Babel Confer-ence of Stardate 1n701. TheTerra-Return League, now rep-resenting a respectable andvocal minority, officiallyraised the question of aissolving the Federation. Afterstrenuous debate and impassioned speeches by theparticipants, the decision to maintain the Federation passedby an acceptable margin.Some of the factors leading to the decision Includedthe recent development of the transporter, the willingnessof Star Fleet to offer more patrols and protection, and thevery recent discovery of dillthium crystals and itssubsequent effects on interstellar travel.Between the time of the Babel conference and theFour Years War, the new advances in technology andIncreased speed of Interstellar travel encouraged a secondperiod of economic growth and territorial consolidation.Alternating between placid complacency and the. raw edgeof crisis, the Federation stood ready for the open warfarethat was to come. .

UFP SOCIOPOLITICALBACKGROUND: A CRITICISM

From Q1 the Brink of 01 .. ",." Federa tion A ssCommissioner (now High Commi ss ioner ) Mitchell Ferris.It is easy to say that the United Federation of Pl

has successfully maintained peace within It s spheresince the bloodbath of the Romulan War. The truth iafter the Romulan War, we grew as fat and complacentSirian bandersnatch after feeding. The Federation wabeatable, its military forces were ali-powerful. Or so wourselyes in closed chamber meetings and fromspeaking balconies of a dozen-score worlds.

And yet, at the same time, the people complainethe Federation council's impersonality. Only the grcomplaints were handled at the highest levels oenormous bureaucracy now controlling the Federat ion.Archimedes debacle was example enough. -I t is timdraw back; some said. -Let us return to an Imperiform of government, with Terra as its capitol, o f coOthers, specifically the Terra-Return league, sougstrictly isolationist policy.Only the narrow vote of the Babel ConferencStardate 1m01 permitted the Federation to continuecurrent form. I, for one, recognize that the UFP haunenviable job of being -all things to all beNevertheless, these petty differences of opinion shoulhave been allowed to develop into world-shaklng calamThe only way order can be maintained Is through Increuse of Star Fleet personnel and equipment to ecooperation. If people in desolate outposts think theeration is impersonal, wait until a large Klingon wacomes bearing down on them. It should make apersonal impression.

UFP MILITARY BACKGROUNDFrom M.aed Fl#let., Adm lraJ Sam uel S hepherd,S ta r F le et C omm and (p rior to th e F ou r Years War).

After the Romulan War, high officials in the Fedefelt certain another war would no t occur quickly. Onstallations were complete along the Romulan bordefuture role o f Star Fleet Command seemed limited togational and simple law enforcement duties. As aappropriations for Star Aeet Operations were cut sFunds for research and development permitted only mtechnological Improvements. Funds for new constrallowed only for the replacement o f vessels no longefor use. At one point, plans for an entirely new generacombat vessels were submitted to Star Fleet, bCouncil rejected any further expenditures.

This went on until Stardate 1/4802.20, when tof a new class of cruiser was commissioned. TheTritium was the first starshlp designed with threenacelles. According to Zephram Cochrane's originatheories, no more 'han two warp nacelles could be usesingle ship, because imbalances in the warp fleldeerated by the nacelles would nullify the drive's


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S evera l flag -ra nk o ffice rs in S ta r F le et E ng in ee rin gC omm an d disag ree d. T he y b elie ve d the th ird n ac elle w ou lds tabilize and harm onize w ith the perform ance of the othert w o , d ram atic ally in crea sing m axim um op eratin g p erfo rm -ance. M a ny billions of credits w ere put into the pro ject, anda to ta l of si x Trit ium C la ss sh ip s w ere c on structe d be foret he p ro je c t w as te rm in ate d. S im ply p ut, C ochra ne w as rig ht,and the theore tica l enginee~ were terrib ly w rong. M anyofficers had staked their careers on the decision and la te rfo un d th em se lv es o ut o f a job .

O n T erra , th e sh ip s in the a ncien t n au tica l fle ets w erebuilt around the s ize of the guns or the th ickness of thea rm or. H ow ever, th e o verrid ing lim ita tio n on th e e ffic ie ncyof a sta rsh lp is not the hull m ateria l or the size of its turrets.W ith the se ships-of-the -line , it Is th e w arp d rive tha t s erve sto power a ll o ther system s. A fte r the fa ilu re o f three w arpnacelles on a sing le ship, efforts continued to increase theefficiency of the w arp drives them se lves. These efforts re-sulted In steady progress, as the maxim um shlp-speedc re p t s low ly upward to W arp 4.8. The Mann, R ic kenba c ke r.and Baton Rouge C la sse s, a mon g oth ers, co nta in ed im -p ro veme nts o ve r e arlie r d es ig ns , but add it iona l substan t ia lp rogress would be lim ited until d ilith ium became ac omp on en t In w a rp d riv es .Tactics continued to deve lop as w ell, w ith S tar F leetships usua lly working in groups of three or four sim ila rsh ips, allow ing conven ience in repa ir th roughout thegrow ing Federation sphere of influence. In m any w ays, thes itua tion near the K lingon Em pire w as ideal fo r s ta rsh ipcrew s. There w as enough excitem ent w as poss ible to keepofficers a ie rt, and the brief conflicts gave numerouscommanders a t least som e com bat experience. M any ofth e le ss on s le arn ed in m in or c on fro nta tio ns s erv ed to tra inthem better than any sim ula tion a t the A cadem y cou ld . (O fcourse , the h isto rica l sim ula tions at S tar F lee t Academ yw ere seco nd to none, bu t no am ount of simulation cansubst it u te f or ac tua l f ie ld exper ience. )A not he r s ou rc e of pride for S tar F lee t w as the new ly-estab lished M a rine Academ y, opened in S tarda te 119009.T his ne w in stitution w ould p rov id e M a rin e C orps C omm an dpersonne l w ith the specia lized tra in ing needed for the irparticular duties. And now that they had the ir own edu-cat ional and tra in in g fa cilitie s, a s pe cia l s en se of esprit decorps cou ld be im parte d to them as well. This enhancedth eir o ve ra ll e ffic ie nc y and u nin te ntio na lly m ain ta in ed a nIn te r-service riva lry da ting back at leas t to 18th-centuryTerra. W ith bo th S ta r F lee t an d M a rin e A cad em ie s s up plyin gh ighly skilled personne l, and w ith the establishment ofre gu la r du ty pa trols fo r th e m ajo rity o f o ur te rrito ry, w e w ereas ready for open w arfa re as w e cou ld be w ithout vio latingthe Prim e D irective or active ly in itia ting inte ,.e llar w ar onour own.

UFP MILITARY BACKGROUND:A CRITICISM

A Polley of Pacmsm: Th e UFP Before the FYear. War, Greeunt, Tel/arite Ambassador to Orion.H um an s a nd th e H um an -d om in ate d F ed era tio n a lwfind som eone to b lam e other than selves. W hen theywar w ith Romulans, they b lame them for hostileaggressive actions. W hen they m ake hostile contactthe K lingon Em pire ahd la te r learn the O rlons knew oK lingons, they b lam e Oriona for not te lling. W hen thn ea rly go sou r a t B ab el C onfe ren ce an d e ven o the r H umwant to retu rn to home, they b lame poor economy.A rchim edes C risis, they b lam e ethics o f tru ly honorTe llarite m erchants. W hen dilith ium crystals are founOrion system , they seize all they can for low est pospay, then again b lame Orions for wanting to sharem ine ral w ea lth w ith K ling on s. O ne w ou ld think a ll trou blela rg e g ala xy a re c omb in ed fa ult o f O rio ns a nd T ella rite s.

T ru th is : F ed era tio n as a who le is just not readface all there is. Too often, they d isagree am ongst thse lves, then show indecisive a ttitude w hen forced to mdecision. If they m ight take lessons from a d ip lomaTella r, they should look to selves for answ er, not blamothers. A strong m ilita ry is im portan t, yes, but alsoprinciples o f econom ic war. O rlons were true w innerFour Years W ar, for they learned needed lessons andvalued goods to both sides, m ak ing m uch m oney. W em uch to learn from skilled O rion leadersh ip , and it is no


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KLINGON STRATEGY/nt.lllgent An.lysls of the Kllngon Empire, Vol-um e X, Star Reet In te llig en ce C ommsn d, K lin go n S ec to r.Based on all available Information, the Four YearsWar started when the Emperor and some Imperial Courtmembers of the Klingon Empire were pressured by moremilitant factions to initiate open hostilities against theFederation. This pressure, combined with the need forterritorial expansion and conquest of additional resources,led to combat. To fully understand the implications of this, itisnecessaryto know something o f Klingonpolitics.Members of specific, powerful lines of ancestry serveas the rulers in the Klingon Empire. If the ruling position onpolicy is opposed vehemently enough by other lines,important members of the ruling family are assassinated,and the assassins become the new ruling line. This ensuresthat political and military power remains in control of themoa t aggressive, and thus best, leaders possible. Unlessthe Empire's immediate future would be damaged by multipleassassinations, Klingons would continue to employ tacticso f this natureto even wartime.

More than passed between the ofthe Initial encounter between the K1ingonship Devisor andthe USS Sentry and the beginning of the Four Years War.During that time, the Klingons knew of the Federation, apotentially hostile government,. yet did not declare openwarfare against the UFP, as might havebeen expected.

Indeed, a war Involving the Federation was postponedby a policy o f aggressive expansion in areas of the KlingonEmpire not near the Federation. As a result, the KlingonImperial Forces turned coreward, apparently seeking aninexpensive but meaningful gain in territory there.Presumably, from what little information we have, theirefforts were sharply thwarted by another race or racesoccupying that region of apace. As casualties mounted in"The Unknown War, the High Command was forced toreconsider their strategy. There was also pressure onKlingon leade" to launch a full-scale attack against theFederation, In hopes of a fast and inexpensive conquestthere. For a number of years after the conclusion of TheUnknown War, other family lin.. began to show extreme

displeasure at the Emperor's apparent cowardice,threatened open warfare against the High Council Itseis believed the abortive sneak attack against the Federtransport USS Flying Fortress resulted in extreme emrassment for high-level officials o f the Klingon Empire.began to search elsewhere for giory and conquestenough time had passed and their failure forgotten.lack of success on the coreward front refocused Kllattention on the adversary judged to be less dangei.e.,the Federation.The High Council planned an unexpectedly boldrash plan of offense against the Federation, in the hopemollifying their enemies and remaining in control. Theirwas to' seize and annex a large region of space currunder Federation control. Once that was accomplisthey could then turn their energies to the RomulanEmpire and a region of space known as the TriaAssuming the Federation would relinquish control ovedisputed area rather than enter a prolonged conflict, thecould beover ina few monthswith minimalcasualties.Though there apparently was concern among theCommand over the Klingon Empire's abil ity to wagprolonged war, it was not deemed likely that such awould last for more than two years. The Klingons belthat a massive ship construction program begun abouyears prior to the commencement of hostil ities wouldthe them a quick victory through overwhelmingsuperiority.Another faction, however, had other plans that whave added considerably to the overall success ofprimary goal. Their intention was to send a Klingon aqro n secretly into the Federation, occupy a planet, cona surface naval installation and complex fortifications,operate within Federation space as long as possible.would serve as a diversion, provide an installationsome limited repair facilities, and add to Star Aeet'sfusion. After enough time passed for the first K1squadron to reach Axanar (their chosen planet), a eesquadron would be dispatched Immediately, provide

word came from Star Fleet of the first squadron's deteor destruction.Apparently, they received information fromKlingon sources regarding the location and natuAxanar. An interdicted world under the protection oferal Order NumberOne, Axanar was unusual In havinga status so close to the center of Federation space.Klingon High Council must have judged this planet toexcellent site for their military installation, providedshipe could successfully reach the planet withoutdetected. USingenormous fleet maneuvers and the uvoked massacre at the Areanis Four Research Outpostrategic diversions, the K1ingon Imperial Navy taskwas able to secretly reach Axanar. Only after the discby


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KLiNGON STRATEGY:A NEW THEORY

In t roduct ion to a re ce ntly p ub lish ed d is se rtatio n byK ra ftz m an n M ile il H ar te w ic c8 , M .D ., E d .D ., P h .D ., L AD .I happen to think the Klingons are not as simple orfoolish as Star Fleet's official theory of the Four Vears Warwould have us believe. The idea of using Axanar, a planetvery deep within Federation space, as the site for a Klingonnaval base must have some logical basis in fact. EvenKlingons generally tend to think in logical terms when thesubject isstrategicmilitarypolicy.There are hundreds of planets closer to the Klingonborder that would have been more suitable for purposes ofsupply, defense, and general operations. For an advancebase. a planet a few parsecs distant would have been morelogical than having it 40 or 50 parsecs behind enemy lines~Such great distances would change the most routine ofsupply missions Into the greatest of undertakings and beterribly wasteful of resources.I have compiled a new theory that is based on ananalysis of the genetic structure and the primarypersonality characteristics of every major Humanoid raceliving In the area of Federation space between the KlingonEmpire and the planet Axanar. The statistical analysis andsubservient processes took a little over 17 years (andconsumed just under33.000 tablecloths,at last count).After carefully evaluating the general personality ofthe Axanarian race and the available genetic data on bothKlingons and Axanarlans, it appears they may be slightlymore alike In their DNA structure than any other Humanoid.

considered disparaging toward the loyalties ofAxanain general. On the other hand, they did ally themselthe Klingons, though that too may have been obthrough chemical or biologicalcoercion.H this is the case, it is possible the primary puof taking Axanar was to establish some sort of cobiogenetic installation there. Its purpose might haveto flood surrounding Federation territory with aon/Axanarian genetic hybrid. Such a half-breed woulbably have the general appearance of Humans b

motivation.training. an9 resourcesof Klingons.With the secondary motive of building and mainta large spaceship base on the surface ofAxanar.Klingons could proceed to fight the war while succesestablishing a covert hospital/research facility onsurface for future use. Now is, of course, the futureviewed from the time of that war. I believe there arsome areas ofAxanar not fully explored, and the basebe fully operational at this time. without anyone in Startaking necessary precautions. Indeed, it may alreatoo late.


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______________~TheVVa~THE KLiNGON PERSPECTIVE

ON AXANARTranslated excerpts from the structa aggam of K lingonAdm ir al K k or he tz a z an ta i- Ris Jc a/ ( ca pt ur ed by F le et C ap ta inG arth o f Izar s ho rt ly a ft er t he Ba tt le o fA x an ar ).After this most dangerous of journeys lasting manyklan'. I have arrived safely at the interdicted world the ICBwas told of. a planet Federation weaklings call Axanar.Rations of vis'l


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PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHESFrom An Informsl History of ths FOUf Yo,. Waf,Captain (nowAdm ir al, Re tir ed ) S eba stia n Wes te rv lie t.Peace was nice, and the United Federation of Planetshad had its share of it. Unfortunately, it could not be takenfor granted. Federation borders were not sacrosanct, asthe Ktingonspainfully remindedus.Having had few violent encounters with ships of theKlingon Imperial Navy until Stardate 1/9212, we did notexpect such barbarism from a space-faring race. Nothingsince the time of the RomuJan War could compare to it.Once again, we should have taken heed of the past. Ourfirst lessonthis time wouldcome atArcanls.Star Fleet Command maintained a medium-sizedresearch outpost on Areanis IV , an otherwise uninhabitedClass K planet. The station was manned by a mixture ofmilitary and civilian technicians working on a wide as-sortment of low-priority projects. There were no extensiveoffensive or defensive weapons systems at the base asidefrom assorted personal side-arms, and patrols in the areawere generally limited to an occasional Hale or Bode Classscout.

On Stardate 1/9212.21, the USS Bohr, while onstandard patrol, reported observing a three-ship Klingontask force in the area of unclaimed space between the UFPand the Klingon Empire. The ships were Identified ascruisers of the fairly new D-7A Class. The commander hadsome prior experience with Klingon forces moving into theneutral zone from a region informally called 'he Hook", butprevious Klingen movements were generally brief and of areconnaissance nature. Not expecting deliberate hos-tilities, the Bohr left station and proceeded to intercept andtrack the enemy gl'Oup. As it turned out, the Federationvessel's area of patrol happened to include the Areanissystem.USing a tactic known as picket passing, the Klingontask force effectively lured the USS Bohr from its normalfOute. As the scout intercepted the D-7Aa, a second taskgroup of about 2~ ships moved Intothe Areanis system andattacked the research station. The Kllngens knocked outthe station's only deflector shield with disruptor fire, andtw o companies of Klingon marines transported down to thebase with astonishing speed, cold-bloodedly kill ing withhand weapons every man and woman there. The lastmessage recorded on the base's log was from a Klingonmarine Captain named Muthar who remarked that the basewould no t be destroyed, "because it might someday beuseful to His Excellency, Emperor Karhammur." The cost inFederation lives was 112 in all. They were the first to die,bu t theywould notbe the last .And this attack was only the beginning. On Stardate119301.25,the USS Ru th er fo tr J detected a Klingon battlefleet of over 100 ships within the neutral area They weremoving just spinward of the Rigel system, apparentlyheading into Fed..ration space. Star Fleet Intelligencequickly learned the fleet. code-named "R", was under theoverall command of Klingon Admiral epetal Kazu, an officerwith some reputation for making quick, violent decisions.On Stardate 1/9302.24, the US S Irw in detected an almostidentical force under Admiral zantai Kone. Code-named

group "U", the ships were moving spinward of Star Bawith the same apparent intention of violating Fedeterritory en masse.These discoveries had a devastating effect onFleet Command. Although most scouts nearest the Klborder maintained their proper surveillance positionspromptly reported their findings, we had no effective wdeal with the situation once we did know about it. StarIntelligence, Klingon Sector, had kept track of geactivities and trends, and they knew about many Klshipbuilding programs, including a massive construproject involving several hundred D-7 cruisers. Thenot, however, expect these new forces to be used athe UFP, but instead anticipated their deploymentwhere. The Klingons had constructed large fleets betStardate 1/82 and 1/87, and our best guess was thatwould use these newships intheUnknownWar.

It appeared that the Klingons had massedenormous battle fleets for a frontal attack on theeration. In defense, all UFP vessels capable of cowere transferred from Star Bases 21, 14, and 15towaborder sectors. Meanwhile, Federation and civilianrushed to finish the new ship-building docks and assplants on Star Base 15, should the unthinkable achappenandopen hostilitiesbedeclared.It was some time before we learned there wsecond purpose for the attack on Arcanis and the twothrust against the Federation. As Fleet Captainproved, these actions were to cover a nine-ship taskleaving the Klingon base at Ruwan, moving past Star

14 through the heart of Federation space to reacinterdicted world ofAxanat. Preoccupied with mobilizinforces against the Klingon Fleets, we suspected noththe time.Then, in Stardate 1/9305, both Klingon fleets rachanged course and reduced speed from their preaverage of Warp 6 to Warp 3. By this time, the earmadas were just outside Federation territory in thman's-space between the Klingon and Federation boThis action admittedly left Star Fleet in a real quandasquadrons continued to form in support of any necedefense. .Star Fleet was not the only confused groleaders. The Federation Council had only the single aof Areanis on which to base the declaration. After ccomparing the relative strength of the Federation athe Klingon's current force, the Council sorrowfully wrothe lives of the destroyed research outpost in cchamber decisions. Not having an adequate motistarting a full-scale war, the Federation elected to ignolossessuffered,and hoped thay wouldbe the last .Nothing further happened for a number of mEventually splitting up into a number of smaller squadthe Klingon fleets continued to travel in unclaimed ssending shivers up the spine of Federation taskcommanders facing the treacherous enemy. Ourwould remaintied untilStardate 1/9406.15.Fortunately, the Klingon fleets did not force aaction until late in 1194. By that time, Star Base 15'snew shipbuilding docks were ready to go into immediatscale production, with other bases equally torquedhandleconflict.


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THE DECLARATION OF WARFrom Star Fleet Command Official c.mpaignHI.tory of the Four Yee,. . War, John G ill and the StarF lee t O f fi ce of Public A ff air s a nd In fo rma tio n .I n S ta rd a te 119403, th e USS Gu lliv e r, a SaMY'" CIaaas cou t, r ec e iv e d i ns tr uc tio n s to m ake a routine eva lua tion ofAxanar's soc io log ica l deve lopm ent as fo llow -up to anea rli er e val ua tio n condu ct ed by th e U SS Y an fle y. Extractsfrom the destroyed sh ip 's recorder log showed that itre ac he d th e A xa na r S ys te m o n S ta rd ate 1 19 40 4.0 1.On S tarda te 119405.29, a sing le D-4E cruisertra ve llin g a t W a rp 5 was s po tte d e ig ht parsecs fro m A xa na rb y th e USS X en op ho n, a Markin Class destroyer . Th e com-m ander o f the Xenophon, C ap ta in G arth o f Iz ar, p ru de ntlym ain ta ined observa tion for a matte r o f days, exactlyp lotting the K lingon ship 's course . The vesse l's on ly pos-s ib le d e st in a ti on was t he in te rd ic te d world ofAxanar.S ince receiving the ir new orders , the crew of the USSGul l iver had not been heard from . Though it w as a little u n-usua l fo r so m uch tim e to p as s b etw e en tra nsm is sio ns , thescout was not ye t o ffic ia lly lis ted as m iss ing in action.C apta in G arth , how ever, knew that the sh ip w as supposedto be at Axanar. By com bin ing both p ieces of d ata , G a rthconcluded tha t som eth ing had som ehow gone w rong, andth at th is K lin ge n s hip m ig ht be involved.R ea lizin g th e ta ctic al s itu atio n a s w ell a s th e d ista nc eof th is un friend ly vesse l w ith in Federation space, Garthengaged the D-4, o rd erin g its c omm an de r to surrender.W hen the vesse l a ttem pted to a c ti va te s h ie ld s an d init iatecom bat w ith the Xenophon , G arth used superio r tac tics tod isab le the K lingon 's w arp eng ines w ith skillfu l laser f ire.Th is action le ft the enem y sh ip on Im pu lse power a lone,r en der in g i t e f fe c tiv e ly h a rm l es s .O n S ta rd ate 1 19 40 6.0 5, th e USS Bonhom me R icharddetec ted a hom ing signa l com ing from a ship 's recorderbuoy. M o ving in , the crew re trieved the dev ice and learnedit was from the USS Gu lliv er. T he c ru is er Imme dia te ly setcourse for Axanar, transm itting its log and the log of theGull iver to S tar F lee t C om mand, w ho In tum contac;ted theFederation C ouncil. B y th is tim e. G arth and the Xenophonw ere a lre ad y o n th eir w ay toA xa na r a t W a rp 6 .2.A s soon as word of the GuHJvets fa te reached theFederation CouncU , a dec la ra tion was prepared andtransm itted on a ll m ajor ha iling frequenc ies to the com -m and ing officer o f the K lingon task force at A xanar. H e w asg iven a cho ice betw een w ithdraw ing h is entire fo rce to theK lingen border w hile under S tar F leet escort and outrigh tsurrender. Aw are of the cons iderab le d is tances invo lved,the C ouncil gave the K lingon four m onths to contact the Em -p ir e a nd r ece iv e t he ir i ns tr uc ti on s .W hile w aitin g, S ta r F le et b eg an p ro du ctio n o f th e n ew ,inexpensive Portsmlth C lass destroyer, a small, m an-euverab le sh ip tha t w ou ld see extens ive use throughout thew ar. Shortly a fte r, the genera lly unsuccessfu l Siva CIaaad es tr oy er w a s w ith df8 wn from s erv ic e.A rriv ing at Axanar on S tarda te 119407.09, severa lhours before th e USS Bonhom me R ichatrl, C ap ta in G arthwas g iven overall comm and of a squadron ordered tom ain ta in a co mp le te su rve illa nce of the Axanar system .Shou ld the K lingens try to break out, G arth 's scouts w ou ld

be In a pos ition to detect the action and d isab leu nfrie nd ly w ars hip s. H e co mp la in ed g oo d-n atu re dly athe duty , considering it to be -just another scom lss ion-, bu t on S tarda te 119408.29 , G arth got m uchthan he had barga ined for. Though the K lingons bottlew ith in the Axanarian system had m ade no attem pt tothe ir curren t position , a second K lingon taskcontaining tw o squadrons of D-4E cruisers as wenumerous cargo fre igh te rs a nd a ssa ult s hip s, w as re pby one of G arth 's scouts. Th is squadron was movintoward Axanar, apparently in tend ing to re in fo rceresupply th e existing K li ng on na va l g a rr is o n.B ad ly o utn um be re d, o utg un ne d, a nd un pre pa re dfu ll-sca le fleet action, G arth proved h is resource fu lnH e gave very deta iled instruc tions to a ll sta rsh ipm an de rs , a nd q uick ly s plit u p h is s ma ll c omm an d in to tO ne g ro up o f sh ip s fo rm ed a tra ilin g U -fo rm atio n to cona fixed defense, and the other fo rces m aneuvered awhigh warp speed.

The K lingon task force moved in , p inn ing theg ro up an d crip plin g s eve ra l F ede ra tio n s co uts . M e an wGarth 's second group conducted a massive , subsc ommunic atio ns c ou nte rin te llig en ce o pe ra tio n,s im u la tith e s ub sp ac e ra dio tra ffic of s ev era l la rg e F ed era tio nm oving in to enc ircle the K lingons. The K lingons, c lm on ito ring S tar F lee t com munica tions w ere foo led .im media te ly broke off the ir a ttacks aga ins t the firsta nd re fo rm ed fo r a second attack.

As the ruse progressed, the K lingons believed'flee ts ' were c los ing in on them . The th ird task forcem ove d in to co ve rt attack pos itions . O nce there . theycessfu lly d irec ted laser and ecce le ra to r cannon fire agthe unsh ie lded aft sec tions of m ore than haH the K lfo rce , qu ickly knocking out a m ajority o f the affectedp ropu ls ion sys tems .Three of the ligh tly-arm ed and sh ie lded Federscouts w ere destroyed and four destroyers (includ ingXenophon) and the cru iser U SS B on ho mm e Richardbad ly dam aged. S ix D-4E c ru is ers w ere d estro ye d amost a ll the o ther K lingon warsh ips w e,e dam aged bthe K lingon task force com mander surrendered to C aG arth , h im se lf w ounded w hen h is sh ip w as h it. Becauth is flee t action , the K lingon re in fo rcem ents d id notAxanar and no line of supp ly between the K lingen Eand t he i nt er di ct ed world w as established.As a resu lt of G arth 's tactica l skill in achieviv ic tory a ga in st e xtre me o dds , co mb in ed w ith h is d elibefforts to m in im ize casua lties on both sides, G arth ore ce iv ed th e F ed era tio n M e d al of V alor and the title o f


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F ina lly, o n S ta rd ate 1 19 40 9.29 , w ord ca me b ack fro mK lingon A dm iral K korhe tza , unaw are of the destruc tion o fh is re in fo rcing squadron. H e decla red , -An alliance nowexists be tween the powerfu l K lingon Empire and itshonorab le serv ito r, the natives o f the w orld o fAxanar. Bythe insu lting cond ition in the term s of your ow n w eakness-in fe ste d C ou ncil's 'u ltim atu m', a sta te o f w ar is no w in e ffe ctbe tw een the K lingon Em pire and the U nited Federa tion o fPlanets.-

THE EARLY MONTHSFrom a lecture in Contemporary Federation MilitaryHiStory FEH-3t3l2J, taught by Commodore Sven vanAn/ing (given to Star F lee t Academ y graduate studentssho tt ly a ft er the war ended).During the first few months of the war, from itsdecla red beg inn ing on Starda te 1/9409 u ntil S ta rd ate1 /9509, cond itions w ere grave for the forces of S tar F lee t.A fte r C apta in G arth 's overw helm ing victo ry a t the Battle o fA xanar, he received add itional rein forcem ents and m ovedin to th e A xan ar sy ste m itse lf. B y ex ec utin g a fla wle ss D elta -Z m aneuver aga inst the K lingon force in w hat is now know nas the Second Battle o f Axanar, G arth sound ly defea tedthe ir seven-warahip Invas ion flee t and accepted thesurrender of K lingon Adm ira l Kkorhe tza . Though it wastouch and go. fo r. a w hile , the e igh th sh ip ,. a T-3A assaulttra ns po rt, w as bcatec:I on the surface of th e p la ne t. It screw wu recovered, and a tracto r beam placed on thevessel. this sa me sh ip no w rests in the Star F leet Space-flig ht M u s eum o n L un a.From S tarda te 119410 through 119504, severa lK llngon squadrons, contain ing 50 or m ore D-7A cruiserse ac h, e nte re d the u nc la im e d re gio n of space betw een theF ed era tio n a nd th e K lin go n Em pire . P as sin g in to F ed era tio nspace, they viciously a ttacked any S tar Aeet fo rcesencountered . DU ring th is time, the decisive Battles o fAndrom eda, G enm arx, Lea, and Lyclydun w ere fought, andJa nni IV w as su bju gate d b y re gim en ts of K lin go n s old ie rs inthe firs t g round action of the war. The K lingons showedso me w ea kn ess in tac tic al s kill, bu t te nd ed to m ake up for itin n um be rs, o fte n forcin g a th ree - o r fou r-to -o ne n um eric alsuperiority over de fend ing U FP cru isers and destroyers.T he e nc ou nte r at L ea was a prim e exam ple . The K1ingon D-4E s of the 127th C ru iser S quadron caught the US S C0n-stitut ion and a pa ir o f La /son destroyers in a qu ick bu tviciou s s warm ing atta ck . T he F ed eratio n c ru is er w as ra ke dam id ship s, su ffe rin g e xte nsive d am ag e, an d o ne d estro ye rexploded, as the K lingon forces bypassed the defend ingtask force in search . of even greater kU ls. S tar Aeet tac-tic ians were gra tified to see the C ochrane D ece lera tionmaneuver prove its worth in he lping to prevent thedestruct ion of t he en tir e f or ce .Our fo rces d id slow the K lingons' p rogress, bu tlosses were h igh . C erta in classes of sta rsh ips from boths ides proved the ir general unw orth ineae for w arfa re o f th ism ag nitu de . T he K lln go ns re pla ce d th eir G -4 tra ns port w ith anew m ode l, the G-8A, a m uch im proved version . C aptainY a le Ha th awa y's s uc ce ss fu l raid of a convoy near Xam dabII destroyed several dozen K1ingon G -4 tra ns po rts , a nd

p ro vid ed a dd itio na l proof that the ship was noeffe ctive . M e an while , th e Hale c lass scout becam e kas a death trap for its crew s, too slow to run and too w"fig ht K lin go n fro nt-lin e wa rs hip s. h wa s s oo n w ith drawn.A s the war a long the front continued, on S ta1 19 50 1, o ne o f S ta r F le et's m o st re sp ec te d c ap ta in s, RA p ril, C omman de r of th e USS En te rp ris e , re tire d. Qunhappy w ith S tar F lee t's handling o f the A rcan is ina nd u ns atisfied w ith th e stra teg ic w ith dra wal o f F ed eforces in the K lingon onslaught, he feh a m ore aggreapproach cou ld , and shou ld , have been taken to refO rces of the K lingon Im peria l N avy. T hough not a trom aker by nature , he found the current situa tion d istue no ug h to re alize it w as b egin nin g to a lte r h is pe rfo rmas a com mander. W hile I d isagree w ith April's posirespect h im for having had the persona l honor and refor du ty to res ign from Star F lee t when he knew he wserving at peak effic iency. O f course , he is s till se rv iam bas sa dor-a t-Iarge , a p os ition h e h as fille d w ith th edegree of sk ill he showed as a starsh ip CommaAnyone inte rested In h is v iew poin t, should read h isVIeW from th e C e nte r S ea t: An Autob iog raphy.D urin g th is b us y tim e, th e d is ap pe ara nc e ra te o fport sh ips and freighters sudden ly increased. W esuspect tha t sm all groups of K lingon ra iders w orkingthe O rions w ere responsib le. D uring the w ar, no c iecause w as know n. The problem w ould continue to growth e n ex t m o nth s.O n S ta rd ate 1 /9 50 2.1 0, a zo ne -in tru sio n de tsatellite along the R om ulanN eutra l Zone tracked a GrFlyer C la ss s co ut ship. S en ior S ta r F le et o ffic ers feth is w as a prelude to mi li ta r y i nt e rven ti on by th e R oS ta r E m pire In fa vo r of one s ide or the other. W e cou lhope the ir o ld an im osity toward the K llngons wouenough to get them on our s ide . U ntil w e w ere sure ,had to be sta tioned on tha t fron t as a precaution . Th iously h indered any chances w e m ight have had of s tot he K l ingons.

Com bat continued betw een S tarda tes 119501 19 50 7, a s th e K lin go n fle ets c on tin ue d to a dv anc e intte rritory. The Battle o f G R-1 and the Assault o f NoVIII were tw o s ign ificant se tbacks for Federa tion ftho ug h m arin es on N ozs ec a u nd er A nd orian G en era lpu t up a va liant de fense as they attempted to eorbitin g s pa cec ra ft w ith lim ited s urfac e-b as ed , a nti-w ea po ns . T he d efen din g F ed eratio n s qu ad ro n of Porand Nelson destroyers and scouts had been destdam aged, or chased off, g iv in g th e K 1in go ns u nc onground attack capab ility from orbiting gunships. A ftde fend ing forces were e lim inated through sh ip -d isru ptor a ttac ks, K lin go n s old ie rs la nd ed . A lth ou ghons d id garrison the planet, no Federa tion groundsurv ived to defend, and so th is is not cons idered a gema rin e a ctio n a ga in st e nem y g ro un d u nits .M eanwhile , one sign ifican t surprise awaiteK lingons, one of the few brigh t spots a t th is po in t in thOn S tarda te 119504, a convoy of O rion m erchantheading for the . Federation manufac turing faciliA lphosa w as in te rcepted by a K lingon destroyer taskn ea r La xa la. T he co nvo y, c arrying s up plie s o f p artiafin ed d ilith iu m, w as v ita l to th e F ed era tio n'S w ar e ffo rts


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Klingon group leader apparently knew it, and demanded thecargo be turned over. As one merchant ship closed in tomake a cargo transfer, the Orion captain deliberately over-loaded his warp drive. This totally destroyed his ship andone Klingon destroyer and severely damaged a seconddestroyer, thus ending the attack.

A formal pronouncement came from the Oriongovernment shortly afterwards, stating that all shipments ofdilithium to any government would be treated as "sacredcargo, not to be captured, diverted, or destroyed by anygovernment until after reaching its declared destination."The Orion official also announced that the Rigel X I I dilithiummining complex had been equipped with enough anti-matterto vaporize the planet, which is what they would do ifanyone tampered with any future dilithium shipments,anywhere. As no one was willing to call their bluff, and be-cause dilithium was the one essential element for modernwarp engines, the Orions' conditions were unamiouslyaccepted.

availability of plentiful unrefined metals and its celocation within Federation space.

At this time, Star Fleet also began production onnew classes of starships: the Achernar, and Tikopai. Tships would be superior to their Klingon counterparts,production rates were high enough to give some hopcombat parity against them.

It is unfortunate the Achernar and Tikopai Clawere not modified to use the newer phaser and phtorpedoes after their development. Though technologicfeasible, such improvements were not possible, due tvessels' unusual hull designs. This was too bad as Iseas the executive officer aboard the USS Vega, and itone SW&e t ship.

The Attack of Convoy Y -16Z near the Rebonettem was the first genuine Federation fleet victory. AUFP convoy under the command of Commodore Jarv Mwas en route from Deuteronomy III to a front-line routpost, when a small task force of Klingon cruisers

Both sides continued gearing up their shipconstructions during this phase. The docks at Star Base 15were now fully operational, and other major shipyards werequickly adding to the Federation'S available forces. Planswere already in the works for the future construction of newshipyards, especially one within the asteroid belts of theThranstor system. Because Thranstor had two belts, bothcomposed of iron-nickel asteroids, it was selected for its

and gunboats on piracy duty discovered the convoy.observing any close escort, they moved in fOf the kill,to discover the convoy was being baited. The USS Dand a Federation cover squadron of Baton Rougecruisers destroyed.or captured all eight Klingon vesonce again proving the general superiority of Federtactics in any situation where numerical odds didoverwhelmingly favor the enemy.


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HOLDING THE LINE

From Star FI t Command Csmpalgn History ofthe Four Y.a,. War, John Gill and the Star Fleet OffIC9o f Pu bl ic A ff air s a nd In fo rma tio n.On Stardate 119509.07, after experiencing an in-creasing number of starship disappearances, Star Fleetordered the establishment of a Zone of Transport Escort.The movement of private and commercial starships wasrestricted and certain mandatory requirements placed on allflights. The Zone covered the area from New Paris to DaranV, and would be in effect until the war's end. Though thisaction was unpopular with many, it had the immediate effectof reducingthe numberof loststarships.During Stardate 119511, the Nostveg Engagementtook place, marking the first t ime substantial numbers ofLoknar and Tlkopai Class warships fought in a single battle,and proving the worth of these new ships. Successfully ex-ecuting a multiple-tier, straight-line assault against a hordeof disorganized trailing V-formations, Star Fleet's Eleventh,Twenty-Eighth, and Thirty-Second Strike Squadrons de-feated five Klingon squadrons. This was the first strategicdefeat for the Klingons, and a number of enemy ships werecaptured intact.At this time, the USS Landol lfJ r, a marine transport inorbit around Jola V was tragically destroyed. SUppOsedlyina secure area, the Landover was proceeding to unload itslast group of marines on the planet's surface. The FourthMarine Regiment, affectionately referred to by its men as'he Fighting Fourth", were being garrisoned on the world in aprecautionary measure against any possible Klingonincursion.USS L an do ve /s frigate escort was successfully luredfrom the system by a Klingon-executed picket passing tac-tic, leaving the transport alone and essentially undefended.Shortly thereafter, the Ninety-First Kllngon Cruiser Squad-ron, accompanied by the Eighty-First Transport Group,warped in-system and destroyed the Landover, killing itsentire crew. Unfortunately, the officers of the Fourth Regi-ment were in a reconvened strategy session aboard theship, after having seen to the safe transport of the unit'senlisted personnel to the planet's surface. As a result ofthis sneak attack, command of the Fourth Marine Regimentwas thrust upon Master Sergeant Randall Robor-Wheeler,itssenior non-commissionedofficer.Only hours later, the Klingon transports landedsoldiers, leaving Robar-Wheeler to face their attackswithout any superiors or assistance in strategy. The battledid not go well for the Fourth Marine Regiment, whosemembers split up to continue fighting a subversive, indirect-tactics war until relieved months later. Master SergeantRobar-Wheeler survived the conflict and was instrumental intying down several crack units of the Klingon armed forcesthroughout much of the war. Because of his fine effort in analmost impossible situation, he was later promoted tolieutenant, First Class, and officially given command of acompany inthe FourthRegiment.As ships improved, older vessels were taken out ofduty for the safety of their crews. In Stardate 119512,theSawyer Class scout ended its operational IHe and wasremoved from active service. The scout had proved in-effective for all wartime assignments save convoy escort

duties deep within safe Federation space. New shipeciallydestroyers,were beingcontinuously manufactuWith dozens of planets suitable for occupation.very limited number of fully-trained combat ground troeach side, there were comparatively few confronbetween soldiers of the Klingon Empire and Fedmarines. Stardate 119601saw the first major confrobetween opposing ground forces in the Battle of Sin

a planet within Federation space. When Star Fltelligence learned of the Klingons' intentions to seiworld's resources, the Second, Eighth, and Thirteentine regiments were rushed to its defense. As ttl.Kltransport escort entered the area, one local ssquadron of Federation frigates intercepted. Eventhe Klingons were using a variation of convoytechniques, the second defensive squadron was In aZ mode, waiting for the Klingons to close in. Seeing nship opposition, the Klingons unloaded their soldiestarted to provide ground support. At that point, theration squadron jumped the transports, causing theKlingon task force to execute a scattered defensepursuing as the Klingons expected, the Federation rsale possession of the Sinbad system. With orbitport, UFP marines killed, wounded, or captured a30,000 highly-skilled Klingon ground troops, inclucrack Klingon Imperial Guards battalion, in a svictory.

As strategic initiative fluctuated briefly betweUFP and the Klingon Empire, the Battleof Delgon-R sfirst use of gravitic mines. Using a small numberof mD-16 destroyers as minelaying ships, the Klingonslished a thin line of these devices in an area of openwhere they expected a Federation counter-attack.Fleet commanders were caught by surprise, andAchernar Class cruisers from the Forty-5eventhSquadron were obliterated before a tactical withdrawabe accomplished. With the introduction of this new weapon, the Kforces were having some ~Hficulty In completely sthe extensive inroads made into Federation territorydefensive maneuver was unusual for t}1e Klingonprefer the milhary offensive. Pos$ibly if was indica


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their overextension within hostile space. Still, Klingenprogress to date had been undeniably impressive, as unitsof their Imperial Navy penetrated nearly 15 parsecs intocertain sectors of the UFP.On Stardate 119602 and 1/9603, several head-to-head fleet encounters took place, the largest of which wasthe Battle of Sector 23-H. There, strategic squadronsnumbering over 100 ships per side met in the largest fleetengagement yet. Federation forces, under the command ofAdmiral Brakux, split up as part of a prearranged withdrawaland regrouping maneuver. At Falgor, a three-ship taskforce encountered a single Klingon L-68 frigate andsuffered severe damage. This served as a painful reminderthat no t all Kllngon ships were inferior in one-on-one combatsituations.Vulcan Captain Sagon, commanding a squadron ofLoknar frigates, proved that logical, normally peacefulbeings could 8UCQ888fully wage war, if neCessary. TheBattle of Lasur Funop was fought with frightening efficiencyas the L o I c n a r s caught tw o Klingon battle cruisers bysurprise, demolishing them with a perfectly-ex8Cuted sixo'clock low maneuver.

The confrontation at Falgor had a profound effect onhigh-ranklng Star Fleet officials. Observing the fightingprowess of the L-6, they were concerned over the possibledefeat and capture of certain classes of Federationwarahlps. After due consideration, they decided on Star-date 119603 to withdraw the Constitution Class cruiser fromfront-line combat, thus preventing its military and tech-nological secrets from being unduly risked in combat. Toprevent a propaganda victory for the Klingons, the officialstory at that time. indicated that the Constitution Classneeded additional trial time. The official story was no twidely accepted as factual , to the Public Relations Office'schagrin. Several new Klingon designs especially built tocounter the Constitution entered service within the nextseveral months, but never actually faced their intendedrival. The Encounter at Videtu, and the Battles of Javol,Klaf, and Ogolo took place during the next few months, asKlingon and Federation forces continued to vie for strategicposit ion deep within Federation space.

UFP FLEET DEPLOYMENT"A CRITICISM

From ChampionS of t ' " St.,.: The ConstituC/ Cru/.." Fran z J osflf IV and Law re nc e Ma rv ic k.Let it be understood that we recognize our plac

starship designers, the creators and architects of spowerful spac:eshlps. We do not pretend to be designcreators, or architects of military strategy or political poThere are others in the United Federation of Planetsbetter suited to these diverse and undeniably comduties.

$till, the question deserves to be raised. Withinitial design, and subsequent successful construcprogram of the new Constitution Class cruisers, it is cuthat these ships were specifically excluded from coduty during the latter months of the Four Vears War.

Although designed primarily for explorationcontaining the most sophisticated aclentific and reselaboratories of any ship In service, the Constitution Ccruisers were the most powerful Indiv idual ships in all ofAeet at that time. They were freely permitted In combating the first year of the war, but after Staldate 1/9603,only served in their prewar roles of survey, explorat ion,planetary contact. In fact, after that date, several oConstitutions were actualy reassigned from their prevduty stations near the Klingen border to more distant, osibly safer sectors o f operat ion.In our opinion, their high-warp capacity, misendurance, and respectable firepower would havevery useful in engaging the Klingon vessels assaultingeration space. H nothing else, they could have been oIzed into three- or four-ship battle groups to servereserve formations in especially strategic regions of spThe excuses sometimes given regarding the need forshakedown time, and being an insufficiently-proven cdo not lend themselves to accuracy . Official ships' logofficers commanding those vessels substantiate thefunctional soundness of the ship's design. There muanother, yet unknown reason.

Also, we admit there is the Issue of personalHaving designed the vessel, It would have been gratifyinsee the Constitution challenging the newer Klingon L -6D-10classes in combat.

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FROM DEFENSE TO OFFENSEFrom An Informal History of the Four Yea r s War,Capta in ( now Adm ir al, Ret.) Sebas tian Wes te tv ii et .As if th ings had not been bad enough, the Debacle a tG is o in S ta rd ate 1/9608 re ally d is he arte ne d th e F ed er atio nforces. S evera l squadrons of new Klingon D-10Aa and [).20Aa met Federa tion ships fo r the first time. W ith theK1ingons faking identifica tion signa ls to m im ic the lesseffective D-7Aa, F ed era tio n c omm an de rs fo un d th em se lv esvis ua lly ide ntify in g po we rful sta rsh ip s not seen before ,equ ipped w ith m ore effec tive o ffensive and defens ivew ea po nry . O nly h alf o f T he F ed era tio n'S fle et re ma in ed to re -treat, and even then, the va liant d iversion o f Andor ianA dm ira l S he gai w as ne ed ed . O f course , Shega i w as post-h umo us ly d ec or ate d fo r h is h ero ic d ela yin g ta ctic .

As a dire ct re su lt o f th ese n ew K lin go n c ru ise rs , fla sh -p rio rity re se arc h p ro je cts b eg an th ro ug ho ut th e F ed era tio nto deve lop new shipboard w eapons. M a ny of the best m indsin S tar F le et's E ng in ee ring C omm an d a nd th e A nd oria n C la no f C om ba t w ere en ga ge d in d ev elop ing re pla ce men ts fo r th eg row in g i ne ff ec tiv e ne s s of the laser and the acce lerato rcannon.Then cam e the defense of R udgur III, a p lanet on theedge of K lingon space. F edera tion m arines landed there ina surprise a ttem pt to capture K lingon territo ry and m akeinroads in to the ir Em pire as part of a p sy ch olo gic al ta ctic .T his m ark ed the first tim e F ed era tio n fo rce s a ctu ally la nde don K1ingon so il, but the land ing was "not e ntire ly s ue -c e ss fu r, t o. qu o te th e o ff ic ia l b rie fin gS o f t he t ime .T he K lin go n H ig h C omman d, le arn in g R ud gu r h ad b ee ntaken, sent in large numbers o f ground t roops an dequipment. Not satis fied w ith the ir g round forces ' ra te o fp ro gre ss (o r p os sib ly re memb erin g S in ba d IV ), th e K lin go nsus ed ch lo rth era ge n for th e first tim e. T his ch em ica l. a le tha lnerve gas e sp ec ia lly d esign ed to in flic t a gon y o n its vict imsb efo re killin g the m, d em on stra ted a ne w le ve l o f b ru ta lity inK1ingontact ics.

A Federa tion recovery ship eventua lly m oved in tore trieve the very few surv ivors . M a ny m arines w ere killed ,and m ost o f th e su rvivo rs w ere ca pture d a nd la ter'k ille d b ytheir K lingon captors. C olonel W ilhe lm M ann'dela, com -mand ing . o f ficer of the F ifth M a rine regim ent and one of thefew h ig h-ra nk in g o ffice rs to su rvive R udg ur, su mm ed up th econflict w ith a grim pun on the p lanet's nam e w hen he ca lledth is b attle "T he R ud dy , G ore W a r."G ene ra l O rd er S eve n, the o nly S tar F le et o rd er e ve r toc arry th e p en alty of death , came through at th is time. Itp ro hib ite d a ny on e from tra ve llin g to Talos IV , and w ent in toe ffe c t a ft er its re comme nd atio n b y C ap ta in C hris to ph er P ik eof th e USS En te rpr ise . O dd ly , n o re as on s w ere g iv en .

I n S tar date 119610, o ne m ajor s etb ack fo r th e KEmpire took p lace at Kesse, when the Federation 'sm ovin g E ig hty-F ou rth S pe cial T ask F orce of B ato nC las s cru is ers got beh ind enemy supp ly linesambushed a vita l K lingon convoy headed for a fosu pp ly ins talla tio n. T he e sc ort, c on sisting of on e [).1si x D-4E cru isers, w as overw he lm ed w hen Fedflanking attacks demolished severa l dozen G -8fre ig hte rs a nd fo ur of th e D-4E:s. The D-10, th e Kluw as severe ly dam aged when its engines w ere hit,the C om mander to separa te the com mand pod from to f th e h ull. R em ark ab ly. th is pod w as re co ve re d 1 6 mlater by another S tar F leet sh ip. Som e Klingon suwe re .s ti ll a b oa rd , in p re d ic ta b ly p oor c ond it io n .Though K lingon forces w ere still advancingT hra ns tor o n o ne fro nt a nd A rg eliu s on an oth er, the BW ebirty in S tarda te 119612, and the attack againplanet Za l Vhros in S tardate 119702 showed thK lingons w ere becom ing desperate . W hen the fruscom mander o f a K lingon K3 A gu nbo at a tte mp ted tointo a surface reconna issance insta lla tion en Z al Vsurprised starsh ipcom manders on both sides. Thouiso la ted in cide nt, it fo re sh ad ow ed th e lo gistic al a ndp ro b lems t ha t d e fe a te d th e K li ng ons .

As the K lingon. continued to push deepeF ed era tio n s pa ce , th eir lin es o f s up ply g re w lo nge r a ntenuous. As a resu lt, they began a m ajor d iversta ctic in S ta rda te 11 9703 . A n ew cla ss o f sh ip en te re dlin e a ction a t this tim e, an d K tin gen H igh C omm an d cto have a new ally in the ir conquest o f the in fe rio rsunder the collective Federation banner. M o nitoredm unications com ing from these sh ips show ed theird id not speak understandable K lingonaase, and thew ou ld not surrender under any circum stances, preself-destruction, if necessary.S tar F le et In te llig en ce to ok the K nng ons se rioEfforts to lo ca te th e o rig in o f th es e u nkn ow n allies rIn O p era tio n B la ck be ard , w h ic h used a ge nts in th e RS ta r E mp ire to investiga te the K lingen cla im froperspect ive.It w as la te r learned tha t th is ship w as a K lingone sc ort, e sp ec ia lly d es ig ne d to a pp ea r n on -K lin go n inand having specia lly -tra ined crew s. N o secre t allied is co ve re d, a nd o pe ra tiv es of O pe ra tio n B la ck bea rfirmed tha t the Romulans were no t co op era tin g wK lingons. S till, the new ship w as a very effectiveescort vesse l and ligh t-du ty com bat sh ip , and it rethe ag in g K-3 gunboats. The K-23A prov ed its w orand aga in w hen confron ted by Federat ion PortsmiLarson C lass destroyers . And until the true naturesh ip was determ ined, it d id crea te a period o f enchaos for Federation forces, particula rly the In telCommand .


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, THE FINAL PHASEFrom An Informal History of the Four Y.ars War,Captain (now Adm ir al, Re t.) , S eba stia n Wes te rv lie t.Stardates 119704 and 119705 marked the deepestpenetration of K1lngon naval forces into Federation space.But shortages of supplies, combined with lack of rein-forcements and chaotic organization, eliminated any Kling-on hopes for additional widespread advancement. Inaddition, new Star Fleet ships, skil lfully commanded bybattle-tested officers, were now available in sufficientnumbers to permit the Federation numerical superiority incertainvitalsectors.At this point, senior Klingon officers saw their worstlogistical fears confirmed, as supplies and a need for front-line repair facilit ies became more important than sheernumbers of combat vessels. Seeing their chances dwindle,officials of the Klingon Imperial Navy ordered two finalmilitary thrusts. Their goals were to move quickly and at-tack Adhara, believed by the Klingons to be a majorFederation military center, and Star Base 15, already aconfirmed Star Fleet base and source of numerous prob-lems for Klingon forces. All available forces would beregroupedfor these lastthrusts.

This scattering led to dozens of smaller encounbetween opposing forces. UFP and Klingon ships alike wreduced to sublight velocities and search-identify-adestroy tactics as they weaved through areas strewnasteroids. With most of these asteroids containingpercentages of metals, the '09 of war" grew thick.became difficult for either side to detect enemy starsamong the metallic debris that impeded lines of firegeneratedfalse sensor readings.When the Battle of Thranstor was finally over, mthan 100 warships were permanently disabled, and neas many more were seriously damaged. More importathe thoroughly disorganized Klingon survivors were forto run back toward their own borders. It would take sevdays before ships fighting in that battle regroupedpreparedfor the nex t battle.During the next few days, but about 40 parsecs awa similar battle was fought between Federation and Klinforces near Argelius. Though not quite as harrowing acounterpart, this battle was an uncompliCated, headheadconfrontationbetweenfleets from bothsides.

The Klingon thrust toward Adhara met Federationships at Thranstor, which was selected as a major Fed-eration shipbuilding facility for the future. The Battle ofThranstor involved the use o f six full battle forces of Klingoncruisers, including the greatly-respected K-10 and K-20.The Federation, however, was also well represented, withover 170 TikopaJ, Loknar, and Larson Class cruisers,frigates, and destroyers. In a rare instance,our side ac-tually hada largeravailable force.By this time, the Klingons had replaced all soph-isticated tactics with the single-minded goal of reachingtheir destination. This only heightened Star Fleet's ad-vantage, as the l .Dknar Class frigates ably used their af taccelerator cannons against tired and unprepared Klingonship commanders. As the Klingon forces maneuvered intheir V-formations, entire squadrons of Federation warshipsturned in formation and flanked the enemy cruisers,wreaking havoc and causing the Klingons to scatter amongthe asteroidsof Thranstor. .

The Engagement for Argelian Approaches waswon by the Federation as much as it was lost by Klinforces. The Klingon fleet that was travelling towardBase 15 was in a sorry state. Aside from the new, mterious K-23s, many of the enemy ships, Including olde7s and D-48 pressed into service, had not been repafrom previous conflicts. Numerous odd formations wereresult of attempts to protect the dM'laged shieid generor weapons system areas of individual ships. On. ensquadron of K1ingon D-7A cruisers went into battlereverse, because their damaged front deflector shieldsnotyet been repaired.Needless to .say, the Klingons were defeaFederation losses were light, and Argelius never saw hocombat or heard the sound of dlsruptor.s. The planethowever, serve as a mUch-needed recreational stopmedical facility for Federation forces Involvec:tn neighbobattles. :


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During the time between Stardates 119703 and119711,a total o f twelve other major fleet actions took placeinvolving more than one squadron per side. Federationforces won the majority, inflicting casualties greater thanthose suffered. As starship production of the Poltsmith,the new Chariot Class transport, an d other major dassescontinued, the tide of the war definitely shifted in theFederation's favor, with numerous Klingen task forces re-treating.This was confirmed by the totally unexpected captureof Klingon Admiral Komex. Travelling in a K-17D scout fromthe rapidly changing front to the Klingon fleet forming atGrank, Komex' unescarted ship was intercepted by the US SAramis, a Federation destroyer on picket duty. Komexopened hailing frequencies and asked to speak with "thehighest-ranking available official with Star Fleet". Unsure ofwhether it might be a trick, the Aramis boarded the smallership and. took it in tow before contacting Admiral Devonaboard the USS Aquila , one of the Cygnus Class commandcouriers usedby Star Fleet asmobileoperations centers.Komex announced that the Klingon Empire could notwin this war. He realized the war must end as soon aspossible to allow his government's armed forces to rebuildand fight again at another time. Through a convoluted chainof logic not easily understood (even by Vulcans), he sworehewas acting in the best interests of the Klingon Empire ash8 described the location and defenses around Kolm-an,the main center of Klingon operations. After confirming asmany of Komex' facts as possible, Star Fleet decided totake him seriously and made preparations for OperationArgus Redoubt, a full-scale attack against the Klingonstronghol

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