The warrior race known as the Klingons was the most dangerous foe for the peace-loving Federation back in the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy period of Star Trek, but over the years, tensions between the two superpowers cooled until now. In the most recent Star Trek series from IDW Publishing, Worf and Benjamin Sisko face the risk of sparking a new conflict between Starfleet and the Klingons.
When Captain Jonathan Archer to dispatched to return a renegade Klingon to his people during their first encounter in the 22nd century, Humans and the warrior race of the planet Qo’noS already had a tense relationship. However, the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire began fighting in the 23rd century over several territorial disputes, sparking a 70-year cold war.
A few actual conflicts over the years, such as the 2256 Battle of the Binary Stars and the 2267 boundary dispute, resulted in a forced peace stifled by the Organians, an advanced race. It took the signing of the Khitomer Accords in 2293 for the main powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants to finally come to peace. Following their agreements, a full-scale conflict only occurred once more in 2372, albeit it was only mild because it quickly determined that Changelings of the Dominion had started it.
However, the actions of Sisko and Worf raise the potential of a new Klingon-Federation War in Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Oleg Chudakov’s Star Trek #2. In this episode, the former captain of Deep Space Nine explicitly defies the High Council and Emperor of the Klingons by trying to get in touch with and protect the Sardakesh Engineers from the adversary that is annihilating all the cosmic gods in the Star Trek universe. Starfleet and the Prophets of Bajor have sent Sisko on a mission to stop this at all costs; that order clashes with the Klingons’ shame over their failure to subdue the godlike Engineers as their ancient honor demands.
There Will Be No Other War Like This Klingon-Federation War
A fresh Federation-Federation confrontation and the Empire could be even more catastrophic due to this newfound shame on the side of the Klingon Empire. It is because this conflict would be fought over mythologies rather than borders or resources to protect and hide the falsehoods of Klingon culture. Some of the most recognizable figures in the Federations are at the center of this conflict, including Beverly Crusher and Data, making it more like a holy war than a border dispute. It is the kind of conflict that would go right to the heart of what it means to be Klingon, and it has the potential to go all the way to the last warrior standing.
Although the Federation and Klingons have recently found a lot of common ground and even developed a powerful alliance during the Dominion War, they experienced much more slaughter when they were on opposing sides of the battlefield as opposed to fighting side by side. Many people in the Empire still want to fight the human-led Starfleet, which some consider their most formidable and long-standing foe. After all, the 2372 War’s brief battles had enough savagery on both sides to almost bring down the Federation and the Empire.
Even though humans and Klingons have engaged in numerous peace talks and deeds of kindness, it may take the right spark to reignite hostilities between them. Captain Benjamin Sisko of the Federation and his crew, well-known Star Trek characters, may now be the source of that spark as they find themselves and their mission at war with the Klingons.