Personal log, stardate 80262.
And now my story has turned to tragedy, along with that of everyone else in Starfleet. I cannot believe this. I wouldn't normally write about the war here, in my personal log. But I feel that I need to keep this journal comprehensive, because it would become part of the public record after I die. I suspect much of Starfleet is doing the same thing.
First, some background. The Klingon Chancellor, J'mpok, was head of a faction of extremists within the Klingon political sphere (and, knowing the usual state of Klingon politics, that's saying something). J'mpok had come to power only after slaying Martok a few years ago (the same day that Worf, ambassador of the Federation to Qo'noS, was killed). I don't think he would ever be allowed near the chancellor's seat otherwise.
The Klingon Empire was still smarting from the fact that Starfleet signed the peace treaty that ended the Dominion War without including them. Popular opinion was that all the sacrifices put in by those Klingons who fought in the Dominion war (alive and dead) were in the end for nothing. J'mpok and his followers gave the rhetoric that it is time for the Klingon Empire to again conquer and spill enemy blood. The villain of his stories varied, but it was usually the Federation. The rest of the High Council, which was being increasingly sidelined, worked hard to prevent the Klingon Empire from openly declaring war.
However, their efforts failed once J'mpok contacted Emperor Kahless, who was on Boreth. Being a clone of the original ruler from almost a millennium ago, Kahless had the personality of the man who conquered an entire planet. Belligerent would be putting it nicely.
Kahless, despite his constitutional ban from participating in Klingon politics, was still revered as the spiritual leader of all Klingons. J'mpok used very precise diplomacy to trick him into releasing a statement affirming J'mpok's policies without really knowing what he was doing. A carefully prepared trap orchestrated by J'mpok, and Kahless fell for it, hook line and sinker. Unfortunately, I have no way to prove any of this.
With that, protests broke out on Qo'noS that quickly escalated into a coup. The heads of the Houses that comprised the High Council, as much politicians as they were warriors (although sometimes I feel that there is no difference), were slaughtered publicly by J'mpok after his forces stormed the High Council building. Their families were forced into hiding. J'mpok was now the sole leader of the Klingon Empire. J'mpok then said the it was time to conquer — and they would conquer the neighboring Gorn Kingdom.
This all happened while the Federation Council was in recess. It took time to get all of the councillors safely transported to Earth. By that time, the Gorn Kingdom had already fallen. The Council demanded that an ambassador travel to Qo'noS to speak with the Klingon people, as per the terms of the Khitomer Accords. They sent the man who was revered in Klingon politics more than anyone else alive: Jean-Luc Picard. Admiral Picard traveled in the Enterprise-E to the Klinzhai system.
Picard was met by quite a fleet. His shields were down as a sign of good faith to the Klingons, but J'mpok did not want to negotiate. He had drawn the Enterprise into Klingon space precisely so they could attack her. The Enterprise was obliterated. Admiral Picard — dead. Admiral Riker — dead. Captain la Forge — dead. And three hundred and seven of Starfleet's very finest were dead as well.
War had been declared between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.
And the Klingons did not care in the slightest.
All of Starfleet was immediately recalled to Earth to form battle squadrons. The ShiNarva was among them, but I was assigned to patrol the area where the Klingon Neutral Zone and the Romulan Neutral Zone meet to ensure that no Klingon fleets cross the border here. This would be a monumentally stupid thing for them to do, because then the Romulans would declare war on the Klingons for violating their territory. But it was my duty nevertheless.
In all honesty, I am glad — very, very glad — that I have been kept away from the front lines. Klingons fight to the death, which means the Federation must do so as well so we weren't overrun. Many of the captains of those starships said it made them sick ordering shoot-to-destroy weapons fire on vessels that, just a few days ago, were friendly. Many of the captains in that region knew at least one Klingon officer.
And that's not mentioning the ground combat, which was even worse. Unfortunately, we did not have nearly enough Starfleet officers to meet the size of the Klingon ground army. The Federation does not keep an army, as we are a peaceful people, but now that was turning into a huge liability for us. The MACO ground-combat marines were called to active duty; they had not seen any active duty since the founding of the Federation. Most people considered their existence to be just a recruitment gimmick, but no. The MACOs are very real, and they are very good at their jobs. We transported large numbers of MACOs on every capital ship, to be used if the ship was ever needed to defend a planetary installation. Klingons fight hard, but we fight smart. The Klingon culture's insistence on killing the enemy face-to-face was turning into a large advantage for us.
The war is getting into its third month as I write this. There is no clear winner at this point; the two powers are basically equal. This means that the war will most likely drag on for years.
As the war began its second month, Starfleet had a huge problem with PTSD among previously peaceful officers who were thrust into the horrors of war without foreknowledge or any training. Starfleet Command was not willing to expend any resources on properly handling this, so the ailing officers' commissions were revoked and they were taken back to their home planets in passenger liners.
This was a huge injustice. There still were plenty of things that needed to be done to help the war far from the front lines that these people could easily do. And many of these people took counseling and emerged ready to stand up for themselves and the Federation's ideals. These individuals petitioned Starfleet for their commissions to be reinstated so they could go and fight, but they were not wanted back. From what I have been told, every officer who did this — every single one, out of thousands — was simply ignored by Starfleet Command. They received no reply whatsoever to their inquiries, not even an automated statement that the file had been read.
We remained assigned to the Klingon–Romulan border. Nothing ever happened there. At first I appreciated not being thrust into the horrors of war as such a new captain, but as time went on I did not resent our continued assignment here, and neither did many of our crew. Despite our phenomenal service records, we were all graduated cadets on their first starship. This was probably the safest, quietest posting in the entire Federation at this point, and we all appreciated that.
About half of my crew kept pouring over the latest returns from the front lines as soon as the transmissions were received. But the other half did not want to hear anything about the war. They preferred to block the war out of their minds and continue on pretending like nothing has happened. I fully understand where both sides are coming from, as I am a little of both.
Well, the next report from War Quadrant Nine should be coming in right about now. I'm going to go read it.
Computer, end recording.