Federation-Klingon War (alternate timeline)

AT: "at" In an alternate timeline, the Second Federation-Klingon War was a major conflict between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets. It took place in the mid-24th century, following the deterioration of relations between the two powers.

Origins and overview

The alternate timeline in which the war was fought had been created when the USS Enterprise-C essentially disappeared into a temporal rift in 2344, while defending a Klingon outpost on Narendra III from a Romulan attack. This incident ignited the war, which endured for the next twenty-two years.

By 2366, the war was going very badly for the Federation, far worse than most individuals knew. Forty billion lives had already been lost and Starfleet Command believed that defeat, with no choice but to surrender, was inevitable within six months. Although the Federation had emerged victorious in several battles, including one at Archer IV, Starfleet had lost over half the fleet, and all vessels were being pressed into service, regardless of age. However, the situation was such that the addition of a singular ship would make no considerable difference to the Federation's ongoing war effort.

A tactical map of the war was displayed in the captain's ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-D, a Galaxy-class warship which was under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and was capable of carrying over 6000 troops. Owing to the war, no children lived aboard the ship. For the Federation, the conflict also resulted in rationing of food due to concentrating power on defensive systems, and considerable advancement of deflector shield technology which increased the endurance of ships when in battle.

Prelude to war's end

Two Enterprises meet

In 2366, on combat date 43625.2, the Enterprise-D encountered a radiation anomaly near Starbase 105, the same anomaly which the Enterprise-C had entered. The battle-damaged Enterprise-C then emerged from the anomaly, with 125 surviving officers on board. Shortly thereafter, Starfleet monitor stations detected a fleet of Klingon battle cruisers heading towards the two Enterprises, news which the stations relayed to the Enterprise-D. Although Captain Picard and Commander Riker from that ship arranged the salvaging of the Enterprise-C so Starfleet could make use of the newly returned vessel in the war, it was imperative for the Enterprise-D not to remain where it was for too long, due to the approaching Klingon fleet; Picard allowed nine hours for repairs. As the work progressed, Picard's personal confidante, the El-Aurian Guinan, who had somehow been able to intuitively sense the change in timeline, warned him that the war was not meant to be taking place and Picard realized the Enterprise-C's defense of the outpost was the pivotal point which would have prevented the conflict.

Enterprise-C commanding officer Captain Rachel Garrett ordered the repairs to her ship to be focused on the ship's photon torpedo launcher rather than the vessel's warp drive, due to the desperation of the Federation's war effort. It was expected that the pair of Enterprises would soon be engaged in battle, as Klingon warships had been detected in the same sector as them, by this time. Captain Garrett advised her crew to prepare to remain in the war, as the Federation was in desperate need of another ship to oppose the Klingons, but Picard planned for the Enterprise-C to return to the past from whence it came. He confidentially revealed to Garrett the truth of how badly the Federation was suffering in the conflict and how, by traveling back in time, the Enterprise-C could eliminate the war. These details convinced her to take the Ambassador-class vessel back through the rift in order to restore the intended timeline, in spite of the near-certain prospect of the ship's immediate destruction.

Unexpected attack

Shortly after Captain Garrett ordered her vessel back into the past, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey quickly decloaked and opened fire on the Enterprise-C. On that vessel's bridge, the assault came as an unexpected series of jolts. The Enterprise-C's shields were raised and the ship initiated evasive maneuvers with Gamma Sequence, preparing to return fire with phasers. The Enterprise-D repeatedly fired phasers at the Bird-of-Prey, which was off its starboard bow. At least two of the Enterprise-D's phaser bolts struck the Klingon ship's starboard shielding; the first of these hit the starboard wing and the second battered against the bow. Concentrating fire on the Enterprise-C, the Klingon ship fired a disruptor volley at that craft, which retaliated with phaser fire. On the bridge of the Enterprise-C, Captain Garrett ordered the loading of her ship's torpedo bays but, moments later, she was hit with debris and fell to the deck, dead. The Enterprise-D returned fire on the Bird-of-Prey with three phaser shots which again hit the Klingon ship's starboard shields. The Bird-of-Prey next re-cloaked and Captain Garrett's death was reported to Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D, its Ambassador-class predecessor having sustained moderate damage in the fracas.

Interim

In the aftermath of the battle, Lieutenant Richard Castillo, formerly the helmsman of the Enterprise-C and now the only surviving member of the vessel's senior staff, volunteered to take command of the ship. The Enterprise-D detected additional instability in the temporal rift, which was possibly a result of the recent battle. Though there was no sign of other Klingon ships in the vicinity, it was now vital for the Enterprise-D to depart the area, because the vessel's coordinates had clearly been sent to the Klingon Command. Final preparations were made for the Enterprise-C to get under way, with Castillo in command and its tactical station manned by Lt. Tasha Yar, a tactical officer who voluntarily transferred from the Enterprise-D. Its long-range scanners meanwhile picked up numerous Klingon battle cruisers on an intercept course, so the Enterprise-D began to slowly head towards them. As the ships approached, the Enterprise-D was able to distinguish them as a trio of confidently uncloaked K'Vort-class Birds-of-Prey. Readying his ship to return to battle conditions, Captain Picard orated a ship-wide message in which he stated that, though the Enterprise-D could obviously outrun the Klingon fleet, the crew had to ensure the Enterprise-C's protection until it entered the time rift. Picard also gave encouragement to his troops; the last engagement was about to begin.

The final battle

As the Klingon warships proceeded steadily nearer the Enterprise-D at low velocity, they were arranged with two ships following a lead ship which was at the center forward position and opened fire with a series of twinned disruptor bolts. Ceaselessly continuing the approach, the starboard Bird-of-Prey soon joined in with the onslaught, firing similar blasts. The Enterprise's shields came under heavy fire but nonetheless held. The ship changed course, then launched a simultaneous array of five photon torpedoes grouped in dispersal pattern Sierra, which spread out in mid-flight and synchronously zeroed in on a particular Klingon ship from various angles. The torpedoes caused moderate damage to their target's forward shields. Another blow was delivered to the Enterprise, whose shields held despite receiving minor damage to its secondary hull. As the targeted Klingon vessel maneuvered across the Enterprise's primary hull on the starboard side, the other two Klingon warships opened fire with a pair of disruptor shots from each craft. Captain Picard then set a course change, which he soon corrected.

After the Enterprise-D detected that one of the Klingon warships was heading for the Enterprise-C, the Galaxy-class vessel started to move, at two thirds impulse speed, roughly between the departing Starfleet craft and its attacker. The Klingon assaulter rained two pairs of disruptor volleys against the Enterprise-C's shields. In its role as protector, the Enterprise-D fired two phaser bolts at the Klingon opposer, both of which struck the antagonistic warship; the first hit the bow whereas the second walloped the starboard wing. Another couple of disruptor shots were fired from the Klingon warship, this time hitting the Enterprise-D's shields dead center and causing the bridge to shake violently.

The Enterprise-D was now beginning to suffer considerable stress. Damage control teams were required on and sent to deck fourteen, the ship's starboard power coupling was no longer working and there was an imminent danger of losing antimatter containment. The Klingon warships were concurrently flanking the Enterprise-D, trying to draw it away from its Starfleet kin. On Picard's command, the Galaxy-class ship kept its course and released continual bursts from all its phasers, targeting multiple directions. This resulted in the destruction of one of the Klingon vessels; it erupted in a huge explosion, through which another Klingon ship flew.

Four massive jolts were then registered on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, a crewman being thrown from his post, which sparked, during the second thump. Afterwards, there were heavy casualties in the secondary hull, the navigational sensor array was broken and antimatter containment failure was looming. The ship shuddered twice more and the shields were starting to buckle. In Engineering, another bang caused a coolant leak in the engine core, meaning a warp core breach was unavoidable and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge estimated a duration of two minutes until it happened. Following an additional explosion, crew members began to evacuate Engineering. The ship shuddered even more. The Enterprise-C was fifty-two seconds away from entering the time rift. Captain Picard instructed all of the Enterprise-D's remaining power to be diverted to the defense systems. The forward phaser banks were no longer responding and, on the bridge, another eruption threw Commander Riker from the tactical station to the deck, killing him with a bloody gash at his neck. A Klingon commander demanded the crew of the Enterprise-D surrender and prepare to be boarded. This command was followed by repeated pounding of the craft. Picard, however, rebelliously answered, "That will be the day," and jumped over the wooden handrail to assume the controls at the tactical console. He fired a phaser streak along the underside of a passing Klingon craft but, as flames started to engulf the bridge, the ship was pummelled by the two remaining Klingon vessels. Moments later, the Enterprise-C managed to finally enter the rift, eradicating the war and the timeline containing it by returning to the craft's own time. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

With the conclusion of the war, Ronald D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr hoped to pay homage to "last stand" movies in which, at the end of the film, all the heroes were defeated or nearly so, with a final noble sacrifice made. Major fans of such productions, the two writers were very eager to develop death scenes for all the senior officers aboard the Enterprise-D at the end of the conflict. "We wanted everyone to go down blazing," noted Behr. For example, he and Moore imagined Data being electrocuted, Wesley Crusher being decapitated and Commander Riker being mutilated. Due to both time and money, only Riker's death was kept in the episode's final version. As a result, Behr and Moore felt betrayed and disappointed. (Star Trek Magazine issue 122, p. 83)

The concept of Picard defiantly standing and firing repeatedly at the end of the last battle was, in Behr's words, "a direct steal" from the film Bataan!, starring Robert Taylor. (Star Trek Magazine issue 122, p. 83) Remembering how he pitched the idea to the writing staff, Behr recounted, "I said, 'It's like the old World War Two movie Bataan, where the defenders are killed off, one by one. The movie with the last man standing at his machine gun with the enemy coming at him until the smoke from his gun obscures the screen.' I told them, 'At the end, we'll have Picard alone, firing phasers in the smoke of the burning bridge, and that's how we'll go out.'" (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 137)

Aftereffects

Only Guinan remembered what had happened during the change in the timeline. One other remnant of the timeline survived: the alternate Tasha Yar, who had journeyed aboard the Enterprise-C into the prime timeline. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Redemption II")

Background information

In an early version of a story which provided some of the roots for "Yesterday's Enterprise", Eric A. Stillwell conceived an alternate timeline in which the Vulcans turned violent – due to Surak having been killed in the past – and joining forces with the Romulans in a super empire that wiped out the Klingons and turned on the Federation. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) In fact, the Vulcan-Romulan Empire was on the verge of destroying the Federation when the timeline was reset. (Conversations at Warp Speed, "Eric A. Stillwell: 'Star Trek Changed My Life'")

It was Ronald D. Moore who devised the idea of the Federation fighting a losing war against the Klingon Empire, in the alternate timeline established in "Yesterday's Enterprise". ("Yesterday's Enterprise" audio commentary, TNG Season 3 Blu-ray) "Of course, the whole thing with the Romulans and Klingons got switched round," remembered Eric A. Stillwell, "because we thought it would be cool now if the Klingons were the ones who got pissed off." (Conversations at Warp Speed, "Eric A. Stillwell: 'Star Trek Changed My Life'") Moore also originated the conditions of the war, such as the grimness and militarism of the alternate timeline. He hit upon all these notions while writing a couple of story outlines for the episode. Moore later stated, "I've heard from time to time, I wish you'd do some war stories, but this is the reality of war. It's not a pretty place. But it was a lot of fun to watch that ship [the alternate Enterprise-D] move." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 21, No. 2, 46)

The alternate timeline and the war therein hinted at the idea that the utopian future and Starfleet code of ethics usually presented in Star Trek could easily crumble when faced with the opposition of a serious external threat. Ira Steven Behr, who co-wrote "Yesterday's Enterprise", was deeply sceptical that Starfleet's ideals could survive any such hostility. (BFI TV Classics - Star Trek, p. 102) He said of the episode, "It was a chance to see the crew fighting in a big, nasty battle."(Star Trek Magazine issue 122, p. 83)

The war was also a hypothetical analogy for what the world might be like if Earth's real Cold War had become hot. This was apt because, for a long time, the Klingons had been metaphorical for the Russians and the United Federation of Planets had represented the United States of America. (Star Trek and History, "Part Two: Kirk and Spock Take on Earth History", "Chapter 5 – The Final Reflection?: A Mirrored Empire?", "Too Klingon to Be Human")