KTF/The History of the Klingon Augment Virus
Klingon Task Force Main Page
| ||||||
The History of the Klingon
by Deanna Rose Bressie There is no doubt that the Klingon race is the most proud, honorable, bravest race in the galaxy. Their prowess in battle is legendary, their stories serving as both entertainment and as warnings of the fierceness of their warriors. However, there was a time when scientists of the Klingon Empire thought they could improve their race’s traits with genetic manipulation. Using Augment embryos leftover from Earth’s Eugenics War, Klingon scientists started experimenting with ways to enhance a Klingon’s already formidable strength. This had unexpected, disastrous results that almost led to the extinction of the Klingon race. While it is unknown exactly when the Augments were developed, the Augments rose to power and held dominance over a large portion of Humanity, beginning in the early 1990s. In 1992, Khan Noonien Singh took control of over one quarter of the Earth, mostly in Asia and the Middle East. During the following four years, known as the Eugenics War, the Augments seized power in over 40 nations. With overdeveloped egos to match their physical enhancements, they lead as tyrants, treating humans as little more than slaves. Entire populations were wiped out. Some cities were destroyed, while some were left untouched. Slowly but surely, the non-enhanced humans banded together and overthrew the Augments, with the last being Khan Noonien Singh in 1996. Unknown to the general population, when the Augments were overthrown over 80 (including Khan) were unaccounted for. The official number of casualties from the wars was placed at 30 million, although some historians believe it to be closer to 35 million, with another figure established as being 37 million. ((2)) After the Eugenics Wars, it would be determined that all remaining Augment embryos would be placed in cryogenic stasis. Sources
|
By 2130, the Augment embryos were stored on Cold Station 12, a top secret facility run by Humans and Denobulans under the Interspecies Medical Exchange. The facility was used to store hazardous viruses and pathogens for research purposes, as well as over 1,800 embryos of 20th century Augments, left over from the Eugenics Wars. ((3)) Doctor Arik Soong, a geneticist, was the senior medical director and facility chief of staff at Cold Station 12. Ten years later, in 2154, Doctor Soong was recruited by Captain Archer to help capture his ‘children’, the Augments who had hijacked a Klingon Bird of Prey. However, the Augments were able to board the Enterprise NX-01 and rescue Doctor Soong, who promptly resumed work with the Augments. Doctor Soong returned to Cold Station 12 with the Augments in order to retrieve the remaining 1,800 Augment embryos. While the doctor wished to retrieve the embryos peacefully, one of the Augments, Malik, disagreed, killing a station scientist for the codes to open the embryo chamber. Doctor Soong’s displeasure soon cause dissention between him and his ‘children’; Doctor Soong had hoped to re-engineer the Augment DNA in the embryos to make them less violent, while Malik and the other Augments were planning on firing torpedoes of pathogens at a Klingon colony, hoping to incite war between the Klingons and Humans. Later in 2154, Klingon scientists working under the direction of Antaak recovered several augment embryos from the hijacked Bird of Prey, which was destroyed in orbit of Qu'Vat colony. ((5)) These scientists believed if they could fill their ships with augmented Klingons, the Empire would become unstoppable. These new augments showed similar enhancements as the originals, but also began to show a range of Human characteristics from personality changes to physical changes, such as the dissolving of their forehead ridges. Ultimately, the subjects died agonizing deaths when the incompatible DNA resulted in neural system breakdown. ((5)) The scientists ran tests on numerous subjects in an attempt to stabilize the augmentation process, but were unaware that one of these subjects carried the Levodian flu. This flu virus combined with the augment DNA and created a transmittable, physiology-changing disease that became an epidemic, infecting millions within months. Sources
|