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THE EXTENT OF THE
INVOLVEMENT OF THE EMPIRE
IN THE DOMINION WAR
by Dewald de Coning
The extent of the involvement of the Empire in the Dominion War
To fully appreciate the role the Klingon empire played in the Dominion War, it's important to note
that this conflict was preceded by two smaller conflicts, the war between the Empire and the
Cardassian Union on one end, and between the Empire and the Federation on the other. Both these
conflicts were inextricably linked with each other, and inevitably paved the way for the inevitable
outbreak of war with the Dominion.
The wars with Cardassia and the Federation
In 2372 the Klingon High Council received reports that the Cardassian Central Command had been
overthrown by a popular uprising, and that power had been restored to the civilian Detapa council.
High Command became convinced that the revolt had been instigated by the Dominion, and that the
Detapa council had been infiltrated by Founders. General Martok immediately called for a massive
invasion of Cardassian space to end the Changeling threat. In response to this chancellor Gowron
ordered an invasion of Cardassia in early 2372.
An advance task force of over fifty warships was dispatched to Deep Space 9, under pretext of
defending the station against a Dominion incursion. The federation, however, condemned the action
and refused to participate. In response, chancellor Gowron withdrew from the Khitomer Accords,
and proceeded with the invasion into Cardassian space, nevertheless. Simultaneously, Gowron
demanded a Federation withdrawal from the Archanis sector, and when the latter refused to comply,
he launched a fullscale
attack on Federation assets.
Meanwhile, the Empire's incursion into Cardassian space was
proceeding smoothly. The outlying Cardassian colonies were
almost immediately overwhelmed. Closer to Cardassia Prime,
the Imperial fleet were met with some resistance from the
Cardassian fleet, but still managed to break through. In a
daring rescue attempt, the Cardassian Detapa council was
spirited away from the planet, and given shelter on board
Deep Space 9. In response, the Imperial fleet attacked the
space station, but was eventually routed. In the following few
months cloaked Klingon warships waged a war of attrition on the Cardassian Union, creating a
humanitarian crisis, and paving the way for the Cardassian state's absorption into the Dominion.
In the meantime, the Federation was harboring suspicions that chancellor Gowron had been
replaced by a Founder. A covert ops team infiltrated Klingon military headquarters with the
intention to expose the Gowron impersonator, only to discover that it was Martok who was the
impersonator.
With the impostor exposed and the real Martok reinstated, a ceasefire
was called and the Khitomer
accords resigned, but by that point the Cardassians had already been in secret negotiations to join
the Dominion, and by mid2373
a massive Jem'Hadar fleet crossed the Bajoran wormhole into
Cardassian space, inflicting massive casualties on the Klingon forces, forcing chancellor Gowron to
issue a general retreat.
The Dominion War
Following shortly after the Empire's initial contact with the Jem'Hadar fleet in Cardassian space,
General Martok contacted Deep Space 9 from his vantage point near the Cardassian border, warning
them that a large contingent of Cardassian and Dominion vessels were en route to the station to
attack it. His transmission was cut short when the Dominion fleet jammed his communication.
The Imperial fleet could not provide reinforcements to Deep
Space 9 during the subsequent attack, as all its vessels were
required for a KlingonFederation
alliance task force dispatched to
attack the Dominion shipyards at Toros III. This was considered
an entirely punitive expedition against the Dominion, and was the
first operation jointly conducted with the Federation since the
reinstitution of the Khitomer accords. Clearly, this was also a
strategic decision, as the Dominion forces were at the time focusing all their efforts on Deep Space
9 (which the Federation, under the circumstances, could afford to lose), whereas destroying the
shipyards, and thereby preventing any more Dominion ships from entering the war effort, would
have a much more longlasting
effect. Dominion ship production was set back by months.
Operation Return
This was the first major alliance victory of the war. A federation fleet of over 600 vessels clashed
with an overwhelming Dominion fleet of more than twice as many vessels, in an attempt to retake
Deep Space 9.
With Federation forces taking heavy casualties, the battle seemed all but lost, until a massive
Klingon fleet decloaked
and engaged Dominion forces, turning the tide of the battle in the allies'
favor.
Chancellor Gowron was initially unconvinced of the efficacy of the Federation's plan of attack and
refused to release any warships, until General Martok and Lt Commander Worf convinced him
during a private consultation. The additional firepower of Vor'chaclass
attack cruisers and Birdofprey
finally tipped the balance in the allies' favor. The Dominion lines were beginning to crumble as
they were outflanked by the Klingon forces.
The First Battle of Chin'toka
Fifteen Klingon Birdofprey
and 5 Vor'chaclass
battle cruisers joined an alliance incursion into the
Chin'toka system in Cardassian space in late 2374. What followed was the first battle of Chin'toka, a
tactical Federation alliance victory. Casualties to the Klingon fleet included at least 4 birdsofprey
and at least 3 Vor'chaclass
battle cruisers. The battle was a tactical and psychological victory for
the allies, but failed to lead to a general invasion of Cardassian space, due to the heavy losses
sustained by the alliance forces.
General Martok, in conjunction with Federation and Romulan
commanders, ordered an immediate buildup
of warships at Deep
Space 9 for an attack on Chin'toka. The system was protected by a
new type of orbital weapons platform, and the alliance had a window
period of three days before these platforms were scheduled to go online.
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A small contingent of Jem'Hadar
attack ships defending the system,
brazenly attacked the fleet's flank,
destroying or crippling at least 15 Klingon warships in the space of
just two minutes, many by ramming the Klingons directly. Once the
power grid to the orbital weapons platforms had been destroyed,
General Martok began transporting ground troops to the surfaces of
both habitable planets in the system. Although there was some
resistance from Dominion and Cardassian soldiers, the major population centers quickly fell to
allied control. This victory was a monumental morale booster for the alliance.
Monac IV
In 2375 the Monac shipyards was a crucial production facility for
the Dominion effort to retake the Chin'toka system. A Klingon fleet
launched an attack on the shipyards, but were repelled with
casualties estimated at 30%. Shortly afterwards, the IKS Rotarran,
under command of General Martok, destroyed the shipyards by
triggering a solar flare that engulfed the installation. To get a proper
appreciation for the phenomenal daring and brilliance showed by the Klingons in executing this
maneuver, see the side note.
[Side note: Inducing solar eruptions for tactical purposes
To create a controlled eruption of superfluid
gas or solar plasma either a highpowered
electromagnetic
pulse or particle beam must be emitted from an extremely close range. An EM pulse will
create a more accurate, but less powerful eruption. A charged particle beam will create a massive
solar eruption, but control of the eruption's size and accuracy will be virtually impossible. To induce
the solar eruption at a precise moment, the EM pulse or charged particle beam must be fired from
within the corona of the star. The best method to create a large, wellcontrolled
EM pulse aboard
most star ships will be the forward sensor array. Because an EM pulse has a lower power transfer
ratio than a charged particle beam, the pulse must be focused with great precision, and fired from
much deeper within the corona of the particular star. The vessel firing the pulse will therefore have
to remain stationary for several seconds. Normal starship defensive shields are not configured to
withstand the extreme heat and radiation of this environment. Metaphasic shielding will be your
best defense while executing this tactic, but even these shields cannot withstand this level of stress
very long. Metaphasic shielding uses a series of overlapping subspace fields to create a pocket of
interphased
energy. Objects within this interphased
region exist partially in subspace, allowing
them to move unharmed through extremely hostile environments. The primary drawback to
metaphasic shielding is that it requires enormous amounts of energy, and if it's miscalibrated
by
even the smallest degree, it will collapse utterly, leaving a vessel completely defenseless.
Use a charged particle beam for large or orbiting targets. On most star ships the tractor beam can be
reconfigured to create a highly precise particle cannon. Scan the star's photosphere to find the spot
of greatest magnetic instability. The larger the instability you target, the larger the eruption you will
generate. Initiate subsurface fusion by adjusting the particle beam's magnetic gradient to the inverse
frequency of the instability's flux ratio. Solar eruptions caused by a charged particle beam can be
enormous, capable of destroying ships, installations, and even small planets, at distances of up to 56
million kilometers.]
Invasion of Septimus III
The Cardassian 11th Order's headquarters were located on this planet. The order was badly weakened
from numerous battles throughout the Dominion War. General Martok claimed that the order
consisted of “old men and walking wounded”. Martok landed 15 divisions on Septimus III and
slaughtered the entire 11th Order in 2375.
Raid on Trelka V
 
General Martok launched a
cavalry raid, consisting of two
birdsofprey,
on the Dominion
star base on Trelka V in the same
year. One of the ships were
destroyed, and while the Cardassians pursued the other birdofprey,
the remainder of Martok's fleet
attacked the base again, catching the base personnel just as they were attempting to repair the base.
The Second Battle of Chin'toka
This battle, in late 2375, marked the entry of the Breen Confederacy
on the side of the Dominion. It was the worst tactical defeat for the
allies throughout the entire war. Of 312 allied warships, all but one
were destroyed by a special new Breen weapon. The Klingon birdofprey,
IKS KI'tang, was the only allied ship impervious to the Breen's
energy dampening weapons, thanks to a chance modification by its
chief engineer. The entire Klingon fleet made the same
enhancements, making them the only allied ships invulnerable to the
Breen's weapons.
General Martok brought 1500 Klingon ships to the front line to fight
the war, while the rest of the alliance fleets were left to find a
countermeasure to the Breen technology. Even with this sizable fleet,
the Klingon force was outnumbered 20 – 1 by the Dominion, Breen and Cardassian fleets. To
compensate, Martok waged a guerrillastyle
war on the enemy, keeping his ships cloaked, until they
would engage the enemy, in an attempt to keep them off-balance.
Raid on Avenal Seven
Towards the end of the war, chancellor Gowron took control of the Klingon forces in an attempt to
defeat the Dominion without assistance from the other allies. During his brief campaign, he ordered
General Martok to engage the Dominion at Avenal Seven. Outnumbered sixtoone,
the Klingon
raid was an utter failure. Seven ships were lost, and even Martok himself was severely injured in the
attack, with another five ships seriously damaged. In response, Worf killed Gowron in combat,
declaring Martok the new chancellor of the Klingon empire.
The Battle of Cardassia
This was the final battle of the Dominion War, fought in late 2375.
A threepronged
attack into Cardassia was organized and led by
chancellor Martok and other allied commanders. Martok
prophetically spoke of an allied victory, having even brought a
barrel of blood wine (vintage 2309 – the finest) in preparation of
the celebrations. During the battle, chancellor Martok's forces were
responsible for punching a hole through the center of the Dominion
defences.
Conclusion
The Empire's involvement in the Dominion War was, in many ways, a watershed in its history. On a purely logistic level it set the Klingon defense force back by decades, because of the heavy casualties suffered, and the exorbitant costs associated with sustaining the war effort. It created new allegiances, and destroyed old ones, exposed traitors and cowards, and established heroes and reputations. It rewrote the book on Klingon military tactics...in fact, it rewrote Klingon history itself, and redefined the Klingon people not as the erstwhile antagonists of old anymore, but as one of the most heroic nations in the known galaxy.
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