posted
Every serious fan knows the occasional mentions of Axanar that were tossed around during the TOS era as one of the major watershed events of recent history.
The question remains, though, just what happened there!
I'm pretty sure that various novels and non-canon fandom publications have come up with various histories to desribe the Battle of Axanar and the subsequent Peace Mission that Kirk was part of. Could anyone who's familiar with those accounts describe them to me -- or better yet, point to where they're available on the web? I'd like to know what people have come up with before I start coming up with my own ideas, to see if I'm either close or completely off the mark.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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According to FASA, pulled from the Dixon Timeline (14th ed)...
August 2172 The U.S.S. "Yardley" travels to Axanar and suffers several casualties among its contact party. As a result, the planet will be interdicted under the Non-Interference Directive.
June 2242 Emperor Karhammur plans of expanding the Klingon Empire into U.F.P. space. Planning begins on a series of minor skirmishes to divert U.F.P. attention away from Axanar.
September 2244 Star Fleet Intelligence learns that the first Axanarian task force under command of Klingon Admiral Kkorhetza has left the Klingon naval base of Ruwan.
21 December 2244 The U.S.S. "Bohr" reports observing a three-ship Klingon task force in unclaimed space between the U.F.P. and Klingon spheres of influence, and is diverted from picket duty. The small task force is a decoy to lure the "Bohr" from its patrol area and to allow a 20-ship force to attack the Federation-manned Arcanis IV Research Outpost. Klingon marines massacre the entire 112 crew of this base which begins a chain of events that will lead to war. Having detected two massive Klingon battle fleets in the following two months, the Federation begins to prepare for war, but hostilities do not begin immediately. Meanwhile, all this is a blind to distract the U.F.P. from Axanar, the true target of Klingon interest.
January 2245 Debris from the exploded U.S.S. "Ajax" is found in the form of a comet by the U.S.S. "Brahe," commanded by Captain Peter Sullivan. This is the first such incident to occur. Star Fleet Intelligence later learns that the first Axanarian task force entered Federation space at this time.
September 2245 Star Fleet Intelligence later learns that the first Axanarian task force arrived at Axanar at this time, with a second, reinforcing task force also on its way there.
March 2246 The U.S.S. "Gulliver," a "Sawyer" class scout, is sent to Axanar to evaluate the planet's sociological development.
01 April 2246 The log later recovered from the U.S.S. "Gulliver's" ship recorder buoy indicates that a Klingon task force met and destroyed the "Gulliver" as it entered the Axanarian system.
29 May 2246 The U.S.S. "Xenophon," a "Marklin" class destroyer, encounters and disables a Klingon D-4E cruiser eight parsecs from Axanar. The commander of the "Xenophon" is Captain Kelvar Garth of Izar.
05 June 2246 On routine patrol, the U.S.S. "Bonhomme Richard" locates and retrieves the U.S.S. "Gulliver's" recorder buoy, which reveals the vessel's fate. In light of the recent Arcanis massacre, the Federation Council demands that the Klingon forces at Axanar withdraw to their border under Star Fleet escort. The Klingon Admiral at Axanar is permitted four months to receive instructions from his Empire. The U.S.S. "Xenophon" is already on its way to Axanar.
09 June 2246 Garth reaches Axanar several hours before the "Bonhomme Richard," and so is given command of a scout squadron assigned to monitor the Klingon task force.
29 August 2246 One of the scouts near Axanar picks up a second, incoming Klingon task force. Despite being outnumbered, Garth quickly implements a tactical plan that results in his victory at the Battle of Axanar, preventing the Klingons from establishing a supply line to forces already massed there. Unaware of the results of the First Battle of Axanar, and secure in the belief that the Axanar research facility is safe, the Klingon Empire declares war on the U.F.P. exactly one month later.
29 September 2246 In response to the Federation Council, Admiral Kkorhetza refuses to withdraw his ships from Federation territory, issuing a formal declaration of alliance with the natives on Axanar. This results in a state of war between the U.F.P. and the Klingon Empire, and the Four Years War begins. At the Second Battle of Axanar, Captain Garth (his small command now reinforced by Star Fleet) defeats Kkorhetza's forces and is awarded the Federation Medal of Valor. Though tactical experts expect the Romulans to enter the war on one side or the other, they do not.
January 2247 The Battle of Axanar concludes. Several "Valley Forge" class ships, notably the "Lafayette" (NCC-1484) under Captain J. Robert Fitzpatrick and the "Tokyo" (NCC-1473) under Captain Jonas Barstow, see action with Garth of Izar. Most vessels are "Constitution" heavy cruisers and "Siegfried" class dreadnoughts.
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This works reasonably well, save perhaps for the following:
-No Klingon Emperor, of course. -Archanis IV incident was for real? "Day of the Dove" didn't make that completely clear. -"Errand of Mercy" makes it sound as if there hasn't been a war within the lifetimes of Kirk and Kor. Or perhaps just within their service careers. -How does the outcome of this war "allow Kirk and Spock to serve as brothers"?
The last point from "Whom Gods" IMHO is the most important one for fanfic to address. I'd suggest Axanar to have been a UFP member that decided to secede from the Federation, perhaps siding with the Klingons. And I'd downplay the "4-yr War" thing - perhaps that's how the Klingons saw it, while the Feds didn't consider it much of a war at all? Otherwise, the FASA timeline works just fine, IMHO.
capped
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most accounts of UFP history in fandom emphasize the pacifistic nature of the Vulcans, many stories have the Vulcans threaten to secede if the find he Federation's war efforts to be too aggressive.. perhaps the declaration of war led to a rift between Vulcan and Earth? The Vulcans wanted to give the UFP inspectors more time, the Terrans renamed plomeek soup as 'freedom soup', whateverr.... then Garth gettin it all settled allowed Kirk and Spock's worlds to serve as brothers together
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So....does that make Bush "Captain Garth"? If so, how do we know he has'nt already gone insane?
FASA really did a lot of good (and still usable) backstory for the Trek universe between TOS and TMP and before TOS. Worth reading.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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Alas for FASA, may it rest in peace. I agree with you that the FASA materials made a significant contribution to Trek fanfiction. Their high-quality materials contributed a lot to the backstory of the creation of the United Federation of Planets.
(Heaven forbid that anyone would think that an entity called the Klingon Empire would be ruled by anyone other than an emperor or monarch. )
Further, their starship recognition guides, such as Federation Starship Recognition Guide, should be required reading and serve as a model for anyone who is creating fanfiction starships. Its really too bad that they lost their license to continue the game.
Unfortunately, I think that their Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Guide was published much too soon during the run of the series. If memory serves it came out not too long after the end of the first season in 1988, with most of its information quickly rendered apocryphal. For example, all of the starships were powered by transwarp drive and some starships named for all the main characters in the TOS. Does anyone remember the Decker-class transwarp scout?
Hopefully Decipher will make a positive and interesting contribution with their Trek role-playing materials. (I really haven't seen much of the materials by Last Unicorn Games to know if they made much of an impact or contribution).
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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Hey! The last entry in Dixon is from the Starfleet Museum!!!: January 2247 The Battle of Axanar concludes. Several "Valley Forge" class ships, notably the "Lafayette" (NCC-1484) under Captain J. Robert Fitzpatrick and the "Tokyo" (NCC-1473) under Captain Jonas Barstow, see action with Garth of Izar. Most vessels are "Constitution" heavy cruisers and "Siegfried" class dreadnoughts.
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Registered: Oct 1999
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Yeah that site has some of the cooler starships they designed for the game.
The Starship Tactical Combat Simulator Design Consortium at http://www.angelfire.com/trek/stcsdc/ has histories and FASA stats for the coolest ships from the books Ships of the Fleet and Starfleet Prototype.
Does the recently released Pocket Books novel Garth of Izar by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski support or refute the FASA history of the Battle of Axanar? Does it even deal with this battle and is the book entertaining?
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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