The Klingon Art of War

by Keith R. A. DeCandido

  Still, without Ch’gran leading us into space, we would never have reached Boreth, a world orbiting the star that Kahless pointed to in the Story of the Promise. The clerics continue to await Kahless’s return there. Boreth was also where the clone of Kahless was created and made emperor. The expansion of our empire happened only because we wiped out the blight of the Hur’q invasion and turned a defeat into a victory.

  Perhaps the figure in Klingon history with the greatest weakness to overcome was Azetbur. There are those who would argue that being female is not a weakness; others who would swear it is. Regardless, until Azetbur, no woman had ever ruled the Empire. Even the Lady Lukara took a subordinate position to Kahless, and she did not rule after his ascension (though she did much to preserve his legacy after he died). But after Chancellor Gorkon was assassinated, Azetbur took on his role. The first stroke makes the deepest cut. Pioneers win glory but pay dearly for it.

  The destruction of Praxis had left the Empire in disarray, with Gorkon’s subsequent assassination only worsening the situation. The Federation, long one of our most tenacious foes, offered assistance. Many in the Empire thought Azetbur a fool to accept any aid from our foes. One councillor quoted the old saying, “Better to starve than live on crumbs.” But in truth, the Empire would not have survived without that help. Most estimated that Qo’noS would be uninhabitable inside of fifty turns without aid from outside. Azetbur’s opponents threw Kahless’s words back in her face: Klingons need no one but themselves. Many quoted another saying that predates Kahless: Drink not with the enemy.

  Of course, Kahless hardly could have anticipated so catastrophic an event as the destruction of a moon, which was how Azetbur responded to those who criticized her. She did at least have the backing of several noble Houses, who suffered greatly from the destruction of Praxis. This made up for the inconsistent support of the military. After all, General Chang was one of the conspirators behind Gorkon’s assassination, and he attempted to do the same to Azetbur at the Khitomer Conference, all to prevent the very alliance with the Federation that she pioneered in her father’s name. Even though Chang died in disgrace, many in the Defense Force supported his actions and his desire to keep the Empire from accepting aid from an enemy.

  Faced with an Empire at its nadir, an Empire experiencing its worst moment since the Hur’q invasion, Azetbur destroyed the weakness her opponents accused her of nurturing. For her actions resulted in the alliance with the Federation that has become a cornerstone of the Galaxy. The alliance that led to the greatest era of prosperity in the Empire’s history! The alliance that led to our victory against the Dominion! Azetbur saw what her critics could not: opening a door requires as much strength as closing it.

  Sometimes the challenge is to discover what the weakness actually is. Discovering one’s own vulnerability can be the greatest test a warrior faces. When he was in command of the I.K.S. Gr’oth, the Dahar Master Koloth was often challenged by Kuro, the Klingon who captained the legendary pirate ship Taal.

  Kuro attacked worlds throughout the Empire. There was no pattern to his attacks, and no one ever knew where the Taal would strike next. His was the path of the glob fly, impossible to predict and just as impossible to ignore. After several attempts were made to track him down, Koloth was assigned the task. The two engaged in several firefights, with the Taal coming out the victor every time. Kuro, though, always stopped short of destroying the Gr’oth, claiming that he was a thief, not a killer. Koloth’s response when Kuro’s words came back to him was to sneer and quote an old aphorism: “Said the liar to the cheats, ‘At least I’m not the worst of us.’ ”

  For many turns, Kuro vexed Koloth, always attacking a place near the Gr’oth’s patrol sector, to make sure that it was Koloth who was sent after him. Kuro loved to torment Koloth, relishing his victories over the captain.

  Every defeat, every escape that Kuro made, only angered Koloth further. The worst moment came after Kuro raided the colony on N’Vak. Koloth neglected to cloak his ship, resulting in heavy damage by the Taal the moment the Gr’oth came out of warp.

  After N’Vak, Koloth realized that he was allowing his anger to get the better of him. Most Klingons view anger as a useful tool—indeed, for many of us, it is a constant state, for an angry warrior can be a mighty one. Anger, as they say, is the most useful muscle. But Koloth’s anger was proving to be a detriment. Like fire, anger can be a tool, but like fire, anger can consume whatever it touches. Fire and anger both must be tamed. Koloth’s anger was consuming his mind, his mettle, and it needed to be brought under control lest it destroy him with foolish strategies and poor judgment.

  And so he eliminated it. He forced himself not to be reactive and angry, but measured and calm. He showed patience, combing through sensor logs and reports from all over the Empire. He even read through the after-action reports of his own warriors, forcing himself to relive his failed campaigns against the pirate, yet refusing to let his anger off its leash.

  Eventually, Koloth was able to determine the location of one of Kuro’s bolt-holes. He immediately set a course for that location—but Kuro was not there. So Koloth waited, remaining cloaked in orbit around the bolt-hole for many days on end.

  When at last the Taal appeared in the system, Koloth engaged him in combat on his terms, not on those set by Kuro. Koloth destroyed the Taal and he achieved a great victory. The reputation that the Dahar Master would later have for ice water running through his veins was borne of his victory over the pirate. Koloth eliminated a flaw in his character; as a result, none but historians remember Kuro, except as one of the many defeated by Koloth, while Koloth himself is revered as one of the greatest warriors in the Empire.

  [Translator’s note: K’Ratak’s commentary on this precept also included a discussion of the Augment virus that produced a subset of Klingons with smooth foreheads. Indeed, the fact that this virus even existed is not common knowledge today. I was only able to find evidence of it in very old Federation records, from encounters with the Klingon Empire in the twenty-third century. Apparently, for the better part of a century, there was an entire subset of Klingons who had smooth foreheads, and looked very much like humans. That virus was cured in the late twenty-third century—so there’s your destroyed weakness. These smooth-headed Klingons were physically weaker than their ridge-headed counterparts, and it was likely a great day for the Empire when the virus was finally cured, and all Klingons were as one again. Such an interpretation would certainly seem to fit with this precept. But I found only a single reference to the source of the virus, in the captain’s and medical officer’s logs of an old Earth ship from the mid-twenty-second century, which were light on details. The Klingon Information Net had nothing on it, and furthermore, the High Council refused to allow that portion of the manuscript to be included in this translation. When asked for a reason, their answer was simply, “We do not discuss it with outsiders.”]

  SEVENTH PRECEPT

  LEAVE NOTHING UNTIL TOMORROW.

  “Battle delayed is battle lost.”

  —KAHLESS

  While General Chu’paq waited for the right moment, Molor struck quickly, bringing his forces directly from Ketha to Kilgore Island. Molor slew Chu’paq himself, and now the tyrant was at last a sea power as well as a land power.

  DICTUM: THE HIDDEN SERPENT

  WARRIORS MUST KILL THE SNAKES THAT LIE IN WAIT. THESE ARE THE TASKS LEFT UNFINISHED, THE CHALLENGES LEFT UNMET. IGNORED, THEY GROW. FORGOTTEN, THEY ATTACK. THEY LURK AND WAIT TO SEIZE THEIR CHANCE. WHAT WARRIORS BEGIN, THEY MUST FINISH. HALF DONE IS UNDONE. EVERY PROBLEM WITHOUT A RESOLUTION—EVERY QUESTION WITHOUT ITS ANSWER—IS A DEBT IN LIFE’S LEDGER, A DEBT THAT BECOMES GREATER THE LONGER IT REMAINS. A WARRIOR’S DRIVE TO REACH THE END OF EVERY BATTLE MUST BE UNFLINCHING, FOR EVERY GOAL NOT YET ACHIEVED IS ABOMINABLE. KILL THE SERPENTS THAT WOULD KILL YOU FIRST.

  THE LESSON OF AMAR

  The first thing the great warrior Amar taught when he gave lessons in the use of the bat’leth was t
hat the weapon should not be drawn except to be used.

  If you are wielding a weapon, there is nothing to be gained by not striking with it. To draw a weapon and not use it dishonors the weapon, its lineage, its maker, and all who have come before you. Your weapon is not inert matter like a stone, or even a tool, like a mallet. It is an extension of yourself.

  This is even more true of the bat’leth, Kahless’s gift to all Klingons. To draw it and not let it serve you is to demean the gift and its giver.

  It also gives your enemy a chance to strike first, an advantage you must not concede.

  An action once committed to must be completed. Half a khrun cannot be ridden. The enemy you would kill tomorrow might attack you tonight. Any action that is worth taking is worth taking now.

  To leave a task unfinished invites unwelcome circumstance and renders the task’s completion less likely. Ask the family whose roof will be mended later how they like the damp.

  THE TYRANT’S SON

  There are many on Qo’noS who lived under Molor’s tyranny. The lands in his grasp spread as far as the eye could see, and farther still. The entirety of the continent of Kastad was under his rule, as were many of the islands in the seas surrounding Kastad.

  There was one island that refused to bend its knee to Molor, however. The island of Kilgore was located in the midst of the Chu’paq Sea, which was named for a general who served under Kilgore and won many campaigns for the warlord. The mountain at the island’s center, Kilgore named for his mate, B’Elarana.

  When Kilgore died of infection, his son, Yorif, became warlord. Nothing was ever named for Yorif, no sea, no mountain, no promontory. His only legacy was his parentage.

  Chu’paq knew that the son was not the equal of the father and should be removed, but he bided his time. A fool does not stay a fool in secret for long. Chu’paq waited until Yorif’s idiocy was no longer known only to those who had met him. He neglected the island’s bridges, roads, and other structures, leaving them in disrepair. And though there is honor in building and rebuilding, in planning and erecting great structures, there is none to be found in dying while crossing a crumbling bridge.

  Yorif instead spent the island’s treasury on frivolity. He purchased works of art and then declared them hideous and hid them away. He hired singers and dancers and then refused to let them perform, though he would still pay for their services. And he employed chefs from all over the island to prepare massive feasts, and then proclaim himself not hungry and have the food disposed of.

  Seeing the appalling waste, Chu’paq tried to convince Yorif that he needed to pay less attention to himself and more to those whom he ruled. But Yorif dismissed Chu’paq’s words as inconsequential.

  It was then that Chu’paq knew Yorif had to die. But Yorif was still the son of Kilgore, and the people still thought well of him.

  As time passed, however, the people grew more and more disaffected with Yorif. Again, Chu’paq tried to convince Yorif of the wrongness of his course. Again, those words were dismissed.

  With words denied a second time, Chu’paq was left only with actions. He challenged Yorif to honorable combat. Each was armed with a Qingheb, 1 and they faced one another on the island’s sandy beachhead.

  As the battle progressed, the entire island was calling for the general’s victory. The last words Yorif heard were his subjects cheering his death.

  Chu’paq believed patience led to his victory over Yorif. But the son of Kilgore would still have died a fool if the general had killed him instantly instead of waiting for him to drive Kilgore to ruin. Chu’paq would soon learn that his patience was an anchor dragging him to the depths.

  Kahless’s teachings of the need for honor and duty were taking hold throughout Molor’s lands. His words inspired a rebellion in the Ketha region. Molor was forced to divert many of his troops to try to put down the rebels.

  As the uprising in Ketha raged, Kahless and Lukara traveled to Kilgore. They pled with Chu’paq, telling him that Molor’s flank was exposed. If Chu’paq’s navy struck the coastline, the general would claim an important victory.

  General Chu’paq refused. He did not believe the Ketha rebels would be able to hold off Molor’s armies for very long, and while Chu’paq agreed that the coastline would be a prize handily won, holding it would prove difficult.

  Chu’paq acknowledged the rightness of Kahless’s cause. But patience, he thought—waiting for Yorif to ensure his own defeat—had gained him his throne, and patience would serve him well again. If a stratagem works once, he told Kahless and Lukara, it will work again. “Few stumble along the well-trodden path,” he said to them, adding that he would wait for another opportunity.

  The general was in fact right about one thing: the rebels in Ketha were indeed brought down by Molor’s troops. But a better opportunity to strike never arose.

  Molor had always coveted Kilgore, for it would finally give him a foothold in the sea. He had massed troops to invade when Yorif was warlord, and only Chu’paq’s ascension stayed his hand. After the Ketha rebellion was quashed, Molor turned his sights to Chu’paq and the sea that bore his name.

  While General Chu’paq waited for the right moment, Molor struck quickly, bringing his forces directly from Ketha to Kilgore Island. Molor slew Chu’paq himself, and now the tyrant was at last a sea power as well as a land power.

  Hesitation leads to doubt. And doubt weakens iron.

  TWO AGAINST FIVE HUNDRED

  The greatest romance of Klingon history might never have happened had Kahless himself not followed his own advice, that to delay a battle is to lose it.

  Kahless was in the Great Hall at Qam-Chee when Molor’s troops were readying an attack. Kahless had arranged to meet with several allies who had pledged to stand at his side against the tyrant. Two emissaries came that day from warriors who had decided to remain loyal to Molor.

  The first emissary was from Gantin the Mighty. He said Gantin would not go back on his word to Molor to aid a filthy rebel. Kahless said he respected a warrior who kept his word—“Honor,” Kahless often said, “is the sharpest blade”—and he allowed the emissary to leave unharmed.

  The second emissary was the Lady Lukara, carrying a message for Blaq the Indestructible. She informed Kahless that Blaq also refused to join his cause, for he too had sworn an oath to Molor.

  So taken was Kahless with the lady’s beauty that he asked her to explain Blaq’s actions. Had he not, Lukara would have departed as Gantin’s emissary had. He questioned her as to Blaq’s reasons. Lukara quickly admitted that Blaq did not care much for oaths and words. She chose to tell Kahless that Blaq had given his word because she saw how Kahless responded to Gantin’s emissary.

  Admiring the lady’s perspicacity, Kahless asked for the true reason. Blaq, Lukara said, considered Kahless’s cause unwinnable. Blaq did not earn his nickname by flying his banner over lost causes.

  Kahless countered that an honorable cause cannot be lost. Better, he said, to die honorably than to live like a coward. Better nakedness and honor than regalia and cowardice. Lukara said no one had called Blaq a coward and lived. Kahless smiled and said, “Before today, perhaps.”

  It was then that five hundred of Molor’s troops came over the Ni’Dan ridge. The city garrison had pledged their loyalty to Kahless. That was why the meeting was held at Qam-Chee. But at the sight of Molor’s forces, the garrison retreated to the other side of the Qam-Chee River, to the Valley of the Wild. Disgusted that the warriors of Qam-Chee preferred to wallow with wild targ and klongat, Kahless turned to face the oncoming troops without hesitation.

  Lukara smiled and unsheathed her own weapon, a great tik’leth.

  Together, Kahless and Lukara fought Molor’s troops, driving them away from the city.

  That day, the greatest romance in the history of Qo’noS began.

  Later, Lukara would explain that Kahless’s words had touched her heart. She took up arms with him knowing that it would give Kahless what he wanted. If they won, she
would have proof that Kahless’s cause was just and honorable, for how else could he survive such an onslaught? If they lost, they would find her body alongside his wearing Blaq’s colors. Molor would believe the Indestructible One had, at the end, pledged his forces against him. Blaq would be forced to take up arms against Molor, granting Kahless his desire to unite all against Molor.

  Because Kahless joined the battle immediately, both in speaking with Lukara and in facing Molor’s warriors, he won a great battle. Because he acted quickly, he met the woman who would become his mate. Because he saw the thing through to its end, he was victorious many times over.

  And, in fact, Blaq the Indestructible joined Kahless’s side after Qam-Chee. It was he who mated the two of them on the summit of Soyqi in the Hamar Mountains. The candles used in the ceremony were made from the fat of targ native to those mountains, the very animals sacrificed to Blaq in Kahless’s and Lukara’s names.

  The battle you attempt to put off today will ruin you tomorrow.

  K’RATAK’S COMMENTARY

  There are those who believe this is a redundant precept. Indeed, in her criticisms of qeS’a’, the cleric Lysar used this as an example of the text’s inapplicability to modern Klingons. “Perhaps the Klingons of old needed lessons to be repeated to them as if they were small children,” she said, “and, therefore, the author thought it necessary to say to ‘Strike quickly’ in the second precept and then ‘Leave nothing until tomorrow’ in the seventh.”