Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 16, 2016 @ 2:35am

THE KLINGON-ROMULAN WAR (2381-2385)

The KLINGON-ROMULAN WAR of 2381-2385 was a four-year conflict between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire that ended in decisive victory for the Romulans. The war saw the conquest of Qo'noS and the near-extinction of the Klingon race. It was the nadir in deteriorating relations between the two powers, who in the past had been alternately enemies and allies.

In 2379, the civilian government on Romulus was overthrown in a military coup, led by one Praetor Shinzon. Following his death scant months later, Klingon warriors eager for glory began raiding the spinward border of Romulan space. These attacks give the new Romulan military government the perfect excuse to test their strength, and the Romulans began to strike back ever harder against the Klingons, taking and holding Klingon territory. The Federation attempted to mediate in the burgeoning dispute, to no avail. At the end of 2380, the Romulans formally declared war against the Klingons and launched major fleet actions against them.

The first year was the most violent of the conflict, with numerous fleet engagements being fought between cloaked starships all along the border of both empires and within the Triangle. Despite their usual ferocity in battle, the Klingons could make little headway against what is now known to be technologically superior Romulan starships. The Valdore-class Warbird was still a new design, and its updated weapons and defensive systems made it the superior of the ageing Klingon Vor'cha cruisers.

The decisive battle came in early 2382, when Romulan forces under Admiral Delora Radaik crushed a massed Klingon fleet at the Battle of Prygus inside the Triangle. This stunning victory was made possible by Admiral Radaik's clever use of of tachyon fields to give false sensor information to the Klingon fleet. When the Klingons decloaked to fire, the Romulans pinpointed their positions and destroyed them. Almost a quarter-million Klingon warriors perished and nearly three hundred starships were destroyed in the worst military disaster in Klingon history, surpassing even the Hur'q invasion. From that point on, the outcome of the war was never in doubt. The Romulans began a great invasion of Klingon space, utilising a strategy of 'system-hopping' that saw them take, consolidate, and advance from captured star systems.

By mid-2385, Qo'noS itself was under siege. The Romulans laid waste to the planet, smashing its cities and reducing its industry to slag. Billions of Klingons were killed as the Romulans annihilated major population centres across the surface. The remains of the Klingon High Council fled into exile in Cardassian territory, forming a new alliance for their very survival.

The war was over, and the Romulans occupied the shell of Qo'noS, and although surviving Klingon warriors immediately began a guerrilla resistance, the Romulans had won a comprehensive victory over their old enemies, and stood as masters of the Alpha Quadrant.