K'Laus

Though Born on the Klingon colony of Qu’Vat in in the 2350s, his mother’s Klingon mate was killed before his birth. K’Laus never knew his father and his mother did not share many stories with her son about the man other than he came from an old and once honorable, noble house that had fallen into pieces over the many years of its existence until it was all bust in ruins. His father, one of the last members of the house. K’Laus’ nearly human name was given to him by his parents who shared passion for Earth’s Shakespearean plays. His name was loosely inspired by King Claudius from the tragedy Hamlet, though they opted to name their child closer to the human name Claus, though with a sharper pronunciation and more ‘Klingon’ with a glottal stop.

Fearing for the life of her child, K’Laus’ mother left more than just the world of Qu’Vat behind, she left the Klingon Empire, placing as much space between her child and the Empire as she could. She sought refuge elsewhere. Aboard an independently operating cargo ship than ran supplies across the Beta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant, she remained aboard as part of the crew for several months until the vessel was attacked by the Talarian Republic. They had raided the ship, killed some of the crew, but could not kill the Klingon woman and her child.

The leader of the raid was a man who had lost his wife some time ago. At first K’Laus and his mother were his as captives, but the captivity did not last for long. He came to get to know the Klingons, already having an admiration and respect for their culture. By the time K’Laus had turned four, his mother and he were no longer captives. They were living with the Talarian man whom K’Laus would come to see as his father. His mother would marry him on Talar and they raised K’Laus as a Talarian, but his mother did not allow young K’Laus to ever forget his Klingon heritage. The Day of Honor, Klingon cuisine, and everything she possibly could teach him about Klingon culture, she did with the approval of her Talarain husband, Colonel Rukar.

Boys and girls in the Talarian Republic were not treated equally. Though both were given an education, girls were only educated up until a certain point where as boys transitioning into men were permitted to continue their education. Children attended schools segregated by sex. These schools prepared them for the Talarian Military which all males were required to join either by forced enlistment or by completing the academy to become and officer in the military. K’Laus wanted to fight. It was something he was naturally good at. His anger issues and rebellious nature had lead him to get in trouble at school. As soon as he was fourteen, he joined the Talarian military as a ‘youth,’ what they call their young soldiers.

He wanted to prove himself worthy to his father and to the Talarians. He fought in the Talarian military for a short while, but when the the Federation and Klingons went to war, K’Laus felt a blood thirst overcome him. The Talarians had had their issues with the Federation in the past, but were technologically no match for them. They also had no plans on getting involved with problems that did not involve them. K’Laus, however, wanted to get involved. He felt the need to fight as a Klingon. He left the Talarian Republic and made his way back to the Klingon Empire and though he was not welcomed back ‘warmly’ by the Klingons, they did see him as one of their own and granted him the right to defend his people. They took him in as a Bekk in the Klingon Defense Force and set him to serve aboard an old rusty looking bird of prey.

During the Federation-Klingon War, there was not question about allegiance. K’Laus was Klingon by blood and by heart. Though raised Talarian, this made no real difference. The Talarians were no friend of the Federation and the Klingon K’Laus never saw the Federation as anything more than an enemy of his and an enemy of his people. Even though the Klingon Empire had been at peace with the Federation for years, their history was blood soaked. As a Bekk serving aboard the rusty old Klingon bird or prey, K’Laus was able to hear great war stories and got along excellently with his Klingon brethren as they fought tooth and claw against Federation starships.

Their old rust bucket bird of prey may not have been the most up to date or advanced bird of prey, but it was rich with history and full of glory. Its commander, an old near sighted Klingon with the yellowest teeth in the galaxy and a gut that loved racht just about as much as he loved battle. Being away from the Talarian Republic and his family, the crew of the bird of prey became a second family to him and the Klingon commander, like a grandfather. It was in these battles and skirmishes during the war, fighting alongside the Klingons that K’Laus learned and truly began to understand what it was to be a Klingon.

The war was practically over before it ever truly started, but in its wake came the exposure and truth in the Empire. They had been lead astray. Deception had sparked this war with the Federation. A new war arose in it’s place: The Dominion War. However, instead of seeking to shed pints of Starfleet blood, the Klingon Empire was once again allied with the Federation. It was a strange sensation from seeking out to slaughter your once enemy to joining forces against another more sinister foe.

All his life K’Laus (now a Corporal in the Klingon Defense Force) had been taught to never question his superiors, to seek out and kill, to know clearly that the United Federation of Planets was his enemy. The Federation was a might technological superior power in the galaxy that was expanding its territory year after year farther and farther into the Beta Quadrant and across the great expanses of the Alpha Quadrant, but now he was beginning to see the truth. These people were not warriors like him, they fought only to survive, not for glory and not to conquer. They were explorers and humanitarians. It was pathetic yet noble.

The Dominion War did far more than simply push K’Laus into working with the Federation against a common enemy. It gave the Federation a face. This was a huge leap for the Klingon who had never really known a human, an ‘Earther’ or anyone in Starfleet other than to massacre them. He saw them now for what they were, and this changed everything. When the bird of prey he was serving aboard was on a joint mission with two Federation escorts, they came under attack from the Breen. The bird of prey took heavy damage. One of their Federation escorts was destroyed and the other was severely disabled. K’Laus was on the Bridge at the time a torpedo his their ship, fires erupted and smoke filled the Bridge after consoles exploded. Some of the crew were killed instantly, others including the bird of prey’s commander were seriously injured.

Their bird of prey was boarded, but not by the Breen. They had been boarded by the Federation, the Starfleet crew of the surviving escort. K’Laus had his disruptor drawn on the Starfleet officers who arrived as he guarded his injured commander. The Klingons did not fear death, they embraced it and even welcomed it with open arms when they were killed in glorious battle. The Talarians had similar views and respect for death, but it was still a loss to them. K’Laus did not want to lose the man who had taught him everything there was to being a true Klingon warrior. One of the Starfleet man, a scrawny thing in a bluish uniform looked frightened by K’Luas but courageously pushed the disruptor out of his way and told K’Laus they were not there to fight, they were there to tend to the wounded Klingon warriors. K’Laus had never seen a someone who was not a Klingon show such courage and determination. The medic was a young looking male, practically no older than K’Laus, possibly younger who would not leave the injured Klingon commanders side until he had managed to stabilize the patient. The man was not a doctor yet, just a Starfleet Nursing Cadet a few months shy of graduating.

The commander lived, but would ‘retire’ after the end of the war. For a Klingon with such a long service history and many war stories to tell, the Empire gave him an instructors position at the academy. It allowed him to help train the next great warriors, and with with his vouching for K’Laus, the young Klingon raised by Talarians was permitted to attend to academy, becoming an officer in the Klingon Defense Force after graduating.

K’Laus served aboard a newer Klingon bird of prey upon his graduation, manning a Bridge station as weapon’s officer. The crew was mostly enlisted warriors or young Bekks with little to no experience. Lieutenant K’Laus was named Second Officer. The ship saw little action during the several months that K’Laus was aboard. However, his interest had grown in relation to the Federation and Starfleet. He wanted to know more about the ‘Earthers’ and their ways. Participation in the Officer Exchange program allowed K’Laus to serve for six weeks aboard a Federation starship. The experience was not easy, and he found most of the crew to be bothersome.

However, he could learn to live with bothersome. He requested something few Klingons would ever dare to. He requested to serve aboard a Federation starship. The Federation was still working on repairing their relationship with the Klingon Empire, and a Klingon willing and able to serve aboard one of their starships had them curious and of course suspicious. It, however, was a good sign of peace and faith to allow it to occur. The request was granted by the Klingon Defense Force and approved by Starfleet Command. K’Laus was given the provisional rank of Ensign and assigned to a Federation starhip for a two year assignment.

The USS Boreas was an old Miranda class light cruiser. Having been a weapons officer aboard his previous Klingon assignment, Starfleet sorted him into the Security Department and assigned him as a security officer aboard the Boreas. He was part of a handful of away missions, though his responsibilities revolved around standing guard and watching over scientist as they collected samples. Truthfully, he felt as though he had been singled out for being a Klingon and thrown into an apartment that seemed most fitting for a warrior. He allowed this to continue for the entirety of his two year assignment before scheduling a meeting with the Boreas’ personnel officer and a Starfleet career counselor. They worked with the Klingon to find another assignment and have him transferred from Tactical/Security into Operations.

Receiving a promotion to provisional Lieutenant junior grade, K’Laus was assigned to the USS Maponos , an Olympic class hospital ship. His position was that of ship’s Safety Officer in the Operations Department. He was responsible for cargo inventory, cargo and supply inspection, the safety inspection of fire suppression systems as well as ensuring all passengers and crew were properly trained on standard phasers and knew the proper procedures for an emergency evacuation. Most would probably presume that this was a living hell for a Klingon, but K’Laus took his position very seriously and was incredibly thorough when it came to the safety training. He extended his assignment aboard the USS Maponos, was decorated for good conduct and service to the ship, was on good report from the command crew and had been promoted by the Captain to the rank of provisional lieutenant after recommendation was made by the First Officer.