Ormong of 2291

The Ormong of 2291 was the first of two Klingon civil wars between the forces of the Klingon High Council and the upstart House of G'Iogh. The insurrection was started by the then-head of the House of G'Iogh, Kalnor, and continued by his half-brother, Melkor. It came to encompass the entire Klingon Empire, including factions lead by Chief of Staff Gorkon and General and Elite Command Academy‏‎ Head Instructor, Chang.

## Prelude

Lorak had ascended to the position of Chancellor of the High Council‏‎ in 2260, promising a modernisation of the Klingon Defence Force, aggressive shipbuilding programmes and to challenge Federation supremacy on the Alpha/Beta Quadrant Frontier. These policies made him enormously popular, especially with the outbreak of the 4-Day War in 2266. Although this war ended in stalemate (and in all likelihood, would have ended in embarrassing attritional losses for both sides had full scale war broken out), the Klingon people viewed the war as a triumph of Klingon martial skill, halted only by the now-hated Organians and their loathed Peace Treaty. His popularity continued when hostilities again broke out in 2285 after the disappearance of the Organians, and although the war ultimately dragged on into a bitter slogging match, again the Klingon view was that victory had been snatched from them by the interference of a foreign power rather than by a failing of their fleets, their Warriors or their Chancellor.

However, all good things must come to an end, and by 2290, Lorak was in ill health. The House of G'Iogh, long an upstart House seeking greater glory, planned to overthrow the weakened Chancellor rather than wait for his demise and hope their political machinations on the High Council had been enough. Kalnor, head of his House, took his fleet and his supporters into open revolt in early March 2291.

## Outbreak of Hostilities

Kalnor had taken the High Council by surprise, and massed his fleet around the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS‏‎. Fortunately, General Chang had foreseen such a grab for power by Kalnor, and raised a fleet from his instructors, staff and promising cadets at the Klingon Defence Force Elite Command Academy‏‎. In a stunning move, Chang, aboard his C8B VoD'leH (Emperor) Class Heavy Battlecruiser the IKS VoD'leH, identified and crippled the similar Heavy Battlecruiser used as a flagship by Kalnor. Chang then beamed aboard, alone, to the traitors bridge, challenged him to a duel under the ancient Klingon Rite of Blood Peace, and although losing an eye in the process, brought the first stage of the Ormong to an end.

## Treachery Continued

Several months later however, it was revealed that the threat to the Empire from the House of G'Iogh had not died with Kalnor. His half-brother, Melkor was once again gathering their families supporters, although they were not yet declaring themselves publicly. Chang, not wishing to reveal his knowledge of this new threat too soon, enlisted the aid of one of his most promising students, Torlek, Son of Ro'vagh to spy upon a clandestine meeting of Melkor and his lieutenants aboard his families flagship, the C9A pumwI' (Accuser) Class Dreadnought, the IKM mupwl, using the prototype E12X Experimental B'Rel Class, the IKS guHmoH in the Krios System. Shortly after a second intelligence gathering mission, to the Taharak System, the true depths of Melkors treachery was exposed. Within hours of the death of Chancellor Lorak, Melkor chose not to bring forward a legitimate claim for the post, but to publicly declare himself Emperor, a position not held since Krokh the Weak in 2047.

## Calm before the Storm

Within hours of this announcement, the civil war had split into three factions. The legitimate claim to the post was Chief of Staff Gorkon, Son of Toq. He had the most resources, although his warship commanders were inexperienced. He had hoped to enlist the aid of his long time friend and ally, Chang, but Gorkon's outspoken views towards making peace overtures with the Federation outraged the General, and the two were unable to reconcile their differences. Chang therefore lead his own faction, with the aim of stopping both Melkor's power grab and Gorkon's ascension, although who he ultimately sought to fill the position was unclear.

Of the three factions, Chang's was the smallest, but could call upon the most experienced warship commanders, taken from the cream of the graduates of the Klingon Defence Force Elite Command Academy‏‎ as well as her instructors. Melkor possessed the most warships, although without sufficient supply lines and support fleets to support them in a protracted conflict. A calm fell over the Empire for a number of weeks, as each side vied for the support of unaligned houses, gathered their resources and planned their opening moves.

## Ormong Renewed

The uneasy quiet was shattered when Melkor, like his brother before him, made a power grab for Qo'noS. Fortunately, the defence grid around the homeworld as well as the forces of Gorkon were sufficient to repel him, although without Chang to command them the victory was at best a pyrrhic one. As both sides withdrew to replenish their losses, Chang waited in the wings, securing more resources andf striking at Melkor's exposed supply lines whilst avoiding all contact with Gorkon, who was still attempting to make amends with his old friend for the good of the Empire.

## Treachery at qvaQ

During Kalnor's initial Ormong, the Starbase in qvaQ System had been seized by his forces, overthrowing the commander there. Control was maintained with a large garrison, but the station was never fully loyal to the House of G'Iogh. In a brilliant move, Chang struck the Starbase, landing a detachment of Assault Marines and seizing the station. The capture of the qvaQ Starbase gave Chang enormous repair and replenishment facilities close to Melkor's home world of Qavath. However, before the victory celebrations were over, the Chief Engineer on board the station discovered that Melkor's forces had sabotaged the main reactor and it would soon go critical. Chang was forced to evacuate in his moment of triumph, running a gauntlet against the numerically superior forces of Melkor, the Usurper himself taunting him as he withdrew. Chang's forces suffered enormous losses, although due to the actions of resourceful Captains such as Torlek, the blow was not fatal as it might have been.

## The Tal'Ihnor Disaster

Having rebuilt his damaged forces, Chang pursued Melkor to the Tal'Ihnor Gates System, expecting to corner and defeat the Usurper in a final decisive battle. However, Melkor had enlisted the aid of both Sha'Kurian mercenaries and the forces of the Romulan Star Empire, and when even these reinforcements failed to stop Chang, he instructed Brigadier K'mak, formerly an instructor at the Academy, now dragged into the conflict on the side of Melkor due to his elder brother's allegiances, to detonate an experimental Gravitic Bomb. This device destabilised Tal'Ihnor A, sending an enormous gravity wave through the system, destroying all in it's path. The star exploded, the entire system eventually collapsing into the black hole, Tal'Ihnor B, the remnants forming the Tal'Ihnor Nebula. Fortunately for Chang, the swift warning of Torlek saved the majority of his forces, who managed to flee the system.

## Hunt for the Usurper

The heinous act of causing the Tal'Ihnor Disaster caused outrage throughout the Empire, and Melkor found himself condemned by the High Council and outlawed, his entire House facing investigation and dis-commendation. Chang however now found himself in an awkward position. With Melkor all but defeated, the High Council was demanding that Chang return to Qo'noS and officially retract his objection to Gorkon's bid for the post of Chancellor. Chang however refused to answer all such calls, and continued his hunt for the Usurper, spreading his forces wide to hunt for Melkor before he could rally further support to threaten the Empire again, and to find him before Gorkon could to hopefully levy support with the High Council.

Melkor meanwhile drew Chang into a trap, claiming the Rite of Vengeance and challenging Chang to battle in the remnants of the Tal'Ihnor Gates System. Surrounding Chang with numerous Romulan warships, Melkor very nearly killed the General before he managed to get out a distress call to Torlek, warning him of Melkor's strength and intentions to yet again advance upon Qo'noS. Chang implored Torlek to gather as many warships as possible "no matter the cost" and bring them to the Tal'Ihnor Gates System and kill Melkor.

Taking the General at his word, and with the only Chang-allied fleets scattered throughout the Empire in the search for Melkor, Torlek was forced to call upon the forces of Gorkon, considering the threat to the Empire to be greater than the feud between Chang and Gorkon.

Chang was spared a defeat, although Melkor once again escaped, and Chang now owed Gorkon a debt of honour, for which he had to swear his loyalty to him. This state of affairs enraged Chang, setting the stage for another crisis some two and half years later.

Expecting a joint Melkor-Romulan attack on Qo'noS, Chang, now honour-bound to serve Gorkon (Acting Chancellor, soon to be declared officially), prepared a defence of the homeworld. Melkor however, had more treachery planned.

## Neutral Zone Violation

Captain Torlek, assigned to border patrols near the Klingon-Federation Neutral Zone as punishment by Chang, responded to to a number of attacks on observation outposts, seemingly by Federation forces, and a distress call from a warship in the Jungetlh System. The distress call was answered by Brigadier TorQ, a supporter of Melkor, who explained to Torlek that he had sent the distress call, and that there never were any Federation starships in the sector, but that the same report that had brought Torlek to the area would undoubtedly bring General Chang from Qo'noS. This would cut Gorkon's strength in half, making an easy victory for Melkor. Torlek managed, against the odds, to escape a Romulan heavy strike fleet and transmit a warning message to Qo'noS, unfortunately too late to stop Chang.

As predicted, Chang took the bait, and took three assault fleets to the Gamma Ceti System, and believing the Federation and the Klingon Empire to be at war, engaged the Federation Starbase there. Torlek, on orders from Gorkon, tracked Chang (with assistance from Captain K'Poraq) to Gamma Ceti and managed to convince him that it was all a scheme by Melkor and to call off the attack and to return to Qo'noS.

## The Battle of Qo'noS

Rushing back to Qo'noS, Chang and Torlek engaged Melkor's forces. In a cataclysmic battle above the homeworld, involving forces from the Romulan Star Empire as well as Melkor-allied Klingon House fleets (although now few and far between after the Tal'Ihnor Disaster, the Ormong of 2291 finally came to an end when Melkor's new flagship, the IKS wo'HubwI' (B11 qeyLIS bet'Leth (Sword of Kahless) Class) was crippled and Melkor himself believed killed.

## Aftermath

In the weeks that followed, the House of G'Iogh was dis-commendated by the High Council, all their remaining assets seized and remaining members of the House tried for treason. Most of those that lived attempted to flee to the Romulan Star Empire, although the majority were killed during the exodus. Gorkon was publicly declared to be Chancellor, and in the process made Chang his Chief of Staff, a great surprise to most, the reason being given to "keep him honest". This set into motion two calamitous events, the first being the resurgence of Melkor, leading to the General War of 2292, the second being the Praxis Incident of 2293.

The violation of the Klingon-Federation Neutral Zone and the otherwise unprovoked attack on Starbase 49 in the Gamma Ceti System was explained to the Federation as the actions of Melkor himself, although with the General War breaking out scant months later, this lie became a reality, and the truth of the matter wasn't fully explained to the Federation until the 2340s.

## See Also

General War

Praxis Incident

Khitomer Accords‏‎