Hi, agent Ric here. Every power in the Alpha Quadrant has its own form of intelligence
agency. Starfleet Intelligence has multiple branches, The Romlan Star Empire had the Tal
Shiar and all its aspects alongside military Intelligence, but what of the Klingons? “It
is a Good Day… to spy?” Klingon Intelligence, sometimes called Imperial
Intelligence, is something mentioned several times in Star Trek, especially during the
Dominion War when they were working alongside the Federation against the Gamma Quadrant
threat. It may seem a bit unintuitive, to associate the Klingons, such a war-focused
and boisterous species, with subterfuge and spy work, but they’re actually not terrible
at it. In apocryphal content, Emperor Karagg is credited
with the formation of the first true Imperial Intelligence service as a way to secure his
rule. He used loyal spies to inform him of the other House’s dealings in both military
and civilian sectors. After Karagg was inevitably dethroned, the new Emperor tried to dismantle
his predecessor’s intelligence network, but they already had compiled enough secrets
to blackmail the new Emperor with the threat of Civil War. Instead, the new Emperor decided
to work together with the Imperial Intelligence and thus, the new organisation owed its allegiance
to the Empire, not the one on the throne. It would stand to safeguard the Empire and
all its houses from threats both internal and external.
As this mentions an Emperor, we can date this as pre-Federation as by then, the position
of Chancellor had superseded the role of Emperor which remained vacant until 2369 when the
clone of Kahless was ceremonially appointed to the role. Of course, it’s highly doubtful
that any martial culture would ever abandon the notion of solid information gathering
so the roles of spies and such probably existed long before this. But this was supposedly
the first instance of a unified agency beholden to the Empire as a whole and not individual
houses. In fact, humanities first ever contact with
the Klingons in 2151 involved such an agent working on behalf of the Empire. Well, technically
we don’t know if Klaang was an agent or simply a courier but he was carrying sensitive
information for the eyes of the High Council when he was waylaid by Suliban on Earth, Broken
Bow. After being wounded, he was patched up and delivered by the NX-01 Enterprise back
to Qo’Nos to deliver his intel. The information was concerning the Suliban
Cabal’s attempts to destabilase the Empire by faking attacks from one of its own Great
Houses. It was disguised in Klaang’s DNA and the Council had been expecting him so
even if this wasn’t an official mission, in my opinion it still counts.
In Klingon culture, the undercover and deceitful nature often involved in such work carries
with it the stigma of being considered dishonourable. Which is a bit rich coming from a species
who employ cloaking devices in combat. But at those times, it’s considered “hunting”
or stalking their prey not spying, but whatever. This likely comes from the politically motivated
actions from internal strife among the Houses, where assassins were often hired to take out
opponents in situations where law or fair combat were not favourable. Such shirking
of tradition and running from a fight was often seen as cowardly and this carried over
to Klingon Imperial Intelligence. Some sources go on to say that Intelligence
agents of the Empire were exempt from traditional Klingon challenges such as fights to the death
due to the sensitive knowledge they often held. This would add to that image of a Klingon
who would not, or could not fight, one denied glory. Harshly too, an agent who failed in
their Intelligence mission was usually exiled from the Empire which would deny them a chance
to win back any lost honour. All this paints the role of a Klingon Agent as a very thankless
one. The unification of the Great Houses into the
KDF occurred following the Klingon skirmishes and War of the mid-23rd century and as such
saw a radical restructuring of the empire’s numerous diverse militias into a single Klingon
Defence Force. While begun by the radical T’Kuvma, the unification of the Klingons
was continued by Kol of the House Kor then L’Rell of the Mo’kai. This assimilation
of the Houses incorporated the strengths each house could bring into its ranks, but the
only part I want to look at today is the House of Mo’kai.
Of the 24 great House in 2256, the house of Mo’kai already had a rather dishonourable
reputation. Its head was Ujilli and it looks as if they may have been the origin of many
of the more nefarious traits associated with Klingon spies. Their house retained its status
among the hierarchy of the Empire through the flow of information and the use of an
extensive spy network all of its own. They also favoured misdirection and during battle
with the Federation they lured the UFP into false peace talks to capture a high ranking
official. One of their practices however involved extensive
physical augmentation to disguise their agents as another species. This process was invasive
and traumatic involving a lot of surgery down to the bone to reshape the Klingon anatomy
to whatever was needed. Another part was the extensive mental conditioning to create sleeper
agents if needed, such is the case with the replacement of Starfleet officer Ash Tyler
with the surgically altered Voq. Voq was required to infiltrate the USS Discovery NCC-1031 with
a side dish of personal vendetta however once altered, he was unaware of his mission until
he was “activated” by L’Rell which allowed him to convincingly integrate with Starfleet.
As with the unification of the Klingon forces, it seems likely that this radical method of
creating spies was adopted by the Intelligence agencies, especially as L’Rell of house
Mo’kai strong-armed her way into chancellorship and for a time had sway over future policy
for the Empire. We see the reuse of human-looking spies again in 2268 with Arne Darvin, this
time at the behest of the Klingon Intelligence agency rather than a single house.
Gralmek, as his name had been, was tasked with infiltrating the Federation and interfere
with operations to colonise Sherman’s Planet. As part of his schemes, he managed to poison
a shipment of grain bound for the world, by posing as the assistant to the Federation
undersecretary for Agriculture. His plan was foiled by an outbreak of tribbles, of all
things, which got into the grain stores and died from eating the contaminated produce.
On top of this, the Tribbles natural aversion to Klingons led them to react poorly to Darvin
and exposed him. This failure was so dishonourable for him
that not only was he exiled after being arrested, but he spent the remainder of his life seeking
to undo this blunder. Trapped irreversibly in the human form, he was able to pass himself
off as Barry Waddle and find his way first to Cardassia Prime and later as a passenger
onto the USS Defiant in 2373. Using the Orb of Time, he was able to take a second stab
at his mission with the added bonus of trying to assassinate James Kirk. This too was foiled
and he was arrested by Starfleet once again. This second mission was a self-imposed one
and nothing to do with the Empire, nonetheless it shows the sheer patience and dedication
that their undercover agents possess. In 2371, Morka, Atul and Bo’rak were agents
sent to Deep Space Nine in order to follow Romulan-Dominion affairs. However, these agents
were hardly… discrete. They were able to override security lockouts, perform a very
delicate and near untraceable transporter operation by rewiring a replicator and implant
a surveillance device behind a wall panel. Something Odo referred to as sophisticated
and professional. So despite their apparent actions, they had the extensive specialised
knowledge and training. It’s possible their boisterous behaviour was in fact a front to
present a distinctly “Klingon” persona in an attempt to alleviate suspicion, but
I’d still say any attention was too much for such an agent.
Klingon Intelligence also made major contributions to the joint Alpha Quadrant efforts during
the war such as the discovery of Loval, a Dominion allied research facility. Although
this admittedly is not a great example of cooperation as had a bit of a… muddied result
and the Klingon-Federation War started not long after.
Star Trek online has quite a unique depiction of a secretive, espionage and strike group,
that of House Pegh which not only spends time doing the undercover leg work and reconnaissance
to uncover a target, but then proceeds to act to nullify the threat in person with a
surgical hit. However, they choose to engage the target, often after isolating in honourable
combat before extracting and returning to cloak.
The necessary stealth and discretion that such a position requires are at odds with
the warrior ethos of Klingon culture. So, we are looking at a society that does seem
to grudgingly accept the necessity of espionage and the like and its operatives are incredibly
dedicated to the Empire, enough to endure the slander from their own and even the risk
of exile. I suspect that Klingon Intelligence is a rather small organisation when compared
to the ratios of other neighbouring powers. Those who serve in its ranks make great sacrifices
in the acquisition of honour and for a Klingon, death can be preferable to dishonour. On a
side note, this obsession with Honour only being won in combat is a notion that has been
building in Klingon society and it is made clear from both non-warrior Klingons and even
the parables of Kahless that earlier iterations of the Empire were not so focused on this
warring path. Nevertheless, agents of the Empire have access
to intricate training and highly specialised equipment the likes of which the KDF do not
and have adequate enough analytical skills to make significant contributions to any war
effort. In short, don’t underestimate a Klingon spy.
Thank you for watching this break down of the Klingon Intelligence Agency and its role
in the Empire. apologies if I miss any videos uploads this week, I’ve been making trips
to the fracture clinic so real life is demanding a lot of attention right now.
Thanks again, and until the next video, I’ve been Ric. So long and goodbye!