Federation-Klingon War of 2285

The Federation-Klingon War of 2285, was a short conflict between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire in 2285. It was instigated by the Excalbians who used the conflict to further their study of good and evil.

The War
In 2285, Klingon leader Emperor Kahless IV was taken over by Excalbian mind-control, appearing in communications denouncing the Federation and inciting a brief war. In an early strike against Starfleet, Koloth was placed in command of a Klingon starbase with the ability to generate wormholes that led to Federation space. After the destruction of Captain John Bearclaw's USS Gallant, Koloth's fleet was targeted for attack by Grand Admiral Stephen Turner, who was similarly a puppet of the Excalbians. Shortly after granting command of the late Captain Spock's USS Enterprise to Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, Turner sent Kirk to pursue the Klingon marauders. Upon defeating a surprise attack and discovering the wormholes, Kirk led a boarding party to the starbase, destroying it. Kirk took on a Klingon refugee, Klingon Defense Force Lieutenant Konom, Koloth's helmsman. Konom, ashamed of the unjust killings in which he had participated, had devised a plan to warn the next Federation starship that Koloth attacked. Kirk received Konom's warnings, giving him the upper hand through the whole affair. In gratitude, Kirk granted Konom an ensign's commission in Starfleet and appointing him as an Enterprise bridge officer. When Kirk became aware of the subjugation of leaders of both the Federation and the Klingon Empire, he went against orders to lead a mission to Organia, where he battled and captured Klingon Admiral Kor and his crew. The Excalbian Yarnek appeared to Kor and Kirk and revealed the nature of their test of good and evil being performed by their subjugation of the rival governments' leaders, and explained that the Organians were unable to interfere because of Excalbian occupation of their planet. The brief war ended when Kirk appealed to the Excalbians, although many starships on both sides were lost, including the USS Gallant and the USS Valor.

Aftermath
Diplomacy after the Federation-Klingon War of 2285 was restored, with heated negotiations at Starbase 19 between Ambassador Robert Fox and Klingon emissary Kalor nearly breaking down on several occasions. Due to poor security control by Starfleet Commodore Bendict, the Federation and Klingon diplomats alike were nearly assassinated by an agent of the Orion Victory League. This also marked increased tensions between the two powers, that would be prevalent for the rest of the decade only ending with the signing of the Khitomer Accords in 2293.