- "We have suffered losses... but the Federation has suffered far more. Leaders, return to Qo'noS. Declare far and wide that the Klingon race fights as a united Empire once again!."
- — T'Kuvma, 2256
The Battle of the Binary Stars, also referred to as the Battle of the Binaries, was the opening battle in the Federation-Klingon War on stardate 1207.3 between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. (Star Trek DIS episodes: "Context Is for Kings", "Choose Your Pain ")
Prelude[]
On stardate 1207.3, the battle was the first time the Federation and Klingons had engaged each other since the Battle of Donatu V in 2245. Prior to the battle, the two powers had barely interacted with each other – barring a few inconclusive skirmishes such as at Donatu V and Doctari Alpha – in a full century. (Star Trek DIS episodes: "The Vulcan Hello", "Battle at the Binary Stars")
The Klingon leader T'Kuvma ordered his ship to disable a relay satellite on the edge of Federation space, in an uninhabited binary star system six light years from Gamma Hydra, in order to lure out a Starfleet vessel to investigate, so he could provoke a confrontation. The USS Shenzhou responded, and on investigation, Commander Michael Burnham was attacked by the Klingon Rejac, and killed him in self-defense.
Upon her recovery, Shenzhou sent out distress calls to any nearby Starfleet vessels to warn them of the Klingon incursion into Federation space. Meanwhile, T'Kuvma activated the Light of Kahless beacon to call on the 24 Klingon Great Houses to unify and send their own ships to aid him. Soon, 24 ships from each of the Great Houses dropped out of warp, but while the Klingons were debating whether or not to unify into a single fleet, 10 Starfleet ships responding to the distress call dropped out of warp behind Shenzhou. Both newly arrived fleets then faced each other down in a tense confrontation. (Star Trek DIS episode: "Battle at the Binary Stars")
The battle[]
The battle began after T'Kuvma ordered his ship to open fire on the Shenzhou, forcing it to take evasive maneuvers. To cover the Shenzhou, the starship USS Sioux, along with others, moved up and opened fire, inflicting considerable damage to the smaller Klingon ships. However, Starfleet began to take considerable losses early on in the battle, with the USS Clarke and USS Yeager destroyed, and the Shenzhou heavily damaged and unable to fight.
At this point, the Shenzhou began drifting toward the debris field, and was left by the Klingons to be destroyed by a collision with a large asteroid. Moments from impact, the USS Europa arrived at the battle and saved the Shenzhou with a tractor beam.
Following this, Admiral Brett Anderson made contact with the Klingons and was able to negotiate a brief cease fire. But, while communicating with Captain Philippa Georgiou on the Shenzhou, the Europa was deliberately rammed by a cloaked Klingon vessel. The low speed collision began tearing through the saucer section, ripping it apart like paper. With this happening, the Europa deliberately collapsed its anti-matter containment field, which overloaded the warp core. The resulting breach destroyed both vessels. The cease fire was broken, and the Klingons resumed shooting, and a wave of new Klingon reinforcements warped into the system as well. Several other Starfleet vessels were destroyed, until only the Klingons remained. T'Kuvma told the other Klingon leaders that they should return home and declare far and wide that the Klingons fought as a united empire once again, and they departed – but T'Kuvma stayed behind on his flagship to recover their fallen comrades for proper funeral rites.
As the Klingons collected their dead, the crew of the Shenzhou transported an explosive warhead onto the body of a Klingon warrior adrift in space. As the body was tractored into the Klingon flagship, it detonated, severing the "head" of the ship, and inflicting considerable damage. Captain Georgiou and Commander Burnham took this opportunity to board the ship in order to take T'Kuvma prisoner. While searching the ship, the officers were ambushed, and a brief fight ensued. Commander Burnham was knocked down, but was able to overcome her attacker, however, Captain Georgiou was stabbed through the chest by T'Kuvma and killed. Burnham then shot T'Kuvma in the back, killing him. She was then beamed back before she could recover Captain Georgiou's body, and the Shenzhou was abandoned. (Star Trek DIS episode: "Battle at the Binary Stars")
Aftermath[]
Ultimately, the battle was a massacre for the Federation; while the Klingons took many casualties, T'Kuvma achieved his goal: using a war against the Federation to reunite the Great Houses. However, with T'Kuvma dead, the Klingons were left without a living leader, and T'Kuvma's vessel and its surviving crew, as well as the only known Klingon cloaking device, were left to drift for months in the debris field of the battle. (Star Trek DIS episodes: "The Vulcan Hello", "Battle at the Binary Stars")
| Battles of the Federation-Klingon War (2256-57) |
|---|
| 2256: Battle of the Binary Stars • Attack on Corvan II • Battle at Pahvo |
| 2257: Scorching of Kelfour VI • Attack on Starbase 22 • Attack on Starbase 12 • Attack on Starbase 19 • Attack on Nivalla • Attack on Septra • Attack on Iridin • Capture of Starbase 1 |