For the mirror universe counterpart, see Klach D'Kel Bracht (mirror).
The Briar Patch in 2375
Briar Patch map
The Briar Patch (or Klach D'Kel Brakt) is a region of dangerous space matter created by the remains of supernovae and metaphasic radiation located in Sector 441, in the Alpha Quadrant. All vessels that enter the region must travel at reduced impulse power so that their impulse manifolds do not become overheated, and the use of warp drive is not an option.
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The area known as the Briar Patch contained the stars SNC 461206 and UFC 8177. In the surrounding area, SNR 093120, UFC 9364, NGC 2812, and QSR 390021 were all visible on star charts of sector 441.
This region was essentially a gas cloud, known for containing dangerous space matter, including false vacuum fluctuations, metaphasic radiation, and at least two habitable planets, one of which was settled by the Ba'ku. As well, it was flooded with radiation from supernova remnants.
Ships in the vicinity had to travel at less than one-third impulse power to avoid overheating the vessel's impulse manifolds. According to Admiral Dougherty, ships entering the region usually were specially fitted for that purpose. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)
History[]
In the 18th century, a group of Ba'ku arrived in the Briar Patch and established a colony on one of several planets located in the Patch. The planet contained metaphasic rings that meant that their lifespans were greatly increased. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)
By the mid-22nd century the region had not yet been mapped by the Klingons.
Arik Soong shows the Augments the Briar Patch in 2154
By the 22nd century, the Patch was located inside Klingon space, although they maintained no military presence inside. In 2154, Dr. Arik Soong viewed the area as a perfect hiding place for him and his Augments when they were being pursued by the Enterprise (NX-01). Upon seeing the Patch on the viewscreen he termed the name Briar Patch in relation to an old story from Earth. (ENT episode: "The Augments")
In 2256, the region's location was labeled on a tactical map on the bridge of the USS Discovery. (DIS episode: "Choose Your Pain")
Alpha/Beta Quadrant Overview
Later that year, this region's location was labeled on the star chart "Alpha/Beta Quadrant Overview" in the ready room aboard the USS Discovery. (DIS episode: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")
The same year, the location was labeled on the star chart showing the trajectory of Lieutenant Spock's shuttle. (DIS episode: "An Obol for Charon")
In 2259, the location of this region was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the USS Enterprise's ready room viewscreen. (SNW episode: "Strange New Worlds", "Spock Amok")
In 2271, the Patch was the location of the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt which saw Kor lead the Klingons to a great military victory over the Romulan Star Empire. (DS9 episode: "Blood Oath")
Early in 2286, an incident occurred within the Briar Patch, involving the newly-launched USS Enterprise-A and a fleet of refugee Klingon freighters seeking a new home away from persecution in the Klingon Empire. An Imperial bird-of-prey under the command of Korgh sought to capture the lead freighter (commanded by a disgraced Klingon general) and kill Captain James T. Kirk, but the assassination plot was foiled thanks to the efforts of Captain Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew. (ST - Prey novel: Hell's Heart)
A Son'a battleship on the edge of a metreon gas explosion in the Briar Patch
By 2375, the Briar Patch was located inside Federation space, and was the setting for a joint Starfleet-Son'a mission in the Patch which was the forced relocation of the Ba'ku and attempt to harness the life-prolonging powers of the planet's rings. Thankfully, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-E managed to prevent this. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)
Following these events, Starfleet established Outpost 40 in the Patch and maintained a small task force to protect the Ba'ku planet and the immediate area. (TNG video game: Hidden Evil)
In 2376, the Patch was the site of a further battle between Starfleet and Son'a forces as they attempted to take control of the planet. (TNG video game: Armada)
Appendices[]
Background information[]
"klac d'kel BRAKT" was the pronunciation for this region's Klingon name from the script pronunciation guide for "Blood Oath".
The names of the Briar Patch's stellar contents and neighbors originate from a computer-displayed okudagram which Geoffrey Mandel created for Star Trek: Insurrection. While not clearly seen on-screen, the graphic was reproduced in The Secrets of Star Trek: Insurrection (p. 143) by Terry J. Erdmann.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the Briar Patch was "whimsically named for the tangled hardwood shrub that featured prominently in the Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris, published in 1880 and 1883."
In the script of Star Trek: Insurrection, the Briar Patch was described as a "dangerous and beautiful region."
For Insurrection, the appearance of the Briar Patch was developed by Mark Wendell, CGI supervisor at Santa Barbara Studios, and Art Director Richard Kriegler. "Our goal was to make this area of space look like a big nasty rat's nest, filled with gases and clouds and so forth," Wendell explained. (The Secrets of Star Trek: Insurrection, p. 26)
Klach D'kel Brakt (system)[]
Alpha/Beta Quadrant Overview
In the star charts seen in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" and "The War Without, The War Within", there was a star system named Klach D'kel Brakt in Klingon territory. This system was first referenced in the reference work Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 63). When this work was published, the connection between Klach D'kel Brakt and the Briar Patch had not yet been established. This connection was made years later in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode The Augments. This older understanding of the nature of Klach D'kel Brakt was briefly canonized in these two Discovery episodes, making it seem that they were two unique and separate locations. Newer charts made for Discovery and Star Trek: Picard reflect the newer understanding, recognizing that they are the same location, and there is no mention made to Klack D'kel Brakt.
Apocrypha[]
According to the RPG sourcebook The Way of D'era, Klach D'kel Brakt was a mineral-rich planet known to the Romulans as Dumok'azen.
In the miniseries Star Trek: Prey, Worf is briefly captured by the descendants of the discommendated followers of Kruge, known as the Unsung, as they see him as a powerful symbol due to his own history of suffering discommendation and then regaining his honor, taking him to a planet in the Briar Patch. Worf is able to use his own experience of the location to alert his allies to the area to search during a later broadcast by the Unsung, stealing the armor of one of their number and fixing the ace of clubs from a stolen deck of cards to his weapon as he appears in a broadcast to the rest of the quadrant, recalling a unique stellar formation in the Briar Patch that Riker compared to that card and hoping that one of his crew will see it and realize the clue.
The Briar Patch appears in three missions in Star Trek Online. In "Secret Orders", Federation player characters are sent into the Briar Patch to locate and destroy a Klingon weapons research facility operated by the mad Ambassador B'Vat. In "Brushfire", following the Iconian War, player characters of all factions are dispatched to rescue former Chancellor Martok from a prison operated by the Son'a and the discommendated House of Torg, before Torg can turn him over to the Tzenkethi. Finally, in the patrol mission "Within the Briars", part of the ongoing Age of Discovery storyline, the holographic Paul Stamets directs the player character to shut down a mycelium spore harvesting operation in the Briar Patch run by the temporally-displaced House of Mo'Kai.