Praxis and section 31

[Expo67]

When it comes to shadow agencies and branches in government bodies, specifically covert operations who deal in black projects and star-chamber justice, anything is possible. So we can't rule out Section 31 or the Tal Shiar(assuming if they ever existed in the 23rd Century)entirely.



As Captain Spock stated in the film: "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

 

[Dancing Doctor]

But there hasn't been anything impossible ruled out.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I kind of just take Praxis for what it was...an accident created due to poor safety conditions imposed by the Klingons. The aftermath of this accident is what is important. Various factions and interests taking advantage of what happened for their own agendas. I do agree that the Romulans would have maybe the greatest advantage of a war between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

I kind of just take Praxis for what it was...an accident created due to poor safety conditions imposed by the Klingons. The aftermath of this accident is what is important. Various factions and interests taking advantage of what happened for their own agendas. I do agree that the Romulans would have maybe the greatest advantage of a war between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

Same here.

I mean, if we start looking for bogeymen and evil plotters hidden in cloaks of darkness, then every single situation that ever occurs will be analyzed and paranoia would set in. Where would the line be drawn?

Was the destruction of the Yamato an accident, or did Section 31 send it to test the Iconian virus on purpose to cover up a discovery the crew made and/or to test it out? Maybe Section 31 hired Tallera to obtain the Stone of Gol for them to reverse-engineer and use as a weapon. It's possible Section 31 helped to form the Maquis in order to harass the Cardassians.

 

[Timo]

(The events involving Praxis were designed to mimic the Chernobyl disaster, which helped to bring about the end of the Soviet Union, the real world equivalent of the Klingon Empire).

And one could argue that sabotaging Chernobyl would have been a viable action with predictable consequences for a Western intelligence agency, severely hurting the Soviet reputation among Soviet satellite nations while putting a strain on Soviet economy and undermining its self-confidence on technology and procedures. In a more dramatic world, the US branch of the Illuminati obviously would have been behind the nuclear disaster - and the Trek universe could well be of a "more dramatic" type.

Whether the truth would come out is not the relevant question here. Whether the truth would be believed is the one we might ask. Surely Klingons would throw around accusations of sabotage even before Commander K'Oenig had extinguished the flames on their equivalent of Moonbase Alpha - and just as surely they would be ignored even if factually true. Additional evidence uncovered in the following decades would be dismissed as being biased towards one early interpretation or another; the more was uncovered, the less convincing it would appear.

Blowing up Praxis would have been a viable procedure for a pro-UFP faction convinced of Starfleet strength, as well as for a pro-Romulan faction convinced of Starfleet weakness. Klingons would not have profited enough from it to offset the physical damage. But apparently Praxis with its lax security and potential for massive kabooming would have been a titillatingly easy target for sabotage, and some Klingon agency could have proceeded with that for some sort of limited gain (an insurance scam or the like), only to have the thing get out of hand.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yet "Old Guard" Klingons participated in the conspiracy against their own government in an effort to undermine the peace treaty with the Federation. I am surprised that Starfleet and the Federation Council decided to take the Klingons at their own word and didn't send in agents of their own covertly to confirm the claim about the significance of the damage at Praxis in relation to the rest of the Empire.

 

[Timo]

I guess the Cartwright and Chang factions knew (or thought they knew) all there was to know about the severity and significance of Praxis, whereas official Starfleet had to wait for negotiations with Gorkon before they could send an assessment team.

It sounds likely that Cartwright knew of Chang's involvement and vice versa, but that both of these old enemies thought they'd get the upper hand from the deal. Chang probably explained that he just wanted to get rid of the old fool who was ruining his Empire, and would leave it at that; Cartwright knew Chang would be more of a threat to Starfleet than Gorkon, and liked it that way because he thought Chang would go to a war that would be the ruination of the Klingon Empire.

Cartwright in turn would have explained that he'd supply Chang with Federation torps and other assistance because Gorkon's peace initiatives would cost him his cushy Starfleet job, and if Chang also eliminated that annoying popstar Kirk during the assassination, Cartwright would happily assist and leave it at that. Chang agreed and thought that inserting a little bit of ambiguity to the guilt issue would be helpful in the upcoming inevitable war, perhaps slowing down Starfleet response the necessary little bit that would allow the Empire to triumph. Plus, it would always help to have Kirk out of the way.

And Nanclus told both, separately, that Romulus would assist one side and not the other...

Chang had a time limit on getting his much-needed war, because his Empire was weakening. Cartwright would probably have gained from stalling, but the Khitomer Conference threatened to create a peaceful outcome, so he hastened things by trying to frame the Klingons for another assassination. And Romulans seemed to be central to organizing Khitomer, probably with the explicit purpose of forcing Cartwright's hand and stopping him from stalling, so that maximum destructiveness to both sides could be guaranteed in the upcoming war.

It's not really all that important whether Praxis blew by accident or by design, but the opportunity and means for Romulan sabotage would be there.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Capt_Pickirk]

As Captain Spock stated in the film: "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Spock didn't say that (well.... he did) His ancestor, Sherlock Holmes said it!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I am thinking that Chiang is the one who first approached Cartwright with the idea...probably after reviewing the Admiral's psyche profile. I wonder if it is known as the Praxis Conspiracy as well as the Praxis Incident?

 

[James Swallow]

I kind of just take Praxis for what it was...an accident created due to poor safety conditions imposed by the Klingons. The aftermath of this accident is what is important. Various factions and interests taking advantage of what happened for their own agendas. I do agree that the Romulans would have maybe the greatest advantage of a war between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

Heh. Interesting to see people's take on this. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that some of these elements are going to appear in my upcoming TOS novel Cast No Shadow.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Sweet!

 

[Dancing Doctor]

I kind of just take Praxis for what it was...an accident created due to poor safety conditions imposed by the Klingons. The aftermath of this accident is what is important. Various factions and interests taking advantage of what happened for their own agendas. I do agree that the Romulans would have maybe the greatest advantage of a war between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

Heh. Interesting to see people's take on this. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that some of these elements are going to appear in my upcoming TOS novel Cast No Shadow.

Of which I am incredibly excited. I think I'm looking forward to your novel more than any other entry this year (and constantly fume at the fact that it's not coming out sooner than July. )