K't'inga System

The K’t’inga System is an unary star system in the Klingon Empire located in the Beta Quadrant. One of the earliest Klingon colonies, the earliest settlements of K’t’inga are almost fifteen hundred years old. It is the home to the greatest shipyards in the Klingon Empire, though its facilities have grown dated and in need of upgrade over recent decades or even, arguably, centuries. Most of the eight planets and countless moons of the system are settled, with the system’s population numbering in the billions.

Overview

The system was settled not long after the Klingons developed warp drive, though its first colonists travelled for months at Warp 1 to reach one of the brightest stars in the skies of Qo’noS. This distance led to a strong sense of independence among the settlers, and recurring tensions between K’t’inga and the homeworld. Starfleet has limited understanding of the details of these conflicts, but has seen records suggesting the people of K’t’inga established themselves as hardy pioneers and condemned the nobles of Qo’noS as soft. The attacks on Klingon territory by the Hur’q in the 14th century, including what is recorded as a great battle at K’t’inga, brought unity between the two worlds. Records are unclear whether they were brought closer by an external threat, or if K’t’inga was weakened enough for Qo’noS to re-establish dominion.

Over the centuries, the system’s place on the empire’s resource-rich trade routes led to great growth, and by the 22nd century, its shipyards surpassed those of Qo’noS. Considerable military resources and bureaucracy were established at K’t’inga, which forged for itself an identity as the strong right hand of the homeworld, the seat of warriors beside the governors. Critics of the Klingons’ military starship development programme identify K’t’inga’s continuous quest for legitimacy as responsible for the limited innovation and change in ship design and construction. The K't'inga-class herself was considered the greatest achievement in 'Klingon ship design upon her construction, and such critics wryly suggest the shipyards have produced nothing since.

By the 25th century, the fleetyards of K’t’inga are vast, but bloated and inefficient. This once rugged frontier outpost is now firmly a core world of the empire, with dense infrastructure and a booming population. It is also one of the most diverse systems in the empire, with many vassal species able to secure work in the shipyards more easily than they might on Qo’noS, and those seeking the security and living standards of a core world thus flock to K’t’inga. Local governance consider this something of an embarrassment, and only a close look at demographic records betrays this fact.

In Play

K’t’inga is a core system of the empire, as well-developed and densely inhabited as Alpha Centauri in the Federation. It is one of the oldest still-inhabited colonies in the galaxy, and considered safe, secure, and prosperous, with people living in cities, rural expanses, orbital structures, biodomes, and so on, on planets, moons, asteroid belts, and in orbit across the system.
The shipyards of K’t’inga are the beating heart of the empire’s military might, but aged and bloated and in need of overhaul - an acceptance of weakness the empire is not presently prepared to make.
K’t’inga is one of the best-defended places in the galaxy, with warships regularly passing through for repair and refit, or for warriors to receive orders from the High Command facilities in the system.
The worlds of K’t’inga are diverse in their environment, ranging from vast cities to rolling rural expanses to stretches of rugged and outright uninhabitable territory.
K’t’inga’s population is also diverse. You will find nowhere else in the empire with as many of its different vassal species in one place as the settlements of K’t’inga, especially where the workers in the fleetyards reside.