Tkon Empire

From Bravo Fleet



History

Very little is known for certain about the ancient civilisation known as the Tkon Empire. The empire existed over 600,000 years ago, with an estimated population of several trillion lifeforms spread out across hundreds of worlds. Federation xeno-archaeologists theorise that the Tkon Empire was ruled from an as yet unnamed throne world, located in what is now Sector 009.

Time for the Tkon Empire was separated into specific ‘ages’ such as Bastu, Cimi, Xora and Makto. It is believed that Makto was the final age of the Tkon Empire, and it is theorised that during this time, the star of the system which contained the Tkon throne world went supernova, which precipitated the end of the long-lived civilisation.

Technology

The Tkon were highly technologically advanced and some theorists suggest that the race developed the ability to move stars using this technology. The Tkon used planets as outposts to defend their territory, and these outposts were populated by incredibly powerful guardians known as Portals. The powers attributed to these Portals included being able to halt the progress of a starship in space and to read the minds of other lifeforms through limited telepathic abilities.

Federation First Contact

At least one of these Portals survived the demise of the Tkon Empire and was encountered in 2364 by the crew of the Enterprise-D on the fourth planet of the Delphi Ardu system. The being identified itself as Portal 63 and the Starfleet crew quickly realised that the Portal had been asleep for hundreds of thousands of years. This was the first recorded contact between the Federation and the extinct Tkon Empire.

The Portal initially accused them of being 'barbarians,' and demanded they be judged before it would consider releasing them. Starfleet officers were able to impress it with their composure in the face of danger, and by sharing the teachings of the Earth philosopher Sun Tzu. The Portal pronounced it had initially considered destroying the Enterprise for fighting a Ferengi ship, but that it now believed there were similarities between Earth and Tkon history. Not only did it release the Enterprise, but it allowed the officers to decide the fate of the Ferengi ship, acquiescing when asked to spare them, too.

At the conclusion of this encounter, Portal 63 declared that he would sleep again until needed and vanished.

Society

Little is known about the society of the Tkon people, but the Enterprise's encounter has contributed to theories of archaeologists. If the Portal's attitudes are to be taken as a reasonable mirror of Tkon principles, their philosophies might have had something in common with Taoism, based on its approval of the writings of Sun Tzu. That the Portal was prepared to destroy interlopers for fighting, and was still prepared to destroy the Ferengi as barbarians after reaching an accord with Starfleet, might suggest a culture prone to strict judgement - or merely reflect the outpost's role in protecting a border.

Little more is known, despite some interpretation of Tkon texts and limited comprehension of their language.