Koll Azernal

Koll Azernal (?-2379) was the Chief of Staff to former President Min Zife. Azernal, a Zakdorn male, had been Zife's primary advisor since 2369, and was largely responsible for the campaign strategy that got Zife elected to the presidency in 2372. (TNG novel: A Time to Kill)

As Chief of Staff

Shortly after assuming office in 2373, Azernal spearheaded a mission sending Captains Jean-Luc Picard and Benjamin Sisko to the Klingon border in an effort to convince Chancellor Gowron to restore the alliance between the Federation and the Empire. This effort was ultimately unsuccessful. (TNG - Slings and Arrows eBook: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment)

When it began to appear that the Federation would be totally isolated and engaged in a conflict with the Dominion, Azernal created a strategy whereby Federation nadion-pulse cannons would be installed on the neutral planet of Tezwa, near the Klingon border. As a last-resort strategy a defeated and retreating Starfleet would lure the Dominion fleet to Tezwa, where they would be virtually annihilated. However, the Klingons later did resign the Khitomer Accords, and though the plan was never implemented, the cannons had already been delivered and constructed and thus remained on Tezwa throughout the war and afterwards, in violation of the Accords.

During the war, Azernal was one of the primary architects of the Federation's strategies, working in conjunction with the Admiralty and the Federation Security Council. However unlike many Starfleet Admirals, whose contributions to the war effort were high-profile, Azernal's efforts were considerably more low-key. Zife regarded the Zakdorn as one of the unsung heroes of the war.

In 2379, Azernal plotted with then Deputy Prime Minister Bilok to overthrow Tezwan Prime Minister Kinchawn in response to his menacing of a Klingon planet with a purchased fleet of Danteri starships. When Zife and Chancellor Martok ordered a joint Federation-Klingon fleet to Tezwa for peace negotiations, the fleet was decimated by the Federation-installed cannons. Azernal convinced Zife to have Tezwa conquered by the Federation and the cannons destroyed before the Klingons could retaliate and discover the Federation's complicity. Later, he engaged in a complex scheme to incriminate the Tholian Assembly in the construction of the cannons before his plot was discovered by Picard. Captain Picard, in conjunction with Admiral William Ross and other members of Starfleet Command, forced Azernal, Zife, and Federation Secretary of Military Intelligence Nelino Quafina to resign; Azernal was subsequently killed, along with Zife and Quafina, by the rogue agency known as Section 31 for his actions. (TNG novel: A Time to Kill, TNG novel: A Time to Heal)

Dealings With Section 31

It is unclear when, but prior to 2379 Azernal had become aware of the Federation's rogue intelligence agency Section 31 as prior to his assassination he realised what was about to happen and at whose hands.

Preceded by: Unspecified

Presidential Chief of Staff 2373– 2379

Succeeded by: Esperanza Piñiero