Battle of Veridian III The Battle of Veridian III was a confrontation between the , which was then the Federation flagship , and a renegade D12 - class Klingon Bird - of - Prey . The conflict took place in very close proximity to Veridian III , in 2371 . The Bird - of - Prey ' s involvement in the engagement was in revenge for previous affairs with the Federation . Although the " Enterprise " would have easily outmatched the Bird - of - Prey under normal circumstances , the crew of the Klingon ship exploited a key weakness in the " Enterprise " s defenses and was thereby able to inflict severe damage on the opposing starship . The " Enterprise " eventually managed to defeat the Bird - of - Prey , but the " Enterprise " s victory was a Pyrrhic one , as its battle damage resulted in the additional loss of the ship soon thereafter . Prelude . After the House of Duras fell from power at the end of the Klingon Civil War of 2367 – 68 , the Duras sisters , Lursa and B ' Etor , sought incessantly to regain supremacy and take control of the Klingon Empire . ( ; ) To this end , they forged an alliance with Dr . Tolian Soran in 2371 . On an inspection of the Amargosa observatory by Lieutenant Commander s Data and La Forge , Dr . Soran assaulted La Forge and captured him , transporting himself and La Forge to the Duras sisters ' ship . The craft set a course for the Veridian system while Soran removed and analyzed La Forge ' s VISOR . The " Enterprise " subsequently pursued and intercepted the Bird - of - Prey . Although Soran ordered the destruction of the " Enterprise " , B ' Etor pointed out that their ship was completely outgunned by the starship . Soran decided to return La Forge ' s VISOR to him , after performing some modifications to the device , which gave Lursa and B ' Etor a live video feed from La Forge ' s point - of - view . Since it was vital that Captain Picard try to negotiate with Soran , he agreed to exchange himself for La Forge , on the condition that he could speak to Soran – who was now on the surface of Veridian III – first , and in person . The Duras sisters accepted this proposal and returned La Forge to the " Enterprise " while Picard was transported to Veridian III . When La Forge returned to engineering , the video feed from his VISOR gave the Duras sisters exactly what they had been looking for . A freeze - frame revealed that the " Enterprise " s shields were operating on a frequency modulation of 257 . 4 megahertz . Preparing for the Bird - of - Prey to attack the " Enterprise " , B ' Etor directed that the frequency of the Klingon ship ' s photon torpedo es be adjusted to match , then delightedly moved a scope into place . ( ) The battle . The engagement commenced when the Klingon Bird - of - Prey fired a couple of consecutively deployed torpedoes at the " Enterprise " . These projectiles easily penetrated the Starfleet vessel ' s shields , impacting on the flagship ' s secondary hull . As the " Enterprise " started to rotate starboard , the ship returned fire using phaser s , but the resultant impact had no effect on the Klingon ship , being stopped by the Bird - of - Prey ' s shields . The Klingons retaliated by firing a disruptor blast at the " Enterprise " . This caused an explosion at one of the starboard stations on the " Enterprise " s bridge , which sent an officer who had been manning the station flying to the deck and showered debris over the conn officer , severely injuring both members of personnel . Counselor Troi took the conn officer ' s place and brought the " Enterprise " out of orbit , but the ship was suffering a hull breach on decks thirty - one through thirty - five . The " Enterprise " slowly backed off from its attacker , completing its rotation away from the Bird - of - Prey . Even so , the Klingon vessel persisted with its onslaught , as the " Enterprise " s wounded crew members were being carried off the ship ' s bridge . Though two pairs of disruptor shots fired from the Bird - of - Prey missed their target of the " Enterprise " s hull , a third struck the ship ' s port warp nacelle . Amid the fracas , Commander Riker asked recently promoted Lieutenant Commander Worf about the Bird - of - Prey and its weaknesses . Worf was able to identify the ship as a D12 - class Bird - of - Prey , explaining it had been retired from service due to defective plasma coil s . Without seeing how the defect could be used to their advantage , Worf pointed out that the coils formed part of the ship ' s cloaking device . As La Forge worked on repairs to the ship in engineering – where another eruption knocked another crewman down – Data informed Riker that , if a low - level ionic pulse were to be targeted at the Bird - of - Prey ' s plasma coils , it might reset the coil and engage the cloaking device . The shields would meanwhile drop , leaving the ship vulnerable for just a few seconds . Data , in full support of the plan , began work on the pulse . Aboard the Bird - of - Prey , the helm officer reported to B ' Etor that their ship ' s shields were continuing to hold . B ' Etor responded by ordering the crew to fire at will . After Riker instructed Worf to ready a spread of photon torpedoes that would target the Klingon craft ' s primary reactor , the Bird - of - Prey fired at least three more pairs of disruptor bolts . The first two passed straight through the " Enterprise " s shields without hitting the ship . Thus , only the last volley had any effect , striking the " Enterprise " s starboard nacelle . Data was just about to set off the ionic pulse when the " Enterprise " s bridge received its biggest blow yet ; a blast which consumed the aft stations in smoke and debris also thrust an officer across the room ' s wooden handrail , sending him tumbling over the command stations before he landed on the deck . Despite the disruption , Data finally managed to activate the pulse . Savoring almost imminent victory , the Duras sisters ( with B ' Etor still operating her scope ) ordered their crew to target the " Enterprise " s bridge with full disruptors . Instead , the Bird - of - Prey ' s shields dropped and its cloak began to engage , much to the surprise of the Klingons . The " Enterprise " then fired a single torpedo that hit home on the Bird - of - Prey , completely destroying it . ( ) Aftermath . The outcome of the battle , immediately afterwards , brought a sense of joy to the bridge of the " Enterprise " . An officer standing behind the wooden handrail made a fist , with his left hand , then victoriously pummeled the air with it . Apparently without noticing this action , Data did likewise , excitedly exclaiming , " " Yes ! " " Even though the " Enterprise " had destroyed the Klingon vessel , damage to the magnetic interlocks caused by the Bird - of - Prey led to a coolant leak in the warp core , causing an imminent warp core breach aboard the " Enterprise " . On Riker ' s instruction , a saucer separation was therefore carried out , with all personnel evacuated to the saucer section . The warp core detonated sooner than expected , though , leading the saucer section to crash - land on the surface of Veridian III . The ship was subsequently deemed non - salvageable and declared destroyed , but casualties were light . The remaining crew was recovered by the , as well as two other starships , shortly thereafter . ( ) The deaths of Lursa and B ' Etor reduced the House of Duras to just one effective member , Toral . He later attempted to gain control of the Klingon Empire by claiming the Sword of Kahless . ( ) Background information . Conception . Early in the development of , the screenplay ' s writers – Ronald D . Moore and Brannon Braga – intended for the Battle of Veridian III to have a different outcome than it does in the film ' s final version . A couple of drafts of the film ' s script established that Riker and other surviving crew members from the " Enterprise " , following the crash - landing of the ship ' s saucer section on Veridian III , discovered that Lursa and B ' Etor as well as some officers from their Bird - of - Prey had not only survived but had also crash - landed on the same planet ; the two separate crews were therefore marooned there . The Klingons at first attacked the Starfleet officers but both crews eventually managed to put aside their differences enough to collaborate on finding a way off the planet . ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) The story continuation featuring the Duras sisters surviving was never produced , being vetoed from the script for " Generations " long before principal photography on the film began . Rick Berman , who co - wrote the movie ' s story and produced the film , later explained that the scene had to be cut from an overly long draft of the screenplay and was edited out on the recommendation of David Carson , who persuaded the rest of the producers that it was a good idea to do so . ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , UK ed . , pp . 158 - 159 ) B ' Etor actress Gwynyth Walsh once implied that she believed the reasoning for the sequence ' s removal was that the writers had a massive variety of characters they had to service in " Generations " , including the entire collection of main characters from and Captain Kirk . ( ) Furthermore , Lursa actress Barbara March mused that the sexy appearance of the Duras sisters may have contributed to their downfall , admitting , " " That might have been a continual problem , I think , on that kind of show [ . . . ] We didn ' t really seem to kick that much butt , and I think they decided it was just time to kill us off . I don ' t think that the writers , who did generic kind of villainnesses , understood what it was like to be a Klingon female . " " Visualization . Industrial Light & Magic was assigned to create the visual effects footage used in depicting the Battle of Veridian III . The sequence challenged ILM to devise a strategy of representing the conflict with a bare minimum of shots and no budget for pyrotechnic elements . ( " Cinefex " , No . 61 , p . 74 ) Neither did the allocation of expenses allow for breakaway models . ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , UK ed . , p . 168 ) The final moments of the altercation were story - boarded in pencil by Bill George , during planning discussion with John Knoll . Knoll created computer - generated storyboards showing the start of the action . ( " The Art of Star Trek " , pp . 284 & 285 ) Even though the battle was inspired by the " Star Trek " space battles depicted in the television series and the earlier films , Knoll also endeavored to give it a different look , to best utilize the digital technology he had available to him . ( " Sci - Fi Universe " , issue 5 , p . 60 ) Both the " Enterprise " - D and Bird - of - Prey were represented with studio model s . Though the sequence was therefore primarily handled with motion control , CGI was used for the weaponry and strikes in the battle . ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , p . 168 ) Photon torpedoes incorporated into the clash were rendered by John Knoll , taking inspiration from photon torpedo effects work in . Phasers and disruptors in the encounter were done by Don Butler . Although the deflector shields in the sequence retained an oval shape from " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , considerable thought and experimentation went into how detailing of the shields would look , as the majority of the shots were to be close - ups of the ships in combat and would therefore clearly show the shields in detail . In views of the Bird - of - Prey distantly firing on the " Enterprise " in the foreground , the Klingon ship initially seemed to subtract from the effect of the " Enterprise " s shields flaring , so the Bird - of - Prey was changed to look smaller in those shots . ( " Cinefex " , No . 61 , p . 74 ) The impacts were shown using computer - generated and traditional compositing techniques ; these included flashes of light – the digital equivalent of a tried - and - tested approach , involving the visual presence of some burning steel wool on supposedly charred areas – and computer - generated debris that was made to look as though it was flying . ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , UK ed . , p . 168 ) The live - action footage from the battle involved stunts coordinated by Bud Davis . Strikes to the ships were filmed with the commonly used method of having the actors and camera shake . Never having worked on a " Star Trek " film before , Davis initially doubted that this routine would be effective , though he was convinced otherwise as the movie ' s production progressed . ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) Like many of the effect visuals in " Generations " , virtually all the views of the battle were omitted from the first work edit of the film but were inserted into the movie for its second cut , which was exhibited as a test preview . The first assembly of the film ' s live - action footage from the sequence also involved not only slightly more footage than in the movie ' s second work print and the theatrical cut , which were much the same as one another , but also several alternate takes . The cut footage establishing damage to one of the Bird - of - Prey ' s nacelles was in only the first edit of the film , as was the inconsistent visual effect shot of the ship decloaking . The only visual effects footage found in all three edits of the confrontation were the views of the decisive photon torpedo firstly being fired from the " Enterprise " and then streaking towards the Bird - of - Prey , as well as the recycled footage of the Klingon ship exploding . Of how the sequence was edited , David Carson stated , " " We developed the Klingon battle into this huge , noisy battle . " " ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , p . 163 ) Reception . There were shocked reactions , even from members of the production crew , to the revelation that the battle results in the deaths of Lursa and B ' Etor . " " When we filmed it for the first time , " " related Barbara March , " " everyone on the set started crying out ' No , no , no , you can ' t kill off the Duras sisters ! ' Obviously that plot twist was a surprise to a lot of people . " " ( ) Some " Star Trek " fans were outraged that the fighting ends with the Duras sisters being killed off . In fact , some fans were more dissatisfied with this conclusion to the fray than their unhappiness at Kirk dying . ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) One of these disappointed fans was Manny Coto . In hindsight , he related about the Duras sisters , " " I was sorry to see them die , I thought it would have been nice to keep them going . " " ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) At one stage , Barbara March sympathized with the fans ' complaints by lamenting the elimination of her character as well as that of B ' Etor , though March also conceded , " " I think it was inevitable that we had to die . Villainess sex goddesses must die – that ' s the truth ! " " Production staffers such as Brannon Braga and Rick Berman were proud of the battle sequence . While editing the movie , Berman commented , " " To my delight , the battle and demise of the Klingon vessel is an incredible action - adventure sequence . " " Berman also cited it as one of several parts of the film that surprised him by how good ( in his opinion ) they turned out . ( " Star Trek Generations ( novel ) " , hardback ed . , p . 278 ) Brannon Braga once remarked that the skirmish was " cool . " He proceeded to state , " " I really enjoyed the space battle , and it came at a point in the film when there had been no action since the opening . Maybe a little too long , so finally we get excited . This is good old - fashioned " Star Trek . " In addition , Braga described the presentment of the Bird - of - Prey ' s annihilation as " great stuff " and Ronald D . Moore referred to the same finalé as " pretty cool . " ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) In agreement , David Carson called the explosion " terrific . " Other parts of the battle he cited as highlights include the shot of Riker ordering the detonation , which pans from Worf at the tactical station to Riker , and the two final views of Lursa and B ' Etor , utilizing John Alonzo ' s snap zoom . ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray ) Even though Manny Coto was regretful about the demise of the Duras sisters , he highly approved of the battle that precedes it . Coto described the stunt work of " people flying over the bridge " as " very well done , " adding , " " I don ' t think I ' d ever seen [ that ] before in a " Star Trek " movie [ . . . ] It ' s terrific stuff . " " He also called the shot of the Bird - of - Prey ' s elimination " a great explosion . " ( audio commentary , DVD / Blu - ray )