Klaa Captain Klaa was a young 23rd century Klingon starship commander on a personal mission to make a name for himself in the Klingon Empire . With the assistance of his first officer , Vixis , Klaa pursued any challenge he could find . A worthy prey . In 2287 , his Bird - of - Prey encountered the ancient Earth space probe , " Pioneer 10 " , which was found for use as target practice . Klaa destroyed the probe , but admitted that , " " shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior ' s mettle . " " He thirsted for a target that would fight back . After receiving a priority message from Qo ' noS , Klaa learned of a situation on Nimbus III where the Klingon consul , General Korrd , had been taken hostage ; along with the Terran and Romulan consuls . Klaa reasoned that the Federation would be sending a rescue ship of its own , so he set course for Nimbus III seeing this as an opportunity to engage a Federation ship . En route , Klaa intercepted a Starfleet message confirming a Federation rescue ship was dispatched to Nimbus III , the starship . Klaa recognized the ship as belonging to Captain Kirk , further driving his desire to engage Starfleet . Klaa believed that if he could defeat Kirk , he would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy . Klaa later arrived at Nimbus III shortly after the " Enterprise " . As his ship approached the planet , Klaa made the intentions to attack clear , by approaching the system with his cruiser ' s cloaking device engaged and its weapons fully charged . Unknown to Klaa , Kirk was not aboard the target " Enterprise " , and was actually aboard the nearby shuttlecraft " " . Klaa quickly altered his attack course to target the shuttle , however , he was unable to do so in time to strike . The shuttle landed in the " Enterprise " hangar deck and the Federation starship went to warp . Klaa quickly attempted to establish a target lock on the " Enterprise " and fired on her , but missed the shot as the starship quickly warped away . Despite his initial defeat , Klaa admired Kirk ' s ingenious escape . Following the " Enterprise " s escape , Klaa would later intercept a distress call from the vessel , which was now under the control of the Galactic Army of Light . Klaa used this to his advantage , as Vixis replied , impersonating a member of Starfleet Command . Through this ploy , they were able to ascertain the exact location of the " Enterprise " , allowing Klaa to follow it as it traveled towards the galactic core . Disregarding the threat of crossing the Great Barrier , Klaa vowed to hunt Kirk down , no matter where it took him . The Great Barrier . Upon breaching the Great Barrier and reaching the galactic core , Klaa was finally able to successfully attack and disable the " Enterprise " . Klaa presented the terms that any attempts to raise shields or arm weapons would result in their destruction , and that the only reason they were alive was because he wanted the renegade Kirk . Handing him over would spare the " Enterprise " . Fortunately for the " Enterprise " , General Korrd was aboard . Korrd ordered Klaa to stand down , and relieved him of his command . Klaa ' s ship then descended on to destroy the malevolent being on the planet , and ultimately to rescue Kirk . At the bequest of Korrd , Klaa apologized for his attack on the " Enterprise " , noting that this was not authorized by the Klingon government . Klaa and his crew were later invited to a reception aboard the " Enterprise " , where he saluted Kirk for being a worthy foe . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Klaa was played by actor Todd Bryant .