Kelvan The Kelvans were an intelligent and rigidly disciplined non - humanoid species from the planet Kelva , located in the Andromeda Galaxy , and masters of the Kelvan Empire . Only a few Kelvans were known to have traveled to the Milky Way Galaxy . Physiology and culture . Immense in comparison to humanoids , Kelvans were at least twice the size of an adult Klingon male . ( ) Their complex minds possessed sufficient discipline to operate each of their hundred tentacle - like limb s independently , but their superior intellectual capacity developed at the cost of more distracting emotion s and sensory perceptions . Kelvans believed in their innate superiority , and deemed it the fate of lesser species to be conquered and ruled . Ruthless but practical , their goals were expressed in plain , civil terms lacking any indication of blood - thirst . As long as the obedience demanded by the Kelvan code of honor was upheld , their conquered subjects were treated with appropriate respect and given some bounded latitude . ( ) Preemptive strike . Centuries ago , the Kelvans became aware of dangerously rising radiation levels in their home galaxy , a crisis expected to make their galaxy uninhabitable by their species within 10 , 000 years . The Kelvan Empire dispatched a wave of swift , multi - generational starship s to the neighboring galaxies . The explorer crews ( and their descendants ) were ordered to search for new territories and to report on their suitability for conquest and occupation . One Kelvan starship left Andromeda sometime in the 1960s , and reached the Milky Way Galaxy in 2268 . The Kelvans were not prepared for the galactic barrier that surrounded their destination , and their ship was destroyed in the crossing . Rojan and four others made it by life - craft to a safe , class M planet but found existence in the great outdoors unnerving . The Kelvans adopted the humanoid forms common to our galaxy , which would likely be more compatible with potential transportation than their Andromedan forms . With a false distress call , Rojan lured and quickly captured Captain James T . Kirk and the . Rojan ' s crew modified the " Enterprise " with Kelvan technology , permitting the starship to penetrate the galactic barrier , and began the long return voyage to Kelva . Once the Barrier was successfully breached , Kirk and his senior officers began a systematic subversion of the Kelvans ' mission by exploiting their weaknesses : their social naiveté and inexperience with the new sensations offered by their new humanoid bodies . Kirk convinced Rojan that his new life as a humanoid could be experienced to the fullest on a world in the Federation , and a robot ic envoy to Andromeda could fulfill his mission by delivering a peace proposal . ( ) In 2374 , a frustrated Lieutenant Commander Worf told Jadzia Dax that he had once fought Kelvans twice his size , yet he was unable to put young Kirayoshi O ' Brien to sleep . ( ) The following year , Ezri Dax recalled that conversation between Worf and Jadzia when she visited his quarters , after learning of his possible death , following the destruction of his ship , the , near the Badlands . ( ) Science and technology . The various technologies used by explorers from the Kelvan Empire in their first contact with the Federation in 2268 were advanced far beyond the Federation ' s abilities of the period . ( ) Body shells . Kelvan science allowed their explorers to abandon their native physical forms in favor of new bodies more appropriate to local environments . Rojan described the transference process as " encasing " themselves in " humanoid shells " . The process was complete enough to pass naked - eye observation , as well as fundamentally shifting Kelvan personalities toward a humanoid perspective as they experienced life with radically different physical senses . ( ) Field projection . Kelvans carried a device ( worn on belts around their waist in their humanoid form ) that served as a weapon , defense , and instrument of obedience . With a touch , a Kelvan could immobilize multiple targets with a neural field that selectively neutralized nerve impulses to their voluntary muscles . With similar ease , the devices were capable of a far more drastic change to a target . The device could instantly " distill " a lifeform , suspending animation and encoding the essence of the target ' s physical form and personality into a compact and lightweight ( the size of a Human fist ) dehydrated porous cuboctahedron solid , composed of the target ' s base minerals . The person could be reconstituted from their solid state at any time , as long as the solid remained intact . The individual devices worn by a team of Kelvans functioned in tandem with a central field projector of extensive range . Three Kelvans with belt devices boarded and easily captured the " Enterprise " in orbit , while their central projector radiated from the planet surface . The projector was shielded by a metallic substance , similar to diburnium , but considerably more dense and impervious to phaser fire . ( ) Intergalactic spaceflight . Kelvan multi - generational starship s were capable of sustained operations and life support across multiple millions of light year s , through the voids between galaxies that offered no chance of respite at friendly starbase s or planet s . Their faster - than - light propulsion systems permitted the crossing in a reasonable time , spanning only a few Kelvan generations , while a starship running at maximum warp would take thousands of years to complete the journey . Their engineering skills allowed them to quickly modify comparatively primitive and alien technologies , making them perform on par with their own . Kelvan upgrades to the USS " Enterprise " permitted the ship to pass through the negative energy of the galactic barrier unharmed , and was expected to arrive in Kelvan space only three hundred years after departure . ( )