In 2278, Hakkarl/Tazhat was placed under the command of Captain Kasak sutai Khornezh, who was often given new ships to test before they were given to more "politically sound" captains. Seeking to regain his honor after receiving a humiliating black mark in his record from his earlier service, Kasak had engineered an uprising on the planet Dekkanar in the hopes of gaining the planet for the Empire. Without authorization, Kasak and his hand-picked crew hijacked Hakkarl/Tazhat and travelled to Dekkanar to put their scheme to the test. Kasak had not counted on the fact that one of the ships aiding the evacuation of Federation personnel was the starship Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk, the ship and captain responsible for Kasak's humiliation.