Commander (Kothulu)

"Now if something were to happen to the Honorable Kobry...something that the damned Kreel were responsible for...that would be an insult to Klingon honor that no amount of talking could put to rights."

- The Commander, hinting that Tron should make an attempt on Korby's life

The Commander was a minor antagonist in the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Strike Zone.

A Klingon, the Commander was an officer of great renown in the Empire when he was selected to command the IKS Kothulu. By then his accomplishments were such that he was not referred to directly by name by a majority of Klingons, but simply as Commander.

In 2365, the Kothulu was sent to investigate Kreel activity on DQN-1196. His first officer Tron and his landing party were attacked by the advanced weapons that the Kreel had discovered. Beaming back up to the ship, Tron was severely chastised by the Commander, who was prepared to discommendate Tron for running. It was only after DQN-1196's weapons opened up on the Kothulu that the Commander realized Tron had been outgunned, and they limped away to warn the Klingons about the Kreel's new source of weapons.

After the Kothulu was repaired, the Commander was assigned to ferry the Honorable Kobry and his retinue to the USS Enterprise so that Kobry could travel to DQN-1196 and attempt to work out a diplomatic solution with the Kreel.

Not happy that Empire was going to try a diplomatic solution ahead of the more traditional Klingon response, the Commander suggested to Tron in the privacy of his quarters that Kobry should meet with an unfortunate fate that the Kreel could be blamed for, so that the Klingons would have an excuse to go to war.

While en route to DQN-1196 Tron attempted to assassinate Kobry at a reception. The attempt caused open combat to break out between the Klingons and Kreel on the Enterprise. After the delegations were subdued Kobry told Captain Jean-Luc Picard that not only would Tron be dealt with, but that the Commander would most likely have to answer for his own crimes.