The name Rodek was suggested by Jadzia Dax, after a former aide to Kang (and good grinnak player) who had died in 2326. (KE novel: A Burning House) In 2373, Rodek was part of a Klingon occupation force, under the command of General Malach of the House of Razg, that took control of Federation starbase Deep Space 9 in order to secure it from Dominion occupation. After DS9's chief of operations Miles O'Brien shut down the gravity and the atmosphere on the station, Rodek was one of the few Klingon occupiers to find an environmental protection suit and live, while most of the Klingon force was killed from asphyxiation. (DS9 novel: Vengeance)