In 2256 Captain Gabriel Lorca of the USS Discovery was captured by Klingons, imprisoned alongside Harry Mudd and Ash Tyler, and escaped with Tyler's help.
Lorca was taken while traveling to a meeting with Starfleet, and his captors, among them L'Rell, held him in a cell with the con man Harry Mudd and Starfleet officer Ash Tyler. Lorca and Tyler fought their way out and stole a Klingon fighter, leaving Mudd behind.
On Discovery, Saru was in command and needed the spore drive to rescue Lorca. To spare the suffering tardigrade, Paul Stamets injected himself with its DNA so that he could navigate the network. The rescue succeeded, and the creature was released into space.