Tholian

The Tholians are an extremely xenophobic, non-humanoid race with a propensity for precision, native to the Alpha Quadrant.

Using triangulated communications, long-range interstellar arrays, and fragmentary intelligence data, Starfleet has pinpointed the likely Tholian homeworld (called Tholia by Starfleet analysts and Tholis by the Ferengi) deep in a pocket of chaotic space in the Alpha Quadrant. This pocket, and many non-contiguous sectors across a wide arc of space, are well-patrolled "territorial annexes" of the Tholian Assembly - which does not welcome Starfleet surveys. Assuming Starfleet is correct, Tholia is a Class K world with a high pressure methan-chlorine-carbon dioxide atmosphere, a surface temperature around 300 degrees Celsius, and a gravity of .75g.

Personality

Tholians are brusque to the point of harshness, and territorial to the point of xenophobia. Some Tholians seem almost machine-like, with strict concerns for punctuality, timetables, and set patterns, but can respond with seemingly irrational force to minor stimuli or suddenly break off a certain victory for no apparent cause.

Some Starfleet theorists believe that the Tholians somehow "download" the "personalities" they use with offworlders rather than contaminate their own being with even the most minor discourse. If so, this would explain the seemingly rote, stubborn nature of many Tholian communications with the outside galaxy.

Physiology

Few Federation observers have ever actually seen a Tholian face to face. The vast majority of encounters happen over a viewscreen, in the heat of battle, or under carefully controlled embassy conditions. Tholians, seem, however, to have a crystalline outer carapace through which fluid (or plasma) murkily circulates. Tholians have faceted, mantis-like heads (or helmets) with two triangular "eyes" notched in them. A large number of witnesses report "Tholians" with eight limbs, spaced radially around the trapezohedral body - whether these are artificial "manipulator arms," actual evidence of multi-leffed Tholian anatomy, or simply hallucinations brought on by stress of chaotic space remained unknown for some time. Based on analysis of Tholian ship wreckage, spectrographic data from presumed Tholian worlds, and fragments of crystal carapace, Starfleet biologists theorize that Tholians are silicon-based life forms (possibly molten ones, or even low-temperature plasmas) that breathe a chlorine-methane mixture.

A living Tholian is approximately the same height as a human. It is principally a reddish color, in varying shades, and there is a suggestion of fluid or field motion within the body. Tholians have a hard carapace that is chiefly mineral. There are six thin legs that permit the being to move in any direction quickly; the legs are articulated with joints roughly corresponding to the knee and ankle of humanoid species. Each is terminated in a multi-toed foot. The legs attach at the base of the torso and are radially symmetric. There are two arms; each has joints analogous to the humanoid elbow and wrist, and each terminates in a multi-fingered hand. There is no neck; the term "head" may not apply. Tholians do have two glowing spots near the top of the torso. They orient these to face individuals with whom they interact, suggesting they are some sort of information gathering organ. Tholians have two sexes, but each individual has both sets of sexual organs.

Tholians exist at high temperatures — in excess of 450 Kelvin (178°C, 350°F). They can tolerate lower temperatures briefly; if they are exposed to temperatures too low, their carapace will crack. This is evidently painful or distressing; a Tholian subjected to this temperature can be coerced to co-operate. In temperatures still lower, a Tholian will freeze solid and shatter.

Tholians evidently have something analogous to biochemical processes. The Denobulan Dr. Phlox from the mirror universe was able to devise a sedative, however, this compound eventually lost effectiveness.

Tholians are naturally able to emit various forms of radiation, which they can modulate. They can communicate over short distances in this fashion. A Tholian imprisoned aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise NX-01 in 2155 was able to summon help via this method, forcing Phlox to kill it in order to silence it. Tholians communicate primarily through a series of clicks and chirps, similar to the language of Xindi-Insectoids.

History

In 2152, making an unusual move, the Tholians traveled far beyond their territory and actively sought to possess a 31st Century time-travel pod discovered by the Earth starship Enterprise. Four Tholian starships intercepted and disabled the Vulcan cruiser Tal'Kir, while it waited to rendezvous with the Enterprise. They would, in turn, attack and defeat the Suliban fleet that was in pursuit of the arriving Earth ship. They would then successfully remove the pod from Enterprise's possession, only to have the pod return to its proper timeline moments later.

In a mirror universe, in 2154, the Tholians detonated a tri-cobalt warhead inside the gravity well of a dead star. The explosion created an interphasic rift which acted as a doorway to an alternate universe. Due to its instability, the Tholians reasoned that it was too dangerous to send one of their own ships through, so they transmitted a distress call into the opening, hoping to lure a ship from the other side.

In 2268, the Federation starship U.S.S. Defiant would enter this region of space, annexed by the Tholians, in response to the mirror universe distress call. Three weeks later, the starship U.S.S. Enterprise would discover the Defiant trapped in a spatial interphase, only to observe the starship, and consequently landing party leader James T. Kirk, cross over into the mirror universe.

Shortly thereafter, two Tholian starships intercepted the Enterprise, demanding that it leave Tholian territory. At the request of First Officer Spock to be allowed to rescue Kirk from the Defiant, Tholian Commander Loskene allowed them a small timeframe, before they were required to withdraw. The Enterprise crew was unable to rescue Kirk in the time provided and the Tholians opened fire, damaging the Enterprise, and then attempted to trap it in their web. The Enterprise, however, was able to recover Kirk and successfully escape before they fell victim to the web.

Unknown at the time, the Defiant had traveled back in time to the mirror universe where, when fully clear of the interphase, it was towed by the Tholians to a small moon dry-dock in the Vintaak system, deep in Tholian space. There they employed several humanoids to gut the ship.

Jonathan Archer learned of the vessels presence in his universe. He commandeered the I.S.S. Enterprise and flew it deep into Tholian space while cloaked to steal the Defiant. After sending a boarding party onboard the Defiant, the Tholians spun a tractor web around the Enterprise and destroyed it. The boarding party managed to activate the Defiant's systems, but not before the Tholians spun a tractor web over the entrance of the dry-dock. The Defiant then destroyed three Tholian ships and the moon's dry-dock, before escaping the system.

Contact with the Tholians over the next century would be sporadic. In 2353, the Tholians destroyed a Federation starbase. The only survivor of this attack was Kyle Riker, the father of Starfleet Commander William T. Riker.

The frequency of Tholian attacks would remain sufficient enough for Starfleet to develop Tholian-based battle simulations. In 2355, during one such simulation, William T. Riker used a notable strategy to calculate a sensory blind spot on a Tholian vessel.

They would remain a threat well into the 2360s, when it was anticipated by Klingon Special Emissary K'Ehleyr that if a Klingon Civil War were to break out in 2367, the Tholians might eventually be involved. This fear, however, did not come to light when the civil war broke out months later.

In 2380, the Assembly was involved with a group of Starfleet conspirators led by fighter pilot and Dominion War hero Commander Toho Fuhai. Fuhai - the designated test pilot for a fighter outfitted with an experimental stealth technology (the Mirage Colloid) - conspired with a group of his former crew members to steal the fighter and deliver it to the Tholians. In a pitched battle between a force of Tholian cruisers and the U.S.S. Hyperion-D and USS Edison, the Colloid equipped fighter was destroyed by Fuhai after having its engines disabled by then Lieutenant Commander Matt Dominguez.

In 2382, the USS McKinley, while assessing the Federation membership candidacy of the Holarens, came under attack by three Tholian warships. After assistance by Aggressor Squadron, the McKinley managed to escape with heavy damage.

Society and Culture

Little is known about Tholian culture; it seems to be based on land ownership and some sort of governing aristocracy - but some traffic indicates that every Tholian is a member of one or more "subassemblies" within the Tholian Assembly with crucial responsibility in its own area. During the Tholian War of 2353-2360, the Tholians showed uncanny abilities to absorb punishment, strike vulnerable Federation rear areas, and use the dangers of chaotic space to their own purposes. Starfleet never occupied a core Tholian colony world, and only penetrated a few parsecs into scattered "territorial annexes." The Tholian request for a truce in 2360, and then for ambassadorial relations in 2369, came as total surprises to Federation intelligence and diplomatic officials.

During several confrontations with the Federation, Tholian behavior could best be described as aggressive and territorial. They rarely advanced very far from their home system and would frequently annex surrounding systems outside of the Assembly, to further isolate their territory. Tholians are also renowned for their punctuality.

Tholian weddings involve paying a dowry. Furthermore, Tholian silk, which is virtually frictionless, is highly prized and is a difficult commodity to obtain. A Tholian ambassador owed Benjamin Sisko a favor and obtained silk for him.

Starfleet assumes that there is a specific Tholian language, but has no clear understanding of it. Almost all "Tholian" texts consist of intercepted (and painstakingly decoded) Tholian military transmissions in a seemingly bizarre jargon that alternates between flowery, almost Tamarian metaphors and brittle mathematics. Tholian diplomats, commanders, and other Tholians who deal with outsiders always translate their messages into the listener's language, most likely using the Tholian equivalent of the universal translator. Federation linguists have determined some common elements of Tholian transmissions in Federation Standard, Klingon, Romulan, and Vulcan, but have not yet reached consensus on what those elements indicate about the Tholian language itself. Federation xenologists theorize that Tholians may have two names one solely to be used among fellow Tholians and one name to provide to outsiders.

Trade and Diplomacy

The Tholians maintained ambassadors with other powers throughout the Alpha Quadrant. In 2371, a Tholian ambassador visiting Deep Space 9 reported that someone broke into his quarters during the night and stole three cases of latinum.

The Tholians have a long-standing hatred for the Ferengi, considering them "A foul blight on the face of the universe. A pernicious infestation that must be eliminated." Even though the Tholians claim they will one day bury the Ferengi, there is still some trade occuring between the two species, in which the Tholians trade their silk for Ferengi bog moss; just what the Tholioans do with the bog moss is a mystery, even to the Ferengi.

The following year, a Tholian observer was killed in the bombing of the Antwerp Conference on Earth by a Dominion infiltrator. Despite this, the Tholians would sign a non-aggression pact with the Dominion the following year, prior to the outbreak of the Dominion War, remaining neutral throughout the conflict.

In 2379, Romulan Senator Tal'aura had an appointment with the Tholian ambassador to Romulus, conveniently causing her to leave the Senate chambers only moments before the assassination of the entire Senate.

Reference(s)

• Bridges, Bill, et al. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 5: Aliens, Decipher, 2003. ISBN: 1582369070.
• Behr, Ira Steven and Wolfe, Robert Hewitt, Legends of The Ferengi, Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN: 0671007289.