

They have infiltrated the governments of many races, destroying alliances that should have been strong. They have studied us well enough to know our ways and to know how best to hurt us. How can you fight an enemy who wears your own face? How can you guard against an enemy who greats you as a brother? How can you defeat an enemy who forces you to look with suspicion at all around you – your son, your mate, your leader? Such a move by the Undine makes very little sense. While we do have some evidence that such replacements have happened, we believe that the Klingon Empire has over-reacted and exaggerated the potential threat. One such infiltrator identified their species as the Undine, hence the shift from calling them by their Borg designation. In recent years the Klingons have claimed that the Undine have infiltrated multiple species and replaced key political figures. However, their interactions with Voyager indicate a willingness to ignore humanoids so long as we make no incursions into their space. It seems that their initial contact with the Borg defined their view of humanoids. We do know, thanks to the information the starship Voyager provided, that the Undine perceived all humanoids as a potential threat. When seriously threatened, they appear unable to perfectly retain an assumed shape and revert to their natural forms. Their mechanism for this does not appear to be the same as that used by the Changeling race.

They are also, however, capable of changing shape. In their natural form, they stand approximately three meters tall and have a tripedal structure. How they do this is a complete mystery to us at present, but we can safely assume that these abilities developed in response to their native dimension, known as fluidic space. They are able to travel through the vacuum of space without taking damage, they are resistant to most known weapons – biological weapons included, and they can hide themselves from our sensors and transporters. They are not humanoid in any way and they are able to withstand conditions in which most other species would perish. Their DNA is formed by a triple helix, unlike the double helixes of other species. They are completely genetically unique from every other life form with which we have ever come into contact. The first name we knew them by was Species 8472. Understandably, our knowledge of this unique species is rather incomplete. Most of the information we have about the Undine comes from the USS Voyager, and much of their information, in turn, comes from the Borg. Follow along after the jump for a look at the video and the correspondence letters between Starfleet intelligence and the Klingon Defense Force. The Undine have an ongoing story arc in the game, so while they're an early encounter, don't expect to get rid of them too easily.Ĭryptic has been kind enough to provide us with a handful of exclusive screenshots as well as an exceptionally creepy video of the Undine in action. They are one of the first enemy factions encountered by players of Star Trek Online, and their shapeshifting abilities make them a tricky foe. Species 8472 are also known as Undine, and they've emerged from fluidic space to come to an MMO near you: Star Trek Online, if you haven't figured that out yet.

Star Trek: Voyager fans may remember Species 8472 from the series: the formidable creatures that emerged from their own space periodically to smack the Borg around, as well as any species that looked similar to the Borg in their eyes.
