Star Trek Species 8472

**Name**: Species 8472
**Dice**: 12D
**Dexterity**: 1D / 4D
**Knowledge**: 1D / 4D
**Mechanical**: 1D / 4D
**Perception**: 1D / 4D
**Strength**: 2D+1 / 4D+2
**Technical**: 1D / 4D

**Move**: 12/15
**Size**: 2.0 m
**Weight**: 90 kg

**Special Abilities**:

* **Excellent Metabolism**: Species 8472 are very fit, and receives a +1D o resist the effects of disease or poison.
* **Toughness**: Species 8472 are extremely hardy and resilient. For purposes of withstanding damage, Species 8472 are considered to have a +1D to their Strength rolls.
* **Rapid Healing**: Species 8472 recover quickly from injury. Their time to heal naturally is halved. They also receive one extra die when determining if they have healed naturally, and the difficulty of all rolls to determine the effects of medical attention are reduced by 1 level.
* **Species Enemy: Borg**: Species 8472 have a distinct dislike of Borg. This is reflected in their Social interactions. Species 8472 receive a -3D to all Social skill rolls involving Borg.
* **Intolerant: All except Species 8472**: Species 8472 dislike all species except themselves. Whenever they encounter a species of a non-Species 8472, they must make a Difficult Willpower skill check. Success indicates they are able to control the urge to destroy the alien. Failure indicates thay will attempt to immediately destroy the alien by any means possible.
* **No Vocal Cords**: Species 8472 cannot speak.
* **Psionic**: Species 8472's only form of communication is through telepathy. Starting characters receive the skill Telepathy at 1D and is improved using the same rules for advanced skills. They are able to use this skill in the same manner as the Force Powers Receptive Telepathy and Projective Telepathy using the same difficulty modifiers as Force users.

**Description**: *"The weak... will perish."*
– Species 8472, 2373 ("Scorpion")

Species 8472 was the Borg designation for a tripedal and apparently highly xenophobic non-humanoid species whose actual name is unknown. 8472 was first encountered by the Federation starship USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant in 2373. The species originated from a dimension called fluidic space, accessible by quantum singularities. They are believed by the Borg to be the apex of biological evolution. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II")

**History**

**Borg-Species 8472 war**

In their search for species worthy of assimilation, the Borg first encountered Species 8472 after they found a way to enter fluidic space in 2373. However, Species 8472 turned out to be immune to the Borg's assimilation attempts and the invasion of their realm provoked a war, which quickly evolved into the first real threat faced by the Borg in their own relatively long history; according to Seven of Nine, Species 8472 was the first species to offer "true resistance to the Borg." With their superior biological technology, Species 8472 was able to annihilate large numbers of Borg drones, ships and even planets. Their immunity to assimilation combined with their superior technology allowed them to devastate and nearly destroy the Borg.

It was during this time that the Federation starship Voyager also chanced upon Species 8472. After a disastrous initial encounter and gathering more information, the ship's crew came to believe that the species intended to destroy not only the Borg, but all life in the galaxy. Captain Kathryn Janeway decided to form an alliance with the Borg to stop Species 8472 and ensure her ship would get beyond Borg space. Armed with warheads containing modified nanoprobes capable of destroying the ships used by the invaders, Voyager entered fluidic space and destroyed several bio-ships there, along with many more after returning to normal space. The encounter frightened Species 8472, and they retreated to fluidic space. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II", "Prey") It was only through this desperate alliance that both Voyager and the Borg managed to save themselves from destruction at the xenophobic species' hands.

When they withdrew, one member of Species 8472 was left behind and was relentlessly tracked by a group of Hirogen hunters for several months. This individual was later rescued by the crew of Voyager, and Captain Janeway intended to return it to fluidic space. Seven of Nine, however, refused to open a rift to Species 8472's realm. Shortly afterwards, in a struggle with one of the Hirogen hunters aboard Voyager, Seven of Nine took the opportunity, in defiance of Janeway's orders, to transport the individual to a nearby group of attacking Hirogen warships, which then broke off their attack. (VOY: "Prey")

**The Federation "threat"**

Concerned about the threat posed by Humanity with its modified nanoprobe-warheads, Species 8472 created a simulation of Starfleet Headquarters on Earth inside a terrasphere in the Delta Quadrant as a training ground for a potential infiltration of the Federation, modifying many of their kind to look like Alpha Quadrant species. Their main goal was to uncover if the Federation was planning an invasion of their realm. However, their simulation contained a few major inconsistencies, such as Ferengi in Starfleet and obsolete uniforms. Some were completely uncomfortable with the fact they were in the form of "inferior" lifeforms, who needed to eat, sleep and were unable to communicate telepathically. Species 8472 identified Humans as their primary threat, dismissing the Borg as "irrelevant."

The Voyager crew discovered the training ground by tracking the source of its transmissions, which appeared to have a Federation signature. When discovered, Species 8472 captured Commander Chakotay, Voyager's first officer, believing a fleet to be on its way. The crew of Voyager managed to convince Species 8472 that the Federation had no hostile intention toward them by giving them their modified nanoprobe-warheads, in hope that Species 8472 could adapt their vessels in exchange for their techniques on how to look Human.(VOY: "In the Flesh")

**Aftermath**

The Borg continued to patrol a border between our galaxy and fluidic space. Axum suggested that he would try to make contact with Species 8472 after he was liberated from "Unimatrix Zero". (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")

**Source**:

* Memory Alpha: Species 8472
* Memory Beta: Species 8472
* Star Trek Voyager Core Game Book (LUG) (pages 42-43)
* thedemonapostle