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. They are one of the first enemy factions encountered by players of Star Trek Online, and their shapeshifting abilities make them a tricky foe. 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.
Cryptic 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. Follow along after the jump for a look at the video and the correspondence letters between Starfleet intelligence and the Klingon Defense Force.
Undine
Cmdr. Bradden
Starfleet Intelligence
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. Understandably, our knowledge of this unique species is rather incomplete.
The first name we knew them by was Species 8472. They are completely genetically unique from every other life form with which we have ever come into contact. Their DNA is formed by a triple helix, unlike the double helixes of other species. They are not humanoid in any way and they are able to withstand conditions in which most other species would perish. 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. 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.
In their natural form, they stand approximately three meters tall and have a tripedal structure. They are also, however, capable of changing shape. Their mechanism for this does not appear to be the same as that used by the Changeling race. When seriously threatened, they appear unable to perfectly retain an assumed shape and revert to their natural forms.
We do know, thanks to the information the starship Voyager provided, that the Undine perceived all humanoids as a potential threat. It seems that their initial contact with the Borg defined their view of humanoids. It is most regrettable. However, their interactions with Voyager indicate a willingness to ignore humanoids so long as we make no incursions into their space.
In recent years the Klingons have claimed that the Undine have infiltrated multiple species and replaced key political figures. One such infiltrator identified their species as the Undine, hence the shift from calling them by their Borg designation. 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. Such a move by the Undine makes very little sense.
Undine
Cmdr. Korak
Klingon Defense Force
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?
They are clever. And they are relentless, these Undine. They have studied us well enough to know our ways and to know how best to hurt us. They have infiltrated the governments of many races, destroying alliances that should have been strong. It fills me with shame to admit that they have passed for Klingon so well that even I could not tell.
This is not the first time a shapechanging race has infiltrated the Alpha Quadrant. The Changelings did so once, but not so effectively as this. They did not research us the way these Undine have. They could not understand us because they so disdained "solids." But the Undine have no such blindness. They hate us. They wish us exterminated. But they suffer no false delusions.
Ja'rod, son of Torg, captured the first of the Undine. It was his cleverness, and his bravery, that found this threat. We Klingons were the first to see it. And we were the first to fight.
The Undine have infiltrated every power in the Alpha Quadrant. We warned them all. The Federation, the Cardassians, even the Romulans. We have freed the Gorn and the Nausicaans. But the Federation refuses to listen and instead opposes us at every turn. It falls to the honor of the Klingon Empire to eradicate this threat, and we shall no matter the cost.
