Topic: Parasites...Star Trek XI

[Lieutenant_Q]

Background

The parasites are a relative newcomer to interstellar travel.  Their Bio-ships have been sublight capable for more than seven hundred years.  They do not have a name for themselves, but have considered themselves to be the highest form of life.  This attitude was reinforced by the first colonists that tried to settle their planet.  These Colonists called themselves Draconins, the parasites simply called them the firsts.  The colony had been overrun in a matter of days, although a considerable amount of time was spent attempting to digest the new information that these Draconins possesed.  A talent that they eventually improved upon in regards to speed.  By the end of the 23rd Century they began using the Draconin colonists to refit their bioships for FTL travel.  In 2307 the parasites came across the Draconin homeworld, had the Draconins shot first and asked questions later, the parasite invasion force would have been eliminated, as the Bioships had no weapons and once the Draconin fleet figured out what was going on, thirteen of the bioships were killed before the fleet came under fire from their own planetary defense network.  Rather than stay and be destroyed by thier own defense grid, the Draconin fleet withdrew to one of its outer colonies.  The parasites realized that the humanoids, while primative, were extremely capable of defending themselves, and began to refit their bioships again with Draconin Disrupter technology.  The Battle of Draconin II in 2309 saw the end of the Draconin civilization as an independant nation.  But the losses to the parasite's fleet was enormous, eighty percent of their bioships were killed by the Draconin defense net.  New ships that were born to replace those lost gave rise to distinctly different classes of Bioships.

First Contact with the Federation

In 2347, a Federation Long-Range Explorer, USS Ferdinand Magellan, NCC-21357, a Venture Class Scout Cruiser, entered the Draconin II system.  The debries from the battle in 2309 was still floating around the system.  The Magellan noted no life signs on the primary planet, and so assumed that this was the home of a destroyed civilization and sent down an away team.  The humanoids who had not been killed defending the planet from the parasites were infected and killed during an accident that wiped out the only major city on the planet.  It did not take long for the Parasites on the planet to overwhelm the Magellan Landing Party and eventually take over the ship.

Enlightenment

Once the Magellan crew has been absorbed, the parasites found themselves with a wealth of knowledge, but assimilating the knowledge took time, and the Federation believed the Magellan was lost with all hands, not unusual for long range explorers, but not commonplace either.  When the Magellan finally returned in 2362, the crew claimed to know nothing of the time lost.  They were welcomed home by several of the top brass of Starfleet as heroes.  The Parasites used the party as their opportunity to sieze control of Starfleet Command.

Invasion Thwarted

To prevent another Draconin II, the Parasites began issuing orders to Federation Starships to ignore key sectors of Federation Space, those few that caught on, were either infected or eliminated through sabotage.  The intervention of the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D stopped the invasion with the Bio-ships marshalling for the Invasion.  A signal was recieved at the expected time, but it contianed something unexpected...an Abort signal.

Waiting in the Wings

Since their first aborted attempt to take over the Federation, they wanted it.  They were patient, they had three opportunities to get back into the Federation, the first took place only a few years after thier aborted attempt, following the decimation of the Federation Starfleet at the Battle of Wolf 359.  But the speed with which Starfleet rebuilt following that disaster cancelled the plan.  The second opening took place after the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373.  While more devastating than the Battle of Wofl 359 in terms of ships lost, the Federation defenses were still strong enough to prevent a full scale operation.  Finally the Dominion war occured, and they siezed that opportunity to infiltrate Starfleet during its weakest moments.  With Federation and Klingon ships rapdily being stripped from their mutual border to engage the Dominion forces, the Parasites sent a small Bio-Ship Frigate to attack and board a Federation Transport bound for Space Station K-7.  The Parasites had their foothold, but decided to work slowly to avoid detection.  By 2379 they had under their direct control, a full one-quarter of Starfleet, and had decided to make their move on the Admiralty.  After succesfully infesting the Admiralty they enacted a bit of revenge, and destroyed the current vessel to bear the name Enterprise, a Soverign class Starship, lest she stop their plans again.  The parasites did hit a bit of bad luck, Bajor's unexpectedly sudden decision to accept Federation Membership caught many of the Dominion War Veteran Admirals away from Fleet Command during the takeover, and they continue to cause havoc for the parasite controlled Starfleet.

[Lieutenant_Q]

A bit on their ships.

There are actually five classes of Bioships, the age of the ship determines its class.  Most Numerous are so-called Fighters.  These are children, that have essentially had a small disrupter strapped on to them and told to go play amongst the big boys.  They are not warp capable.
After a few years as a Fighter the ship grows to be larger, and capable of having a Warp Core put inside of it.  These ships are the Frigates of the fleet, slightly tougher, mounting two type IV disrupter cannons, apparently of Draconin origin.  They are capable of high warp and have Warp Nacelles surgically installed into their wings.
After a few more decades the Bioships grow into a Cruiser.  The Wingspan is enlarged with age, and four Type IV disrupter cannons are placed under the wing.  In addition, two Bio-Disruption Cannons are mounted in the maw of the creature.  These cannons have devastating effects on Advanced Federation Starships, as they can disrupt the Bio-Neural Gel packs that most modern Starfleet Vessels are equipped with.  The effects can last several minutes, and have even been known to incapacitate personell near the impact point.  Shield modifications have been made to prevent this effect while Shield integrity is intact.  Bio-Ship cruisers function as Command ships for flotillas.
Bio-Ship Dreadnoughts are at least a century old, and have four additional Disrupter cannons, two of them Wing mounted Aft, two Wing mounted foreward.  Armed with an additional Bio-Disruption Cannon, and a Replica of a Federation Photon Torpedo Launcher, these ships are slow, but dangerous.  Only a few are known to exist...all of them were Frigates at the Battle of Draconin II.  Dreadnoughts carry up to 40 fighters.
Bio-Ship Battleships, are the oldest of all Bio-ships, and although they do not add anything in the way of weapons, the warp core is already overused.  They carry up 500 fighters.  Only two are known to exist.

Federation Threat Assesment Breifing...

Extreme care is to be called for when engaging even the smallest of the warp capable bioships.  They have speed, manueverability and pack a considerable punch.  The type IV disrupters are easily the equivilant of our own type XII Phasers.  Their biggest weakness, is that they lack shielding, and while they posess incredible regenerative abilities, they can be overtaxed.  While the Bio-ships do not appear to feel pain, they have been known to "play dead", often waiting until the right time to land a critical blow on an unsuspecting starship.  The ships generate a natural jamming field that can linger long after the ship has left the area, which make bio-readings on the ships difficult at best.  The best way to tell if a Bioship has been killed is that the bleeding does not stop.  As a rule, if in doubt, shoot it again.

When dealing with fighters, it is best to remember that they are not warp capable, do not let them surround you, or you will bleed to death from a thousand paper cuts.  Their type I disrupter is several decades out of date in terms of starship firepower...but even our best shielded starship would buckle under a thousand Laser beams.  Fighters are fast and difficult to track, torpedo weapons are all but useless against them.  Any ship armed with Pulse phasers exclusively might as well run before the battle begins.  However the children are easy to destroy, a single type XI phaser burst is usually sufficient to kill one.

The Bio-Disruption Cannon appears to be a significant threat to all vessels launched or reffited after stardate 47865.5.  Your Bio-nueral Gel packs are extremely vunerable to this, you will be disable for several minutes if you take a direct hit by this weapon.  Shield Modification specifics are appended.

End of Federation Threat Breifing

Klingon Threat Assesment Breifing...

Our ships are more than equal to these Creatures.  Your most difficult task will be counting the number of kills you have accumulated.  Quick slashing and swiping attacks are more than sufficient to destroy any of the warp capable ships, and the Fighters, while a nuisence, can be dispatched easily with our rapid firing disrupters.  Take care to not let yourself lose your chief advantage of manueverabilty, if you lose that, you will die.

End of Klingon Threat Breifing

Romulan Threat Assessment Breifing.... Error...File not found...Please contact your local Tal Shiar Operative for details...