Task Force: Gamma

Marek · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:10 am Post subject: On Alterrans

Thought I would take a page out of Azmay's book and give some spoiler free background on the Alterrans

The original Alterrans were a humanoid race that look very similar to humans, biggest visible difference being 3 fingers and a thumb on the hand and 4 toes. Their home planet of Alterra is on the edge of the Gamma Quadrant, bordering the Delta Quadrant, though of course they divide up the galaxy differently. At their peak, they inhabited dozens of worlds, and had explored far beyond their territory. Then they were struck by a virus. They never determined it's source, although the 100% mortality rate leads to the conclusion it was engineered. When the scientist Toban decided to build an artificial race to continue their society, the billions of Alterrans had been reduced to a few thousand. With assistance of his aide Dinara, he was able to construct four life forms before succumbing to the virus. Three of those became the rulers of the new Alterrans. (We are conveniently ignoring the fourth for now) they began reproducing (manufacturing) others to continue the species. At first they were produced in the image of the old Alterrans, but found as they made contact with other species that changing their appearance for diplomatic purposes was occasionally desirable. As the years go by, they reinhabit all of the Alterran colonies, and then begin expanding. Due to the loss of their creators, the Alterrans believe that life is sacred, so much so that they believe peace is the most sought after goal. They had very advanced shield and propulsion technology, but no offensive capabilities. If they encountered a species they couldn't reach a peaceful agreement with, they would leave the area and avoid that species. Until they encountered the Borg. The war was devastating. Although the Borg couldn't assimilate the Alterrans, the introduction of Borg nanites into an Alterran was catastrophic, they would not survive the damage the nanites caused. At first, the war was a stalemate, the Borg wasn't able to replace their losses with the Alterrans, and the Alterrans fought well hand to hand. But as the Borg assimilated Alterran technology, the tide began to turn. In a last ditch effort to save their species, they gathered all that remained of their people for an assault on the Borg homeworld. They also left four of their "newborns" in stasis on the furthest colonies.
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