Appearance:
They originated as
corporeal lifeforms of "substance", then evolved into a form of non-corporeal,
massless "perceptive energy" that is visible (blue in
color), and contains no elements that sensors
can
identify. The atmosphere on their ship originally consisted of helium with
traces of xenon..
They can travel through an N2-O2
atmosphere and most solid objects, but not osmium alloy.
They're compatible with some corporeal species, in that they can swap places
with a body's owner,
who then spends time as a similar
(yellow in color) wisp-creature, immersed in realistic hallucinations
(that are probably self-driven fantasies). The
possessed state is characterised by elevated acetylcholine
levels in the autonomic nervous system. They can
force entry, unless the host has the mental-
discipline
of a Vulcan; and they can be expelled if the host is dead (even if
briefly). Compatible
species include humans and
Vulcans, but not Denobulans. The wisp-aliens live in and travel through
subspace, relying on their ship in some unspecified
fashion; they cannot survive in space (although
they can apparently travel for a short distances through vacuum). Archer
believes this is the first
time Starfleet has encountered
such beings.
"The Crossing" [ENT]
History:
2151: With their
ship is deteriorating, and no way to repair it, they came across
Enterprise. Since
they couldn't survive in space,
to save themselves 82 of the hundreds aboard their ship decided to
make the "crossing" and take over the bodies of each of
the crewmen on Enterprise. The rest will
try to
find another vessel of corporeal beings.
Ships:
The alien ship resembles a
heavily-textured blue-grey manta ray, with a blunt lobed tail. The forward
hatch is ovoid, and splits into several pocketed
sections; the surrounding hull forms a pronounced
ventral
"sill" with two projecting spines. Enterprise cannot identify its hull
composition. Hoshi
gets no response to her hails,
and can't detect a transceiver. The ship is stated to be at least 500
meters
wide, and the doors (wide enough to easily admit
Enterprise) are therefore around 200. The interior
bay is blue in color, basically rectangular, with many curved ribs on the side
bulkheads, and curved
details that may indicate an
irregular deck, or interior features beneath a translucent surface. It can
travel at least at warp 6, but emits no
perceptible-to-Enterprise warp signature, and has no warp-glows.
It fires no obvious weapons or tractor beams.
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