Tholian Assembly

A Tholian Lieutenant.

The Tholian Assembly, controlled by the mysterious Tholian species from its capital planet Tholia, is a non-player faction and an extremely xenophobic civilization neighbouring both the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Physiology

See: Tholian.

Technology

A Tholian Tarantula.

Tholians employ vessels of a characteristic conical shape able to "spin" energy webs around immobilized enemy vessels. Such Tholian Webs cause damage on contact and eventually contract, destroying any starships within.

Tholians predominantly use tetryon weaponry and are also known to create gateways to the Mirror Universe in order to receive assistance from their counterparts of that reality. Their deflector shields have a distinctive red hue.

It has been theorized that the Assembly actually spans multiple dimensions in spacetime. These claims are supported by their frequent involvement with the mirror universe, as well as their apparent interest in the Temporal Cold War, and time displaced artifacts. It is said that Tholia inhabits a region of space where the borders between dimensions are unnaturally thin, and that the Tholians have developed technology that allows them to cross those borders at will. In 2409, observation of the Assembly's activities on Nukara Prime and in the Azure Nebula lends strong credence to the theory.

History

Pre-25th Century

Limited first contact with Humans took place in 2152 due to the Tholian's involvement in the Temporal Cold War. Over the 23rd and 24th centuries, the Tholian Assembly was embroiled in several small skirmishes with both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. In 2373, the Assembly signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion, but continued to have ambassadors on Earth, Romulus and Deep Space 9 at least during the 2370s and 2380s.

Modern activities

A Tholian Ensign on Nukara Prime.

In 2409 Tholians survey teams were sighted searching Dewa III (later re-named New Romulus) for ancient Dewan and Iconian artifacts. These searches brought them into conflict with the Romulan Republic and its allies, and the Tholians would periodically raid Republic ships and outposts such as the Vault. ( “The Search for New Romulus”), ( “Azure Nebula Rescue”, “The Vault: Ensnared”, and others) Attacks on Federation and Klingon Empire starbases were also fairly common. ( “Fleet Alert”, “Starbase Fleet Defense”, “Starbase Blockade”)

Around this time the Tholians also began investigating naturally-occurring spatial rifts on Nukara Prime and in the Azure Nebula. They were able to capture a Terran Odyssey Dreadnought Cruiser from the mirror universe and held the vessel beneath a cavern on Nukara Prime until it was destroyed by a Starfleet/KDF/RRF strike team. ( “Hot Lead”, “Web Access”, Tholian Incursion)

When the second Crystalline Entity began wreaking havoc in the Beta Quadrant, the Tholians sent a fleet of ships to protect it from an attacking Starfleet task force. A second task force was sent, which succeeded in destroying the Entity and driving away the Tholians. It is unknown why they were protecting the entity. ( “Crystalline Cataclysm”)

In 2410 the Tholians used a trilithium weapon to halt nuclear fusion in the Lukari System's sun in an attempt to lure Kal Dano to that time period. Although Dano managed to save the star, the Tholians attacked his timeship and managed to steal his quantum phase inhibitor (which they called the Tox Uthat). They then used the inhibitor to destroy the Na'kuhl System's sun, forcing its inhabitants to abandon their homeworld. Dano was able to recover the Tox Uthat and hide it on Risa in the 22nd Century, but a subsequent Tholian attack trapped him many centuries in the past where he ultimately perished. ( “Sunrise”, “Stormbound”)

Alternate timeline

In an alternate timeline created by the disappearance of the U.S.S. Enterprise-C in 2344, the Tholians had signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion following their victory in the Dominion War and controlled much of the Beta Quadrant. This timeline was averted after the Enterprise crew managed to escape and return to their time with the help of the U.S.S. Pastak. ( “Temporal Ambassador”)

Missions involved

• PvE queue
  • “Starbase Blockade”
  • “Fleet Alert”
  • “Starbase Fleet Defense”
  • “Azure Nebula Rescue”
  • “The Vault: Ensnared”
  • “Crystalline Catastrophe”
• “Temporal Ambassador”
• “Facility 4028” (mentioned only)
• Tholian Incursion
• “Tholian Red Alert Event (Daily)”
• “Beta Lankal System Patrol”
• “Archer System Patrol”
• New Romulus:
  • “Web Access”
  • “New Romulus: Overgrown Caves”
  • “New Romulus: The Power Source”
• “Blood of the Ancients” (corpses only)
• “Sunrise”
• “Stormbound”

Military

Starships

• Widow
• Mesh Weaver
• Orb Weaver
• Recluse
• Tarantula

Ground forces

• Tholian Ensign
• Tholian Lieutenant
• Tholian Commander
• Tholian Captain

Bosses

• Tholian Project Leader

Size charts

• 

  Tholian ships, along with Dominion ships for scale.

• 

  Ship classes reference sheet.

NPCs

See List of Tholian NPCs

Notes

• The Tholian faction was added to the game in Season Six: Under Siege.
• Orb Weavers, Recluses, and Tarantulas have a chance of creating an interphasic rift, through which Terran Empire ships will appear, upon destruction.

Gallery

• 

  Tholian Ensign on Nukara Prime

• 

  The Tholian Project Leader

• 

  Early concept art

• 

  A Tholian Captain in an EV Suit on New Romulus

• 

  Cell at Facility 4028 with active Tholian environmental protocols

• WidowFighter-Blog.jpg

  Widow

• 

  Mesh Weaver

• 

  Orb Weaver

• 

  Recluse

• 

  Tarantula

• 

  The distinctive red shields.

• 

  Tholians attacking the S.S. Mauss

External links

• Tholian Assembly at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki.
• Tholian Assembly at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• Season 6 Dev Blog #10 - Designing Tholian Visuals
• Official forum post by captjamjamz: Tholians - A look at their vessels (07/06/2012)
• Temporal Lock Box information

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