TREKCORE > DEEP SPACE NINE > SHIPS & STATIONS > The Hunters Ship

The Hunters are only the second Gamma Quadrant race to travel through the Bajoran wormhole. The ships in which they make the journey are equipped with formidable weapons, able to cut through shields in seconds.

DETAILS

The alien life forms known to the United Federation of Planets only as the Hunters arrive on Deep Space Nine in 2369. Their ship is only the second Gamma Quadrant vessel to travel through the Bajoran Wormhole, and is in hot pursuit of the first, crewed by Tosk, who is the subject of a ritual hunt. The Hunters' ship is much larger than the agile, one-person vessel favoured by Tosk; it is of similar length to a Federation Nebula-class starship, but has a comparatively thin profile. Only a dozen Hunters are encountered, but a craft of this size may carry many more of their number.

This vessel has the same ionized L-Band radiation energy signature as Tosk's ship, and the stern quarter appears to house the vessel's drive systems. A number of glowing orange panels indicate the presence of impulse engines, but given the wide-ranging nature of the Tosk hunt, the Hunters' ship almost certainly possesses some form of interstellar drive. The grided areas on the aft port and starboard quarters may be intercoolers for an enclosed warp propulsion system.

Some of the ship's mechanisms are observed at close hand by the crew of Deep Space Nine when the Hunters commence an attack on the station. A modulated particle beam scanner collects information about the station and, most importantly, establishes that Tosk is present aboard it. The Hunters' ship does not respond to hails, causing Commander Sisko raises the stations' shields as the activation of a weapons system aboard the alien craft is detected.

In order to deactivate the station's shields, the Hunters' ship fires a powerful energy beam. This directs a stream of unusual radiation at the station, creating a series of very rapid magnetic flux variations. These build in frequency and intensity until the beam causes a reversal of the shield's polarity that disables the defences in moments. Hunter hand weapons appear to fire coherent energy charges, and it is likely that their vessels use variations of the same technology in ship-to-ship conflicts.

Despite the Hunters boarding Deep Space Nine, Tosk escapes, using his vessel to go back through the wormhole. The Hunters elect to return to the Gamma Quadrant space, and declare the anomaly and the Alpha Quadrant "off limits" in their future hunts.

Source: The Official STAR TREK Fact Files
Published by GE FABBRI Ltd
Produced by Aerospace Publishing Ltd