Office of Starfleet Intelligence

THOLIAN HOLDFAST SITREP

TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The Tholian ships are still based on the diamond design of their original cruisers seen in the Alpha Quadrant. However, capital ships have also been sighted, though these appear to be merely a diamond shaped cruiser with a rear weapons and engine suite attached. There is one report of separation by the lead module, which later reattached itself, in a similar vein to the saucer separation of some StarFleet vessels. It is unknown whether the rear portion can operate independently.

They possess keen military minds by nature, which has served them well. They do not appear to possess weapons technology of quite the same punch as Star Fleet, but their cunning and their use of a "special weapon" have kept most of the other governments in the galaxy at bay.

The Tholians are extremely vigilant in their border patrols. No one has been able to cross the border without being intercepted, including cloaked ships. This points to the strong possibility of superior Tholian sensors. They never fail to warn encroaching ships before defending their borders, at least not when Star Fleet has been involved. However, should the aggressor fail to retreat within the given time frame, they do not hesitate to attack. And, this is when they make use of their "special weapon": the infamous Tholian Web.

The Tholian Web is an energy web consisting of energy filaments of an unknown nature, which are woven together by 2 Tholian starships. This web creates a general dampening field, draining the target ship gradually of its power. When completed, the web completely encompasses the target ship, completely draining the ship's power and therefore leaving it unable to escape. The dampening field is a new development in their web technology, the web that almost trapped the USS ENTERPRISE did not create such a field. Regardless, should a ship be able to fend off even a large portion of the dampening field's effects, it is doubtful any ship could penetrate the web itself, as the energy filaments comprising the web are capable of penetrating existing shields and slicing through bare hull. In essence, a ship would be able to pass through it, but it would be in pieces on the other side. This is not a desirable outcome. In order to diffuse the web, a way in which to either dampen the web's energy source or to reinforce the shields and/or superstructure integrity seems the best way of negating this technology. At this time, nothing firm exists. In addition, this does not answer how to combat the energy dampening effect on the ship from the web, although theoretical solutions involving the shifting of power frequencies look promising.

With the arrival of the Neo-Tholian fleet, even further development in web technology was observed. A web caster is capable of throwing free standing webs, though of lesser strength than the anchored webs afforded by the original web spinners.

Also unknown is the effectiveness of their transporter technology. They do possess it, but it is unknown if Tholian transporters can penetrate StarFleet shields. This possibilty creates at least one difficult logistical problem for CSO's: defending against possible boarding actions could be problematic at best.

Tholian ships are highly manoeuvrable, and operate in small groups. They are only very rarely seen outside of Tholian space, and when they are it is always as one heavy cruiser and two light cruisers. Speculation is that any of their smaller ships would not be able to defend themselves against other ships of comparable size in open space. However, as is evidenced by the attempted Klingon invasion of the asteroid belt, a relatively small number of small ships can effectively and efficiently defend their home territory with the assistance of webs.

It is known that it is impossible to fire through a web, free standing or otherwise. Ships can fire out of a web if they are trapped in it, and other ships can fire into it, but weapons cannot fire through the web. There is one notable exception to this. At some unknown point after receiving Federation phasers, the Tholians made some sort of modification which allows phasers fitted to their ships to fire through the webs. This also contributes to the effective defence of Tholian space.

In addition to phasers, the Tholians use disruptors captured from ships during the Klingon invasion, and use photon torpedoes captured from pirate vessels over the years. In fact it is believed that the Tholians have captured technology from every power that has been the victim of pirates at one time or another. There is no piracy within the Holdfast, nor are foreign vessels allowed within her borders.

There are unconfirmed reports from Klingon fleets that small Tholian craft can move through the webs with ease. Reports say that Tholian frigate size ships and smaller can move through the web instead of going around it. It would seem however, that the larger Tholian ships do not enjoy this freedom.

No Alpha power has ever captured a Tholian ship intact, and therefore no one has ever been able to reproduce the web technology. With good reason, the Tholians jealously guard their one advantage, and as a condition of treaties with the Federation, Romulans, Klingons and Gorns, have extracted a promise based upon the Cloaking Treaties between the Federation and Romulans, except with regard to web technology.

Recommendation: Keep all sensitive areas guarded with security personnel and/or Marines while in the vicinity of Tholian vessels. Though no official hostilities exist currently between the UFP and the Tholian Holdfast, no meaningful diplomatic relations have taken place either. This mission is the first in almost 50 years. Prudence is required, but tact is as well; keep guards out of sight from normal corridor traffic. Guards must be inconspicuous so as not to offend these sometimes temperamental beings.

Best tactical situation: In one-on-one situations, use superior range and power to disable at long ranges. Once they get within 150,000km, the odds turn slightly in their favour due to their better mobility. Keep them at bay, disable them at ranges beyond 200,000km. If multiple Tholian ships have been engaged, isolate and apply similar tactics. Remember that Tholians are keen tacticians, so keep them guessing by switching manoeuvres and maybe even straying from standard Star Fleet tactics. But the goal should always be the same: isolate and disable at long ranges. You will take some shots close in from other vessels, but gradually you will erase their numeric superiority with superior range and firepower.

Typical Tholian Tactics: The largest vessel will throw up a web as a shield, to eliminate any range advantage that an opponent may possess. They will then close, and attempt to use their manoeuverability to avoid damage and put themselves in a position to attack from slightly to one side. In the meantime, the other two vessels will fire phasers from behind the web. Typically opponents will attempt to engage the cruiser, at which point the smaller vessels will attempt to ensnare the enemy, thus effectively ending the fight. Tholian fleets operate much the same way.

OSFI has been unable to determine the size of the Tholian Navy at this time; however, projections based on actions within Gorn space have indicated that, despite being restricted to an area less than a tenth the size of the UFP, they may very well enjoy a navy nearing a tenth the size of StarFleet's. It is possible that these estimates are inaccurate, as it is unknown the number of shipyards the Tholians possess, and the number of ships needed to protect their territory is proportionally smaller than that needed by the Federation. One analyst has theorized that one patrol group, consisting of a medium cruiser and two destroyer equivalents, could patrol and protect an area 526% larger than a similar deployment of StarFleet vessels. Therefore, the Tholians have, proportionally, a much larger force available for conflict. This becomes especially discomforting given recent StarFleet losses in various actions around the galaxy.

Tholian naval design appears to have remained consistent throughout the years. Their vessels, always gem-shaped with multiple facets, are smaller than their Star Fleet counterparts, but are far faster and much more manoeuvrable. Their largest reported capital ships are roughly the size of a Endeavour class cruiser. However, they can do heavy close-range damage due to the nature of the weapons used; certainly capable of disabling a starship. Once they have disabled a starship, they are almost impossible to escape from. The Tholians are not known for destroying ships, in most cases they disable their opponent and then force the crew to abandon ship. Once this is accomplished, they will tow their new prize deep inside Tholian territory.