Loque'eque

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Loque'eque
Ensign Hoshi Sato after being transformed into a Loque'eque
Homeworld:	None, Delphic Expanse
Capital:	Urquat
Base of Operations:	Delphic Expanse
Official Language:	Loque’eque
Affiliation:	None

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Loque’eque are a humanoid civilization native to the Delphic Expanse. The Loque’eque are a hominid species, but they possess amphibious characteristics, such as a thin membrane that expands and contracts when they breathe. They also retain many instinctive mannerisms common to primitive mammals and prehistoric societies, despite evidence indicating that they are at the very least a pre-warp culture.

Sometime between the 21st and 22nd centuries, the Loque’eque homeworld suffered a catastrophe that rendered its people incapable of procreation. Fearing extinction, the Loque’eque engineered a mutagenic virus and released it into the atmosphere. The virus was designed to infect any aliens that set foot on the planet and alter their genetic codes in order to transform them into Loque’eque. Not only did the virus alter the contactees’ bodies, but also their minds, giving them firsthand knowledge of Loque’eque language, culture, and a strong desire to return to their capital city, Urquat. At least one alien race within the Expanse suffered greatly at the hands of the virus, which infected millions on their world. In response, they mounted a fierce campaign, led by Tret, to contain the virus by killing anyone that was infected.

In 2153, the Starfleet ship Enterprise arrived at the Loque’eque homeworld in search of clues about the Xindi. A landing party consisting of Jonathan Archer, Hoshi Sato, Malcolm Reed, and T'Pol was infected with the Loque’eque virus. Owing to her Vulcan physiology, T'Pol was able to resist the virus, and Doctor Phlox used her DNA to form a cure. In the end, all that remained of the Loque’eque was a vial containing the last of the mutagenic virus. Rather than destroy the virus sample, Captain Archer ordered Phlox to put it into cold storage, so that at least some trace of the Loque’eque civilization would continue to exist.