Hirogen page 5 : Lifeforms H : Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site

HIROGEN

screenshots by Janet

HIROGEN : Page 5: Hirogen holographic training facility

[Flesh And Blood] Index choice of Episode Guide and/or Synopsis

The following text is from TOSTFF, slightly amended by me. The outer hull of the large, triple domed structure is constructed from monotanium and the entire facility is powered by a tylium-based system, both typical of Hirogen technology. Integration and adaption of the Starfleet holographic systems appears to have been perfected over the years they have possessed the technology to such an extent that they can reproduce completely authentic settings for use in their brutal training regimes. The original motivation behind Janeway's provisions of such technology was for the Hirogen to replace their blood sports with a synthesised yet still realistic facsimile but the advances made by Hirogen programmers not only produce highly advanced prey capable of adapting and even beating the Hirogen but a series of environments that provide their own tactical challenges to the hunting parties.

Drawing of Hirogen hologrid training facility (exterior). Source TOSTFF.

The three domes comprising the majority of the Hirogen training facility suggest that different environments can be projected within these large hemispheres although the holographic simulations cannot be detected by tricorder scans as being false surroundings despite the positioning of several holo-emitters within the facility. The interiors of the Hirogen training facility differ in a second significant respect from their Starfleet origins, in that the Hirogen deliberately remove all safety protocols making the environments as potentially dangerous as the well-armed and organised holographic beings they are hunting. The authenticity of the reproduced bodies of water allows the holographic prey to launch a devastating surprise attack on two Hirogen hunters by hiding underneath the surface and firing from beneath the small lake, providing a highly effective way to mask their lifesigns from the hunters' advanced rifle-mounted scanners.

A The top of the dome has a towering point which is topped by an array of antennae, the purpose of which is not known.

B The training facility's external surface features structural ridges at equidistant points across the hull.

C The training facility derives from Federation holotechnology shared with the Hirogen in 2374 by Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the hologrid is capable of providing completely convincing holographic environments in which Hirogen hunters can pursue holographic prey.

D The deck of the deactivated hologrid resembles the interior of holodecks aboard Federations starships such as the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D (not USS Voyager). See note below.

E A single free-standing console stands in the centre of the hologrid but the full appearance of the podium-style control console is not visible until the current holoprogram is deactivated and any holographic camouflage is thereby also deactivated.

F The expansive circumference of the training facility allows the Hirogen to experience very detailed holographic simulations.

G The curving interior contains light grey panels which contain illuminated sections.

Behind-the-scenes note re D: I imagine that this is because the optronic data core presented by Janeway to the Hirogen at the end of [The Killing Game] was the exact same prop, I mean Federation holotechnological equipment, used in [TNG: Ship in a Bottle] in which the Enterprise-D crew trapped the hologram Dr Moriarty. (Source: forgotten but probably one of my canon books about [TNG].)

The adaptive Hirogen holo-emitters create expansive and highly detailed re-creations of outdoor environments with the internal systems also providing artificial gravity and full life support for the trainee hunters and their mentors. Natural daylight is recreated from the upper parts of the domes' interiors and along with the reproduction of weather systems such as light, wind and breezes and even indigenous fauna, add an extra dimension of authenticity to the various training programmes designed by Hirogen scientists and technicians. Trees, large rocks, plants and uneven levels of ground combine to form a particularly challenging woodland scenario in one of the domes, whose large interior size relative to Voyager's holodecks allows for an even wider range of movement for at least forty-three Hirogen hunters training in one environment at the same time. (Forty-three Hirogen are found killed at the hologrid facility visited by USS Voyager in 2377 in [Flesh and Blood].)

Seven takes readings from her tricorder

Seven and Chakotay come across a Klingon bat'leth. The blood on it is Hirogen.
The interior of the Hirogen training facility may be advanced but once hostiles, in this case the holographic prey, commandeer the facility there are no security measures to prevent the holograms being uploaded to Iden's stolen Hirogen vessel. Nor does the training facility have security measures against the arrival of non-Hirogen such as USS Voyager's away team which beams into the training facility in 2377 in response to a distress call. Although Starfleet tricorders do not detect that the environment is a holographic simulation, they are able to detect Hirogen lifesigns, namely that of Donik the engineer and sole survivor of the massacre perpetrated by the holograms whom he claims are malfunctioning. The Voyager away team is however able to detect a small replicated Starfleet console partially hidden underneath some undergrowth that forms a direct access point to the holographic projection system.
The replicated LCARS-style control interface panel, found camouflaged by foliage.

This is able to relay information about the holo-emitters status and provide a means by which to shut them down. Once they have been deactivated the recreated environment shimmers away to reveal the true interior of the Hirogen training facility.
The interior circumference of a single dome is extremely large and consists of a smooth artificial floor, surrounded by immense interlocking plates that form the curved inner walls of the chamber. The floor angles downwards to a large free-standing podium in the centre of the circular room that contains the control interface for the holo-emitters. The podium is constructed from a dark grey material, a colour used throughout the training facility's interior. Mounted into the upper section of the console is the Starfleet-style control station, a small rectangular computerised interface featuring the same touch-sensitive LCARS-style controls as are found aboard Federation starships such as USS Voyager.

The holoprogram is deactivated to reveal 43 Hirogen dead

The base of the control station is surrounded by three concentric circles of increasing diameter with the third circle forming a base for a series of outwardly radiating lines and circles that effectively section the floor into a large number of separate segments. It is possible that this layout aids the efficient positioning of elements within the holographic projection environment. The holo-emitters themselves are located at regular intervals around the periphery of the dome's floor creating an unbroken field of projection into the large room. In its deactivated state it is easy for Hirogen technicians to carry out maintenance or repair, or on a macabre note, easily spot and recover the bodies of Hirogen hunters slain by their own holographic prey. The emitters are positioned directly below large vertical wall support columns that include long illuminated strips which supply light within the chamber when the holographic simulations have been deactivated. A series of horizontal struts are reinforced by cross-shaped buttresses between the vertical pillars adding strength to the entire structure.