Nomad, MK-15c
The Nomad MK-15c (NSSDC ID: 2002-045b) space probe was an interstellar information-gathering device created by Dr. Jackson Roykirk.
History
Nomad was launched from Earth in 2002 as the planet's first interstellar vessel to seek out new life. It was a prototype, and the only one of its series built.
During its mission, Nomad was damaged by a meteorite, and lost contact with Earth. It later encountered an alien probe in deep space. The two units merged, resulting in a powerful new construct with faulty programming, which destroyed anything that was perceived as imperfect, a condition that apparently applied to any organic living being.
Nomad was eventually discovered by the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 in 2267, shortly after it wiped out four billion inhabitants of the Malurian system. Originally deeming the Enterprise to be as imperfect, it opened fire. It halted its attack when Captain James Kirk hailed the probe and introduced himself, and Nomad mistook Captain Kirk for its creator, Roykirk.
Coming aboard the Enterprise, Nomad found the crew to be imperfect, and wiped out the memory of Lieutenant Uhura and killed Montgomery Scott. Fortunately for Scotty, Nomad was able to "repair" him on the orders of Kirk. Using the ship's star charts, Nomad was able to fix coordinates on Earth and planned to return. Kirk was concerned that if Nomad returned to Earth and found it to be populated with imperfect life forms, it would sterilize the planet. It eventually destroyed itself after discovering that it was imperfect, realizing it had mistook Captain Kirk for Roykirk.
Capabilities
Nomad revealed a number of advanced capabilities during its encounter with Kirk and the Enterprise. It could travel at warp speed, and could fire energy bolts equivalent to ninety photon torpedoes. Its own defensive screens could entirely absorb the energy of a photon torpedo the Enterprise fired at it, despite its small size. Its communications equipment could absorb data from the Enterprise computers far faster than their maximum transmission rate, an act that damaged the computer interface. It could drain all knowledge from a living being.
It successfully "repaired" Mr. Scott after killing him. To do this, it required only a few moments to study tapes of his "structure." It also effected mechanical changes to the Enterprise propulsion system that improved its efficiency, though the increase in power threatened the structure of the ship.
