Taragon lifeform

The Taragon lifeform is an unnamed non-humanoid lifeform indigenous to the planet Taragon in the 23rd century.

Background
The lifeform is a massive colony creature. It has a brain-like core, with intelligent segments capable of acting independently, branching off and later reuniting with the core. Having evolved deep underground under intense pressure, the brain and its segments have unusual sensory organs and a different molecular structure than normally encountered.

It is telepathic and impressionable, gaining impressions about new lifeforms through brief direct contact. Its segments are capable of shape changing, forming anything, including equipment, buildings and even people. However, while people formed in this way appear like perfect copies, they have a rudimentary, instinctual intelligence and have senses of hearing and touch, but not sight.

History and specifics
In the 2260s, mining by a Federation colony unknowingly penetrated into the body of the Taragon lifeform, and it retaliated the only way it could, by instinctively triggering natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions. In 2266, a large mass of the lifeform emerged out of the ground to directly confront a group of miners. Hysterical people in nearby towns began to riot, and governors sent out distress calls.

The starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) investigated, and [Spock]] deduced that the rioting could have been triggered by telepathic influence, but no evidence of sophisticated indigenous life existed on the planet. While reconnoitering outside of one city, a mass of the creature confronted Spock. Feeling defensive, Spock raised his phaser before falling unconscious. When James T. Kirk arrived to assist, three aggressive Spocks armed with phasers responded to his voice and hunted for him.

Later, after having reassessed the experience, Spock realized that the duplicates were aggressive only because of his initial feeling of defensiveness at first contact, and was likely the same as colonists' reactions. The colonists hadn't gone mad — aggressive, duplicated colonists had attacked. Spock returned to the planet and met the lifeform again, but this time allowed it to form around him as he maintained a passive state and wrote with a stylus on a PADD. This time, it absorbed his knowledge of language and learned from him how to communicate through telepathy.

Kirk and Spock brokered a peace between the lifeform and the colony. In exchange for assurances that its core would be defended, it agreed to help duplicate buildings and equipment for the use of the colonists. 

Connections

 * See also: Giant Brain, Tactician, Horta