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THE STAR TREK ENCYCLOPEDIA: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO THE FUTURE BORE 51 Borg sphere. Small spherical Borg vessel capable of creatinga was to improve the quality of life in the temporal vortex. A Borg sphere was a timeship launched froma galaxy by providing other life-forms the benspecial bay on the surface of larger Borg ships. A Borg cube ship efit of being part of the Borg collective made its way into Federation space in 2373 and proceeded to Following the rescue of Picard from the Borg Earth on stardate 50893. It was destroyed by a Starfleet armada, ship, a last-ditch effort to implant a destruc but not before it launched a timeship that traveled into Earth's tive computer command into the Borg colpast in an attempt to prevent Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight lective consciousness was successful in in 2063. (Star Trek: First Contact) destroying the Borg ship in Earth orbit. (“The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" [TNG]) Borg. An immensely powerful SE By 2368, at least two more Borg vescivilization of enhanced ( \ sels were found to have reached Federation humanoids from the Delta } + territory when a crashed Borg scout ship Quadrant of the galaxy. The was discovered on the surface of a moon in Borg implant themselves with the Argolis Cluster. One surviving Borg, designated Third of cybernetic devices, giving them | Five, was rescued from the crash by Enterprise-D crew persongreat technological and combat | nel. This Borg, named Hugh (pictured) by the Enterprise-D crew, capabilities. Different Borg are was nursed back to health. During Hugh's convalescence, equipped with different hard- Enterprise-D personnel developed what they termed an invasive ware for specific tasks. Each program, which, when introduced into the Borg collective con Borg is tied into a sophisticated [ sciousness, was designed to cause a fatal overload in the entire subspace communications net- collective. In the process, Hugh befriended Geordi La Forge, a work, forming the Borg collec- | friendship that provided an argument that this invasive program, tive, a shared consciousness in effectively a weapon of mass murder, should not be used. Hugh which the idea of the individual was then returned to the Argolis crash site, where he was rescued was nearly a meaningless con- | by another Borg scout ship. (“I, Borg” [TNG]). Following the return cept. The Borg exhibit a high of Hugh, Hugh's new sense of individuality began to permeate a degree of intelligence and portion of the collective. The results were dramatic: Deprived of adaptability in their tactics. Most | | their group identity, individual Borg were unable to function as a means of defense or offense \ / unit. The unexpected arrival of the android, Lore, changed this. against them were found to work 2 == = Lore appointed himself the leader of those Borg, and promised only once, almost immediately them he would provide them with the means to become com after which the Borg developed a countermeasure. (“Q Who?" pletely artificial life-forms, free of dependence on organic bodies. [TNG]). The Borg operated by conquering entire worlds, assimi (“Descent, Parts | and II" [TNG]). lating the civilizations and technology thereon. Individual mem- In 2369, Lore led the Borg in launching a major new offensive bers of assimilated races were implanted with sophisticated against the Federation Utilizing transwarp conduits, they entered cybernetic implants, permitting each individual to perform a spe Federation space in a ship of an unfamiliar design and attacked a cific task as required by the collective. Thousands of worlds ~~ Federation outpost at Ohniaka lI. During this offensive, the Borg across the galaxy were conquered in this fashion. (Star Trek: First attacked with uncharacteristic anger, later found to be due to Contact). The Borg were responsible for the near-extinction of the Lore’s influence. The offensive was halted when Lore was disEl-Aurian people in the late 23rd century. SEE: Guinan. (Star Trek mantled by his brother, Data. (“Descent, Parts | and II" [TNG]) Generations). The first known contact between the Borg and the In 2373, the Borg launched a second attempt to assimilate Federation was in 2365, when Q transported the Enterprise-D out ~~ Earth. Although the Federation Starfleet was successful in of Federation space into the flight path of a Borg vessel heading stopping the Borg attack, a single Borg sphere escaped into a toward Alpha Quadrant. (“Q Who?" [TNG]). Following this first temporal vortex, to Earth's 21st century. In the past, the Borg contact, Starfleet began advance planning for a potential Borg attempted to prevent space pioneer Zefram Cochrane from mak offensive against the Federation. Lieutenant Commander ing Earth's first faster-than-light flight in 2063. The crew of the Shelby was placed in charge of this project to develop a defense Starship Enterprise-E, following the Borg sphere into the past, strategy. (“The Best of Both Worlds, Part |" [TNG]). One of the ensured that Cochrane was able to make the critical first warp flight weapons systems developed to help meet the Borg threat was In doing so, the Enterprise-E crew destroyed the Borg queen, the the new U.S.S. Defiant, a heavily armed starship prototype. central nexus of the Borg collective. (Star Trek: First Contact) (“The Search, Part I" [DS9]) On stardate 50541, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager discovThe anticipated Borg attack came in late 2366, when a Borg ered a Borg corpse on a planet in the Delta Quadrant while trading vessel entered Federation space, heading for Earth. Starfleet tac- with Sakari colonists for the mineral gallicite. (“Blood Fever” tical planners had expected at least several more months before [VGR]). A few weeks later, in the Nekrit Expanse, the Starship the Borg arrival, and thus were caught unprepared. Enterprise-D captain f= Jean-Luc Picard was captured . i wre - by the Borg at the beginning of - this offensive. He was assimi- = lated into the Borg collective consciousness and became known as Locutus of Borg, providing crucial guidance to the Borg in their attack. (“The Best of Both Worlds, Part I” [TNG]) Starfleet massed an armada of some 40 starships in hopes of stopping the Borg ship at Wolf 359, but the fleet was decimated with the loss of 39 ships and 11,000 lives (“The Drumhead” [TNG]), including the U.S.S. Saratoga. (“Emissary” [DS9]). As Locutus, Picard explained that the Borg purpose