http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg
Borg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Borg are humanoids of different races that are enhanced with cybernetic implants, giving them improved mental and physical abilities. Although the cyborg concept has long existed in science-fiction literature, it is probable that the general concept of the Borg – a ruthless, aggressive race of bio-mechanical beings bent on galactic conquest – was influenced to some degree by the Cybermen, which featured in the popular British television series Doctor Who and who displayed similar rationales and methods as the Borg, including wanting to assimilate individuals to augment their race. They also bear significant resemblences to Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series.
The minds of all Borg are connected via implants to a hive, a collective mind, orchestrated by the Borg Queen and controlled from a central hub, the Unicomplex. According to themselves, the Borg only seek to "improve the quality of life in the universe" and add to their own perfection. To this end, they travel the galaxy, improving their numbers and advancing by "assimilating" other species and technologies, and forcing captured individuals under the control of the Hive mind by injecting them with nanoprobes. They harbor no ill will to anyone; they merely fulfil their biological or programmatic imperative to assimilate. As they say, "You will be assimilated – resistance is futile." They make good on that threat by their ability to quickly adapt to any attack to render it harmless. Thus, any successful defense depends on the ingenuity of the opponent to find a method to stop the Borg completely before they can neutralize it.
The first formal contact of Starfleet with the Borg occurs by interference from Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation, episode "Q Who?". Q transported the Enterprise-D to System J-25, in the Delta Quadrant just long enough to expose them to the Borg. The Enterprise was hopelessly overpowered, and Q brought them home after their confrontation. Guinan tells Picard, "Now that they know of your existence..." and Picard realized that they would never stop until they find them. Later Picard realized that the Borg cube was already on a heading towards Federation space, and in effect Q gave them an advance warning, doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
There is evidence that, prior to Picard's contact with the Borg, Starfleet and the Federation had knowledge of the species beginning with an incident in 2153 where a group of Borg was discovered in the Arctic Circle. The Borg in question were later speculated to have possibly come from the future as referenced by a speech Zefram Cochrane had given, stating what "really" had happened during First Contact in 2063.
The Borg incident of 2153 was quietly kept a secret, due in part that evidence had been uncovered that the Borg had managed to transmit the location of Earth to their home space in the Delta Quadrant. Since, however, the message would not reach Borg space for two centuries, Earth and Starfleet authorities were not overly concerned with the Borg. However, in the prophetic words of Captain Jonathan Archer: "We've only postponed the invasion until what? The 24th century?"
In the mid 2350's, as the two hundred year time mark approached on Captain Archer's statement, Starfleet began a covert operation to learn about the Borg and hired several civilian scientists to perform "unoffical" research and to learn about this potential threat to the Federation. The family of Annika Hansen was one such group of scientists so employed. Thus, by the time Captain Picard and the Enterprise encountered the Borg at System J-25, certain areas of Starfleet (most likely Section 31) were already aware of the Borg and the danger they possessed.
The second official contact occurred in the two-part "The Best of Both Worlds", which is considered one of the greatest episodes in Star Trek history. In that incident, Captain Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg to become Locutus of Borg. With his knowledge, the Borg destroyed the massive Federation fleet in the Battle of Wolf 359 and proceeded to Earth. The Federation regards this battle as one of its worst military defeats in history. In the process, however, the Enterprise used an emergency transporter to rescue and capture Locutus. Data, with the help of Counsellor Troi and Dr. Crusher, managed to tap into the computer network of which Picard/Locutus was a part. Their actions managed to give Picard enough force of will to tell Data to give the command for the Borg to "sleep", that is, enter their regenerative mode. This caused the Cube to go quiescent and created a feedback loop in the cube's power systems that destroyed the ship. A Borg: Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One
The Borg make frequent appearances in the Star Trek universe afterwards, being involved in the main plot of the Star Trek: First Contact movie, and even having one of their number become a crew member of the Starship Voyager – Seven of Nine.
The Borg suffered their worst defeat in the year 2378. The USS Voyager discovered a Borg transwarp hub inside a nebula, which allowed the Borg to send ships anywhere in the galaxy in minutes (it was one of only six such hubs in the entire Milky Way galaxy). A future Admiral Janeway, who had travelled back in time, ordered Voyager to use the hub to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, but (present-day) Captain Janeway was determined to destroy it. Admiral Janeway entered the unicomplex and the Borg Queen assimilated her. However, the Admiral had infected herself with a neurolytic pathogen; now assimilated into the collective, the pathogen was disabling the neural links at the mind of the collective consciousness. As a result, the Borg Queen lost connections with her drones and ships, before being overcome and presumably killed, as her Unicomplex base exploded around her. Simultaneously, Voyager destroyed support beams while inside the transwarp corridor. The hub then collapsed, giving the Borg a crippling blow while Voyager was successfully returned to Earth. Now, it is unknown if the Borg are still alive. [edit]
The Borg change over time
The cybernetic beings called the Borg have changed significantly over the years. Initially, they were a mysterious group of marauders that snatched entire starships or took over planets in order to collect technology. They were not interested in the organic life forms inhabiting said starships and planets. In their second appearance, they began to rather crudely and frighteningly assimilate people by surgically altering them for joining the collective. From their third appearance forward, their interest in obtaining alien technology has been greatly reduced. Assimilating different life forms into their collective structure became their main mode of operation. As time went on however, the method of assimilation was updated with the more efficient method of injecting nanites into the individuals. The nanites would grow electrical input pathways to facilitate the later insertion of the Borg's notable brain uplink to the collective, holographic eye replacement and forearm control unit.
Borg nanoprobes are injected into the bloodstream by a number of tubules that spring forth from the hand of a Borg drone. The nanoprobes are about the size of a red blood cell and travel through the victim's bloodstream to various tissues and locations throughout the body. The purpose of the Borg nanoprobes are to prepare the body for assimilation. They do this by attaching to cells and re-writing their DNA to alter the victim's biochemistry as well as form higher structures such as electrical pathways, processing and data storage nodes, and ultimately Borg implants that spring forth from the skin like spiders.
It is probable that the nanoprobes utilize iron from blood cells to replicate and create higher structures. Breaking down red blood cells would cause asphyxia or suffocation in the victim, also aiding in the submission to forces taking the body away for full implantation. This also alters the appearance of veins and capillaries large enough for nanoprobes and creates dark veins that appear to snake across the surface of the skin as the cyber-infection spreads. Based on the size of a single nanoprobe and the volume that could be injected in the short time of a drone attack, it is estimated a single injection carries at least 5 million nanoprobes.
In "I, Borg" (the title is a reference to Isaac Asimov's story I, Robot) the Enterprise crew captured a single Borg who appeared to be detached from the collective with his whereabouts unknown. Seeing an opportunity to study their enemy, he was taken aboard the ship. Eventually, due to separation from the Borg collective, the Borg (given the nickname "Hugh" by the crewmembers) began to develop an individual personality. Events eventually lead to him returning to the collective. Though he seemed to lose his individuality, the introduction of his experiences into the collective had far reaching consequences. Some eventually broke away. They later joined with Lore, Data's prototype brother who helped them express their newfound freedom through hatred ("Descent").
The purely collective nature of the Borg was later modified in Star Trek: First Contact, which introduced the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen is a central locus for the Borg collective consciousness and is unique within the collective, bringing "order to chaos" and referring to herself as "we" and "I" variably. The function of the Borg Queen within the Borg seems to be that of a coordinator, as in an ant colony, and less so of a leader in the traditional sense. Her unique autonomy allowed her to have an intimate encounter with Data. It has been postulated however that both the Borg Queen's and Locutus's functions are merely that of spokespeople and tacticians. This would allow the Borg to maintain a creative edge as well as having the advantages of a true collective. Many pieces of fan-made literature postulate that there is at least one 'Queen' per ship and a single "true" Borg Queen at Unimatrix 001.
In the episode "Drone" the Doctor's mobile emitter (obtained from the future in the episode "Future's End, Part 2") combines with Seven of Nine's technology to form a 29th century version of a Borg drone. Its capabilities include an internal teleporter, speech cababilities, and the ability to reproduce sexually.
