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[[Starfleet personnel]] have encountered [[Borg nursery|Borg nurseries]] aboard at least two cubes. ({{TNG|Q Who}}; {{VOY|Collective}}) |
[[Starfleet personnel]] have encountered [[Borg nursery|Borg nurseries]] aboard at least two cubes. ({{TNG|Q Who}}; {{VOY|Collective}}) |
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| − | The main tactic employed by cubes when engaging another vessel is to seize it with a [[tractor beam]] and render its defences useless by draining its shields. Thus, the cube can perform any type of action, ranging from destruction to assimilation, on the defenceless ship. |
+ | The main tactic employed by cubes when engaging another vessel is to seize it with a [[tractor beam]] and render its defences useless by draining its shields. Thus, the cube can perform any type of action, ranging from destruction to assimilation, on the defenceless ship. ({{TNG|The Best of Both Worlds}}; {{DS9|Emissary}}). |
| − | Following the failure of enemy shields, the cube usually engages a [[cutting beam]] to slice section of the ship for assimilation.{{TNG|Q Who}}; {{ENT|Regeneration}}. The cutting beam can also be used as a weapon to destroy vessels showing resistace. During the battle of Wolf 359, USS Melbourne and Saratoga were annihilated by cutting beams, |
+ | Following the failure of enemy shields, the cube usually engages a [[cutting beam]] to slice section of the ship for assimilation.){{TNG|Q Who}}; {{ENT|Regeneration}}). The cutting beam can also be used as a weapon to destroy vessels showing resistace. During the battle of Wolf 359, USS Melbourne and Saratoga were annihilated by cutting beams, on draining their shields with the tractor beam. ({{DS9|Emissary}}). |
| − | The cube weaponry also includes [[disruptor |
+ | The cube weaponry also includes [[disruptor]] beams and [[torpedoes]]. During the 2366-2367 incursion, a cube obliterated with torpedoes three ships of the [[Mars Defense Perimeter]]. The concentrated fire of three Borg disruptor beams was able to reduce Voyager's [[ablative hull armor]] integrity, a highly advanced future Starfleet defense technology, to 40%.({{VOY|Endgame}}) |
==Support vehicles== |
==Support vehicles== |
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Revision as of 08:03, 25 January 2008
| File:Borg cube.JPG | |
| Type: | Cube |
| Volume: | 28 Km3 |
| Speed: | Transwarp |
| Armament: | Torpedoes, Cutting beams, Tractor beams |
| Defenses: | Deflector shields, Subspace field, Electromagnetic field |
An interior view of a Borg cube
An interior view of another section of a Borg cube
The Delta Flyer in the hangar bay of a Borg cube
The Borg cube is the primary vessel of the Borg Collective. It is extremely large, measuring 28 cubic kilometers in volume and carrying up to 200,000 Borg drones. It is one of the most powerful vessels in the galaxy. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")
Structure and Operation
Borg vessels are highly decentralized in structure. No specific bridge, living quarters or engineering section has ever been observed. All vital systems are spread throughout the ship, making it highly resistant to damage and system failures. Commander Shelby estimated in 2366 that a cube could stay operative even if 78% was destroyed. Information and Collective communication are routed through power waveguide conduits and distribution nodes. (TNG: "Q Who", "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")
The internal pressure aboard a Borg cube is two kilopascals above what would be normal on a Federation starship. The humidity is on average 92%, and the temperature is at 39.1 °Celsius. (Star Trek: First Contact) The atmosphere contains traces of tetryon particles. (VOY: "Infinite Regress")
Borg vessels are also capable of transwarp velocities, through their network of subspace corridors and hubs. However, when a Borg cube travels through these corridors, the temporal stresses are extreme. To keep the different sections of the vessel in temporal sync, a chroniton field is projected through specially designed conduits. (VOY: "Shattered")
Borg cubes are typically manned by "thousands of drones," and can vary in capacity anywhere from 5,000 to 64,000 to 129,000 drones. (VOY: "Collective", "Unimatrix Zero", "Dark Frontier")
Starfleet personnel have encountered Borg nurseries aboard at least two cubes. (TNG: "Q Who"; VOY: "Collective")
The main tactic employed by cubes when engaging another vessel is to seize it with a tractor beam and render its defences useless by draining its shields. Thus, the cube can perform any type of action, ranging from destruction to assimilation, on the defenceless ship. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds"; DS9: "Emissary").
Following the failure of enemy shields, the cube usually engages a cutting beam to slice section of the ship for assimilation.)TNG: "Q Who"; ENT: "Regeneration"). The cutting beam can also be used as a weapon to destroy vessels showing resistace. During the battle of Wolf 359, USS Melbourne and Saratoga were annihilated by cutting beams, on draining their shields with the tractor beam. (DS9: "Emissary").
The cube weaponry also includes disruptor beams and torpedoes. During the 2366-2367 incursion, a cube obliterated with torpedoes three ships of the Mars Defense Perimeter. The concentrated fire of three Borg disruptor beams was able to reduce Voyager's ablative hull armor integrity, a highly advanced future Starfleet defense technology, to 40%.(VOY: "Endgame")
Support vehicles
Ships up to the size of a Borg sphere may be docked inside a Borg cube for assimilation, supplies or escape purposes.
It is known that at least one Borg cube, and possibly others of its class, contains a Borg sphere. The only known recorded purpose of a sphere disengaged from a Borg cube was for escape. The sphere is the only documented support vehicle a Borg cube possesses at present. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Encounters
The first Federation contact with a Borg cube took place in 2365, when the USS Enterprise-D encountered a single cube in System J-25. (TNG: "Q Who")
Every Starfleet encounter with a single cube has resulted in heavy losses. 39 out of 40 ships were lost at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2366, and dozens more in the incursion of 2373. (TNG: "The Drumhead"; Star Trek: First Contact) Normally a single Borg cube is capable of eliminating all the elements of civilization from an entire planet.
When the USS Enterprise-D experienced malfunctions due to Wesley Crusher's nanites in 2366, sensors erroneously detected an approaching (nonexistent) cube. (TNG: "Evolution")
Thousands of cubes are estimated to exist in Borg space in the Delta Quadrant; the largest grouping of cubes directly observed by Starfleet thus far is fifteen, by the crew of the USS Voyager in late 2373. (VOY: "Scorpion") When describing the assimilation of his world, Arturis said that hundreds of cubes surrounded his homeworld before its destruction. (VOY: "Hope and Fear")
Ships of the class
- Named:
- Unnamed:
Appendices
Appearances
Photograph of the Borg cube studio model
- TNG:
- TNG films:
- DS9:
- "Emissary"
- VOY:
- "Unity"
- "Scorpion"
- "Scorpion, Part II"
- "Hope and Fear"
- "Dark Frontier"
- "The Voyager Conspiracy" (on astrometrics screen)
- "Collective"
- "Unimatrix Zero"
- "Unimatrix Zero, Part II"
- "Q2"
- "Endgame"
Background
The concept for the Borg cube was conceived by Maurice Hurley and designed by Rick Sternbach. The original studio model was built by Kim Bailey.
Apocrypha
Borg cubes make appearances in the Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II games. In the second game, a "fusion cube" and "tactical cube" are seen, and used by those playing as the Borg. The first consists of eight regular cubes connected to each other and is the size of a planetoid. The second is the size of a dwarf planet. Both are designated battleships and hold the assimilator beam device and three "captured" special weapons taken from a enemy race.