The Borg Collective is the term used to define the collective intelligence comprising all members linked together into a hive mind via subspace transceivers and calling themselves the Borg. It is the de facto governing power, as the term is considered by individuals, over all Borg civilization.
The Borg Insignia
Society and Government[]
The Collective makes decisions as a single entity. However, the Borg Queen plays an as yet not totally understood role in ordering the chaos of the Collective and the information flowing in from its trillions of drones.
The voice of the collective has a multi-track resonant quality, the sound of the trillions of drones that comprise it speaking as one.
The collective form of organization allows for tremendous efficiency in action and deliberation. With each drone functioning separately according to its instructions, it may at any time be processing information, performing physical actions, or focusing its energy toward other collective goals. The vast resources thus presented to the collective organization allow for simultaneous execution of a nearly infinite number of tasks as well as nearly limitless calculations. This in turn allows the Borg to consider multiple courses of action before committing to any one course. The best example of this is the Borg ability to "adapt" nearly instantaneously to any type of attack or threat. By focusing its resources on the threat at hand all possible outcomes and responses can be explored within an extremely short period of time. The result is that the Borg are able to bring a tremendous amount of force, or computational power, to bear on any single problem and overwhelm any opposition by sheer volume of numbers. The collective state of organization also greatly decreases the chance of error that exists with the decision making of individuals or the conflicts of opinion that are a factor in hierarchical organizations.
One consequence of the collective state, noted by Jean-Luc Picard who had more dealings with the Borg than anyone in the Federation excepting Kathryn Janeway, is that the Borg are utterly without mercy or compassion. In a collective society only the needs of the group as a whole are considered, and in this utilitarian calculation the needs of the unrivaled number of Borg will nearly always override any other considerations.
Collective Organization[]
An artists depiction of the borg.
The Collective is subdivided organizationally. The Borg Queen may act as a central processor or nexus for the Collective; information or instructions disseminated throughout the Collective flow toward the subdivisions. The "unimatrix" is the highest level of collective organization; the Queen herself resides within Unimatrix 01. Unimatrixes may be broken into several "trimatrixes". Drones within a unimatrix or trimatrix are designated in groups known as "adjuncts", with the individual drone's identification serving to designate their position within the adjunct.
History[]
When the Federation entered the Hellcat Squadron Universe, it brought the Borg Collective with them. The Borg saw the large amount of different species and technology that could be assmilated outside of their galaxy so they decided that not only they will assimilate creatures and technology in their galaxy, but ones in other galaxies as well.
Military Strength[]
Technology[]
Borg technology was a combination of technologies assimilated from other cultures and technology developed within the Collective in order to overcome obstacles to its goals. When confronted by a problem it could not solve with its existing resources, the entire Collective would work in concert to consider all possible solutions and implement the one determined to be the most efficient. By applying the unique skills of each drone to a task, the hive mind could engineer new technologies at a pace that would astound an individual.
Spacecraft[]
Borg vessels were highly decentralized, with no discrete bridge, living quarters, or engineering section. Each ship was collectively operated by its complement of drones, under the general direction of the hive mind. Owing to the Collective's disregard for aesthetic considerations, the architecture of Borg ships took the form of basic shapes such as cubes and spheres and they were made from Tritanium alloy. Borg ships were capable of regenerating from damage.
Each Borg spacecraft was equipped with a vinculum to interconnect its crew, which was in turn connected to a central plexus that linked the ship to the Collective. In addition to warp drive, vessels were fitted with transwarp coils that could achieve even greater speed by opening transwarp conduits. When critically damaged or otherwise compromised, a Borg ship would self-destruct to prevent outsiders from studying Borg technology. However, USS Voyager encountered several damaged Borg vessels, notably including the cube carrying Icheb, Mezoti, Azan and Rebi, and a sphere carrying a transwarp coil, which Voyager stole.
Weaknesses[]
The borg are adept in most combat situations using energy weapons and starship battles, however they are considerably weak when it comes to melee combat, including the fact they can be killed by Lightsabers, the Energy Swords of the Covenant, IceBite's sword Vesracolian, and even Vibroblades. They also seem to be weak to explosive and projectile weapons such as Rocket Launchers and Machine Guns mostly due to the fact they can't adapt well enough to them. One of the main things the Borg is especially weak to is Biological weapons or Parasitic creatures such as the Flood, Tiberium, and Headcrabs. They cannot assimilate creatures that are already part technological such as the Bionicle, and they cannot assimilate Pokemon or anyone with Ectoplasmic Powers. The Borg are also known for the fact they are fighting against Species 8472, Race-X, The Xenians, and The Flood because they cannot assimilate them or their bio-engineered weaponry, however they will fight off the 'infestations' if need be. There also appears to be certain irregularities in the former inhabitants of Ivalice (the Dalmascans and Archadians), brought about by the unknown 'Mist' substance that makes it harder, if not impossible, to assimilate them.