Borg

An immensly powerful civilization of enhanced humaniods from the Delta Quadrent. Assimilation is the Borg's means of adding or replacing drones, as well as their sole purpose of existence. New technology and knowledge is gathered in this way, and nearly every species encountered has been assimilated easily. Species 8427 is the notable exception. Assimilation is achieved by injecting nano-probes below the the victim's subcutaneous layer into the bloodstream, whose blood cells are then attacked and subjugated by the probes to work together and lay the groundwork for connection to the collective. Thousands of such probes can be injected within seconds, making the effects of initial assimilation immediate. Bio-technological interface with Borg cybernetic implants and attachments are also created by the nano-probes in preparation for surgical procedures that may include modified extremities for specific tasks, or optical and aural implants. Constant to all assimilated drones is the neural implant that is unremovable once installed. It is the actual connection the drone has to the rest of the collective, relaying all orders while maintaining records, coordinates, and other information about the drone's activities.

The Borg do not "seek out new life and new civilizations" in the ordinary sense.  Rather than expending time to communicate diplomatically with alien races they encounter, the Borg operate by conquering entire worlds, through a process known as "assimilation" , and civilizations and the technology thereon.   It is important to note that the Borg select only those worlds which will augment their "perfection", simply destroying the inferior civilizations they encounter.   Individual members of assimilated races are implanted with sophisticated cybernetic implants, permitting each individual to perform a specific task as required by the Collective.  Thousands of species and thousands of worlds across the galaxy have been conquered in this fashion.  The Borg were responsible for the near-extinction of the El-Aurian people in the late 23rd century.

Physiology

Generally humanoid in appearance, the Borg implant themselves with cybernetic devices, or "implants" , granting them superior technological and combat capabilities.  Different Borg are equipped with different hardware to perform specific work tasks.

Each Borg member, or "Drone" is tied to a sophisticated subspace communications network, forming what is termed "The Borg Collective".   This is a shared consciousness in which the ideas of individuality, freedom and self-determination are nearly meaningless concepts.  For example, Borg Drones do not refer to themselves in the first person (i.e. "I" or "me"), rather in the plural, such as "we are Borg".  Individual Drones do not have names in the common sense, rather they are designated into numerical groups, such as "Third of Five" or "Seven of Nine" and so forth.

The Borg exhibit a high degree of intelligence, granting them vast adaptability in their tactics.  Most means of defense or offense against them were found to work only once, almost immediately afterwhich the Borg developed a countermeasure.

Borg Collective
Each Borg individual was linked to the collective by a sophisticated subspace network that insured each member was given constant supervision and guidance. Being part of the collective offered sugnificant biomedical advantages to individual members. The mental energy of the group consciousness could help an injured individual heal or regenerate damaged body parts.

History
Not much is known about the Borg's past and when and how they came to be. The first known contact between the Borg and the Federation is believed to be in 2365, when the god-like entity known as Q transported the Enterprise-D out of Federation territory into the path of a Borg cube vessel heading toward the Alpha Quadrant.   Following this first contact, Starfleet began advance planning for the inevitable Borg offensive against the Federation.  Lieutenant Commander Shelby was placed in charge of this project to develop both defensive strategy and weaponry. There were many projects started. The most notable two being the Defiant and Soviergn Projects

The anticipated Borg invasion came in late 2366, when a Borg cube vessel entered Federation space, heading for Earth. Starfleet tactical planners had anticipated at least several more months before the Borg arrival, and were thus caught unprepared.  This early arrival demonstrated that the Borg possess vastly superior energy sources and means of faster than light travel.   It was later learned that the Borg traverse the vast distances of space utilizing artificially created wormhole-like channels known as "transwarp conduits".  Enterprise-D captain Jean-Luc Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg at the beginning of this offensive, and became an entity known as Locutus of Borg.   Tied to the Collective consciousness, Locutus was able to provide crucial guidance in the Borg attack.

Starfleet massed an armada of some 40 starships in the hopes of stopping the Borg cube vessel at Wolf 359, but the fleet was decimated with the loss of 39 starships and over 11,000 lives, including the U.S.S. Saratoga. As Locutus, Picard explained that the Borg purpose was to "raise the quality of life for all species" of the galaxy by providing other life-forms the benefit of being part of the Borg Collective. Following the rescue of Picard from the Borg ship, a last-ditch effort was made to implant a destructive computer command into the Borg Collective.  This plan was successful in destroying the Borg cube vessel which had made it all the way to Earth orbit.

By 2368, at least two more Borg vessels were known to have reached Federation territory.  A crashed Borg Scout Ship was discovered on the surface of a moon in the Argolis Cluster.  The sole surviving Borg, designated Third of Five, was rescued from the crash site by the crew of the Enterprise-D.  This Borg, named Hugh by Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge, was nursed back to health.  During his convalescence, the crew developed what they termed an invasive program, which, when introduced into the Borg Collective consciousness, was designed to cause a fatal overload in the entire Collective.  In the process, Hugh befriended Geordi LaForge, a friendship that provided an argument that this invasive program, in essence as weapon of mass murder, should not be used.  Hugh was thus returned to the crash site where he was found, and eventually rescued by another Borg Scout Ship.

Following the return of Hugh to the Collective, Hugh's new sense of freedom and individuality began to permeate the portion of the Collective which he came in contact with.  The results of this were dramatic: deprived of their group identity, individual Borg were unable to function as a unit.  The unexpected arrival of the android Lore changed this chaos.  Lore appointed himself the leader of those Borg, and promised them he would provide them with the means to become completely artificial life-forms, free of dependence on the organic portion of their bodies (it is important to note here that the Borg would consider an android as sophisticated as Lore, devoid of any of the flaws of organic tissue, to be the essence of the perfection they seek).  In 2369, Lore led the Borg in launching a major new offensive against the Federation.  Utilizing transwarp conduits, they penetrated Federation space and attacked the outpost at Ohinaka III.  During this offensive, the Borg attacked with uncharacteristic anger, later found to be due to Lore's influence on them.   During this attack, one of the renegade Borg, calling himself Crosis,   The offensive was halted when Lore was dismantled by his brother, Data.

In 2373, the Borg launched a second invasion in an attempt to assimilate Earth.  Although the Federation fleet was successful in thwarting the Borg attack, a single Borg Sphere escaped into a temporal vortex to Earth's 21st century.  While in the past, the Borg attempted to thwart a pivotal moment in Earth history by preventing space pioneer Zefram Cochrane from making Earth's first faster-than-light spaceflight in 2063.  The crew of the newly commissioned Enterprise-E, following the Borg Sphere through the temporal vortex into the past, ensured that Cochrane was able to make his legendary first warp flight.  In doing so, the Enterprise-E crew destroyed the Borg Queen, an entity which was believed to be the central nexus of the Borg Collective.

It was later learned that this Borg Queen was only one of many such entities existing within the Borg Collective.   Some four years later, the Federation starship U.S.S. Endeavor discovered a crashed Borg Sphere on an M-Class planet in the Beta Quadrant, designated System M-24.   The sole survivor of the crashed Borg vessel was another Borg Queen, which was later discovered to be the very creator of the Borg Collective some 1.5 million years ago.

On stardate 50641.2, the crew of the starship U.S.S. Voyager discovered a Borg corpse on a planet in the Delta Quadrant while trading with the Sakari Colonists for the mineral gallicite.  A few weeks later in a region of space known as the Nekrit Expanse, the starship Voyager discovered a planet inhabited with former Borg Drones that had somehow broken free of the Collective some five years earlier.   Unfortunately, in a free society, the former Drones reverted to destructive ethnic warfare.  The survivors asked the crew of the starship Voyager to help them reactivate a derelict Borg Cube ship in order that a new "collective" could restore harmony to their society.

On Stardate 50984.3, the starship Voyager approached the heart of Borg territory in the Delta Quadrant.  The crew witnessed the destruction of a Borg fleet by an unknown alien lifeform which appeared impervious to both Borg and Starfleet weaponry.  An away team sent to investigate one of the heavily damaged Borg cube ships discovered that they are able to investigate one of the mysterious alien lifeform's bio-ships, which is still attached to a hull fragment of the decimated Borg cube.   The away team discovers that they are not alone aboard the crippled Borg ship, and moments before they are transported out, Ensign Harry Kim is attacked by one of the mysterious organic looking aliens.  As he lie in Sickbay, contaminated with alien cells and transforming him into one of the alien beings, Kes had a terrifying premonition about this new enemy and Captain Janeway realizes that it is no longer the Borg which is a threat to them. The Holographic Doctor soon learns that these unknown aliens possess an extremely potent immune system, and thus the Borg Nanoprobes are unable to assimilate them.  The Doctor is successful in modifying the Borg nanotechnology, allowing the alien cells in Ensign Kim's body to be destroyed.  Still in danger of assimilation, Captain Janeway is forced into making an unholy alliance with the Borg, offering them a way to defeat their new enemy in exchange for safe passage through Borg space.  The Borg Collective agrees to this arrangement, and the two sides collaborate to create a biogenic weapon which could defeat the invading aliens, which the Borg designated Species 8472.  The Borg select one of their own, Seven of Nine , to work with the crew of Voyager on the weapon.  Commander Chakotay and Captain Janeway struggle with opposing feelings about working with the Borg, as time runs out for the very survival of the Borg.  The alliance proved successful, with the biogenic weapon serving its purpose as a deterrant against Species 8472 from further attacks on the Borg.  With Species 8472 defeated and the alliance complete, Seven of Nine attempted to take control of Voyager, but her link to the Collective was severed by Commander Chakotay utilizing Borg Neural Link technology.  Captain Janeway allows Seven of Nine to remain onboard Voyager, as they were responsible for severing her link to the Borg Collective.