[alt-trek] after BOBW

[danielcoffin]

so, "best of both worlds, part 2" ends with data putting the borg to sleep through a captive locutus, destroying the invading borg cube and saving earth from the borg menace. but what if that plan had failed? what if the borg cube was capable of defeating riker's desperate attempt to ram the enterprise into the cube?

let's assume the enterprise and its crew have been neutralized... either killed outright or captured and assimilated. the borg assault on earth then begins. how long would it take, do you suppose, for the borg to capture earth? a year? two? assuming that the borg had taken earth, what do you suppose the borg's next target would be? vulcan? andoria? what do you suppose the reaction of the klingons, romulans, and cardassians would be?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

If Earth falls quickly, it may become a new hub of Borg activity and a natural staging ground for the assimilation of the rest of the Federation. It has vast amounts of resources both in terms of people, and technology, to assimilate. For this scenario, resistance is sporadic, poorly organized and ultimately crushed.

If Earth does not fall quickly, and Federation resources are up to the task of fighting back, Earth may start to look like a Day of the Dead-type scenario. Assimilated areas are kept in quarantine pending 'sterilization.' The treasures of human civilisation are lost or destroyed; humanity's morale and identity as a culture is dealt a terrible blow.

[Tricky]

Looking at all available info about assimilation of cultures, I wonder if the Borg's first move would be to open up Transwarp conduits around Earth, to allow a more cubes into the area to facilitate assimlation.

If this happens, then there would be almost no resistance; they would transport drones to every inhabited zone, assimlate as many people as possible, then send those new drones out to assimilate more. I think the last free person on earth might last maybe a week, month tops in that scenerio. Of course, I'm using the Romero movies as a template.

If something like that doesnt happen, like they use only the cube and the Borged Enterprise, then I would assume things would take much longer. SF members are quite good at using their heads, and they might find ways to hide, at least until they could strike a blow. Could take a year, but remember, any losses by a resistance will either be lost (killed or destroyed), or converted to Borg assets.

After Earth falls (although they might not wait, they could start sending drones out to take the rest of the FED), they will begin converting all vessels and orbital habitats to borg designs, and taking over Luna and Mars colonies.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

And stuff like transwarp corridors make the kind of targets to send PCs to disrupt...

[danielcoffin]

so let's say earth falls... there's no way that stafleet is going to be able to recapture the planet. do you suppose starfleet would deploy genesis to take out the planet altogether?

[Mazza]

Would Starfleet deploy Genesis as a weapon of mass destruction to destroy the Earth to rid it of Borg?

No.

I sometimes wonder whether people ever watched the show...

Simply destroying the Earth wouldn't particularly help Starfleet defend the rest of the Federation. There is no point in destroying the Earth given a Starfleet which let the Borg capture Earth would be incapable of stopping a single cube. The Borg wouldn't need to use Earth as a staging point, they'd just keep moving the one cube from planet to planet. Starfleet's top priority would be coming up with a weapon they could use which would destroy Borg cubes.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Would Starfleet deploy Genesis as a weapon of mass destruction to destroy the Earth to rid it of Borg?

No.

Actually, a desperate Starfleet admiral who lost his entire family to the Borg would try, and it would be up to the PCs to stop him.

[Mazza]

Actually, a desperate Starfleet admiral who lost his entire family to the Borg would try, and it would be up to the PCs to stop him.

That would make for a good episode. But I do wonder where the desperate Starfleet admiral would've found a Genesis device. I doubt very much that Starfleet keeps them lying around.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

That would make for a good episode. But I do wonder where the desperate Starfleet admiral would've found a Genesis device. I doubt very much that Starfleet keeps them lying around.

The Federation is full of mad scientists who'd love nothing more than to take some crackpot idea like a terraforming torpedo and try to make it work. In the eighty years since the original data was wiped out (I'm assuming all the research and schematics and crap were only at Regula I for security reasons) someone would try to replicate it.

With or without the protomatter.

[C5]

I expect Starfleet has been sensible enough to build a structure that wouldn't be completely disorganized after its head was severed. So I guess that, with the assimilation of Earth, the whole Federation would gang up against the new Borg planet (along with the Klingons, and possibly the Romulans or even Cardassians).

Now the question is : how would they fare ? The Federation already lost 40 ships against a single cube. After assimilating Earth, they could probably be unstoppable, especially if they managed to seize the contents of the Starfleet Command computers, and the minds of the highest admirals (depends if Starfleet managed to erase their computers memories, but even though I doubt the entire Starfleet Command crew would be ready to commit suicide to avoid information falling into the hands of the Borg).

I think actually only a very desperate mesure would allow the Federation (and, following that, the whole Alpha and Beta Quadrant) to escape complete assimilation. The thing is that they would have a very hard time to find counter measures to the Borg - most of Starfleet knowledge of them came from unassimilating Picard apparently (and at the time of BOBW, Voyager is probably not even in design phases). So it would be time to dig something really powerful (or desperate) from the recesses of Starfleet archives - like time travel (a reverse First Contact would be fun), weapons from The Arsenal of Freedom, Iconians or T'kon technology, and so on... while, indeed, avoiding any equally desperate admiral trying to cause the Sun to go nova (that would also be successful in countering the Borg) or destroying Earth.

Hm. I suddenly wonder if whales can be assimilated, and if they could call for help

[The Tatterdemalion King]

That would make an awesome campaign frame– Search for superweapons to destroy the Borg threat. Perhaps a trip into the Delta Quadrant on a fact-finding mission?

Anyway, as for destroying the Cube–I'm pretty sure smacking a Galaxy-class starship full of antimatter into it would destroy one. There might be bits left over to rebuild, but it would be, uh, slowed down enough. My guess as to why that didn't happen in BOBW was that Starfleet had yet to adapt its shields to avoid the Borg tractor beam, so that even at warp the Borg could deflect major oncoming threats like kamikazi fireships. [Aside: That's probably how the Romulans would deal with the situation–A fleet of warbirds ready to sacrifice themselves for Romulus. A Cube could deflect a few ships, but twenty crashing into it simultaineously would probably do the trick.]

Thus, a manufacturing base on Earth would probably be something the Borg would invest in before just flying off to Proxima colony.

[Dan Gurden]

Now the question is : how would they fare ? The Federation already lost 40 ships against a single cube. After assimilating Earth, they could probably be unstoppable, especially if they managed to seize the contents of the Starfleet Command computers, and the minds of the highest admirals (depends if Starfleet managed to erase their computers memories, but even though I doubt the entire Starfleet Command crew would be ready to commit suicide to avoid information falling into the hands of the Borg).

The situation becomes worse. Once the shipyards and Starfleet command are assimilated, the Borg then have access to every single Starfleet vessel command access codes.

Next Starfleet task force gets shut down leaving whatever allies they have to be slaughtered and the crew have little choice but to abandon ship or wait, either way the choice appears to be non existant and limited to 'wait for assimilation'...

I think that something like Genesis may well come into play as stated, the antagonist should be a maddened scientist or admiral with appropriate clearance (think along the lines of the Doomsday Machine), but there are other tools and weapons that may well come into play (say; Guardian of Forever, time... the one weapon the Borg could not adapt to...)

Basically if you want Borg defeating weapons trawl through TOS, kirk used to find them every other week.

But I love the idea of a Borg/Zombie Romero style Trek game...

[Dan Gurden]

I love the idea of a Borg/Zombie Romero style Trek game...

OK, a few second thought, I have the plot. Get the players to create their characters, make them a rag-tag buch of Starfleet, Scientists, Klingons, whatever you fancy really, and give them a ship, again, a good chance to play with anything you fancy in this alternate universe.

This part does not matter, however, as the pilot for the game is to show the players how desperate the situation is. So for the first game, give them some standard templates of Starfleet Planet Security.

Now run a standard Zombie style game, pick them off one by one. be merciless, have fun and let your players have fun (have a few spare drop in characters, Cadets, Civilians, even off-duty Starfleet, maybe an Admiral?), let them play up the cliches and enjoy getting dead in relative safety until they are no more.

Really let the consequence of their actions play out, if they get cornered its over, if they stay on the run stretch it as long as possible... And if they cut and run, let them escape but leave them with a view of the planet being borged as they run away.

(Maybe any survivors may take over in the main game... IF there are any survivors)...

[JALU3]

OK . . . after reading this thread I have two questions

1) Besides the sleep command, what stopped the borg cube from beaming (given that their transporter range was probably multiple times greater then that of the Federation at the time) drones along the way within the Sol system, and when they were stopped in orbit around Earth? If this occured, why have we not heard stories regarding how this was handelled? If this occured, what of the assimulated persons on the moons of Jupiter, on outer outpost, Mars, Luna, and other artificial habital stations? It has been shown that the Borg can transport at warp, and that given sufficient amount of time, even a small contingent of Borg drones can multiple their numbers significantly over time.

2) Regarding the use of the Genesis weapon. The Genesis planet was made out of the Nebula which the Reliant and the Enterprise were conducting combat, and thus the matter which was used to create the new planet was the nebula itself. If this is the case, could the genesis weapon be used on the cube itself? . . . in order to create a class M planetoid that would be moon sized or less?

As for what I think would occur if the Cube survived . . . lets assume that the Enterprise-D does ram the cube, and successfully self-destructs . . . and then lets assume that even though it creates massive damage to the Cube itself, it leaves enough of the cube for a Brigade (say 2000) worth of drones to survive. And then lets assume that the orbital defenses were not able to destroy the debris in time for this Brigade to transport itself off the defenseless chunks of Cube.

Given the significant number, if they transported into a heavily populated area, say Manhatten, the orbital defenses would be able to be used against them once they are planetside. If we are also to assume that assimulation is as quick as is shown in the near future, in First Contact, then we can assume that within a matter of a week they would be able to quadrouple their numbers. Even if this is the case, if the defenders don't adapt to the invaders . . . they would be able to create a beachhead significant enough to be able to transmit for reinforcements.

This would lead to multiple cubes entering orbit, and assimulating the solar system.

However, if they are unable to communicate for reinforcements, if the defenders don't adapt to combatting the borg (i.e. busting out with thompsons (see Picard training film)), it would only require one or two months to assimulate the rest of the populace.

[C5]

Dan : I once had a similar idea about Borg used for a zombie story, but it was much more complicated, recycling an alleged unused Voyager script I had seen on the Net about the origins of the Borg, which was basically a sort of mix between the Matrix, Cyberpunk, and, in the end, a zombie flick. But I never elaborated the story more than that, and, given the state of my gaming group, I guess I will never have an opportunity to play it (or any other Trek RPG actually).

JALU3 : The Borg seem rather single-minded, and I doubt they would have taken the time to beam a few drones here and there on their way. After all, they were here to assimilate Earth, and it seems to me they rely on strength in numbers. However, they could have slipped a few shuttles away to the Delta Quadrant, in order to back up a few of their assimilated drones (this would explain why the Voyager crew encountered former Starfleet officers who were assimilated at Wolf 359).

As for the Enterprise ramming the Borg Cube, I wonder... maybe they can adapt to that too ? Maybe one ship it at Wolf 359, or detonated nearby, and the Borg came up with a countermeasure ?