The Borg
Lower your shields and surrender your ships indeed. The Borg are a technologically advanced race. Essentially cyborgs, the Borg are a collection of species that have been turned into cybernetic organisms. Their minds are linked together in a hive mind and each Borg member is a drone to serve the Collective. The Borg use a process called assimilation to force other species into the Collective through injection of microscopic nanoprobes. The Borg Collective’s ultimate goal is the attainment of “perfection” through the forcible assimilation of diverse sentient species, technologies, and knowledge. Because of this the Borg are among the most powerful and feared entities in the galaxy. Borg drones don’t engage in any activities except their duties and regeneration (their way of recharging themselves). Drones are identified by designations instead of names and their designation generally described their position within a group. The Borg believe themselves to be superior in their way of life and don’t understand why other species would resist assimilation. The Borg ignores other alien species until they begin to pose a potential threat or become a suitable candidate for assimilation. Drones would begin to assimilate small groups of individuals without warning, while larger populations, like starships or an entire culture, would receive an announcement of their purpose.
What makes the Borg so strong and near impossible to defeat, is their technology. The Borg’s technology is a combination of technologies assimilated from other cultures and technology developed within the Collective in order to overcome obstacles to its goals. If there is a problem it couldn’t solve, the entire Collective would work in concert to consider all possible solutions and use the one determined to be most efficient. By using the unique skills of each drone for a task, the Collective could engineer new technologies at an astounding pace. Their speed is so quick when adapting that they could modulate their shields and weapons to be effective against most ships and energy weapons in seconds. Borg ships are usually common geometric shapes, the most common being the Borg cube and Borg sphere. The ships were highly decentralized and without a clear bridge, engineering, or living areas. Their ships could analyze opponent’s weapons systems and adapt defenses within seconds. If the ship was hit, the ship would begin repairing itself.
The Q Continuum is an extra-dimensional plane of existence inhabited by the Q, however you could use the Q Continuum as a way to refer to the Q society itself. The Q is an immortal race that isn’t absolutely omniscient or omnipotent. The Q possess the ability of instantaneous matter-energy transformation and teleportation, as well as time travel. They can move entire asteroid belts and stars, creating alternate timelines, and can affect universal states of nature such as the gravitational constant (gravity). The only time a Q is ever seen to be unable to do something was when their powers were reduced or revoked by the Continuum. The Q claim they have always existed and have no explanation as to how they first came into existence. The Q Continuum is a highly ordered society and the result of eons of evolutionary stagnation. In their “new era,” the Q engaged in constant dialogues of discovery and other universal issues. Since that era, the Q never faced the unknown again. To them, everything possible has been done, and their omniscience had become boring. Members of the Q no longer felt the need to even speak to each other because everything has been said. The Q became apathetic towards the universe.
The death of a Q was said to cause chaos in the Continuum. When one of the Q killed himself to end the stagnation in the Continuum, the Continuum entered a massively destructive civil war. The two factions constructed weapons that could compromise the immortality of a Q. When the weapons were fired in the Continuum, massive damage to subspace occurred and some stars in normal space went supernova. Subspace eventually became so damaged that the Q outside of the Continuum lost their powers and immortality. Eventually a new Q was born and a cease fire was called. The damage was restored and the Q went back to being near omnipotent and invincible.
Q is a member of the Q (confusing I know). He is considered to be obnoxious, interfering, and a pest. While he demonstrates superior capabilities, his mindset is unlike what Federation scientists expected for a powerful being. But under all his irritating personality, Q seems to have a hidden agenda that generally have the best interests of humanity at their core. The Federation first encountered Q when he appeared on the USS Enterprise-D. He warned the crew that Humanity should return to their home star system or be destroyed. When the crew resisted, he put Humanity on trial with Captain Picard and his command crew as representatives. Q accused Humanity of being a “dangerous, savage child-race.” Eventually, Picard was able to convince Q that Humanity had evolved beyond its old savagery. Q continued to appear to the crew of the Enterprise-D, usually with some new adventure that the crew would rather find themselves and not brought to them, or thrust upon them. Q is an interesting reoccurring character and I can always count on something interesting to happen when he’s around. Q is one of only four characters to appear in all three Star Trek series based in the 24th century; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.
"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."The Borg generally didn’t open communications with others, but if they did they chose a single drone to speak for the Collective (hive mind and all so it worked for them). The Borg have a queen, the Borg Queen, but the nature of her role is a bit murky. As far as religion, the closet thing they have to one is a near-reverence for particle 010 (Omega molecule that is highly unstable and is believed to be the most powerful substance known to exist; the explosion of one molecule could destroy all of subspace within several light years). The Borg consider the particle to be an expression of perfection (even though one molecule destroyed 29 Borg vessels and 600,000 drones).
What makes the Borg so strong and near impossible to defeat, is their technology. The Borg’s technology is a combination of technologies assimilated from other cultures and technology developed within the Collective in order to overcome obstacles to its goals. If there is a problem it couldn’t solve, the entire Collective would work in concert to consider all possible solutions and use the one determined to be most efficient. By using the unique skills of each drone for a task, the Collective could engineer new technologies at an astounding pace. Their speed is so quick when adapting that they could modulate their shields and weapons to be effective against most ships and energy weapons in seconds. Borg ships are usually common geometric shapes, the most common being the Borg cube and Borg sphere. The ships were highly decentralized and without a clear bridge, engineering, or living areas. Their ships could analyze opponent’s weapons systems and adapt defenses within seconds. If the ship was hit, the ship would begin repairing itself.
The Q Continuum
The death of a Q was said to cause chaos in the Continuum. When one of the Q killed himself to end the stagnation in the Continuum, the Continuum entered a massively destructive civil war. The two factions constructed weapons that could compromise the immortality of a Q. When the weapons were fired in the Continuum, massive damage to subspace occurred and some stars in normal space went supernova. Subspace eventually became so damaged that the Q outside of the Continuum lost their powers and immortality. Eventually a new Q was born and a cease fire was called. The damage was restored and the Q went back to being near omnipotent and invincible.
Q
Q is a member of the Q (confusing I know). He is considered to be obnoxious, interfering, and a pest. While he demonstrates superior capabilities, his mindset is unlike what Federation scientists expected for a powerful being. But under all his irritating personality, Q seems to have a hidden agenda that generally have the best interests of humanity at their core. The Federation first encountered Q when he appeared on the USS Enterprise-D. He warned the crew that Humanity should return to their home star system or be destroyed. When the crew resisted, he put Humanity on trial with Captain Picard and his command crew as representatives. Q accused Humanity of being a “dangerous, savage child-race.” Eventually, Picard was able to convince Q that Humanity had evolved beyond its old savagery. Q continued to appear to the crew of the Enterprise-D, usually with some new adventure that the crew would rather find themselves and not brought to them, or thrust upon them. Q is an interesting reoccurring character and I can always count on something interesting to happen when he’s around. Q is one of only four characters to appear in all three Star Trek series based in the 24th century; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.
The Borg and Q are two of my favorite adversaries in the Star Trek universe. The Borg because they are near impossible to beat. Q because shenanigans and I can usually count on a few one liners when he is around. What's next for me in regards to Star Trek? I don't know. At some point I'll give my opinion on Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and eventually the films. I have a whole year to recognize the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. So for now, Sanders out.
The Borg sounds a lot like the Combine in the Half-Life franchise and the Q sound like this one advanced race in the Aliens franchise whose name escapes me right now. I can give an explanation of who the Combine and these aliens are if you want.
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