Third Time's the Charm

[Baffalo]

I was reading Worlds Without End (A Trek/Wars crossover) when I happened across Picard's speculation that the Borg, having attacked Earth twice and failed, might decide to pull out all the stops the next go around with a fleet of ships. I got to thinking about it and came up with the following:

On Stardate 43989.1 (2366) the Borg sent a single Cube into Federation space with the intent to conquer the Federation and assimilate it and her member worlds into the Collective. Despite overwhelming the fleet at Wolf 359, the Borg are ultimately shut down by Data board the Enterprise.

Stardate 50893.5 (2373) the Borg send another single Cube into Federation space, though it is detected by Deep Space 5 and intercepted by the Federation fleet under Admiral Hayes. The fleet engages the Cube and manages to weaken its defenses, but suffers severe casualties in the process. The single Borg sphere is released and allowed to travel to the past, where the events of Star Trek First Contact are played out.

Approximately Stardate 64600 (2387), the Borg will attempt another invasion of the Federation. The Romulan Star Empire, weakened by the coup instigated by Shinzon on Stardate 56844.9, will be reluctant to assist the Federation as it tries to sort itself out with most of its higher government destroyed. The Klingons might try to intercept the Borg, but it is unknown. The Borg, having learned from their previous encounters, will attempt to use at least two Cubes, possibly more, and possibly even staggering the attacks to prevent the Federation from recovering between attacks.

The resulting attack will result in all of Earth's defenses reduced and overwhelmed. Those ships not assimilated in the attack will either be destroyed or will flee, hoping to regroup with other vessels. With full access to the Federation's knowledge and information, the Borg will know all Starfleet encryption codes and where their major bases are. Dispatching cubes as necessary, the Federation fleet is slowly ground to nothing before the Borg onslaught and either assimilated or destroyed. Worlds will fall as order collapses and panic sets in.

The Klingons, knowing it will only be a matter of time, attempt to stop the Borg. Their attacks might be successful, but that is difficult to determine. Regardless, with the assimilation of Earth, the Federation is severely weakened without the leadership of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command. The Federation may or may not fall to the Borg, but it will be forever damaged as the population of the planet is either destroyed or slowly forced out of the Collective, and the operation will probably take years, during which time the Federation might not be able to survive.

The only things that might change, aside from combatants, will be the date. We know the Federation exists in 2387, so the Borg must attack after Spock travels back in time. So the question I have is, if the Borg manage to begin assimilating Earth, how bad will things become, and will the Federation ever recover from such a blow, assuming it can drive the Borg back out.

[JME2]

This is pretty much what happened in the TNG relaunch novels that followed Nemesis, albeit somewhat subverted. The Borg survived the events of "Endgame", but Janeway's actions did serious damage. As a result, the Borg decided to deal with the Feds -- and by extension the rest of the Alpha/Beta Quadrants -- once and for all. The subversion is that while thousands of Cubes invaded the UFP and their allies, they abandoned assimilation in favor of eradication.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I think I heard that the series was pretty entertaining is that true?

Also, did Janeway really die?

[Baffalo]

I think I heard that the series was pretty entertaining is that true?

Also, did Janeway really die?

The Alpha Quadrant powers have a bit more of a chance, since the Borg actually manage to overwhelm a small Imperial fleet and the Executor. Ultimately futile but still, well done. There's a few love plots tossed around that are interesting in their choice of parallels, so definitely give it a read.
Spoiler

I don't know the fate of Janeway, but from what I've read so far, Voyager is in deep shit.

[JudgeKing]

I think I heard that the series was pretty entertaining is that true?

Also, did Janeway really die?

Spoiler

She was on the cube when it crashed into the sun in Before Dishonor, so yes she is dead.

[JME2]

I think I heard that the series was pretty entertaining is that true?

Also, did Janeway really die?

Spoiler

She was on the cube when it crashed into the sun in Before Dishonor, so yes she is dead.

Spoiler

Her physical form was destroyed, but her spirit was ascended to a higher plane of existence courtesy of Lady Q.

[Freefall]

Spoiler

Her physical form was destroyed, but her spirit was ascended to a higher plane of existence courtesy of Lady Q.

Please tell me that's a joke.

[JME2]

I'm afraid not.
Spoiler

But it's typical of the spirit of VGR: trying to have their cake and eat it...

[Molyneux]

For what it's worth, at some point before STO takes place, the Federation went into serious overdrive with production of ships and crews - taking player ships into account (and the size of the fleet battles the game accomodates), fleet size is massive compared with, say, the Dominion war. Hundreds or thousands of ships, produced at shipyards all over Federation space, seems appropriate - with a good number of real dedicated warships tossed in there - something that I think might give the Feds more of a fighting chance in case of a new Borg invasion.

[Jeremy]

So is that game worth purchasing?

[Srelex]

So is that game worth purchasing?

From what I hear, depends on your standards. From what I can tell, it's not the best MMO by far, but space battles are fun.

[Molyneux]

So is that game worth purchasing?

From what I hear, depends on your standards. From what I can tell, it's not the best MMO by far, but space battles are fun.

Quite so. They've been making strides in the right direction - the episodic content thing they've been doing is just a blast to play, especially with friends - but the game is still unpolished. Ground combat is middling - though improved on how it started out - and I do think the space combat holds up pretty damn well on its own as a unique MMO mechanic (though far more arcade-y than EVE Online).

[Jeremy]

Do Klingons get to use more ships than the Bird of Prey?

[Molyneux]

Do Klingons get to use more ships than the Bird of Prey?

Yes, they do - everyone starts out in a lowest-tier Bird of Prey, but as you move up in rank you can either stick with (increasingly powerful) Birds of Prey or move up to Raptors, cruisers, and (eventually) carriers as well.

They've made some strides to improve the Klingon side as well, but it's still shallow compared with the Federation side - not nearly as many missions, ships aren't as customizable, and there's a heavier emphasis on PVP.

[Slacker]

In the TNG/DS9 relaunch, the Borg do in fact bring the beatdown to the Alpha Quadrant and are only stopped at the last minute through Plot. That said, the major powers are all pretty hammered-Andor and a number of other important Federation worlds are either heavily damaged (Andoria) or utterely annihilated (Deneva), for example. Which sets up the relaunch setting, which is much more like ToS/movie era in terms of politics and shenanigans than the hippy utopia crap.