Why Did The Borg Only Send One Cube?

When most civilizations attack another world, they often send a fleet of ships to conquer other worlds. But the Borg usually sends just one cube to assimilate worlds and often succeeds in their mission. Why don’t they send a fleet of ships like other races?

The Borg only sent one cube because they pride themselves on efficiency, and it would be a waste of resources to send more than one cube. When races are not technologically advanced, they don’t have the same fight that an advanced race would have, so one cube is all it takes.

While the Borg usually sends one cube to assimilate worlds, they sometimes meet more powerful races that require more than one cube to accomplish their goal of assimilation. Keep going to discover which race is more powerful than the Borg.

Who Are the Borg?

The Borg are cybernetic creatures that combine biological and technological components in the same body. They are linked to a central, hive, mind that allows them to think and act as one being. One cube contains thousands of drones.

Borg are notorious for ripping apart entire civilizations in pursuit of perfection. The pursuit of perfection led to slowing down their assimilation rates due to the destruction of subspace.

The Omega Molecule

The omega molecule is an extremely unstable substance that, when synthesized with boronite ore, could become a potent power source for ships and other technology. When it is stable, the Borg regard it as the perfect life-form and ordered all drones to assimilate at all costs. It was their idea of perfection.

But when they started experimenting with the molecule, it destabilized quickly and destroyed subspace for several light-years around the explosion. They were unable to travel at warp speed, which slowed down their assimilation activities.

History of the Borg

While the Borg’s cohesive origin is unknown, different accounts put them as far back as 110,000 BCE when they assimilated the Hirogen homeworld. Like most humanoid species, the Borg evolved and re-evolved with each assimilation until they reached their current form, as seen in the 24th century.

There are a few species that are credited with giving rise to the Borg. A technologically advanced colony on the Havarrnus planet in the Delta quadrant developed a deadly virus. Because of their technology, they could replace certain parts of the body with cybernetic components, which allowed them to live and thrive and link their minds together.

They soon began a Collective and sought out other races to bring into their collective through assimilation. When people were assimilated, Borg drones planted nanoprobes into individuals, which turned some bodily systems into technology that works with biology to create a new person.

When Did Starfleet Encounter the Borg First?

In the original timeline, the first time that Starfleet encountered the Borg was when Q flung the Enterprise-D into the outermost parts of the galaxy 7,000 light-years from their current location. A Borg cube met them there and prepared to assimilate the Enterprise crew. As the Enterprise ran, they tried firing at the cube with no success.

The Borg cube fired shield weakening shots at the Enterprise to weaken their defenses, which was successful. As they tried to outrun and outfire the cube, Enterprise’s resources were being drained, and there was no way to escape. Captain Picard begged Q to rescue them and put them back where they were. Q complied, and they escaped for the moment.

But that incident brought humans into Borg’s eye, and it was only a matter of time before the Borg came to the Alpha quadrant to assimilate Earth.

The Borg Are Efficient and One Cube Is All They Need

Borg cubes are self-repairing, much like the drones they carry. When a ship is damaged, it immediately goes to work at repairs. Drones also have this ability, so when they get hurt, they go into their regeneration units until they are whole again.

Because the ships and drones are self-repairing, there is no need for an entire fleet to assimilate one planet. They are efficient, as they do the very least to achieve their objectives, so when sending drones to assimilate a planet or colony, one cube usually does the job. Most ships cannot match the firepower of a cube, and a fleet would be pointless.

In Rare Circumstances, a Fleet of Cubes Was Sent

According to official Starfleet records, millions of Borg cubes exist in the Delta quadrant, the most ever seen was fifteen cubes. Some species claim that an entire fleet of cubes came to their homeworld to assimilate their people. Arturis from the Delta quadrant told Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine that hundreds of Borg ships were sent to his world to assimilate his people.

One Species That the Borg Were Afraid Of

The Borg weren’t known to fear much of anything, the least of which most humanoid species. However, one species they were afraid of and would do anything at all costs to get rid of are Species 8472. They are the only species that could resist the Borg and the assimilation process.

Species 8472 exists in fluidic space, of which the Borg invaded to seek out new species to add new and unique distinctiveness to their Collective. After opening a rift in space, the Borg encounter the one species they cannot assimilate. Species 8472 resisted by destroying their cubes in a short time.

When Voyager runs into this species, they almost lose Harry Kim due to the infection the species planted in him. The doctor managed to cure him with modified Borg nanoprobes, which gave Janeway a bargaining chip to use with the Borg for safe passage through their space.

The Borg initially agreed only to go back on the deal once they could disable Species 8472.

The Voyager crew later learned that the Borg started the war with 8472 and used Voyager to defeat the one species they couldn’t defeat independently. It was too late by then, and Janeway had already made a deal with the Borg.

How Does Starfleet Keep Them From Assimilating Earth?

Because of how powerful the Borg is, it’s somewhat surprising that they haven’t succeeded in assimilating Earth and other planets of the Federation. It’s not for lack of trying, of course, as the Borg tried on several occasions to assimilate Earth.

They tried getting into the mind of humans by assimilating Captain Picard. However, he was rescued by his crew.

Years later, when they traveled to Earth, an entire fleet from Starfleet met them and engaged them in battle. When the Enterprise-E showed up, Picard directed the rest of the fleet to aim their weaponry to one section of the cube. The cube blew up, but a sphere traveled back in time to assimilate Earth. Picard and his crew traveled back with the cube and stopped the Borg.

Later, when the future Janeway traveled back through time to help the current Janeway get home sooner, they destroyed the Borg conduit, making it more difficult for the Borg to get to Earth.

Conclusion

No one wants to tangle with the Borg because they know it is a hopeless situation because of their self-repairing technology and their reputation of being ruthless in their tactics.

The Borg were efficient in their methods and didn’t use more resources than they needed to, so sending a fleet is useless and a waste of cubes. Since they can fight against multiple ships with one cube, there is no point in sending more. If a Borg cube is about to be destroyed, the rest of the Collective will know, and another cube will be sent.

Sources

Brad Burnie( Author )

Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming