Why didn't they develop Aceton Assimilators against the Borg?

[BlastHardcheese]

So in "Booby Trap" the enterprise encountered what could be the most effective weapon for defeating enemy ships without firing a shot.

I'm surprised the Federation wouldn't pursue that technology against threats like the Borg. I'm sure the Borg would eventually adapt, but it could've at least slowed them down for a while.

A weapon that eats all the energy you throw at it and counters it with increasingly lethal radiation levels would seem like an excellent tactic. I suppose it's just another interesting plot development never to be seen again like with many trek episodes.

 

[SonicRanger]

Because the Borg know all about them -- they assimilated Picard after "Booby Trap."

 

[Green Shirt]

Because the Borg know all about them -- they assimilated Picard after "Booby Trap."

The Borg were quite adept at covering their own Acetons.

 

[BlastHardcheese]

Because the Borg know all about them -- they assimilated Picard after "Booby Trap."

The Borg were also intimately famliar with the standard phasers and photon torpedoes that come standard on all Fed ships, yet they were quite capable of scorching the hull of the cube in First Contact. Dramatic license can do wonders by getting established canon to go take a walk for a couple of hours.

Also not even Geordie or Data, let alone Picard stated they knew how those assimilators worked, much less had an example of one to take back for study.

I'm sure the Feds could've developed assimilators of their own design and employed them at the Mars defense perimeter, but that's a whole other kettle of fish. (I mean come on, repainted typhoon submarine model kits for a defense?)

 

[gastrof]

The Borg were also intimately famliar with the standard phasers and photon torpedoes that come standard on all Fed ships, yet they were quite capable of scorching the hull of the cube in First Contact. Dramatic license can do wonders by getting established canon to go take a walk for a couple of hours. ...

The Federation was well aware (as mentioned in the story) that Picard had been taken by the Borg at one time, and no doubt that many other Starfleet officers were now part of the collective.

This only meant that the Borg were familiar with phasers and torpedoes used AT THE TIME THOSE OFFICERS WERE ASSIMILATED.

There's no telling what changes to those two weapon systems might have been developed before the events of FIRST CONTACT.

While the Borg managed to figure out the potential of the deflector-based weapon used in TBOBW, someone's "thinking outside of the box" might have led to changes in phasers and torpedoes the Borg would never have anticipated.

 

[BolianAuthor]

So in "Booby Trap" the enterprise encountered what could be the most effective weapon for defeating enemy ships without firing a shot.

I'm surprised the Federation wouldn't pursue that technology against threats like the Borg. I'm sure the Borg would eventually adapt, but it could've at least slowed them down for a while.

A weapon that eats all the energy you throw at it and counters it with increasingly lethal radiation levels would seem like an excellent tactic. I suppose it's just another interesting plot development never to be seen again like with many trek episodes.

This is a very good point/question, and the only thing I can think of, is maybe the UFP thought the Borg might have already been exposed to something like it... consider how the weapon works... a lot like a Tholian Web, eating all your energy, so you cannot escape. It's not out of the question to think that the Borg may have come across such a culture before, that used a weapon along the same concept.

 

[Timo]

I'd just go back to BlastHardCheese's comment and postulate that our heroes don't know how to build an aceton assimilator.

The Promellians and their enemy the Menthars had starships that Picard thought were less advanced than his own - but not necessarily by much. Perhaps the Menthars had better R&D than the Federation, and were ahead on some fields by a couple of centuries?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[ALF]

Because the Borg know all about them -- they assimilated Picard after "Booby Trap."

The Borg were quite adept at covering their own Acetons.

And they likely don't subscribe to the belief that Acetons speak louder than words.



All talk and no Acetons.

For every Aceton, there is an opposite and equal Reaceton.

 

[BolianAuthor]

You know... I wonder if a weapon like this could work on a reverse principle... instead of draining power, it feeds a ship power... without end, to the point where the systems on the ship surge or overload, and just burn out, unable to be repaired?