Hey there, does anyone remember what kind of weapons the Borg used for orbital bombardment when they invaded and attacked planets? I think we had only seen tractor beams and "cutting" beams onscreen?
Don't remember specifically what was said in Destiny, but the Cube in BOBW II used some sort of energy bolt or projectile weapon when one-shotting the Mars Defense Perimeter ships - see here for example.
To the best of my recollection, they just used their standard arsenal, as opposed to any special, secret weapons. We saw plenty of cases of the Borg using what seem to be standard phasers and photons, particularly during the conflict with Species 8472, but even on other occasions, from First Contact to conflict with Voyager. They weren’t tractors or cutting beams, they were active, offensive weapons of the same variety used by Federation ships.
I remember they were red beams, because I was like, THIS IS GREG COX GIVING VOYAGER BLUE PHASERS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!
Well in Destiny they were just trying to destroy everything. They weren’t trying to capture or assimilate anything. Probably just your standard weaponry.
Heck, the Borg wouldn't even need weaponry if they wanted to lay waste to a planet. Just accelerate an asteroid -- they'd be easy enough to find in a solar system -- and push it into the planet. Drop a dinosaur killer on a planet, done. Drop multiple if need be. I've also given thought to what would happen if a warp core breach happened near a solar coronasphere. Would the matter-antimatter explosion suffice to trigger a stellar explosion?
I assume that if one Borg capital ship could kick Starfleet's ass at Wolf 359, then any Borg task force could easily pull off what Starfleet does with General Order 24 (Garth at Antos IV, Reyes at Gamma Tauri IV, Kirk at Eminiar VII), just with superior firepower.
I don't remember if they were ever named, but in First Contact they bombarded Montana with green glowy light blobs (presumably some type of torpedo?).