The Borg knew all about the Federation in multiple ways, disregarding the 200-year subspace message from "Regeneration" (should've received c. 2352):
- They assimilated the Hansens in 2356.
- They assimilated the USS Tombaugh in 2362, which was only a week out at most from Federation space.
- They were poking around the Romulan Neutral Zone outposts in 2364.
All of this gave them enough info to be aware of the Federation, and via their databanks, a good knowledge of the region and powers. The appearance in 2365 showed the Borg that the Enterprise in particular had some access to a higher power (Q), and they learned all about that power when they assimilated Picard the next year.
Why didn't the Borg send 20,000 cubes in to assimilate Earth? Because they found out it was a fluke, and not advanced enough for more than an occasional scoutship to keep them active. First Contact was a neat experiment, if only to close the time loop necessitated by the Regeneration message, but it was just another single cube lost and some good testing on how the Dominion had advanced Starfleet.
The Borg, of course, were mostly busy with trying to take over fluidic space and their own internal problems at the time.
- They assimilated the Hansens in 2356.
- They assimilated the USS Tombaugh in 2362, which was only a week out at most from Federation space.
- They were poking around the Romulan Neutral Zone outposts in 2364.
All of this gave them enough info to be aware of the Federation, and via their databanks, a good knowledge of the region and powers. The appearance in 2365 showed the Borg that the Enterprise in particular had some access to a higher power (Q), and they learned all about that power when they assimilated Picard the next year.
Why didn't the Borg send 20,000 cubes in to assimilate Earth? Because they found out it was a fluke, and not advanced enough for more than an occasional scoutship to keep them active. First Contact was a neat experiment, if only to close the time loop necessitated by the Regeneration message, but it was just another single cube lost and some good testing on how the Dominion had advanced Starfleet.
The Borg, of course, were mostly busy with trying to take over fluidic space and their own internal problems at the time.
...I failed to realize something that I outright stated in my post?
