Re: Is Picard responsible for the Borg's success against the Federatio
Unless your ass is saved by a deus ex machine.
Unless your ass is saved by a deus ex machine.
Unless your ass is saved by a deus ex machine.
Technology levels....I have looked at a number of scales for tech levels. I found the Richter Scale. I noticed that the Breen and the Borg are listed, so I think this is a scale adjusted to the 24th century.
The Federation's tech level seems to correspond to the letter "N", a Technocracy Age.
I suspect that the Dominion would be listed as "O", Techno-power Age.
Iconia and the Borg are listed as "P", Super-techno Power Age.
At least that ship doesn't have to face a Cube that has already adapted to Starfleet phasers.
(Although it may have adapted to Starfleet photon torpedoes, just like the one in "Q Who?" had without Picard ever having fired any at it. Was that because the Borg were already old friends with antimatter explosives - or because the Borg had had the opportunity to scan the relevant E-D databases, via those Drones they sent aboard, before Picard started firing at them?)
Timo Saloniemi
Isn't it likely that the Borg had adapted to photon torpedoes previously due to the Borg ship that destroyed the starbases and colonies along the Romulan Neutral Zone? Someone must have fired back at some point during the attack, though that wouldn't explain why they hadn't also adapted to phaser fire before they encountered it in "Q Who".
So anything that happens to the borg once, they will adapt?
If the encounter had turned out to be a misunderstanding, the Borg were actually a reasonable bunch and Q was testing Picard, destroying the cube would have been the murder of thousands of crew on a crippled ship!
As Sisko points out in DS9, Starfleet has principles and Starfleet officers and crew accept they may have to die for those when they sign up. I doubt many Starfleet Captains would have finished off the Borg ship in those circumstances.
As for the Borg being one tech level beyond the Dominion....
A determined assault against the Federation by the Borg would be a case of...Bambi meets Godzilla.
Actually, in the novels, a Borg punitive raid ravaged the Federation. I think it was the Borg equivalent of a spanking.
You may recall when Picard met Q at "Farpoint" it was his decision to NOT fire and not destroy that was the correct answer. He was probably conditioned that "Q" set him up with a solveable puzzle. Certainly that was the typical answer. Only in the Mirror Universe do they shoot first and ask questions later.
That being said -while we don't know what would have happened if Picard had listened to Guinan / Q and just kept shooting, it likely would have done more damage (at least) and perhaps let the Enterprise get away by running. I personally find it hard to believe the Borg would be destroyed - i'd think they could put up a shield even if 75% damaged - but it might wound the Borg enough to start the two year ride home.
However, putting 10 photon torpedoes on the cube on a "dead man" switch during the first visit would be prudent!
In any event - Picard NOT following up
Even if they had gotten away sooner, the Borg still would have had records of the encounter. So they'd still have a pretty good grasp of the Federation's military and technological capabilities, and could easily find their way to Earth. So I don't think that it ultimately would have changed much.
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