"Stitch In Time" question (possible spoilers)

[Cybersnark]

Well, Cardassian territory is on the far side of the Federation from the Azure Nebula, and the Borg were described as spreading out in a sphere, killing targets as they reached them. They wouldn't have reached Cardassian space until long after Earth was gone, so probably the only Cardassian casualties were those ships at the nebula.

Exactly the opposite of the Dominion War, where the bulk of the fighting happened in their proverbial back yard.

 

[JeremyWWoolward]

^ Maybe, but then again, if you looked at "Star Charts", and the location of some of the worlds described, striking Cardassia wouldn't have been all that implausible, considering the Aventine was due to report to Trill in order to protect it, and Trill's within the "general" area of Bajor and Cardassia.

 

[Christopher]

^Maybe so, but there's no actual evidence to suggest that Cardassia was substantially damaged by the Borg invasion. Memory Beta's page on the invasion lists no Cardassian worlds among those damaged or destroyed. So yeah, maybe it's plausible that it could've happened, but to all indications, it didn't.

 

[Sci]

I seem to remember a line in Lost Souls about the Borg being projected to hit Bajor 18 hours after hitting Earth. Since Bajor seems to be closer to Earth than Cardassia, and since the Borg were halted in their expansion when they reached Earth, that means that, presumably, the Borg never entered Cardassian space.

I'd imagine the Cardassian military is hurting pretty bad with the loss of its contribution to the allied expeditionary force in the Azure Nebula, though. That might lead to a lot more piracy on the Cardassian periphery.

 

[SicOne]

According to Star Charts, Bajor and Cardassia are only about five light-years apart, with Bajor closer to Sol than Cardassia. I think the DS9TM also said the same.

Additionally, looking at the sphere of destruction outward from the Azure Nebula, by the time the Borg were recalled to the Nebula they would have barely brushed "southeastern" Cardassian territory; unless a Borg force proceeded directly for Cardassian space without stopping to engage in battle between their emergence in the Azure Nebula and their retreat back to the AN, I don't see where they would have significantly invaded Cardassian territory at all.

Regarding Cardassian ship losses in the Nebula, we don't know how many they actually sent. I was under the opinion that it was more of a small task force, mainly to show solidarity with the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans (and Talarians?) for political posturing than Bacco actually expecting the Cards to make the difference. Additionally, it seems likely that the majority of Starfleet losses were not in the nebula itself, but in Federation/Klingon/Romulan space while defending planets and installations...and without similar losses defending Cardassian territory, could it be that the Cardassian fleet now outnumbers Starfleet, post-Destiny?

 

[Christopher]

According to Star Charts, Bajor and Cardassia are only about five light-years apart, with Bajor closer to Sol than Cardassia.

Or rather, their projections onto the 2-dimensional plane of the map are about 5 ly apart. There's no telling from the map alone how far apart they may be in the "vertical" plane. It's always important to keep that in mind when looking at Star Charts maps. (This was one advantage of the 1980 Star Trek Maps. It showed both the "top" and "side" views of the Federation so you could see it in three dimensions.)

I think the DS9TM also said the same.

Okay, that's a more reliable source of information. It says they're 5.25 ly apart. So that would mean they're both at the same "height" relative to the plane of the Star Charts map.

Additionally, looking at the sphere of destruction outward from the Azure Nebula, by the time the Borg were recalled to the Nebula they would have barely brushed "southeastern" Cardassian territory...

Galactic north and south are perpendicular to the plane of the map. The Y axis on the Alpha/Beta Quadrant maps is coreward-rimward. And to the right is antispinward, which by planetary analogy would actually be western, not eastern. So you mean rimward-antispinward Cardassian territory. "Southeastern" would be on the left side of the map and below the plane of the page.

; unless a Borg force proceeded directly for Cardassian space without stopping to engage in battle between their emergence in the Azure Nebula and their retreat back to the AN, I don't see where they would have significantly invaded Cardassian territory at all.

Agreed. There's no evidence that Cardassian space was hit by the Borg, and every reason to believe it wasn't.

Regarding Cardassian ship losses in the Nebula, we don't know how many they actually sent.

According to Mere Mortals, they sent one battle group. That probably means around 7-10 ships of various sizes, going by what Wikipedia says about naval battle groups today.

Additionally, it seems likely that the majority of Starfleet losses were not in the nebula itself, but in Federation/Klingon/Romulan space while defending planets and installations...and without similar losses defending Cardassian territory, could it be that the Cardassian fleet now outnumbers Starfleet, post-Destiny?

Immensely unlikely, considering that the Cardassian fleet was devastated in the Dominion War along with Cardassia's infrastructure. They've spent the intervening five years just struggling to feed their people and rebuild their cities -- they could hardly afford a massive military buildup, and the new, post-Central-Command regime is too smart to have such skewed priorities. And their whole empire is tiny compared to the Federation, so even at their peak, they wouldn't have had more than a fraction of the number of ships the Federation had.

 

[Cybersnark]

Immensely unlikely, considering that the Cardassian fleet was devastated in the Dominion War along with Cardassia's infrastructure. They've spent the intervening five years just struggling to feed their people and rebuild their cities -- they could hardly afford a massive military buildup, and the new, post-Central-Command regime is too smart to have such skewed priorities. And their whole empire is tiny compared to the Federation, so even at their peak, they wouldn't have had more than a fraction of the number of ships the Federation had.

Which would also explain why the Jem'Hadar were doing the lion's share of the fighting during the Dominion War.

Come to think of it, it might also explain why the Dominion seemed so happy to see the Breen; not just for their weaponry, but when they joined the war the Breen fleet might well have been bigger than the remaining Cardassian forces.

 

[Christopher]

Which would also explain why the Jem'Hadar were doing the lion's share of the fighting during the Dominion War.

Exactly. By themselves, the Cardassians were never more than a minor threat to the Federation, beyond those worlds proximate to their border. Note how the Enterprise and Starfleet as a whole seemed to be on an entirely peacetime footing for the first couple of seasons of TNG, only for us to learn later (via "The Wounded"'s retcon) that they'd been at war with Cardassia that whole time. So that war must've been small potatoes from the UFP's viewpoint, not major enough to affect the bulk of Starfleet.

It was only when Cardassia allied with the Dominion that the Federation as a whole came under threat. And Cardassia really only served as a base of operations for the Dominion's war against the Federation.

Come to think of it, it might also explain why the Dominion seemed so happy to see the Breen; not just for their weaponry, but when they joined the war the Breen fleet might well have been bigger than the remaining Cardassian forces.

Going by Star Charts, Breen space is a lot bigger than Cardassian space. So it stands to reason that the Breen have more ships, more resources, more personnel.