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Borg cube

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Borg cube
Vessel of the class
Affiliation: Borg Collective
Type: Cube
Active: 24th century
Crew complement: up to ~130,000
Speed: Transwarp capable
Armament: Torpedoes, cutting beams, magnetometric guided charges, shield neutralizer; tractor beams
Defenses: Deflector shields, subspace field, electromagnetic field, regeneration

The Borg cube was the primary vessel of the Borg Collective.

Contents

[edit] Encounters

The first officially publicized Federation contact with a Borg cube took place in 2365, when the USS Enterprise-D encountered a single cube in System J-25. However, civilian researchers on board the USS Raven had previously tracked a Borg cube a decade earlier in 2353. (TNG: "Q Who"; VOY: "The Raven", "Dark Frontier")

Every Starfleet encounter with a single cube resulted in heavy losses. 39 out of 40 ships were lost at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2366, and dozens more in the incursion of 2373. (TNG: "The Drumhead"; Star Trek: First Contact) Normally a single Borg cube was capable of eliminating all the elements of civilization from an entire planet.

When the USS Enterprise-D experienced malfunctions due to Wesley Crusher's nanites in 2366, sensors erroneously detected an approaching (nonexistent) cube. (TNG: "Evolution")

Thousands of cubes were estimated to exist in Borg space in the Delta Quadrant; the largest grouping of cubes directly observed by Starfleet was fifteen, by the crew of the USS Voyager in late 2373. (VOY: "Scorpion") When describing the assimilation of his world, Arturis said that hundreds of cubes surrounded his homeworld before its destruction. (VOY: "Hope and Fear")

[edit] Technical data

[edit] Design

The Borg cube was extremely large in size, measuring 28 cubic kilometers in volume, with each side measuring more than three kilometers. (TNG: "Q Who") In 2366, Commander Shelby estimated that a cube could remain operative even if 78% was destroyed. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

[edit] Propulsion systems

Depiction of cube entering a transwarp conduit.

Borg cubes were capable of both warp and transwarp velocities, in part, thanks to their network of subspace corridors and hubs. When a Borg cube enters a transwarp conduit it projects a structural integrity field ahead of the Cube to compensate for the extreme gravimetric shear. (VOY: "Inside Man") To compensate for the extreme temporal stress while traveling through these corridors, and remain in temporal sync, a chroniton field was also projected through specially designed conduits. (VOY: "Shattered")

[edit] Tactical systems

The main tactic employed by Cubes when engaging another vessel was to seize it with a tractor beam and render its defenses useless by draining its shields. Thus, the cube could perform any type of action, ranging from destruction to assimilation, on the defenseless ship. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds"; DS9: "Emissary")

Following the failure of enemy shields, the cube usually engaged a cutting beam to slice sections of the ship for assimilation.(TNG: "Q Who"; ENT: "Regeneration")

Borg cube sending out a tractor and cutting beam

USS Enterprise, victimized by Borg tractor and cutting beam

Borg cube cutting into a starship hull

The cutting beam could also be used as a weapon to destroy vessels showing resistance. During the Battle of Wolf 359, the Excelsior-class USS Melbourne and the Miranda-class USS Saratoga were annihilated by cutting beams, after their shields had been drained by the tractor beam. (DS9: "Emissary")

Borg cube firing shield neutralizer

Borg cube's shield neutralizer effects

Another tactic used to disable to vessels fleeing a cube was to fire a type of shield neutralizer. Three shield neutralizer energy bursts were capable of disabling a Galaxy-class's shields.

The cubes could also use dispersal fields to disrupt the sensor and transporter function of enemy vessels. (VOY: "Collective"; TNG: "Q Who")

In addition, a Borg cube's weaponry also included disruptor beams and torpedoes. During the 2366-2367 incursion, a cube obliterated three ships of the Mars Defense Perimeter with torpedoes. The concentrated fire of three Borg disruptor beams was able to reduce USS Voyager's ablative generator-deployed armor hull integrity, a highly advanced future Starfleet defense technology, to 40%. (VOY: "Endgame")

[edit] Support vehicles

Borg Sphere emerges from a cube

Ships up to the size of a Borg sphere were able to be docked inside a Borg cube for assimilation, supplies or escape purposes.

At least one Borg cube, and possibly others of its class, contained a Borg sphere. The only known recorded purpose of a sphere disengaged from a Borg cube was for escape. The sphere is the only documented support vehicle a Borg cube possessed. (Star Trek: First Contact)

[edit] Interior design

Borg cubes were typically manned by "thousands of drones," and could vary in capacity anywhere from 5,000 to 64,000 to 129,000 drones. (VOY: "Collective", "Unimatrix Zero", "Dark Frontier")

Borg cubes were highly decentralized in structure. No specific bridge, living quarters or engineering section was observed. All vital systems were spread throughout the ship, which, along with the presence of a regenerative outer hull, made it highly resistant to damage and system failures. (TNG: "Q Who")

Information and Collective communication were routed through power waveguide conduits and distribution nodes. Its exterior design consisted of perpendicular and diagonal grids, struts, and weaponry, allowing a characteristic green light to emanate from within. (TNG: "Q Who", "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Some vessels are equipped with Maturation chambers. (TNG: "Q Who"; VOY: "Collective")

The internal pressure aboard a Borg cube was two kilopascals above what would be normal on a Federation starship. The humidity was on average 92%, and the temperature was at 39.1 °C. (Star Trek: First Contact) The atmosphere contained traces of tetryon particles. (VOY: "Infinite Regress") The infrastructure was made of tritanium, an ore known for its extreme hardness. (VOY: "Endgame")

An interior view of a Borg cube

An interior view of another section of a Borg cube

The Delta Flyer in the hangar bay of a Borg cube

Borg nursery

Viewscreen

[edit] Ships of the class

[edit] Appendices

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Background

The Borg cube studio model

In the script for "Q Who", the Borg cube is described as being "box like, with none of the aerodynamic qualities associated with most spaceships including the Enterprise. This is a case of form following function."

Ronald D. Moore suggested that the vulnerable spots on the Borg cube in Star Trek: First Contact were waste extraction. (AOL chat, 1998)

[edit] Studio Models

The original concept for the Borg cube was conceived by Maurice Hurley and designed by Rick Sternbach. The original studio model was built by Kim Bailey of Starlight Effects from "the simple embellishments that Rick Sternbach and Richard James had created based on the description of the cubical ship given in the script." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, Star Trek Encyclopedia) The model was essentially scratch-built, constructed out of miscellaneous bits and pieces lying around, most notably model kit spruces (the bits left over after the kits parts have been cut out of their retaining pieces) applied in multiple layers and lit from within. The three-foot model was used in "Q Who", both episodes of "The Best of Both Worlds", and "Emissary".

As of 2009, the original Borg cube studio model, having never been modified and escaping the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection and It's A Wrap! sale and auction -auctions, is still in the possession of Paramount Pictures and has been on tour displays such as Star Trek World Tour, Star Trek: The Exhibition, and Star Trek: The Adventure as late as 2008.[1]

For "Q Who", an enlarged section of a side was built to show the self-regenerating capacities of the cube. Out of frame a blowtorch was applied to the partial model and the footage shot was inserted in reverse in the final film. Almost discarded after use, Dan Curry saved the partial model.[2]

A smaller two-foot model was built by Gary Hutzel and Dennis Hoerter for the finale of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". Built the same way as the larger model, it was blown up by Dick Brownfield. (TNG Season 4 DVD disc 7, "New Life, New Civilizations")

When it came to producing Star Trek: First Contact, the producers deemed the original studio model too crude and not detailed enough to hold up to big screen requirements and had John Eaves redesign the cube. After experimenting with an oblong design, the producers decided to go along with the established cube design. Eaves' final design, a more detailed and compact looking design, resulting in less transparency at the edges, was approved in March 1996 and sent over to the model shop at Industrial Light & Magic. Model makers John Goodson (supervising), Barbara Affonso, Giovanni Donovan and Jon Foreman constructed the 30 inch model out of layers of photo-etched brass etch, suggested by Bill George with modeled styrene pieces placed sporadically throughout. The great intricacy of the brass etch gave the model a distinctly more detailed and varying look from the television model, though it was actually smaller."There were layers and layers of detail, five inches deep, which helped convey the complexity and scale of this ship.", Alex Jaeger observed. (Cinefex, No.69, 1997, page 109) Internally lit by neon lighting, the light pattern was broken up by a patterned eighteen-inch lightbox to suggest different compartments and light sources within the model. During the battle, damage to the Cube was simulated by removing specifically designed model sections, with a burn then airbrushed around the damaged area. Also built into the model was a five inch long motion controlled circular passageway for the Borg sphere's escape. (In post-production, the Sphere was composited into the footage of the Cube since the Sphere model was actually almost as large as the Cube model.) Used only once, though footage taken for the movie was later used in "Unity", the model, known as Lot #105, being part of the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction, estimated at $1,000-$1,500, was eventually sold on 5 October 2006 with a winning bid of US$80,000 (US$96,000 including buyer's premium).

As USS Voyager approached Borg space in season 3 of the series, it was clear they would run into their ships sooner or later as they would in Unity. Since the SFX of the series was already in the midst of the transition from traditional miniature photography to CGI, the decision was quickly made to make the Borg vessels CGI models.[3] The model was built at Foundation Imaging by Emile Edwin Smith, who based it on the Next Generation and First Contact physical models, "Well, when I built the new cube for Voyager I based everything off image maps and then modeled around them. To make it real simple I had an underlying cube that was mapped with an image. I then took the main image that I had created into modeler and started building on it. Basically it was large areas of chunkiness raised above the inner cube with many of the detailed areas of the map modeled on these areas. I also interconnected the pieces with tubes and added edge pieces to make it look more dimensional and 3d on the edges.".[4] Making its debut in Unity, this model was used in every subsequent episode the cube made an appearance in, though some stock footage taken from the First Contact model was also used.[5]

[edit] Apocrypha

Borg cubes make appearances in the Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II games. In the second game, a "fusion cube" and "tactical fusion cube" are seen, and used by those playing as the Borg. The first consists of eight regular cubes connected to each other and is the size of a planetoid, such as Pluto. The second is composed of 8 tactical cubes connected to each other and is the size of a planet, such as Mars. Both are designated battleships and hold the assimilator beam device and three "captured" special weapons taken from an enemy race.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Borg_cube"
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