Forum:Borg v. Changeling

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I was wondering if there were any Borg v. Dominion fights ever recorded during Star Trek. Furthermore would a Borg be able to assimilate a Changeling?

To my knowledge, there hasn't been any such interaction. As to the latter, we don't really know. I would speculate that it might be an initial problem, but the Borg are nothing if not adaptive. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 00:18, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't recall which one, but one of the DS9 Relaunch novels(one of the Mission gamma ones, I think) shows the Defiant coming across a wrecked Borg ship on which a surviving Borg attempted to assimilate a changeling, but the changeling was able to gather and expel the nanoprobes from its 'body'. So, according to one author anyway, they couldn't do it. Keep in mind that is non-canon.--31dot 00:23, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Can a changeling turn into a rock? If I was a changeling, I would turn into a rock and the nanoprobes would just get stuck. OH! I got another idea. Where does a changeling's mass go when he turns into something real small like a shotglass (it happened once) or a mouse (that happened too)? Wherever it is, I bet the changeling can put all of his self there, and the nanoprobes wouldn't have anything left to assimilate. 76.200.153.117 03:06, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

As far as we know, the changings are not energy beings; as such, they are restrained by the law of the conservation of matter. Meaning that they can not 'lose' or 'gain' mass. Size is not a problem here, though upper and lower limits are assumed to exist. What can be assumed is that the cell structure of a Changling is highly elastic, amorphous, independant of central structures,and more then likely, not constrained to each other. This would imply that a Changling's inert state (think Odo in a bucket) that the cells in his body are not at their densest point; that they can still 'collapse' upon themselves, possibly in a similar way our muscles do. – Farfallen 13:43, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

How much do you think Odo weighs when he is humanoid-sized? Do you think he weighs as little as a shotglass? See, he got on Quark's tray with some other glasses and Quark carried the tray without knowing that the weight of a humanoid was on there. So unless Odo has wicked low density when he's a big shape, then, yeah, the mass goes somewhere or comes from somewhere. 76.247.44.235 06:52, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Ah the mistaking of weight and mass; easy to do, really. Well, as to Odo's 'weight' (assuming 1 standard gravity being the baseline), I couldn't tell you, nor do i think it ever comes up in canon star trek; who's to say that Odo does not weight a couple ounces? Then again, maybe (given your example) the mass does go somewhere, though i find it hard to believe. If it does come from/go somewhere, then that would be all the more reason why the borg would have such a hard time assimilating them – Farfallen 20:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Unless the gravitational constant is changing, there's no "mistaking of weight and mass" - they're always directly proportional. Of course that proportion changes with gravity's force, but otherwise mass and weight have a constant relationship. For Odo to change his weight, he has to change either his mass or the local gravitational constant. Well, I find the second of these even harder to believe than you find the first. Yet, we do know that Odo's weight changes with his size, because Quark couldn't carry him up the mountain when he was humanoid-sized and injured, yet when Odo's bird-sized he's light enough to fly and when he's dufflebag-sized someone can carry him without suspecting it's not really a dufflebag. Shotglass too. 76.200.145.14 02:43, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I do think the makers of DS9 and/or Voyager missed a great opportunity there, not featuring any Borg vs. Dominion fights. Think of it: A Borg-assimilated Dominion, millions of Jem'Hadar turned into some sort of "über-Borg".....now that would be fatal for the Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers. I have wondered for a long time why it never happened: with their network of transwarp conduits the Borg made it to the Alpha and Beta Quadrant easily, so it is only logical to assume that they could reach the Gamma Quadrant as well.--Mr. Tuvok 19:18, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

I think it would happen eventually, but they are on two different ends of the galaxy, sure the Borg could get there, but any military leader knows that you have to hold a territory you conquer, the Borg will aim to control more of the Alpha and Beta quadrants first.

It would be interesting, the Dominion is probably miliitarily outmatched by the Borg, but the Founders would not be assimilated, and the Jem Hadar would also be difficult to assimilate because they are drug addicted, though perhaps the nanites can cure that. It would be a matchup to see, especially the different military vessels, quick, agile and nimble versus big, slow (at battle speed) and powerful.