posted
The way I see it Picard was able to destroy the cube in First Contact due to a residual telepahic link to the Borg Collective Consciousness. He was able to, if he focussed, perceive some of the internal commands being circulated in the "brain" of the Borg. Thus he could anticipate, if he waited until just the right moment, a window of opportunity when a small section of ship would lose shielding/be regenerating/house a critical root command group for just those few seconds.
Lucky for him. But what about everyone else? Well, if the Borg consciousness can be sensed by Picard there are only two possibile ways of it working. Technological transmissions, (they were "active over a subspace domain similar to a transporter" according to Data in BoBW2) If so, build a receiver to tap in and get useful info in battles. Perhaps tying in an "Interface" VR probe would allow swift reaction-time responses.
Alternatively, it could have been "true" telepathy, which could be difficult to harness with technology. So... (and this is the hilarious bit), perhaps Starfleet should equip each ship in a battle group with a few telepaths to tap in and anticipate.
Anyone who suggests Vulcan telepathy is due to prehistoric intereference from Species 8472 will get sat on.
------------------ "I cannot live out that life. That man is bereft of passion... and imagination! That is not who I am!"
posted
I think being able to hear the Borg is only part of the solution. Picard knew what to do because of his experience as a drone, and a rather special one at that. Now, it might be possible to work up a translation from Picard's descriptions, and Seven's if they get the chance. But I wonder whether he was consciously aware of what was going on, or just had an instinctive "shoot here" response. Of course, even if only the latter, that could still prove useful.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
If Picard can't take the Enterprise-E on a detour and beat the Borg, what does the average command officer do? Does he eject all the ships records and hope he dies in battle than be assimilated? Does he go to ramming speed? Does he pray that the weapons hit the right spot?
------------------ Sometimes I run Sometimes I hide Sometimes I'm scared of you But all I really want is to hold you tight Treat you right, be with you day and night Baby all I need is time
posted
In the novelization of FC, Picard could hear the voices of the borg, and so heard drones commadning each other to repair a certain heavily damaged part of the cube. That was the part of the cube he heard the drones sa was very damaged, so that's where he told the fleet to shoot. Perhaps picard's assimilation changed the sturcture of his brain into some kind of subspace trasnmitter that heard the voiuces of the borg.
------------------ Obviously you refuse to cooperate with me. Obviously you have no discipline to kepp the mouth shut. Obviously you don't. Let's try it that way, then you might get the hint. How many more minutes are we going to waste asking you not to talk? How many more!?!
posted
I came up with a decent idea about how to beat the Borg a while back. Since the Borg collective operates via signals similar to transporter beams, I figured one could somehow integrate transporter inhibiters into an anti-Borg weapon. Come up with a field/beam that wrecks the ability of the hivemind to function. The Borg ship would not be able to adapt as well, and could be defeated a lot easier.
------------------ "We exist in a boundless time continuum. There is no weekend!"
posted
I know this isn't exactly the point, but I was watching First Contact the other day and noticed that the Borg never seem to shoot anyone with phasers. An Enterprise crewman would shoot until the Borg adapted their shields. Then the Borg would just walk up to the crewman and grab him. On the other hand, whenever anyone whacks them with a Batleth or a rifle stock, it seem to go right through the shield. Why doesn't the Federation just hit the borg with non-energetic weapons, like big rocks, baseball bats, swords, etc?
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
------------------ I bet when Neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying "Don't forget the big heavy eyebrows." Then they would all get embarrassed because they remembered they had the big hunky eyebrows too, and then they would get mad and eat the snowman.
posted
captain: "Crew, we're going to beam over to that Borg cube and give them what's for! Computer, replicate us fifteen Tommy guns, pronto!"
------------------ "The Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich. Samuel Morse invented the Morse Code. Plato invented the plate." -Holly, Red Dwarf: "Parallel Universe"
posted
captain: "Crew, we're going to beam over to that Borg cube and give them what's for! Computer, replicate us fifteen Tommy guns, pronto!"
Of course, this is exactly what Picard did in the holodeck scene of ST:FC. There seems to be something to this projectile weapons thing... and don't tell me it's because those drones thought everything in the room was holograms and therefore let down their sheilds.
------------------ Dane
"...and there was war in heaven..." The Bible, Revelation 12:7
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posted
On a more serious note, you could develope large-scale tommy guns to whack a Borg Cube (I'm talking mass-driver weapons or gauss-cannons which use magnetic field accelerator coils to propel objects of relatively large metallic mass with a very high density core-material such as uranium at targets at high velocities). Heck, if it works on drones and their adaptive shielding stuff, why would such a weapon not work on a Cube itself? (Now if it was constructed of neutronium - but it isn't)
------------------ "Cry havoc and let's slip the dogs of Evil"
posted
The unfortunate Borg drones that went to the holodeck/holosuite had scanned Ethan Phillips and saw virtually no threat. The drones could have had their shields to only protect them from energy weapons, not projectile weapons. Starfleet only uses energy weapons, and the occational killing knife. When was the last time we saw a Starfleet officer with a gun in their hand ready to kill?
------------------ Show me the meaning of being lonely Is this the feeling, I need to walk in Tell me why I can't be there where you are There's something missing in my heart
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