Borg Queen
 The Borg Queen in 2373 | |
| Gender: | Female |
| Species: | Borg (formerly Species 125) |
| Affiliation: | Borg Collective |
| Status: | Unknown |
| Born: | Unknown |
The Borg Queen was the name given to the entity that existed within and served as a central nexus for the Borg Collective. The name was given to this entity by the Federation scientists Magnus and Erin Hansen, who discovered its existence.
In 2024, a different Borg Queen was created when an alternate timeline's Queen fused with scientist Dr. Agnes Jurati, revealing herself in 2401. This Queen regaled over a small contingent, which considered themselves "evolved" forms of the Borg. This Collective did not forcefully assimilate people, instead embracing distinctiveness and individuality. It is widely thought that this Queen and court returned to, and then stayed, in the Delta Quadrant.
History
It is unknown when a Borg Queen first appeared within the Collective, but she was already present in 2354.
A Borg Queen once defined herself as, "I am the beginning... the end. The one who is many. I am the Borg." Although this might suggest she would be an individual within the Collective, (while addressing them, she would refer to drones as "My drones") she is not. The purpose of a Borg Queen was to bring order to chaos and act as a taskmaster.
Her appearance was that of a humanoid female of Species 125. In accordance with the Borg pursuit of perfection, a blending of the organic and synthetic, very little of her original humanoid form remained. Her face and upper torso were organic while the rest of her body, including her skull and spinal cord, were cybernetic or synthetic. Because of her disembodiment she saw herself as the epitome of perfection. The Queen had her own chambers within the Borg Unicomplex from which she could oversee the Borg. Whether she had her own ship or not was unknown, but she used different Borg vessels to travel, such as a Borg cube or sphere. When her physical presence was not necessary, her organic part resided above this chamber while her synthetic parts were stored below it, under the floor. If she desired to do so, both could be brought together and in doing so create a humanoid form for herself.
In Human terms, a Borg Queen could be characterized as "ruthless." She would do anything to protect the Borg Collective. While drones showed no emotions, the Queen herself did. When necessary, she would employ psychological tactics, like extortion or plain intimidation to get what she wanted. The Queen even displayed self-preservation when she was held at gunpoint by Captain Janeway, who threatened to kill her. On a personal level, she considered Seven of Nine her favorite drone, because the Queen considered her to be unique. This had to do with Seven's experiences as an individual when she served aboard Voyager. The Queen's goal was to re-assimilate Seven into the Collective to enhance the Borg's, and so her own, perfection. She failed to do so.
The death of a Borg Queen does not seem to affect the Collective or its hive mind. When a Borg drone died, its memories would still be within the hive mind. There was no evidence that a Borg Queen would be more than a drone. Borg drones were capable of functioning without a Queen for any length of time by forming a hive mind of their own.
It was thought by Federation exobiologist Erin Hansen that the Borg Queen functioned like the queen of an insect hive, to coordinate the drones. Evidence of this was later seen when the Queen countermanded the collective's judgment about assimilating the USS Voyager. While the collective felt that assimilation was warranted, the Borg Queen countermanded them justifying the decision due to the fact that Voyager didn't compromise their security. The Queen, while providing coordination for the drones she commands, also provides other functions such as regulation of the Borg's Trans-Warp Hubs and inter-spacial manifolds. She effectively brings "Order to Chaos" for all things.
The Borg Queen that was present in 2377 was assimilated when she was a child, together with her parents. Years later, she could still hear them within the Collective.
Initial Encounter
The existence of a Borg Queen was first established sometime prior to 2365 by the exobiologists Magnus and Erin Hansen. However, because the Hansens were assimilated, their discovery never reached Starfleet. It was not until 2373 that the Federation became aware of her, when the Federation starship Enterprise-E prevented the assimilation of Earth. (This was the second attempt by the Borg to take the planet, also known as the Battle of Sector 001. Previously, they traveled back to Earth's past to prevent First Contact with the Vulcans, hoping to be able to assimilate Earth.
The Borg Queen was killed by the android Lieutenant Commander Data while she tried to persuade him to give her the encryption key by which he had locked the Enterprise computer. Warp core plasma coolant released by Data destroyed her organic parts, after which Picard broke her cybernetic spinal cord to make sure she could not function any more.
Subsequent Encounters
- The second encounter with a Borg Queen was in 2375 in the Delta Quadrant. The lost Federation starship USS Voyager attempted a rescue of former Borg drone Seven of Nine, who was then part of Voyager's crew. She had been taken captive by the Borg when the ship's plan to steal a transwarp coil from a Borg sphere did not work out as planned. The Queen also revealed that the drone Seven of Nine was not really freed by Voyager from the Collective, but was "allowed" to leave by the Borg. During this encounter, the Borg Queen hoped to assimilate Seven of Nine again, who had experienced life as an individual for two years, and would help to add to the Queen's own perfection. However, Seven rejected the Queen, and fled with a rescue team sent by the Voyager in the Delta Flyer. A Borg Queen's vessel was sent by the Queen to intercept the shuttle, but it was destroyed in the attempt.
- In 2377, a Borg Queen was again encountered by Voyager. This time, the Queen wanted to destroy Unimatrix Zero, a virtual world populated by regenerating Borg with a genetic mutation. This world was discovered by Seven of Nine, and posed a threat to the Borg. During Voyager's efforts to rescue this virtual world of subconsciousness, the Borg Queen demonstrated her powers by destroying a Borg sphere, because she could no longer 'hear' one drone within it. When a nanovirus was released to prevent the detection of Unimatrix Zero, the Queen destroyed several Borg vessels, killing 75,000 Borg drones in the process, with the hopes of persuading the captured Captain Janeway to give her the antidote.
- In 2378, Voyager again had a major encounter with the Borg and their Queen. The ship accidentally discovered a Borg transwarp hub located within a nebula, and were helped by Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who came from an alternate timeline, around twenty-three years in the future, to use the Borg transwarp network to get back to the Alpha Quadrant. Because the Borg guarded their transwarp hub closely, Admiral Janeway devised a plan by which she would infect the Borg Queen with a neurolytic pathogen, and in doing so, making her lose control over the force fields which protected the interspatial manifolds. When the Admiral was captured by the Borg, near the Unicomplex, she was assimilated by the Borg Queen herself. Soon after, the Queen began to lose control over drones. The pathogen even made her lose control over her own synthetic parts, as her body literally fell apart. Her death caused the destruction of the Unicomplex, as well as the trans-warp hub as Voyager travelled through it back to Earth.
- In 2384, this same Borg cube was encountered by a ship designated as the USS Protostar, an experimental ship which was stolen from Starfleet shortly after its launch. When the Cube assimilated one member of the Protostar's crew, the Cube began to wake up from its dormant state. The half-assimilated member and their crew managed to escape, as well as placing the Borg Cube back into hibernation.
- By 2399, the Borg Collective as a whole was still believed to be in operation, however slight. This belief was confirmed in 2401 when the Borg's main fractured faction attacked Section 001 on Frontier Day. By using rogue Changelings to infiltrate Starfleet Chain of Command, the Borg aimed to assimilate Starfleet and its affiliations by subterfuge instead of outright force. Fortunately, this became the "last stand" of the main faction of the now-splintered Borg, and they were all successfully destroyed.
The current status of the Borg and whether or not a new (main) Borg Queen is in place, is unknown.
