Borg Incursion of 2366-2367

The Borg invasion of 2367 was the first attempt by the Borg to assimilate the United Federation of Planets.

Background
When the Enterprise-E followed a Borg sphere back in time to 2063, debris fell into the Arctic Circle. In 2153, a research team discovered the debris and attempted to study it. However, two Borg drones assimilated the entire team and fled Earth for the Delta Quadrant. The Enterprise (NX-01) was quickly ordered to find the ship and recover the team if possible. After two confrontations, it was clear that the team was beyond recovery and the ship was destroyed. Dr. Phlox, who was nearly assimilated, proclaimed he felt a group consciousness which attempted to transmit Earth's coordinates. Captain Archer was a bit uneasy, but took a little comfort in the fact that the message would take over 200 years to reach the homeworld in the Delta Quadrant.

The signal was unable to penetrate deep into the quadrant, but it got far enough. In 2364, a Borg cube on the edge of their territory intercepted the signal and proceeded to the Alpha Quadrant to investigate. It destroyed several Federation and Romulan outposts across the Neutral Zone. The Enterprise-D found the strange damage to the planets; it seemed as though the outposts had been scooped off the face of the planet. Not finding any additional ships or settlements, the cube was on its way back to the Delta Quadrant when the following year, Q flung the Enterprise-D directly into its path at System J-25. Following a brief stand-off, it was clear the Enterprise-D was no match for the Borg cube and Captain Picard begged Q to return them to Federation space.

Reflecting on the events, Guinan told Picard that humanity's contact with the Borg came before it should have. Picard, however, believed that Q did "the right thing for the wrong reason"; by bringing humanity into contact, Starfleet could become aware of a new threat and prepare for it.

The Invasion Begins
On 43989.1, the same Borg cube from J-25 entered Federation space. It destroyed the New Providence colony on Jouret IV before heading off. The Enterprise-D was called to investigate twelve hours later and determined beyond a doubt that the Borg had penetrated Federation space. Two Starfleet tactical personnel who came to investigate, Admiral J.P. Hanson and Commander Shelby, acknowledged that Starfleet was simply not ready for a confrontation. Admiral Hanson returned to Starbase 324 to begin a defensive plan while Commander Shelby stayed on the Enterprise-D. A Fleet-wide yellow alert was issued and all allied outposts were warned.

That evening, the USS Lalo departed Zeta Alpha Two on a freight run to Sentinel Minor Four. Three hours later, it sent a distress call, reporting contact with an alien vessel described as "cube-shaped". The Lalo's signal ended abruptly and all attempts to hail it failed. With the Enterprise-D being the closest available ship, it left at maximum warp to investigate. En route, the Enterprise-D was intercepted by the Borg cube. Captain Picard ordered a subspace message to be sent to Admiral Hanson: "We have engaged the Borg".

Stand-Off
When both ships dropped out of warp, the Borg hailed the Enterprise-D and demanded that Captain Picard be brought aboard. This puzzled the officers, as it seemed the Borg were only interested in technology. Before they had time to react, the Borg engaged its tractor beam and drained the Enterprise-D's shields. A full barrage of phasers and photon torpedoes failed to do much damage to the ship. However, firing phasers at high EM-bands were able to destroy the tractor beam and the Enterprise-D fled, eventually finding haven in the Paulson Nebula. The nebula's composition was able to scatter the Borg's sensors, giving the Starfleet crew valuable time to repair and make modifications. Commander Shelby and Commander LaForge proposed channeling energy into the navigational deflector, providing a burst more powerful than any weapon on board. Selby also proposed separating the saucer section, but Commander Riker objected, stating they may need power from the saucer's impulse engines.

During the night, Picard made a tour of the Enterprise-D, a tradition for naval commanders before a battle. Speaking with Guinan, Picard wondered if this would be the end of humanity and the Federation. Guinan (whose own race was nearly exterminated by the Borg) assured him that as long as a handful survived, they would survive. At that time, the Borg began firing magnetometric guided charges into the nebula in an attempt to flush out the Enterprise-D. Despite their attempt to escape, the Borg locked on their tractor beam and beamed three drones directly to the bridge of the Enterprise-D, who kidnapped Captain Picard. Leaving at warp speed, Lieutenant Worf determined that the ship had set a course directly to Sector 001, the Terran System, Earth. With the Borg heading directly for the core of the Federation, Riker ordered the ship to pursue at maximum warp.

On board the Borg ship, Picard declared he would be resistant until his last ounce of strength. The Borg, however, declared his strength was irrelevant and "resistance is futile". In order to help in conquest, the Borg determined they would need a human to speak on their behalf in all communications. Picard, being captain of the strongest ship in the Federation fleet, was chosen to be that voice. Two hours later, while LaForge made final preparations for the deflector weapon, Commander Shelby led an away team aboard the cube to retrieve the captain. Shelby, Worf, Data and Dr. Crusher found the captain's uniform instead. Meanwhile, Admiral Hanson informed Riker that he was massing a fleet at Wolf 359. The away team then attacked several distribution nodes to bring the ship to impulse. Encounter resistance, they found that Picard had been altered by the Borg before being brought back to the Enterprise-D.

With no chance of rescuing the captain before the Borg returned to warp, Riker decided to fire the deflector weapon. Before they did, the Borg opened a channel to the Enterprise-D. Picard referred to himself as "Locutus of Borg" and that the ship would now service the Borg. Riker ordered the weapon to fire. However, it had absolutely no effect on the Borg cube. Locutus stated that the knowledge of Picard had been absorbed into the Borg collective consciousness and they were able to ready a defense. With the warp engines drained of power, the Enterprise-D was forced to remain still while the Borg continued towards Earth.

Engagement at Wolf 359
With the perceived loss of Picard, Admiral Hanson promoted Riker to the field commission of captain. Thanks to the Enterprise-D's interference, Starfleet was able to ready an armada of forty starships at Wolf 359. The Klingons had several warship en route and Starfleet Command was even considering asking for aid from the Romulans. Despite Shelby's warning that the Borg would be ready for a Starfleet engagement, Admiral Hanson proclaimed that he knew Picard too well and knew that he would never assist the Borg. He ended the communication and repairs to the Enterprise-D were continued.

Just as repairs to the engines were being completed, the Fleet engaged the Borg at Wolf 359. Several starships were destroyed in minutes, including the USS Melbourne (a ship Riker was offered command of) and the USS Saratoga (which future-DS9 commander Benjamin Sisko served aboard). Hanson's own ship was destroyed while he was sending a message to Riker on the grim nature of the battle. Several hours later, the Enterprise-D arrived in the Wolf system and found only a massive debris field of what was once an armada of forty starships. 11,000 Starfleet personnel and civilians were killed in the engagement.

Rescue
Taking advice from Guinan, Riker decided to take an unorthodox plan to recover Picard. Transferring command to the battle bridge, Riker contacted Locutus and wished to discuss terms of ending hostilities. While Locutus stated they only wanted unconditional surrender, the Enterprise-D crew was able to determine his location on the Borg cube. The ship was then separated and began interfering using an anti-matter spread. Locutus, knowing Starfleet ships, completely ignored the vulnerable saucer section for the more battle-ready star drive. During this, Worf and Data used a shuttle to get within the Borg's electromagnetic field and transport aboard. They abducted Locutus and were able to transport back to the Enterprise-D before their shuttle was destroyed. Ignoring the vulnerability of both sections, the Borg cube resumed its course to Earth.

Revived in sickbay, Locutus declared he would continue to speak for the Borg while their ship continued to Earth. Data was able to examine the subspace pathways that formed the basis of the collective consciousness and theorized that he would be able to hack into it. Meanwhile, the Borg entered the Sol System. Outposts near Jupiter attempted to slow them down, but all defenses were ineffective. As Data entered the consciousness, the Borg penetrated the Mars Defense Perimeter, Earth's final line of defense. Data managed to establish the neural link. Concerned, the Borg halted just before entering Earth orbit and moved to engage the Enterprise-D.

Endgame
Data began attempting to interfere with the weapons and power command paths while the Borg engaged the Enterprise-D. With no conceivable courses of action, Riker ordered a collision course at warp power. Just before he gave the order to engage, Picard said "sleep" and Data interpreted this as a possible course of action. Data infiltrated the regenerative subcommand, an unprotected system. Once he successfully planted the command, the Borg powered down. An away team determined that the Borg were indeed in a regenerative state. Additionally, regenerating the undamaged ship caused the power system to begin to feed back on itself (either a deliberate measure, or an unintentional result). Riker ordered the away team back and the Enterprise-D was moved to a safe distance before the Borg cube exploded.