Warden

Warden Headquaters.

The Wardens were a rogue Borg collective accidentally created on Vulcan in 2377 which almost succeeded in taking over the galaxy.

Creation and characteristics

N'Kal.

The Wardens were created by accident, by a group of Vulcans attempting to cure their master, N'Kal, of Bendii syndrome by using modified Borg nanoprobes. The Vulcans lost control of these nanoprobes, but rather than being assimilated, N'Kal was altered - the Borg's programmed desire to spread perfection was combined with N'Kal's thirst for logic. The modified nanoprobes quickly spread to the research team, making them drone-like followers of the Wardens' desire to spread logic.

The modified nanoprobes, which the Wardens named nanites, did not inflict the usual modifications associated with assimilation. The only difference between a warden drone and the person in their normal state is their mental condition: like a Borg drone, a warden became part of the collective, with N'Kal effectively acting as the Borg Queen. However, unlike a typical drone, Wardens could not be identified by technological augmentation, as none occurred.

History of the Wardens

Expansion

The USS Leyte Gulf.

The Wardens quickly expanded their presence out from Vulcan, intent on bringing their logic to the galaxy. They soon established presences on the Romulan planet Chetzia 3, a Federation starbase in orbit of Neural 7, Qo'noS, Romulus, and a Borg Cube. They began to use devices called cranio-necrotizers to spread their nanites and keep in contact with one another. They also managed to gain control of a Federation starship, the USS Leyte Gulf, which they planned to take to Chetzia 3. However, the Leyte Gulf was intercepted by the USS Incursion.

Incursion

The Incursion was pursuing two Klingon scientists who had been studying the Warden "contagion" on Lak'Tral, but broke off to rendezvous with the Leyte Gulf. Upon finding the Leyte Gulf en-route to Chetzia 3, Captain Marcus Refelian concluded there must have been some kind of conspiracy between rogue Federation and Romulan factions and proceeded to Chetzia 3 to investigate. Refelian's investigations later led him to Earth where the Wardens had infiltrated the upper echelons of Starfleet Command and Starfleet Academy. After falsely believing he had neutralized the Warden presence on Earth, Refelian took the Incursion to Qo'nos where the Wardens had gained control of the Klingon High Council and taken Ambassador Worf hostage to prevent his interference in their plans to manipulate the Klingons into a war with the Federation.

The Borg

En route to Qo'noS, the Incursion found itself infiltrated by the Warden personnel and under attack by a Borg Cube partially controlled by the Wardens. The vessel managed to escape both and came away with a cure to the Warden nanites developed by drones on the Cube still loyal to the Collective; the Borg themselves could not use this as it targeted the Borg technology of the Wardens and would subsequently damage the Borg as well.

Reaching Qo'noS, teams from the Incursion rescued Worf from the Wardens and prevented their attempts to start a war. The Incursion then continued on another lead to the Federation station in orbit of Neural 7, which by then had been out of contact with Starfleet for three weeks.

However, the Wardens, increasingly aware of the Incursion's persistent intervention in their plans, set a trap. Upon beaming to the station, half the away team found themselves on another world (in fact in a holodeck); the Wardens planned to capture and analyze the crew of the Incursion. However, the Wardens were once again outsmarted, and the Incursion personnel were able to escape.

The great awakening

On Romulus, the Wardens' plans were forging ahead unhindered. Having gained control over a significant number of Romulans, the Wardens began mass producing nanites in preparation for The Great Awakening, a mass release of nanites on Romulus to take control of the planet, and then the entire Romulan Star Empire. However, once again, the Incursion was hot on their heels and arrived ready to destroy the factories; before they could do so, the Borg turned up with the same goal in mind. On the Cube, more and more drones were falling to the Wardens, but the Collective remained in control.

Chetzia 3

Their foothold on Romulus may have been lost but the Wardens were not so easily beaten. On Chetzia 3, another group of factories came into operation. But once more they were defeated - this time by a Romulan resistance group and once more the Incursion.

Outside of Romulan space, the Warden threat was expanding; most of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants' major races were infiltrated and the nanites were spreading throughout the Milky Way. Another ship, the USS Monitor, fell to the Wardens; however, while the Incursion was busy at Chetzia, the Borg were preparing to resist and, upon locating the Monitor, went about assimilating it. When the ever present USS Incursion did turn up, the vessel was in the midst of a civil war between Warden forces and loyal Borg drones. A team from Incursion beamed over to rescue the handful of crewmen who had escaped both forces but, while on board, inadvertently initiated a self-destruct program. Before the Monitor was lost, the Borg hailed the Incursion with an offer of an alliance.

The end

As the galaxy fell into civil war, with Warden forces attempting to eliminate the illogical, the USS Incursion made its way to the Devron system to meet with the Borg Cube. Upon beaming to the Cube, one of the few remaining drones loyal to the collective requested that the team destroy the cube rather than allow it to fall to the Wardens. Before completing that task, the team found information indicating the Wardens' headquarters were on Vulcan. After destroying the cube, they set course.

The USS Incursion over Vulcan

On Vulcan, the Wardens had developed a significant presence and once again lay a trap for the Incursion crew, which was planning to access the Warden mainframe to locate the headquarters. Unfortunately for the Wardens, the crew of the Incursion had set a trap of their own. Upon reaching a Warden computer terminal, a pair of Wardens ambushed the Starfleet away team, transported in and declaring superiority, only to find themselves surrounded by Incursion security personnel transporting in themselves in their own ambush.

Using the Borg antidote, the Incursion crew was able to free its prisoners of Warden control and glean information from them detailing the Warden headquarters. An away team was sent to infiltrate the headquarters and, from inside, reprogram the nanite factories throughout the galaxy with conflicting orders. The team was successful, and within hours the new nanites created by the factories canceled out the effects of the old, restoring the galaxy's inhabitants to its own control.

The sudden shock of being freed from the nanite control broke down N'Kal's remaining emotional blocks and caused him to collapse in a fit of emotions as he was taken into custody by the Incursion.

Not wishing to upset galactic peace by the revelation that the Wardens had originated from a Federation world, Starfleet elected to issue a cover story stating the entire incident had been a Borg assimilation attempt. (TNG video game: Away Team)

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