Why do Borg vessels lack shields?

[Sionnach Glic]

From the context in which the quote was said, I'd imagine it meant how much of the ship could be damaged yet still be combat effective.

[Tiberius]

And you would need stores of raw materials to repair the ship.

Not really. If the power generator was still working, then you could produce a whole lot of power and convert that energy into matter. The whole e=mc^2 thing. Not the most efficient way of doing it, granted, but it would work, and given the ability of the Borg to generate huge amounts of power (think Transwarp drive), it's certainly possible.

[Teaos]

And how does the power generator get power? By using fuel...

[Sionnach Glic]

And what does that fuel take up? Space...

No matter what way you look at it, you need stores of something or other to repair your ship. Wether its fuel or raw materials dosen't matter.

[stormturmoil]

And how does the power generator get power? By using fuel...

Not necessarily. We never properly hear exactly where the Borg actually get their power.

If they have some form of zero Point Energy, or they can somehow drag energy out of subspace, then you have effectively unlimited energy, therefore effectively unlimited matter to effect repairs.

How much you can draw on at any one time is another matter, of course...

Not that I's saying that they do have Zero point energy or subspace power, only that they might be able to have it...

[MetalHead]

Somehow I think the borg do NOT have unlimited energy. After all in one or two episodes there were crashed borg vessels. Those did not regenerate.

Now, before you launch off:

- Its possible that the power matrix was destroyed: The borg can adapt and can easily get the specs for the system from the collective or from the wreckage. They could also possibly assimilate a power system to be modified to work for them - Captain Ransom on a NOVA CLASS VESSEL managed to turn aliens into fuel for a high powered warp drive.

SO yes, I understand that argument is flawed, in several ways. But I think it does have atleast SOME good point

[Sionnach Glic]

If they have some form of zero Point Energy, or they can somehow drag energy out of subspace, then you have effectively unlimited energy, therefore effectively unlimited matter to effect repairs.

There is zero evidence for them using any of these things. Unless anyone can provide proof there is no evidence against them using standard fuel sources.

[Teaos]

They would need to pick up raw material somewhere to repair massive battle damage. minor stuff they could probably do.

[Mikey]

Quote:
If they have some form of zero Point Energy, or they can somehow drag energy out of subspace, then you have effectively unlimited energy, therefore effectively unlimited matter to effect repairs.


There is zero evidence for them using any of these things. Unless anyone can provide proof there is no evidence against them using standard fuel sources.

I have to agree with Rochey here. The Borg progress by agglomeration, not be invention - Even if we discount the lack of evidence for a revolutionary power source, it just doesn't seem likely that such a species would discover something like that on their own. And, we've never seen anyhting to indicate that might have assimilated a species with such an advanced form of power generation.

[Teaos]

The Borg thought Omega was the ultimate and were no where near it. Thus I doubt they would have Zero point or anything that powerful.

[Sionnach Glic]

I forgot about that.

Hmm, perhaps the reason for such large, empty spaces in a cube is that it usually carries materials for repair?

[Mikey]

I think you can attribute Borg design to a completely pragmatic non-aesthetic viewpoint. In addition, you need a lot of extra space if you are going to exponentially increase the size of your crew after visiting just one planet...

[Sionnach Glic]

I would imagine there's an upper limit to how many they could carry, there's only so many of those sleep chamber things they use.
Unless they commonly re-build the interior of the cube which could explain the vast empty spaces.
Although why they don't just build cubes like this in the first place is beyond me.

[Mikey]

It certainly is a possibility that they build and rebuild interior spaces to suit. It would seem that leaving some space empty until you see what need arises is a little more useful than pre-arranging a space, only to find out that it doesn't suit your current need.

Hmmm... is anyone at Starfleet listening?

[Teaos]

I was under the impression that they did rebuild it all the time to fit different needs. Ang I can see them just leaving the new drones on a planet until a cube needs to stock up. Like a pit stop for cubes.