Okay, well this thread kind of went off on a tangent with the whole force thing. So let’s examine the cross over once again.
Here are the facts.
Very little is known about Borg technology and weaponry. We know they have these cube like vessels that can take a lot of damage (I believe it can still function at 70% damage), but the cube’s size and armament are unknown. In First Contact, it showed a smaller vessel launched from the cube, so we can assume that it’s hull can carry other ships.
We know that the sole purpose of the Borg collective is to find and assimilate all other species. The drive to assimilate exists for several reasons. First, assimilation is how the Borg gain knowledge of other races and cultures. By assimilating an individual, Borg absorb all the knowledge and experiences of the individual into the collective thereby adding to their own knowledge and expertise. Secondly, assimilation is the primary means of reproduction and advancement for Borg. And third, all Borg technology is the result of assimilation of advanced species.
Now, other than that, that it the extent of my Borg knowledge. Maybe kasuo or someone else can add something to it.
Now the Empire on the other hand…
I think it is safe to say that everyone knows what the Empire is capable of and the technology that they possess. I mean, just Star Destroyers by themselves would be worthy adversaries for the Borg. Just solely based on what we know about the Empire and what we know about the Borg, the odds are in favor of the Empire. All we know about the Borg is that they have these cubes. That’s pretty much it.
So you ask who would win in a fight? I say the Empire.
im not too clear on how the ion cannon works as an EMP. with my limited knowledge (limited English… lol), i know that ions are atoms that either have extra electrons or are missing electrons, thus giving them either negative/positive charges, respectively. if you shoot a bunch of these ions at anything, how will it disable its electrical systems?
a race as advanced as the Borg dont use conventional electrical systems to power their ships. as was shown with Federation ships, they are powered by charged plasma from the warp engines (as well as matter/anti-matter) and the plasma is considerably heavier than a surge of ions from an ion cannon. given that the Borg have assimilated thousands of warp-capable species (they dont think industrial societies are really worth assimilating), they have come a long way from using electrical systems and most likely even plasma-charged power systems. it can even be speculated that Borg cubes are powered by quantum singularities (the Romulans, another race similar in technology level to the Federation also used quantum singularities in an experiment to power a ship), which are basically “baby black holes”. i would speculate that the ion cannons would shoot the ions at a given ship and the charged ions would jump around, trying to bond with other charged ions within the ship, those charged ions being the electrical system of the target ship, thus “taking away” their energy. however, considering that quantum singularities have an almost infinitely dense mass and its power output would be enormous, a slew of ion cannons would not be able to disable a Borg cube fast enough before it comes up with a counter-measure. or even if a couple initial cubes are disabled, they would have more than enough time to relay data from the attack to other cubes and they would come up with a way to prevent the disability.
An ion is simply an atom that carries a positive or negative electric charge as a result of having lost or gained one or more electrons.
It’s basic electronics here. By increasing the voltage in a circuit, the circuit becomes overloaded, thus blowing out all the resistors, conductors, capacitors, potentiometers, etc., etc., etc., which renders the circuit useless. And this is what an ion cannon accomplishes. So anything that has electric current flowing through it, an ion cannon will cause damage to it – shields, weapons, engines, etc. Structurally, the ship would be okay. Mechanically, it better get the fuck outta dodge.