Sublight

Warp and Transwarp

The Borg have been observed using four distinct kinds of warp propulsion. The first is identical in many ways to the warp drive in use by the Federation. Major differences are the greater sustainable crusing speed and the increased robustness of the warp field. (The Borg, as is evident from their vessel designs, are able to ignore the principles of subspace geometry that guide the design of Starfleet and other ships.) Velocities available from warp 1 to 9.9.

The second is a form of transwarp similar to that originally theorized by Federation scientists nearly a century ago. Essentially, it is simply a ‘deeper’ subspace field, allowing a vessel to make use of the upper transwarp domain. Velocities are in the 9.99+ range.

The third is a much deeper form of transwarp, pushing a vessel into the lower transwarp domain, where velocites upwards of 9.9999 can be achieved. Because of this almost total immersion in subspace any vessel using this form of transwarp is almost completely cut off from the normal universe. The effect is similar to that of a wormhole or other natural subspace tunneling phenomenon. There are severe subspace stresses associated with this form of transwarp, both spacial and temporal.

The final observed form is not, properly speaking, warp drive. Rather, it is the creation and use of semi-permanent conduits through subspace. These conduits are believed to be slightly faster than the other forms of transwarp drive available to the Borg. They are, however, useful only for travel from one fixed location to another. Any vessel can use these conduits, but they can be accessed only by emitting an energy pulse on a specific frequency, which the Borg seem to change frequently. To date, only one such conduit has been discovered and it has since become unaccessable. We presume that these conduits are in use throughout the galaxy and perhaps form the backbone of the Borg communications network, but there is little information available about them.