What If? What if Darth Vader got Assimilated by the Borg

[Sailor.X]

In this scenario just after the destruction of the 1st Deathstar. While Darth Vader's Tie Fighter is tumbling out of control. He is intercepted by a Borg Tactical Cube. He is transported onto the Cube and immediately infected with Borg Nanites. The Nanites overwhelm his mind bending it to the will of the Collective. It is at this point that the Borg Queen approaches Vader and gives him his mission. He is no longer Vader He is Locutus of Borg and he will assimilate the Galaxy for the Collective. Now Darth Locutus sets out to carry out the Borgs will his first targets are the various Imperial Bases across the Galaxy. Emperor Palpatine now feels a great disturbance in the Force and now knows that Vader no longer serves him. What happens from this point forward. Does the Galaxy get Assimilated or will the Borg be defeated?

Special Note: The Assimilation process effectively killed the Darth Vader side of Anakin and created a Locutus more in the mentality of Jedi Knight Anakin. He now wants to save all the people he loves by making them part of the Borg Collective. His body no longer feels pain and most of the damage done to him on Mustafar has been healed by the Borg Nanites. Anakin Locutus commands a fleet of 1 Unimatrix, 5 Tactical Cubes. 50 Regular Cubes and 200 Borg Spheres. Despite being a Borg Vader is even faster in combat than he was as a Jedi Knight. He has Borg enhanced strength and can adapt to Blaster Fire. Locutus can also use the Force to send Borg Nanites to any target within 20ft of him. His lightsaber is dark green in color.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

In Lucas' films, Vader's physical strength wasn't a strategic threat. The Rebel's victory over the Empire never depending on besting Vader in combat. In a galactic war involving millions of soldiers, a single supersoldier isn't going to make an impact in the grand scheme of things. Vader's physical strength was only ever an obstacle in Luke's personal quest.

Vader's physical strength will only be useful during the very first few hours of the story, as he arrives at some planet or spacestation and infects the people on board. The zombie like spread of the Borg nanovirus will quickly build up enough sheer numbers that Vader's physical strength will become irrelevant.

Now that a collective of minds has been established, the only real thing Vader brings to the table is his inner knowledge of the resources Palpatine has at his disposal and the empire's strengths and weaknesses. Now that this information has circulated throughout the newly established Borg collective, Vader can die and the collective will still easily win.

The Star Trek universe had vastly more capable tools at their disposal to fight the Borg, namely their science. They could quickly analyze Borg tech and come up with new technologies to fight them, such as the rotating shield frequencies, personal shields (with rotating shield frequencies), rotating their phaser frequencies to break through Borg shields, hacking into the Borg, etc. Even with all of these tools, the Federation still lost. The Borg were only stopped by a fluke.

The Star Wars universe has absolutely none of this going for them. They are totally screwed. The only hope is in the Force.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

I'll have to cop out and say Author's choice given that I already don't think Vader would react in the way being described. I don't think Vader as a whole would have much use for the borg as he would see assimilation as another form of slaver or just see it as a way of turning people into droids. He'd Either use some kind of mind trick to Sever the collective conscious outright, or he'd use them as just military fodder. As bizarre as it may sound. Even if Palpatine did "resurrect" padme I think Vader would quickly see that she was little more than a meat puppet for palpatine to manipulate him further. (He might even have hallucinations of her having his face) and kill her more deliberately in an enraged furry.

TL;DR: this scenario as it already stands is unrealistic and is already functioning on AU logic.

 

[Sailor.X]

I'll have to cop out and say Author's choice given that I already don't think Vader would react in the way being described. I don't think Vader as a whole would have much use for the borg as he would see assimilation as another form of slaver or just see it as a way of turning people into droids. He'd Either use some kind of mind trick to Sever the collective conscious outright, or he'd use them as just military fodder. As bizarre as it may sound. Even if Palpatine did "resurrect" padme I think Vader would quickly see that she was little more than a meat puppet for palpatine to manipulate him further. (He might even have hallucinations of her having his face) and kill her more deliberately in an enraged furry.

TL;DR: this scenario as it already stands is unrealistic and is already functioning on AU logic.

He is still bound to carry out the Collectives will due to him now being Borg. That is the thing about the Borg. The Collective Will tends to bend even the strongest minds. Vader is no different.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

He is still bound to carry out the Collectives will due to him now being Borg. That is the thing about the Borg. The Collective Will tends to bend even the strongest minds. Vader is no different.

and I Disagree. Vader Sidious and luke would be one of the few people that could over power that collective will. Not to mention that Resisting that collective will wasin't that remarkable of a feat. It was a matter of surviving getting blasted to peices once the collective realized you overpowered their influence.

 

[Husky_Khan]

I'd actually be more convinced that Vader's will can be subverted by the Borg Collective's consciousness or whatever but not when the Borg Collective is subordinated to some Borg Queen character who has to bang androids to win them over.

 

[Sailor.X]

and I Disagree. Vader Sidious and luke would be one of the few people to over power that collective will.

Not on a Borg Cube he won't. The only time it is broken is when the Collective is literally hundreds to thousands of lightyears away. And even then it takes a few weeks to take effect.

Edit: more to the point. Assimilation

Vader has millions of tiny nanites now residing in his body. Those nanites control all of his vital functions. ALL OF THEM.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

Not on a Borg Cube he won't. The only time it is broken is when the Collective is literally hundreds to thousands of lightyears away. And even then it takes a few weeks to take effect.

Wasin't there an episode of Voyager where one of the Klingon Drones basically told the queen no? He still got blasted for his troubles but it happen ed

 

[Sailor.X]

Wasin't there an episode of Voyager where one of the Klingon Drones basically told the queen no? He still got blasted for his troubles but it happen ed

All of those Drones in that episode had things happen to them that caused a crack in their link to the collective. Vader does not have that in this scenario. No Giant space anomalies that are common in Star Trek are present in the Star Wars Galaxy

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

All of those Drones in that episode had things happen to them that caused a crack in their link to the collective. Vader does not have that in this scenario. No Giant space anomalies that are common in Star Trek are present in the Star Wars Galaxy

and you don't think the force could achieve that same effect? I mean we are talking about a metaphisical ability that allows for Astrial projection and soul transfering.

 

[Sailor.X]

and you don't think the force could achieve that same effect? I mean we are talking about a metaphisical ability that allows for Astrial projection and soul transfering.

Neither of which Vader has done or can even do. Palpatine made Vaders suit to make him completely vulnerable to him and dependent on it to live. With Borg Nanites now operating his new body and keeping him alive. He can't break free and still live.

 

[S'task]

and you don't think the force could achieve that same effect? I mean we are talking about a metaphisical ability that allows for Astrial projection and soul transfering.

. . .

Soul Transfer? Vulcans can do that and are just as easy to assimilate as any other species. Astal Projection, pretty sure that's been done either by Betazoids or other humanoids and... they get assimilated too.

The only species that have been able to resist assimilation in Trek are effectively non-corporeal or ones with biology to aggressive and alien to normal space that they are an OCP for the universe (Species 8472).

Look, as much as I'm not a fan of Picard as Captain goes, the dude was strong willed as they come, easily on par with Luke when it comes to force of will, and unlike Vader he didn't succumb to torture and brainwashing and even HE was turned into a pliant and obedient drone. There is no evidence in Trek that a personality that is "strong willed" enough can overcome Borg assimilation. The handful of times we've seen something kinda sorta akin to that was when some drones subconscious mind was effectively free to dream due to a weird quirk, and it had nothing to do with strength of will. Further, so long as they were awake and not in a regeneration cycle, those drones were just as subordinated as any other drones and were effectively unaware of their status. And once that quirk was discovered the Collective easily fixed it and stamped it out.

 

[Bacle]

Suddenly the Vong, Sith, and Abeloth are the Good Guys, by dint of being the only ones able to effectively resist the Borg to much extent.

If droids piss the Vong off, the Borg will send them into a rage that would make the NJO look like a gentle pacification attempt.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

. . .

Soul Transfer? Vulcans can do that and are just as easy to assimilate as any other species. Astal Projection, pretty sure that's been done either by Betazoids or other humanoids and... they get assimilated too.

The only species that have been able to resist assimilation in Trek are effectively non-corporeal or ones with biology to aggressive and alien to normal space that they are an OCP for the universe (Species 8472).

Look, as much as I'm not a fan of Picard as Captain goes, the dude was strong willed as they come, easily on par with Luke when it comes to force of will, and unlike Vader he didn't succumb to torture and brainwashing and even HE was turned into a pliant and obedient drone. There is no evidence in Trek that a personality that is "strong willed" enough can overcome Borg assimilation. The handful of times we've seen something kinda sorta akin to that was when some drones subconscious mind was effectively free to dream due to a weird quirk, and it had nothing to do with strength of will. Further, so long as they were awake and not in a regeneration cycle, those drones were just as subordinated as any other drones and were effectively unaware of their status. And once that quirk was discovered the Collective easily fixed it and stamped it out.

conceded, but good gravy the borg are ridiculously OPed and contrived. To that I will say that in that case the only hope the star wars universe has is the same hope every universe has, hope the writers come up with some inane technobable solution that some gearhead in the star wars universe can create to out adapt the borgs adaption capabilities. That, or have cloners create an army of Durge clones and use them as galactic boarder guards.

The Assimilation process effectively killed the Darth Vader side of Anakin and created a Locutus more in the mentality of Jedi Knight Anakin. He now wants to save all the people he loves by making them part of the Borg Collective

Ok by your own admition this isn't how the borg works. If Vader gets assimilated then Anakin is essentially locked into the will collective. He's just a drone like the rest.

 

[Sailor.X]

conceded, but good gravy the borg are ridiculously OPed and contrived. To that I will say that in that case the only hope the star wars universe has is the same hope every universe has, hope the writers come up with some inane technobable solution that some gearhead in the star wars universe can create to out adapt the borgs adaption capabilities. That, or have cloners create an army of Durge clones and use them as galactic boarder guards.



Ok by your own admition this isn't how the borg works. If Vader gets assimilated then Anakin is essentially locked into the will collective. He's just a drone like the rest.

It is more complicated than that. Each race assimilated to the Borg adds something new to the Collective. Vader adds not only his knowledge but his connection to the Force. And all the good and baggage that brings. Kind of why the Borg don't just assimilate willy nilly. For instance the Borg have flat out refused to assimilate the Kazon. Because they deem the Kazon to be a net negative to the Collective as a whole by what they would add.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

It is more complicated than that. Each race assimilated to the Borg adds something new to the Collective. Vader adds not only his knowledge but his connection to the Force. And all the good and baggage that brings. Kind of why the Borg don't just assimilate willy nilly. For instance the Borg have flat out refused to assimilate the Kazon. Because they deem the Kazon to be a net negative to the Collective as a whole by what they would add.

ok what specific answer are you looking for here? What do you think the trump card in this debate is?

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

He is no longer Vader He is Locutus of Borg and he will assimilate the Galaxy for the Collective. Now Darth Locutus sets out to carry out the Borgs will his first targets are the various Imperial Bases across the Galaxy. Emperor Palpatine now feels a great disturbance in the Force and now knows that Vader no longer serves him. What happens from this point forward. Does the Galaxy get Assimilated or will the Borg be defeated?

The premise of the prompt is flawed @Sailor.X. What's to assume that Vader would let his own mind be assimilated? If anything the Borg would be fucked by Darth Vader's sheer willpower. Keep in mind that despite Darth vader's connections to the force being restricted by his injuries, he's still able to be a force to be reckoned with in terms of the force especially when he's overcome his own mental restraints. Vader through sheer rage managed to use the Dark side of the force to sustain himself despite having his life support system and cybernetics shut off.

Based on some of the extended lore from the comics, Vader's basically a man too angry to die. If anything his mind would probably over power the collective hive mind of the borg and he'd probably subjugate it himself. In a fight with a Maul imposter (legends) Vader took some damage and then subdued his opponent by stabbing himself with his own lightsaber to kill his foe. That puts into perspective the lengths Vader would go to overcome an obstacle in his path.

 

[S'task]

The premise of the prompt is flawed @Sailor.X. What's to assume that Vader would let his own mind be assimilated? If anything the Borg would be fucked by Darth Vader's sheer willpower. Keep in mind that despite Darth vader's connections to the force being restricted by his injuries, he's still able to be a force to be reckoned with in terms of the force especially when he's overcome his own mental restraints. Vader through sheer rage managed to use the Dark side of the force to sustain himself despite having his life support system and cybernetics shut off.

Based on some of the extended lore from the comics, Vader's basically a man too angry to die. If anything his mind would probably over power the collective hive mind of the borg and he'd probably subjugate it himself. In a fight with a Maul imposter (legends) Vader took some damage and then subdued his opponent by stabbing himself with his own lightsaber to kill his foe. That puts into perspective the lengths Vader would go to overcome an obstacle in his path.

. . .

What is with this willpower being able to resist Borg assimilation? There is no amount of willpower that allows someone to resist being assimilated by the Borg collective. Firstly, even if we assume that, somehow, there's a "power level" to willpower the Borg collective is trillions if not more unified wills. Are you really claiming that Vader has greater willpower than the combined will of trillions of others? Talk about a no limits fallacy.

Secondly, you're assuming the Borg HAVEN'T assimilated species that are on the high end of the willpower scale. Which is fundamentally untrue. The Borg assimilated the major of the El-Aurian species, a species so ancient and strong willed that they give Q pause before messing with one. And that's just what we canonically know of.

There ARE flaws in this What if, but Vader succumbing to the collective is absolutely not one of them.

 

[Bacle]

The premise of the prompt is flawed @Sailor.X. What's to assume that Vader would let his own mind be assimilated? If anything the Borg would be fucked by Darth Vader's sheer willpower. Keep in mind that despite Darth vader's connections to the force being restricted by his injuries, he's still able to be a force to be reckoned with in terms of the force especially when he's overcome his own mental restraints. Vader through sheer rage managed to use the Dark side of the force to sustain himself despite having his life support system and cybernetics shut off.

Based on some of the extended lore from the comics, Vader's basically a man too angry to die. If anything his mind would probably over power the collective hive mind of the borg and he'd probably subjugate it himself. In a fight with a Maul imposter (legends) Vader took some damage and then subdued his opponent by stabbing himself with his own lightsaber to kill his foe. That puts into perspective the lengths Vader would go to overcome an obstacle in his path.

. . .

What is with this willpower being able to resist Borg assimilation? There is no amount of willpower that allows someone to resist being assimilated by the Borg collective. Firstly, even if we assume that, somehow, there's a "power level" to willpower the Borg collective is trillions if not more unified wills. Are you really claiming that Vader has greater willpower than the combined will of trillions of others? Talk about a no limits fallacy.

Secondly, you're assuming the Borg HAVEN'T assimilated species that are on the high end of the willpower scale. Which is fundamentally untrue. The Borg assimilated the major of the El-Aurian species, a species so ancient and strong willed that they give Q pause before messing with one. And that's just what we canonically know of.

There ARE flaws in this What if, but Vader succumbing to the collective is absolutely not one of them.

More likely Vader/Anakin realizes how strong the Borg assimilation tech is, and at most shelters part of his mind/soul away from the Borg via the Force, while allowing the Borg to use his body and knowledge as a drone, till he can find a way to free himself.

Sort of like Benezia did with Saren, Sovereign, and the Geth in ME1.

It's also possible that Borg tech starts...mutating into some psuedo-Sith alchemy shit by dint of how damn strong Vader is and feedback that might cause in the local collective.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

. . .

What is with this willpower being able to resist Borg assimilation? There is no amount of willpower that allows someone to resist being assimilated by the Borg collective. Firstly, even if we assume that, somehow, there's a "power level" to willpower the Borg collective is trillions if not more unified wills. Are you really claiming that Vader has greater willpower than the combined will of trillions of others? Talk about a no limits fallacy.

Secondly, you're assuming the Borg HAVEN'T assimilated species that are on the high end of the willpower scale. Which is fundamentally untrue. The Borg assimilated the major of the El-Aurian species, a species so ancient and strong willed that they give Q pause before messing with one. And that's just what we canonically know of.

There ARE flaws in this What if, but Vader succumbing to the collective is absolutely not one of them.

the ultimate question is if you think the Force Plays a factor or if it's just another OPed item to add to another OPed species. And as many of the jedi Hve pointed out the force is more than just telepathy and elemental magic is primarily about mind and Soul. It should be noted that there are a borg Expy species in the Star Wars universe known as the Technobeast whom are borg in all but name, and whom's assiomulation abilities are less effective on Force Users. You also have the blackwing virus which certain force users have shown resistance to. it's not easy but it's not impossible either and if anybody in the Star Wars universe is too angry to Die, both Vader and maul qualify.