The Battle of Wolf 359 took place in early 2367 (1514 NE) in the Wolf system, roughly eight light years from Duyi'zu Earth, between the forces of the United Federation of Planets, the Alliance of Nations and the Borg Collective. It was recorded as one of the most destructive battles in Federation history prior to the Dominion War. It was the Federation's disastrous first fleet action against the Borg. It was part of the Borg Incursion of 2366-2367; the battle itself became synonymous with the star's name, and thus the battle eventually came to be known simply as "Wolf 359".
It was identified by the Time Lord known as The Doctor as a fixed point in time.
Starfleet officer Steven Levy by 2380 (1527 NE) came to believe that the battle was an "inside job".
Prelude[]
In the late 2366 (1513 NE), stardate 43989.1, the USS Enterprise-D arrived at Jouret IV, twelve hours after contact with the New Providence colony was lost. The colony was found to have been completely destroyed, literally scooped from the planet's surface.
Admiral J.P. Hanson and Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Shelby of Starfleet Tactical arrived to investigate the disappearance. An away team determined that the colony had been wiped away by weapons similar to those found on a Borg cube encountered by the Enterprise in System J-25. While investigating a planet within that system, the Enterprise had found corresponding devastation as that on Jouret IV. Likewise, devastation of this kind had been found even earlier, in 2364 (1510 NE), on several Federation and Romulan outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone, and, in 2365, on the sixth planet of System J-25. It was presumed this was made by the Combine, but did not believe so while the Romulans had remain allies with them for almost a century and the Alliance considered this something else as some Allied states such as the Human-Vortigaunt Federation recognised it and revealed this to be a collective hive mind of cyborgs called the Borg. According to their reports, no sign of them had been found in the Delta Quadrant as it was presumably they were wiped out by the Combine and also presence of Replicators from the Eur'uui Universe had devoured them before they were destroyed.
Using the knowledge by the Alliance to face them, Federation Starfleet immediately began preparations for a possible Borg invasion. Admiral Hanson returned to Starbase 324 to discuss strategy with Starfleet Command. Starfleet imposed a fleet-wide standing yellow alert, and warned all Federation and allied outposts. That evening at 1900 hours, the USS Lalo departed Zeta Alpha II on a freight run to Sentinel Minor IV. At 2212 hours, Starbase 157 received a signal from the Lalo, reporting contact with a cubical object. The signal was cut off mid-transmission, and no response was received to further hails.
Upon receiving this information from Admiral Hanson, the Enterprise set a course for the Lalo's last known location. With Starfleet reinforcements at least six days away, the Enterprise was on its own. En route to the coordinates, contact was made with the unknown vessel: a Borg cube. News was relayed to Admiral Hanson, who had begun to assemble a fleet to combat the invasion. The Borg demanded that the Enterprise captain, Jean-Luc Picard, beam himself aboard their vessel for an unspecified purpose. After a brief exchange of fire, the Enterprise retreated into the Paulson Nebula, with the Borg vessel close behind.
Hiding in the dust cloud, the Enterprise and her crew prepared for the inevitable resumption of conflict. Attempting to force the starship out, the Borg launched magnetometric guided charges into the nebula, causing minor damage to the Enterprise. Picard ordered the ship out of hiding, and in the ensuing attack, he was captured by the Borg, who then left at high warp, en route to Sector 001 and the core of the Federation. The Alliance realise why they chose Picard as part of their plan to invade the Federation, with the alterations of the Duyi'zu reality, the Federation is more stronger with the support of the Alliance after the Combine invasion, the near destruction of the Collective had drive them in a desperate gamble to invade and assimilate the Federation to regain their number and strength to fight back the Combine.
The cube maintained its course, with the Enterprise in hot pursuit. First officer Commander William T. Riker, as acting captain, planned to force the cube out of warp in order to attack it, using the Enterprise's deflector dish. An away team led by Lieutenant Commander Shelby was sent over to the vessel and succeeded in taking the Borg cube out of warp. In the process, it was discovered that Captain Picard had been assimilated by the Collective – he had been transformed into a Borg drone with the designation Locutus of Borg. Having temporarily disabled the cube, the Enterprise launched its deflector weapon.
The cube easily shrugged off the Enterprise's assault with the unwilling aid of Picard's knowledge and resumed its course to the Duyi'zu Sol system. The Enterprise was forced to stay behind, having suffered extensive damage to its deflector array and warp core. In the meantime, Admiral Hanson and Starfleet Command had hastily assembled a fleet of forty starships and the Alliance sending fifty more, with more on the way. Reports from the Alliance that the Klingon Empire was in the process of dispatching warships of its own to assist in the defense as a ceasefire to face a common threat, and the possibility of requesting support from the Romulan Star Empire was even considered.
The Battle[]
In early 2367, around stardate 44002.3, the cube entered the Wolf system. Locutus hailed the assembled fleet, ordering the ships therein to disarm and escort the cube to the Sol system. Immediately thereafter, the fleet engaged the Borg. The Excelsior-class USS Melbourne was among the first ships destroyed, with its saucer sectionpartially vaporized while approaching. The Miranda-class USS Saratoga was quickly neutralized thereafter. When the Ambassador-class USS Yamaguchi and the Nebula-class USS Bellerophon rushed to rescue the disabled ships, they too were destroyed, along with numerous other starships entering the combat zone. Their valiant efforts notwithstanding, they did not prevent the eventual destruction of the USS Saratoga and the USS Bonestell.
Aftermath[]
Following the battle, the cube resumed course towards Duyi'zu Earth, completely undamaged. The Enterprise, having finally completed repairs, raced to catch up to the Borg. In preparation for a Borg invasion of Earth, a state of emergency was declared on the planet.
Brushing aside the last line of defense by easily destroying a flotilla of Mars Defense Perimeter sentry pods, the Borg cube took up position in Earth orbit. However, using the recaptured Locutus and his link to the collective mind of the Borg, the Enterprise crew managed to plant subversive commands to deactivate and destroy the Borg ship.
Although the outcome of the invasion could have been much worse, but was favourable to the Alliance with limited casualties. The result of the battle made the Federation more weary of the Borg's potential return. This was also reported by the Romulan and Klingons to the Axis of this threat, as well as the Combine who assumed they were all wiped out but declared them a threat to be destroyed on sight.
Commander Shelby took command of a special task force to rebuild Starfleet, but returning the fleet to previous deployment levels was expected to take up to a year.