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"We are the Borg, lower your shields, resistance is futile."
'OK, shields are down. We are pacifists. Please come in. Would you like some tea or something while you make drones?'
Has anyone ever not resisted the Borg based on their demand for surrender and/or their reputation as an unstoppable force?
Nope. We only see a vanishingly small number of species actually in the process of being collectively assimilated. In each case, those races put up a spirited but futile resistance (and with the exception of humanity and Species 8472, obviously).
Yes, kinda. In the novel Star Trek: Voyager - Unworthy we meet the Indign. These Borg worshippers have been attempting to contact the Borg (whom they worship as gods) in order to volunteer for assimilation. Unfortunately for them, they were deemed "unworthy" of assimilation and bypassed. By the time we catch up with them, the Borg have been all but wiped out.
“Or we could remain in the system until the Indign are willing to speak with us again, at which point we tell them the truth,” Willem countered.
“The truth?”
“That the Borg no longer exist. Their master race was conquered by an even greater species and no longer occupies this area of space. Their offerings are no longer necessary.”
“You and I both know that in a situation as delicate as this, sharing that information could prove disastrous.”
“So we simply lie to them by omission? And allow them to go on victimizing other sentient creatures in a cause that has gone from irrationally motivated to absurd? That’s the Starfleet way?” he demanded.
“We have to respect their cultural norms, Admiral. They worship the Borg, the same way humans worshipped gods in any number of forms for thousands of years. It doesn’t matter that those gods are intemperate and ultimately unknowable. That’s part of the allure for those who are so inclined. It’s evidence only of their shortcomings, not those of their gods. It’s the basis for faith.”
