Battle of Deep Space Nine

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Date	Stardate 50975.2 (late 2373)
Location	Space around Deep Space Nine
Result	Pyrrhic Dominion victory

Combatants

United Federation of Planets

Klingon Empire

The Dominion

Commanders

Captain Benjamin Sisko

General Martok

Gul S.G. Dukat

Weyoun

Strength

Space station Deep Space Nine, USS Defiant, IKS Rotarran

Over 300 Jem'Hadar and Cardassian ships – unknown numbers of Jem'Hadar battlecruisers and attack fighters, Cardassian Galor class and Hideki class class starships

Casualties

Capture of Deep Space Nine by the Dominion

50 Dominion ships lost

Dominion War
Deep Space Nine – Bajor – First Chin'toka – Second Chin'toka – Cardassia

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Battle of Deep Space Nine is the first major battle of the Dominion War. The battle is depicted in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Call to Arms". It results in Starfleet successfully mining the Bajoran wormhole, preventing Dominion reinforcements from reaching the Alpha Quadrant, but also in the Dominion's capture of Deep Space Nine. After the battle, Gul Dukat reverts the station's designation back to Terok Nor and makes it his headquarters for the war, which proceeds in the Dominion's favor for the next three months. The Dominion's occupation of Deep Space Nine lasts five months.

1 Prelude
2 The assault
3 Aftermath
4 External links

[edit] Prelude

Prior to the battle, the Cardassian Union fights a bloody war against the Maquis and the Klingons. Out of desperation, Dukat secretly negotiates the Union's entry into the Dominion. When this is revealed, the Klingons withdraw from Cardassian space and the Dominion establish a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. Between Cardassia's joining the Dominion and the start of the war, the Dominion constantly sends military supplies through the Bajoran wormhole to Cardassia. Starfleet Command realizes that the flow of supplies has to be stopped in order to prevent the Dominion from overwhelming the Alpha Quadrant powers.

As war with the Federation approaches, the Dominion begins negotiating a series of nonaggression pacts with neighboring powers, signing such a treaty with the Romulans. Captain Benjamin Sisko, acting as Emissary of the Prophets, convinces the Bajoran government to accept a nonaggression treaty with the Dominion in order to secure the planet's safety.

In order to stem the tide of supplies coming through the wormhole, Starfleet Command approves Sisko's plan to lay a minefield in front of it. Jadzia Dax, Miles O'Brien, and Rom create cloaked, self-replicating mines, ensuring that the wormhole will remain mined even if the station falls into Dominion hands. The USS Defiant lays the mines while the IKS Rotarran watches for Dominion forces. Starfleet is otherwise engaged in a surprise attack on the Dominion shipyards at Torros III and cannot reinforce the station; DS9 must fend off the coming attack by itself.

[edit] The assault

The mission for the Dominion fleet is twofold: stop the Defiant from laying the mines and capture Deep Space Nine. The Dominion forces' Vorta commander, Weyoun, is surprised by the station's ability to hold out much better than anticipated. The station's offensive and defensive abilities, coupled with the Royarran's cover, buy enough time for the Defiant to complete its mission. The Dominion fleet is temporarily held off and forced to regroup, giving Sisko time to evacuate the Federation personnel from station.

Before leaving Deep Space Nine, Sisko addresses the station residents staying behind:

When I first took command of this post, all I wanted was to be somewhere else. Anywhere but here. But now five years later, this has become my home and you have become my family. And leaving the station, leaving you, is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But this war isn't over. I want you to know that while we were keeping the Dominion occupied, a Starfleet/Klingon taskforce crossed the border into Cardassia, and destroyed the Dominion shipyards on Torros III. Your sacrifices, our sacrifices, made that victory possible. But no victory can make this moment any easier for me and I promise, I will not rest, until I stand with you again. Here. In this place where I belong.

[edit] Aftermath

Prior to surrendering the station to Dukat the Weyoun, Kira Nerys executes a program Sisko put together to sabotage the station's command and control systems. While the Dominion occupiers are able to repair them, five months pass before they are in a position to deactivate the minefield. Even with the minefield deactivated, the Dominion reinforcements never reach the Alpha Quadrant.