The Siege of AR-558 (DS9 episode)

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The Siege of AR-558 is an episode from the seventh season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The number 558 was probably chosen because it is the production code of the episode. First aired November 18, 1998. It was written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, and directed by Winrich Kolbe.

1 Plot summary
2 Quotes
3 Background information
4 Guest stars
5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The planet AR-558 is an utterly featureless ball of rock, notable only for being the site of a major Dominion communications relay. It has already been seized by Starfleet soldiers, and paid for in blood; of the 150 sent to the planet, 43 still live, and they have not been rotated off-duty for over five months, in total contradiction of Starfleet regulations, which insist that infantry be rested every 90 days.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The USS Defiant arrives carrying supplies and replicator rations. Captain Benjamin Sisko commands, with Worf in executive command, Ezri Dax and Dr. Julian Bashir along as tech and medical support, Ensign Nog as a crewmember, and (of all people), Quark, sent on a "fact-finding mission" by the Grand Nagus.

After an abortive error involving friendly fire, Sisko lands on the planet and begins to assess the situation. The Jem'Hadar are very interested in regaining their communications relay; Lt. Nadia Larkin, ranking officer, is just as insistent that Starfleet keep it, but with the Dominion supplying fresh troops and Starfleet doing no such thing, the odds don't look good. Furthermore, Bashir's professional medical opinion is that the soldiers are in bad need of being replaced, a fact that is simply not logistically possible. Ezri becomes an ad hoc assistant to the garrison's engineer, Kellin, in helping him decode and decipher the comm relay. Nog looks up to the battle-hardened veterans as heroes, to Quark's consternation; the elder Ferengi has seen the brutal, nastier side of these "hew-mans," and he warns Nog not to become too enamored of them. Finally, Sisko is pushed into a decision when the Defiant comes under attack. He orders Worf to take the ship to safety; he and his men are staying to fight.

Sisko begins by fortifying the garrison's defenses. The Dominion have left a nasty set of booby-traps: "Houdini" anti-personnel mines that can pass in and out of subspace at random. Kellin and Dax work out a way to force them into normal space, so that they can be moved out of the camp and used to stop attacking Jem'Hadar. He also sends out a scouting party to locate the Jem'Hadar base; Lt. Larkin leads, with Reese as survival expert and Nog as talent: his Ferengi ears will work where jammed tricorders will not. Quark naturally objects. The party is ambushed; Larkin is killed, and Nog, wounded, lugged back to base by Reese. Bashir does everything he can, but cannot save Nog's leg. Fortunately, the party managed to locate the base and get a rough count of the Jem'Hadar opposition, two columns of infantry, an unstated but extremely high number, so the occasion was not a total loss.

The remaining Starfleet personnel take defensive stations against the coming onslaught, jittery and aware of the long odds facing them. Quark, pacing in the medical bay, makes Nog as comfortable as possible. Bashir sets up an audio broadcast of holosuite singer Vic Fontaine as Houdinis begin exploding. Bashir then joins the defenders, impressing fellow soldier Vargas with his quick assembly and general comfort with a phaser rifle. The Jem'Hadar arrive, and there are flashes of light, explosions, disruptor and phaser blasts, hand-to-hand fighting, the screams of the dead and dying. Vargas is killed, and Kellin, saving Ezri. The only clear focus in the battle is Quark, who, panicked, finds himself face-to-face with a marauding Jem'Hadar soldier, and manages to pull his gun faster than the other.

When the dust and smoke has cleared, most of the Federation forces are dead, but the Jem'Hadar are as well. New supplies of troops arrive via the USS Vera Cruz, as well as a dedicated tech crew to commandeer the relay station; the Vera Cruz is also evacuating the wounded, including Nog, who will be fitted with a prosthetic limb. (For Nog's recovery, see the episode "It's Only a Paper Moon".) With control of the comm relay, Starfleet will be able to tap into Dominion communications throughout the entire sector.

[edit] Quotes

"Let me tell you something about hew-mans, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time... And those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people, will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces, look at their eyes..." — Quark to Nog. In an interview, the actor Armin Shimerman said he was proud to have been given this speech in his dialogue.

[edit] Background information

Several of the guest characters in this episode are named after characters and actors from Hell Is for Heroes. These include Reese (after Steve McQueen's character), Larkin (named after Harry Guardino's character), Kellin (named for the actor Mike Kellin), Loomis (named after Joseph Hoover's character) and Parker, who was named for actor Fess Parker.

Bill Mumy had always wanted to appear on DS9, but was always asked to play aliens; he held out until the producers allowed him to play a human, which he did in this episode.

The action in this episode takes place in the Chin'toka system, which later falls back into the hands of the Dominion.