Dominion War
The Dominion War is a war that features in Star Trek.
Contents |
History
Prelude
- "The Dominion will no longer stand by as ships from your side violate our territory." - Jem'hadar Third to the crew of Deep Space 9.
The Dominion War was a galactic war that erupted within the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. Its origins were traced to the initial Alpha Quadrant expeditions into the Gamma Quadrant through the Bajoran wormhole. In time, rumors began to filter through of a ruthless race of conquerors known only as 'The Dominion'. In 2370, first contact was officially made between the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion, when the Jem'Hadar destroyed the Starfleet vessel USS Odyssey. A state of cold war rapidly developed thereafter between several of the Alpha Quadrant's major powers and the Dominion. A Dominion invasion was widely regarded as inevitable, as the Founders were driven by a xenophobic need to exert absolute authority over all other civilizations. The Dominion began to infiltrate the Alpha Quadrant with Changelings masquerading as important officials, in an attempt to destabilize the political landscape between the major powers. By manipulating a plan originating with Enabran Tain, the Dominion completely destroyed the Obsidian Order and nearly completely destroyed the Tal Shiar at the Battle of the Omarion Nebula in 2371. The subsequent power vacuum left in the absence of the Obsidian Order led to a coup on Cardassia, resulting in the overthrow of the Cardassian Central Command by the Detapa Council. By manipulating frustrated warrior sentiments in the Klingon Empire and implanting false information that the Cardassian change of government had been engineered by the Founders, the Dominion was able to trigger the Klingon-Cardassian War. The Federation condemned the Klingon invasion, leading to a severe deterioration of relations between the two powers, ultimately concluding with the Federation-Klingon War.
The War
Tensions between the Federation and the Dominion only escalated due to the constant convoys emerging from the Wormhole that headed towards Cardassian space. This saw large movements of ships and troops heading to Cardassia whilst diplomatic agreements were made with Alpha Quadrant powers. Through this means, the Dominion managed to secure non-aggression pacts with the Romulans, Tholians and Miradorn. Not all these in-roads into the Alpha Quadrant were successful as an attempt to bring a similar treaty to Bajor failed. However, the growing number of treaties ultimately saw Captain Benjamin Sisko campaign for a blockade of the Wormhole in order to stop the growing Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant in an effort to secure the peace. This saw the deployment of a self-replicating cloaked mine grid at the Bajoran Wormhole which drew a near immediate response from the Dominion. The Vorta Weyoun initially attempted to threaten Starfleet with force but attempted to trick them with peaceful overtures. These were only a ruse as the Dominion gathered their forces for a strike against Deep Space 9. In order to protect Bajor, Benjamin Sisko who was the Emissary of the Prophets convinced the Bajorans to accept the Dominion non-aggression pact. This saw only a mock attempt at the Bajoran Militia protesting Starfleet's presence at Deep Space 9 whilst the station prepared itself for the Dominion armada. This fleet was led by Gul Dukat and Weyoun who engaged the station only to discover it prepared for the advanced Dominion technology where they inflicted heavy casualties on the invaders. As a result, Dominion reserves were brought around Bajor in order to force Starfleet to depart but not before the station itself was sabotaged. Whilst the Dominion were delayed at Deep Space 9, a joint Starfleet-Klingon task force entered into Cardassian space and destroyed the shipyards at Torres III. Thus, whilst the Dominion had secured a victory at Bajor, it proved to be a costly one as they had lost fifty ships and one of their shipyards.
While the Alliance suffered repeated defeats in large fleet actions, Federation and Klingon ships had greater success in raiding operations and in combating small patrols of Jem'Hadar ships. Such operations included the destruction of the Dominion's primary ketracel-white storage facility in the Alpha Quadrant, and the destruction of a massive Dominion sensor array in the Argolis Cluster. The Dominion began suffering a shortage of ketracel-white, greatly concerning the Cardassians in particular. Glinn Damar even proposed that the last rations of white be poisoned if new supplies could not be secured, preventing the Jem'Hadar from running amok. Nevertheless, the Dominion continued to conquer large swathes of Federation and Klingon territory, even approaching the Vulcan border and Bolian territory. On Deep Space 9, efforts to dismantle the minefield surrounding the wormhole were finally beginning to bear fruit. Although Alliance forces scored several minor successes in single-ship duels and in small groups, the inexorable Dominion advance compelled them to continually retreat. Morale sunk lower, with even the Klingons doubting they could defeat the Dominion.
The Tide turns
By the latter half of 2374, the Federation and Klingon Empire were perilously close to defeat. A major victory was needed, if anything to boost morale. Captain Benjamin Sisko, knowing the Dominion would likely figure out how to disable the minefield eventually, proposed to Starfleet Command the Federation Alliance had to go on the offensive. Sisko's plan was to assemble a task force to recapture Deep Space 9, the most strategically important site in the Alpha Quadrant, at the mouth of the wormhole. Despite misgivings that it would leave Earth vulnerable, Starfleet approved the plan. The Klingons proved more difficult to convince; Chancellor Gowron held the same concerns as Starfleet, in committing as many ships as would be required to re-take Deep Space 9, it would leave the Empire vulnerable. While General Martok and Lieutenant Commander Worf made Starfleet's plea to Gowron in person, Federation forces began assembling at Starbase 375. Unfortunately, Starfleet soon received intelligence from active resistance members on Deep Space 9 that the minefield was only three days from being destroyed. With no word having arrived from the Klingons, and only two-thirds of the Starfleet force assembled, Vice Admiral William Ross authorized Benjamin Sisko to lead the 627 ships assembled in an effort to prevent the Dominion from removing the mines. In response, Dukat pulled 1,254 warships from the front lines to intercept the Federation fleet, stalling Dominion advances into Allied territory. (DS9: Favor the Bold)
Endgame
Aftermath
Overview
In appearance, the Dominion War was a galactic war that erupted for control over the Alpha Quadrant.
It was noted that the Romulan Star Empire came to use Reman shock troops in some of the heaviest fighting of the Dominion War. (Movie: Nemesis)
Participants
- Founder :
- Dukat :
- Weyoun :
- Benjamin Sisko :
Notes
In other media
Video games
- In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars, the setting of the real-time tactical video game was the Dominion War.
Appearances
- Star Trek: Deep Space 9:
External Links
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