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Check Site Update News
Overview
It’s the year
2384, by the old Earth reckoning. The Dominion War is still dragging
on. I think it’s been going on about twelve years now. It’s
been ten years since Sisko led Operation: Return, his brilliant and
ballsy gambit to recapture Deep Space Nine from Dominion forces.
He did something else
then. He gave us a fighting chance against the juggernaut that was the
Dominion. A massive fleet of Dominion ships were about to pour out of
the Bajoran wormhole, but Sisko took his ship, the Defiant, into
the wormhole. He talked to the beings in there-- the wormhole aliens
or Prophets or what have you. He asked them for help.
Their answer wasn’t
quite what anyone was expecting. They basically said to him- and by
extension, to all of us, I suppose- “We’re not going to get
involved in your business. Don’t bother us anymore.” And they
disappeared. The wormhole disappeared too... apparently no longer open
for business. The Defiant came out of the wormhole, but the Dominion
war fleet didn’t. Maybe they were sent back to the other side of
the wormhole. Maybe they were destroyed. Who knows?
So with the wormhole
gone, the Dominion were cut off. Maybe if we hadn’t been so badly
hurt in the early years of the war, we could’ve struck back right
there and then, ended the war. But we had to lick our wounds first.
That gave them enough time change their strategy. They dug in, established
bases throughout the Alpha Quadrant. Started building new ships and
growing new Jem’Hadar warriors.
By the time we were
able to regroup and launch any sort of punitive offensive, they were
ready for us. We recaptured territory taken by them. They successfully
occupied Federation territory in turn. Some years, they stopped fighting.
That would always lead to a sustained offensive that would require every
bit we had to drive back.
We never fought a war
like this before. The Dominion had a completely different mentality
than any of our enemies. It wasn’t like the old Romulan Wars or
the Klingon conflicts. The Changelings and the Jem’Hadar have a
totally different ideology, one that doesn’t permit them to give
up.
The fact that the Dominion
lost their route home saved us from the rapid end of the war and annihilation.
Now we were on more equal footing with them. Still, they may be able
to win the war simply by attrition. We can’t keep up this stalemate
much longer. We have to feed millions upon millions of crewmen, soldiers,
and billions of civilians. We have to construct weapons, defensive systems,
and starships. We have to repair damaged ships and bases.
The main bulk of the
Dominion’s army is cannon fodder. They barely need to eat, sleep,
or play. The Dominion’s ships are capable of taking more of a beating
than ours, and they have centuries of experience in conquest and domination
to use.
We’re running out
of time and supplies. I’ve just been given command of one of the
last few new ships the Federation will build, the Courageous.
Our mission is to head into a new region of space that shows promise.
Once there, we’ll search for new resources, technologies, and allies.
With those things, we’ll be able to continue the war effort. What
we need is an edge. Without that, the war will drag on as usual. Our
resources and manpower will run thin. And we’ll face defeat yet
again.
I am so tired. We all
are. But we've got to keep going. We're not ones to lay down and die.
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