Post by magicmuggle01 on Mar 11, 2019 11:14:40 GMT
When Kira's resistance cell learns that the Dominion will soon be bringing down the Federation's minefield, they plot to hinder the enemy's progress. But matters are complicated when the Female Changeling arrives on Terok Nor and pays Odo a visit. Meanwhile, Captain Sisko is relieved of command of the Defiant while Jadzia commands it on a mission.
Summary
The USS Defiant and her crew are now operating out of Starbase 375 conducting short-range missions into Dominion space. In a ritual that's evolved over time, Captain Benjamin Sisko takes a discharged power cell that had been used in the phaser array and lays it on a rack on the mess hall wall and makes a short speech. Everyone applauds. Admiral William Ross interrupts to tell Sisko that Starfleet Intelligence has discovered a massive sensor array near the Argolis Cluster which explains the Dominion's uncanny ability to always know where Federation starships are. It can detect ships from five sectors away. Ross orders Sisko to come up with an attack plan by 0800 the next morning.
On Terok Nor, the Dominion-occupation name for Deep Space 9, Rom and Major Kira have arranged to put Cardassian officer Damar's PADD into the possession of the Jem'Hadar. In it, Damar proposes poisoning the last ration of ketracel-white, because if the Dominion lines through the Gamma Quadrant don't open up, the Jem'Hadar will run amok after all the white is gone. Some Jem'Hadar confront Damar in Quark's and a riot breaks out, which is more than Kira and Rom had hoped.
Act One
In the aftermath of the bar fight, which has left some fatalities, Gul Dukat and Weyoun argue about how the unfortunate situation arose, with each defending his own. Weyoun tells Gul Dukat that the two of them must look like allies in front of their subordinates. Odo suggest's getting everyone out of the bar. Weyoun agrees. Odo continues to look around himself alertly.
On Starbase 375 at 0800, Sisko notes that the Dominion's Argolis Array can detect cloaked ships up to two light years away and proposes approaching the array through the Argolis Cluster itself. With the gravimetric distortions and Gravimetric shear it will be difficult but he is confident that the Defiant's crew can manage it. Admiral Ross approves the plan. The Defiant will leave as soon as current repairs are complete.
Back on the station, Odo confronts Kira over the Damar PADD operation. He reminds her that at the last resistance meeting he vetoed the idea to give Damar's PADD to the Jem'Hadar, but Kira tells him that after he'd immediately dismissed the idea and walked out she, Jake and Rom discussed it further and decided it was worth doing, and Kira is pleased that it worked even better than expected. Odo reminds her that if Dukat found out that she was behind it he'd use it as an excuse to throw all the Bajorans off the station when he's doing what he can to make sure Bajor survives the war which the Federation Alliance is losing. Kira accuses Odo of taking his role on the station's Ruling Council too seriously, as if he were genuinely more interested in the smooth operation of the station than in defeating the Dominion, but when asked tells him she isn't questioning his loyalty. The Female Changeling enters and asks Kira to leave. Odo asks what she is doing so far from home.
Act Two
She says that she's trapped in the Alpha Quadrant because of the minefield which has been blocking the wormhole and that she needs to see others of her kind. She and Odo argue over their past and Odo specifically mentions the punishment he received from her several years earlier. She replies that the past is over.
Back on Starbase 375, Admiral Ross informs Sisko that Bennet has been promoted to command of the Seventh Tactical Wing and that Sisko is to replace her immediately as his adjutant. Accordingly, Jadzia Dax will now captain the Defiant. Ross orders Sisko to review some tactical reports and present an opinion on the Bolian operation at 0600.
After a meeting of the Ruling Council concludes, the Female Changeling enters. She is most concerned about the minefield and this is the first thing she says to Dukat. Weyoun of course supports her and adds his own opinion on the matter, saying thousands of ships are waiting. Dukat brushes it off, saying that even without reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant they're still winning the war. She demands it be brought down, and Weyoun instantly submits and removes himself from her presence.
The Female Changeling turns to Odo, asking to walk with him back to his quarters. She talks to him about their first discussion on the Founders' homeworld and asks the strange solid behavior that he has to put up with all the time. They go to Odo's quarters and with probing questions, she manages to get Odo to admit that he's in love with Kira and she concludes that that is the reason that Odo remains with the solids. He unburdens himself of the torture of his unrequited love. The Female Changeling is sympathetic and she offers to link, saying that that is what Odo really needs. They link.
Act Three
Some time later, Kira finds Odo in his quarters. He seems to be in another world but at peace. He admits to linking with the Female Changeling to Kira, who becomes quite angry. Odo tries to reassure her and tells her that linking is not about information exchange (which might give away her resistance cell). It is about thought and form and feeling. Kira says that it is about manipulation. She tells Odo that the Female Changeling is not trustworthy. Odo thinks that perhaps he can convince her to call off the war. He admits that he is mostly just curious about himself and his people. Kira understands this but says that now is not the time for self-reflection. Odo promises not to link with her again, at least not until the war is over.
Sisko visits the bridge of the Defiant, and has a uncomfortable conversation with Jadzia who is sitting in the Captain's chair. Later, he watches through a window, as the ship leaves without him.
Damar, acting more full of himself than he usually does, orders a 2327 Kanar from Quark. He can afford it now that he's been promoted to gul. Quark knows that Damar knows something important and manages, eventually, to ferret it out with free drinks.
Later, an obviously drunk Quark intrudes on Kira's resistance cell meeting. Jake, Rom and Odo are also there. Quark says that he's had enough of the Dominion and Cardassians. In tears, he says he wants the Federation back; he wants to sell root beer again. When he's done with the self-pity, Quark says that Damar has found a way to deactivate the self-replicating mines.
Act Four
It is something about the deflector array. Rom figures that the secret is an anti-graviton beam, which the deflector array could be reconfigured to generate. There's one way to disable the deflector array: by accessing the electro-plasma system feed and overloading the waveguide. But getting to the EPS feed will set off an alarm, as it is in a secured conduit. So they plan for Odo to take the alarms offline for five minutes during a security diagnostic. They schedule this for exactly 0800 the next morning.
The Defiant has been gone over 16 hours. Back on Starbase 375, Sisko states to Admiral Ross, his intention not to sleep, as long as the Defiant is out there. Ross tells him to get some sleep as Sisko is going to have to get used to this assignment. The Defiant will be going on a lot of missions without him.
On Terok Nor, Odo has a lot of questions for the Female Changeling. She repeats that words are insufficient and clumsy. She urges Odo to link with her. He resists at first but eventually succumbs.
Act Five
Kira goes to check on Odo in his office but he's not there. She frantically tries to reach Odo via communicator but he is entering the link with the Female Changeling and doesn't answer. The time is 0759 so Kira then attempts to warn Rom to abort the plan but Damar interrupts wanting to go over a personnel report. Kira quickly makes her excuses and rushes out of the security office and tries to warn Rom not to open the panel but she is an instant too late. Rom has opened the hatch to the secure conduit and set off the security alarms. Kira tells him to get out of there as she sees Damar and a security force scramble to investigate the security breach. The Ferengi crawls back to where he came from and opens the outer hatch, only to be pulled out of the conduit by Damar and placed under arrest.
The Defiant returns to Starbase 375 triumphantly. Ross and Sisko come aboard in order to congratulate the crew. As acting Captain of the mission, Dax now performs the power cell ritual just like Sisko had earlier. Sisko realizes that they're a good crew and that they don't really need him to command them.
Kira storms down a corridor and bangs on Odo's door panel, beyond furious. In his quarters she yells to Odo that he let everyone down. She asks him if he forgot but he says no...it just didn't seem to matter. Kira furiously tells her former friend that Rom is in a holding cell being interrogated, they were both counting on him but instead Odo has just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion. What does he have to say for himself? But Odo is elsewhere, mentally and emotionally. In the link, he says, nothing else matters. Things mattered to him once but not any longer. Kira can never understand – she's a solid. Kira, realizing that she's lost Odo to the link, leaves. When she's gone, the Female Changeling appears from behind a wall. She notices that Odo looks troubled and asks "Did she upset you?"
Odo thinks for a moment, looking at the doorway, "No, not really." Satisfied, the Female Changeling remarks, "Ah."
Memorable quotes
"I'm so vulnerable to her."
"All she has to do is smile at me and I am happy beyond reason."
"A minor disagreement between us and I am devastated."
"It's absurd."
"Sometimes I wish that I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her but I can't."
- Odo
"I just shared a bottle of kanar with Damar. Hahaha, that rhymes."
- An inebriated Quark, after a drinking binge with the Cardassian officer
"Take a good look at this, people. It says something about this ship. It says that we will fight, and we will keep on fighting, until we can't fight any more."
"Yes sir!"
"You don't just throw something like this away."
"No sir!"
- Captain Sisko and his crew, upon receipt of a spent phaser array power cell
"The Federation is losing this war. We can't sit by and do nothing."
"There are limits to what we can do."
"I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have agreed to sit on that council. It's as if you're so invested in making sure the station runs smoothly you've forgotten there's a war going on."
"Are you questioning my loyalties, major?"
- Kira and Odo
"What are you doing here, Damar? Did Dukat demote you to security detail?"
"What can I do for you, Major?"
"I'm looking for Odo."
(looks around)"He's not here."
"Do you know where he is?
"Yes."
"That's good. It's always good to know where your boss is."
"He's in his quarters...with the other shapeshifter. Jealous, major?"
"Try to stay out of trouble, Damar, you don't want to end up on sanitation duty."
- Kira and Damar
"I tried. I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation. But you know what? It's no fun. I don't like Cardassians – they're mean and arrogant. And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar. They're creepy. They just stand there like statues, staring at you. That's it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back. I want to sell root beer again!"
- Quark, to Kira
"It's an old naval tradition. Whoever's in command of a ship, regardless of rank, is referred to as 'captain.' "
"You mean if I had to take command, I would be called 'captain,' too?"
"Cadet, by the time you took command, there'd be nobody left to call you anything."
- O'Brien and Nog
"When you return to The Link, what will become of the entity I'm talking to right now?"
"The drop becomes the ocean."
"And if you choose to take solid form again?"
"The ocean becomes a drop."
- Odo and the Female Changeling
"They're a good crew."
"The best."
- Ross and Sisko, on the crew of the Defiant
"Do you realize what you just did? You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion."
"I was in The Link."
"Are you saying you forgot?"
"I didn't forget... it just didn't seem to matter."
"A lot of people are going to die. Don't you care?!"
"It has nothing to do with me."
- Kira and Odo
Summary
The USS Defiant and her crew are now operating out of Starbase 375 conducting short-range missions into Dominion space. In a ritual that's evolved over time, Captain Benjamin Sisko takes a discharged power cell that had been used in the phaser array and lays it on a rack on the mess hall wall and makes a short speech. Everyone applauds. Admiral William Ross interrupts to tell Sisko that Starfleet Intelligence has discovered a massive sensor array near the Argolis Cluster which explains the Dominion's uncanny ability to always know where Federation starships are. It can detect ships from five sectors away. Ross orders Sisko to come up with an attack plan by 0800 the next morning.
On Terok Nor, the Dominion-occupation name for Deep Space 9, Rom and Major Kira have arranged to put Cardassian officer Damar's PADD into the possession of the Jem'Hadar. In it, Damar proposes poisoning the last ration of ketracel-white, because if the Dominion lines through the Gamma Quadrant don't open up, the Jem'Hadar will run amok after all the white is gone. Some Jem'Hadar confront Damar in Quark's and a riot breaks out, which is more than Kira and Rom had hoped.
Act One
In the aftermath of the bar fight, which has left some fatalities, Gul Dukat and Weyoun argue about how the unfortunate situation arose, with each defending his own. Weyoun tells Gul Dukat that the two of them must look like allies in front of their subordinates. Odo suggest's getting everyone out of the bar. Weyoun agrees. Odo continues to look around himself alertly.
On Starbase 375 at 0800, Sisko notes that the Dominion's Argolis Array can detect cloaked ships up to two light years away and proposes approaching the array through the Argolis Cluster itself. With the gravimetric distortions and Gravimetric shear it will be difficult but he is confident that the Defiant's crew can manage it. Admiral Ross approves the plan. The Defiant will leave as soon as current repairs are complete.
Back on the station, Odo confronts Kira over the Damar PADD operation. He reminds her that at the last resistance meeting he vetoed the idea to give Damar's PADD to the Jem'Hadar, but Kira tells him that after he'd immediately dismissed the idea and walked out she, Jake and Rom discussed it further and decided it was worth doing, and Kira is pleased that it worked even better than expected. Odo reminds her that if Dukat found out that she was behind it he'd use it as an excuse to throw all the Bajorans off the station when he's doing what he can to make sure Bajor survives the war which the Federation Alliance is losing. Kira accuses Odo of taking his role on the station's Ruling Council too seriously, as if he were genuinely more interested in the smooth operation of the station than in defeating the Dominion, but when asked tells him she isn't questioning his loyalty. The Female Changeling enters and asks Kira to leave. Odo asks what she is doing so far from home.
Act Two
She says that she's trapped in the Alpha Quadrant because of the minefield which has been blocking the wormhole and that she needs to see others of her kind. She and Odo argue over their past and Odo specifically mentions the punishment he received from her several years earlier. She replies that the past is over.
Back on Starbase 375, Admiral Ross informs Sisko that Bennet has been promoted to command of the Seventh Tactical Wing and that Sisko is to replace her immediately as his adjutant. Accordingly, Jadzia Dax will now captain the Defiant. Ross orders Sisko to review some tactical reports and present an opinion on the Bolian operation at 0600.
After a meeting of the Ruling Council concludes, the Female Changeling enters. She is most concerned about the minefield and this is the first thing she says to Dukat. Weyoun of course supports her and adds his own opinion on the matter, saying thousands of ships are waiting. Dukat brushes it off, saying that even without reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant they're still winning the war. She demands it be brought down, and Weyoun instantly submits and removes himself from her presence.
The Female Changeling turns to Odo, asking to walk with him back to his quarters. She talks to him about their first discussion on the Founders' homeworld and asks the strange solid behavior that he has to put up with all the time. They go to Odo's quarters and with probing questions, she manages to get Odo to admit that he's in love with Kira and she concludes that that is the reason that Odo remains with the solids. He unburdens himself of the torture of his unrequited love. The Female Changeling is sympathetic and she offers to link, saying that that is what Odo really needs. They link.
Act Three
Some time later, Kira finds Odo in his quarters. He seems to be in another world but at peace. He admits to linking with the Female Changeling to Kira, who becomes quite angry. Odo tries to reassure her and tells her that linking is not about information exchange (which might give away her resistance cell). It is about thought and form and feeling. Kira says that it is about manipulation. She tells Odo that the Female Changeling is not trustworthy. Odo thinks that perhaps he can convince her to call off the war. He admits that he is mostly just curious about himself and his people. Kira understands this but says that now is not the time for self-reflection. Odo promises not to link with her again, at least not until the war is over.
Sisko visits the bridge of the Defiant, and has a uncomfortable conversation with Jadzia who is sitting in the Captain's chair. Later, he watches through a window, as the ship leaves without him.
Damar, acting more full of himself than he usually does, orders a 2327 Kanar from Quark. He can afford it now that he's been promoted to gul. Quark knows that Damar knows something important and manages, eventually, to ferret it out with free drinks.
Later, an obviously drunk Quark intrudes on Kira's resistance cell meeting. Jake, Rom and Odo are also there. Quark says that he's had enough of the Dominion and Cardassians. In tears, he says he wants the Federation back; he wants to sell root beer again. When he's done with the self-pity, Quark says that Damar has found a way to deactivate the self-replicating mines.
Act Four
It is something about the deflector array. Rom figures that the secret is an anti-graviton beam, which the deflector array could be reconfigured to generate. There's one way to disable the deflector array: by accessing the electro-plasma system feed and overloading the waveguide. But getting to the EPS feed will set off an alarm, as it is in a secured conduit. So they plan for Odo to take the alarms offline for five minutes during a security diagnostic. They schedule this for exactly 0800 the next morning.
The Defiant has been gone over 16 hours. Back on Starbase 375, Sisko states to Admiral Ross, his intention not to sleep, as long as the Defiant is out there. Ross tells him to get some sleep as Sisko is going to have to get used to this assignment. The Defiant will be going on a lot of missions without him.
On Terok Nor, Odo has a lot of questions for the Female Changeling. She repeats that words are insufficient and clumsy. She urges Odo to link with her. He resists at first but eventually succumbs.
Act Five
Kira goes to check on Odo in his office but he's not there. She frantically tries to reach Odo via communicator but he is entering the link with the Female Changeling and doesn't answer. The time is 0759 so Kira then attempts to warn Rom to abort the plan but Damar interrupts wanting to go over a personnel report. Kira quickly makes her excuses and rushes out of the security office and tries to warn Rom not to open the panel but she is an instant too late. Rom has opened the hatch to the secure conduit and set off the security alarms. Kira tells him to get out of there as she sees Damar and a security force scramble to investigate the security breach. The Ferengi crawls back to where he came from and opens the outer hatch, only to be pulled out of the conduit by Damar and placed under arrest.
The Defiant returns to Starbase 375 triumphantly. Ross and Sisko come aboard in order to congratulate the crew. As acting Captain of the mission, Dax now performs the power cell ritual just like Sisko had earlier. Sisko realizes that they're a good crew and that they don't really need him to command them.
Kira storms down a corridor and bangs on Odo's door panel, beyond furious. In his quarters she yells to Odo that he let everyone down. She asks him if he forgot but he says no...it just didn't seem to matter. Kira furiously tells her former friend that Rom is in a holding cell being interrogated, they were both counting on him but instead Odo has just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion. What does he have to say for himself? But Odo is elsewhere, mentally and emotionally. In the link, he says, nothing else matters. Things mattered to him once but not any longer. Kira can never understand – she's a solid. Kira, realizing that she's lost Odo to the link, leaves. When she's gone, the Female Changeling appears from behind a wall. She notices that Odo looks troubled and asks "Did she upset you?"
Odo thinks for a moment, looking at the doorway, "No, not really." Satisfied, the Female Changeling remarks, "Ah."
Memorable quotes
"I'm so vulnerable to her."
"All she has to do is smile at me and I am happy beyond reason."
"A minor disagreement between us and I am devastated."
"It's absurd."
"Sometimes I wish that I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her but I can't."
- Odo
"I just shared a bottle of kanar with Damar. Hahaha, that rhymes."
- An inebriated Quark, after a drinking binge with the Cardassian officer
"Take a good look at this, people. It says something about this ship. It says that we will fight, and we will keep on fighting, until we can't fight any more."
"Yes sir!"
"You don't just throw something like this away."
"No sir!"
- Captain Sisko and his crew, upon receipt of a spent phaser array power cell
"The Federation is losing this war. We can't sit by and do nothing."
"There are limits to what we can do."
"I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have agreed to sit on that council. It's as if you're so invested in making sure the station runs smoothly you've forgotten there's a war going on."
"Are you questioning my loyalties, major?"
- Kira and Odo
"What are you doing here, Damar? Did Dukat demote you to security detail?"
"What can I do for you, Major?"
"I'm looking for Odo."
(looks around)"He's not here."
"Do you know where he is?
"Yes."
"That's good. It's always good to know where your boss is."
"He's in his quarters...with the other shapeshifter. Jealous, major?"
"Try to stay out of trouble, Damar, you don't want to end up on sanitation duty."
- Kira and Damar
"I tried. I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation. But you know what? It's no fun. I don't like Cardassians – they're mean and arrogant. And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar. They're creepy. They just stand there like statues, staring at you. That's it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back. I want to sell root beer again!"
- Quark, to Kira
"It's an old naval tradition. Whoever's in command of a ship, regardless of rank, is referred to as 'captain.' "
"You mean if I had to take command, I would be called 'captain,' too?"
"Cadet, by the time you took command, there'd be nobody left to call you anything."
- O'Brien and Nog
"When you return to The Link, what will become of the entity I'm talking to right now?"
"The drop becomes the ocean."
"And if you choose to take solid form again?"
"The ocean becomes a drop."
- Odo and the Female Changeling
"They're a good crew."
"The best."
- Ross and Sisko, on the crew of the Defiant
"Do you realize what you just did? You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion."
"I was in The Link."
"Are you saying you forgot?"
"I didn't forget... it just didn't seem to matter."
"A lot of people are going to die. Don't you care?!"
"It has nothing to do with me."
- Kira and Odo
