#ds9 call to arms

[skymallnine]

I’m sure this is not a novel observation, but it still really tickles me that Trials and Tribble-ations is so genuinely plot relevant. That final, quick sight gag determines the course of the entire Dominion War.

Rom was on the maintenance team when those tribbles overran the station, and that’s exactly why he understood how to destroy the morale of anyone else who tried to occupy it. He put a bomb in a tribble.

[ineedfandomnow]

THE SEASON 5 FINALE WTF I'M OBSESSED

I mean I love the way the stage is now set for the war with dominion and I love that Bajor is taking a stand for itself even if that means a treaty with the dominion but damnnnn

I liked that they mined the wormhole and deep down I think that may be the only solution to the dominion problem (except for that fact odo will be cut off from the rest of the founders forever)

Loved Rom in this episode too and I felt so bad for him and leeta I hope everything works out

A 10/10 again

[walkingstackofbooks]

Just realised that when Jake chooses to remain on DS9 during the Dominion Occupation, that's probably got a hell of a lot to do with his experience during Nor The Battle To The Strong, right?

Even though I'm certain he must have been thoroughly told that running away wasn't his fault, how much did he think of staying on the station as his chance to show everyone that this time, he wasn't going to run away to safety when things got bad?

[noitsbecky127]

rebecca watches ds9: call to arms

what the fuck am i looking at

ah, wedding planning

rom we GOTTA get you unlearning all this misogyny

ziyal and garak are here to help!

i would not trust garak to design my wedding dress

maybe if he sent me periodic sketches and i could give continual feedback

the other o’briens are on earth. guess it’s about that time to get civilians off the station

ASKDJEKE ROM

there HAS to have been a better way to phrase that

i wouldn’t think sisko had the authority to officiate weddings. emissary privileges i guess!

what’s everyone looking at

oh that’s a lot of dominion ships

the dread in the air is palpable

jake writing an article about his dad without telling his dad is unhinged

ah, quark’s preparing for the dominion takeover

hey yeah what IS a yamok

guess i’ll never know. file it away with the self-sealing stem bolts

ok so kira and odo have not dealt with the whole gaia thing

“that explains a lot” “it does?” “not really” jadzia dax i love you

time for these two to reopen the polyamory negotiations ig

60 celsius is 140 fahrenheit. i’m no expert but that sounds too hot to drink

the romulans? how did THEY get involved in this?

i really do not trust the dominion to be honoring these non-aggression pacts

when in doubt, contemplate the baseball

yeah see a treaty’s only as good as the signatories’ word and the dominion’s word is worth fuck-all!

i think a war is going to start no matter what you do at this point

why is rom here exactly

oh someone’s getting cold feet

oh damn rom’s actually being helpful!

rom is the real mvp

no reinforcements? this is the front line! why the fuck wouldn’t starfleet send reinforcements?

this is a losing battle they’re fighting

odo there has got to be a better date setting to invite kira on. you don’t EAT

good idea. war now, heterosexual nonsense later

minefield is a go!

fucking weyoun again

you can’t have the station

“all the dominion wants is to peacefully coexist with its neighbors” press x to doubt

every word out of weyoun’s mouth is a lie

vorta ears are fucked up

just what the hell is starfleet doing that’s more important than having reinforcements here?

i really do not trust the non-aggression pact. that’s only gonna last as long as the dominion wants it to. eventually they’re going to hit bajor, treaty or no

oh it’s not gonna be easy for ziyal on bajor

i’m pretty sure garak and ziyal are supposed to be romantically involved, which, first of all, ew, she’s less than half his age. but second of all, i get more of a paternal vibe than anything else

oh ew. do not kiss. stop kissing. STOP

gonna try and forget i ever saw that

rom and leeta are married!!!!! that works for eye bleach

they can have a vow renewal post-war and have a proper ceremony then

i really, REALLY hope this isn’t the last leeta and rom ever see of each other

oh shit martok

FUCKING DUKAT

oh hey jake’s gonna get more emergency medical experience

odo why are you sitting like that

i wish garak had shot dukat

aww quark and rom love each other very very very deep down

alright. war is here. do or die.

oh shit the defiant

klingon ex machina

minefield is active! hopefully this turns the tide

evacuating??

was that already discussed in the episode and i just missed it

worfzia engagement. kill me now

OH THAT’S WHAT STARFLEET WAS DOING

well hello there garak

exactly where is the defiant going? just, anywhere but ds9?

so the dominion gets the station?

OH HELL YEAH

no one ever said the station had to be in working order!

jake what the shit. you should not be here.

star trek characters love doing dangerous things without sufficient cause

hardest decision sisko’s ever made

hopefully odo can use the whole founder thing to his advantage with weyoun and the jem’hadar

sisko left the baseball? what’s he gonna contemplate now???

i would actually go insane if i watched that and then had to wait all summer for the next episode. gonna start s6 after dinner

[sshbpodcast]

Episode 207: Operation Sisko

DS9: "Call to Arms"

It seems like only yesterday we were being introduced to the Jem'Hadar way back at the end of season two, and now we're already to the end of season 5 and the long-simmering hostilities between the Federation and the Dominion finally boiling over! Yes, it's "Call to Arms", where a bunch of threads pay off and the Alpha Quadrant is turned upside-down!

Also this week: a different way to end seasons, screwed-up Federation priorities, and wrapping season 5!

Timestamps: "Call to Arms": 02:12; Season Wrap: 50:16

Season 5 Wrap Up: Thwarted by B Plots in DS9’s 5th Season

[hawkp]

HOLY FUCK

[johannestevans]

a thing i love about kai winn is the way in which she is OBSESSED with personal responsibility as a way of absolving herself of her influence over others.

it's bareil's CHOICE to kill himself because she won't tell him not to. it's people's CHOICE to follow their d'jarras. "i won't interfere."

this poor insane and absurdly scarred woman who is repeatedly and continuously rejected by her own gods. a starfleet human is their new messiah, to whom the prophets continuously reach out. the prophets are speaking to everybody but her - not just kira, youthful and disobedient and chaotic

but fucking. more humans. a trill. odo. a FERENGI!!!!

forsaken by the prophets during the occupation and like… it's so easy for kira to judge her, she thinks, when kira had weapons, and winn never did. all she had was her mind and her ability to talk and manipulate and bribe

and she is so absurdly lonely. she's no longer in a prison cell the way she was for most of the occupation, but she may as well be. everyone thinks her cold and treacherous - the ds9 cmo calls her a coward to her face! her!!!! a priestess who has survived a genocide, this CHILD, calls her a coward!!

and in her mind i think it's just. so much easier to think of everything in terms of… people make choices. she's not making anyone do anything. she's not holding a gun or the weight of an occupying force. she's not making any threats. people can just make their choices. like she has - has had to

and like. god. her gods do not give a single fuck about her. when she's finally able to reach out to them outright that they do not think about her and if they did they would think she's fucking cringe. when your own gods say you're not worth shit, well, okay! i guess she'll do whatever then!

i understand why people have like. a massive knee jerk response to winn - i do think that people wrongly conflate her fundamentalism with american christian fundamentalism & its ideologies, bc like. she is not an american. she is not a member of the dominant culture. she is a genocide survivor

and god like. you can see the acid in her mouth whenever she's negotiating with the cardassians, but more than that like. kira as a member of the bajoran militia works very closely with starfleet, and she's also federation-pilled from hanging out with those rootbeer-drinking freaks 24/7

winn doesn't have that. all she has is the knowledge that starfleet watched the cardassians rape and pillage and abuse and murder her people for decades and not give a flying fuck because the bajorans didn't have anything they wanted. and then the wormhole appeared. and suddenly they were helping

and idk like. she's so painfully uncomfortable with quark naming a fucking dessert after her and trying to get her to try it bc she's not a fucking celebrity and she doesn't want to be.

kira accuses her of wanting fame and her place in history but that's so clearly not what she cares about

she genuinely DOES want what's best for her people. and unfortunately, like kira, she very much has an all or nothing spirit about the whole thing. for winn, that doesn't mean bombing the families of oppressors or blowing up DS9 to stop the cardassians from taking it. it means shit like this

taking every single advantage she can get, using up her assets even when those assets are dying in front of her, even when super fucking unethical medical stuff is being done - letting bareil die when, really, he didn't need to, just for one treaty where there will be others, frankly

but kai can't think of all the people she's killing or leaving behind, because she's not that kind of strategician and she's not ACTUALLY interested in Going Down In History. what she wants, what she has always wanted, is to save what she sees as The Core of Bajor as best she can, and preserve it

part of that is saving people, redirecting prison ships, fucking off the cardassians, getting these treaties signed. part of that IS keeping starfleet at arm's length and, frankly, ensuring that bajor doesn't become a federation planet and get subsumed into federation culture.

and most of all it's faith and doctrine and her fundamentalist understandings of bajoran texts and the teachings of the prophets, because that is what helped her survive, and therefore, in her fucked-up head, all that MUST survive in perpetuity

god. i love that awful woman

[writergeekrhw]

You talked about your ‘rock bottom’ episode but could you talk about what episode you look back on with pride and why?

I've very proud of a lot of the episodes I worked on for #DS9, both my solo credits and ones I worked on with Ira and others. I can't really choose just one.

The standouts that come to mind right now are, in no order:

"In the Hands of the Prophets," The Wire," "Second Skin," "Hard Time," "Past Tense 1&2," "Way of the Warrior," "Homefront/Paradise Lost," "Little Green Men," "Call to Arms" and "In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light."

Even though my contributions are fairly minor, I'm also super proud of "Trials and Tribble-ations."

That's 14 pretty good ones, depending on how you count.

[welikeimagines-andfandoms]

Imagine being taken by Cardassians and when you return to DS9 you avoid everyone, only finally talking when you break down scared to Garak, your friend who you secretly have feelings for

Garak: “I’m here for you, darling”

The words, the care, the softness; suddenly it all became too much, and your pent up fear began to erupt.

Y/N: “But you weren’t! I called out for you! When they strapped me down! When they beat me! Starved me! I screamed for you! Th-they laughed at me. How I could be surrounded by Cardassians and still call for one. I didn’t see you in any of their faces. I just wanted you, Garak.”

Garak: “Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

Y/N: “Please don’t leave me.”

Garak walks closer, slowly as to not startle you. His initial touch is so gentle, but that’s all it took. Flinging your arms around him, his cold chest was surprisingly comforting.

Garak: “I’m not going anywhere, love.”

[lordmartiya]

The various Star Trek big plots after DS9 tell to me something: the decision makers have no idea what to do, and the writers have to suffer to get something worthwile out of it. Don't believe me? Let me explain:

Nemesis: the entire premise is that the Romulans keep a full species as enslaved miners or attack dogs on Remus, and this goes against already present lore, that has the Remans as the Romulans that happen to have been born on Remus and developed a more "get off my lawn or I'm gonna enslave your wife and daughter, torture your son to death in front of you, bash you to death with your son's arm, and stick your next of kin with the cleaning bill of the bloodsoaked clothes" culture (not hyperbole. At their best, they took out a tyrant on Romulus and then went home, at their worst they're the reason planet Hellguard has that name), and their Space Romans theme (the Romans had their slaves and had no trouble committing acts of what we'd call genocide and enslave the survivors, but enslaving an entire people just because was not something they did). The Space Romans theme is another reason why the premise as we have it doesn't work, as if Reman troops tried to rebel the Romulans would simply call and remind them they know where their families are.

Enterprise: They had the Romulans being known as expansionists, using cloaking devices over a century before the Federation even realized they were possible (thankfully season 4 brought in a device that could be used for similar purposes but was NOT a cloaking device) and even calling themselves Romulans with a blatant reference to Roman myth (Diane Duane's novels had instead Romulus and Remus being placeholder names a human in the Federation crew that found them came up with expecting to drop them once they learned how the "Romulans" called their worlds during first contact, but Romulan paranoia started a war and by the time the Federation learned the actual names Romulus and Remus had long since entered common use. At least one Romulan got mildly offended when she learned those names were derived from twins raised by a beast similar to a thrai).

The Romulan Star Empire shattered by the loss of the Twin Worlds from a nova because the Federation didn't help: this is a Star Empire, and novas aren't sudden. If their star started turning nova, they have a fleet of warbirds to move the entire population to Romii or somewhere else and enough time to go back and move every single city (and the pride to do exactly that), preventing breakdown of government. This premise was copied from The Undiscovered Country, except that had Qo'nos made uninhabitable by a moon-shattering mining accident they had no way to anticipate, an unstable society constantly on the verge of civil war, inadequate terraforming tech to clean up the place and recolonize, and TWO hostile polities right off the border ready to take advantage and invade (in fact we're treated to Starfleet telling the president of the Federation they're ready to do just that, and the presence of the Romulan ambassador implies they'd have Romulan support), they NEEDED the Federation help both to keep Starfleet and the Romulans off their back (thus freeing the logistical capabilities to evacuate the planet) and access to their better terraforming tech. The STO writers fixed this by having a different star go nova and a weird phenomenon moving the explosion to the Twin Worlds, while the Picard writers, being told to not use the Hobus Nova, had to indicate the Romulans for some reason needed Starfleet to build them the transports (nevermind they already have the means to pull it off).

In Discovery we have a story arc in a future in which powering warp travel became impossible after all dilithium blew up... Except the Romulans not only have developed quantum singularities reactors with similar outputs to contemporary warp cores of similar size, in their debut they had a Bird of Prey traveling at respectable warp speeds powered by a FUSION REACTOR (and Enterprise gave us older model Earth cargo ships that traveled at warp with fusion power only).

The worst part is that every single one of these premises can be easily fixed with existing lore:

Nemesis: the truth about senator Vreenak's death comes out, torpedoing the improving relationship between the Federation and the Romulans. There's no war because Sisko and Garak acted on their own without orders or support, plus the Dominion was indeed planning to attack after destroying Earth... And the Remans, led by disgruntled officers such as Sela, decide the government didn't do enough to get reparations and stage a coup.

Enterprise: start out with the Romulans as a mystery. Nobody knows much aside that they have twin homeworlds that were first discovered by an explorer with a multi-species crew, they stole the warp drive from the Andorians when they came to establish first contact but are still constrained to fusion power, their ships with giant bird of preys painted on have excellent sensor counters, they are in a weird war with the Andorians over the first contact gone wrong (with many blaming Andorian aggressiveness), they hold a genocidal grudge against the Duthulhiv and Etoshans, both members of the Orion Syndicate that messed with a lot of of worlds before the Syndicate formed and reigned them in, and some think they may be a group from the Vulcan Diaspora like the Debrune but that's a minority belief due their language being clearly not derived from Common Vulcan of the Time of Awakening, clearly their use of a giant bird of prey as symbol is a coincidence. Then an Earth ship gets pushy trying to establish first contact and gets a nuke to the face, Earth demands reparations for this act of aggression, and the "Romulans" reply with a war declaration and blow up the starbase closest to their space. Thus starts the Earth-Romulan War that includes also the Andorians, the Tellarites, and later the Vulcan... Up until the names the Romulans use for themselves are translated as "Declared" and "Travellers", at which point the Vulcans realize it's THAT group from their diaspora and they're acting entirely out of paranoia, and negotiations start.

Romulan Empire shattering: building on my take on Nemesis, the Romulans went to civil war after the group in charge of the coup was revealed to be completely insane... And the survivors of that group use a sunkiller bomb on Eisn, destroying the Twin Worlds and shattering the Empire between competing groups. Nero's crew are the ones that dropped the bomb, and most Romulans don't like the Federation over Sisko's stunt (and Picard's failed attempt to negotiate a peace in the civil war being sabotaged by Starfleet command for political reasons, causing his resignation in protest).

Discovery: remember the Omega Particole? The one that all Federation ships are under standing orders to neutralize at any cost because if it explodes a whole sector can't go at warp anymore and is kept secret from anyone who doesn't need to know because they fear some jackass would either try (and fail) to harness them for energy production or outright weaponize them? Use that to block warp travel around known space. The mystery is about who did it and why, the dominant power has developed an alternative FTL, and the remnants of the Federation are trying to clean subspace up and benefit from the arrival of the ship with a spore drive. As for Ni'Var, they seceded because evidence has emerged that USS Voyager tried to harness them in the Delta Quadrant and almost succeeded before sanity prevailed and they were neutralized and many believe Starfleet tried to replicate the experiment, and when it's proven they're not responsible they rejoin... And the Federation experiments now unite to Vulcan research in the same field based on Romulan superior knowledge of gravitics and subspace to clean up everything.

[milton-dammers]

Jeffrey Combs in Star Trek DS9

Tiron

S03E08 - Meridian (1994)

Brunt FCA

S03E23 - Family Business (1995)

S04E15 - Bar Association (1996)

S04E24 - Body Parts (1996)

S05E20 - Ferengi Love Songs (1997)

S06E10 - The Magnificent Ferengi (1998)

S06E23 - Profit and Lace (1998)

S07E12 - The Emperor's New Cloak (1999)

S07E24 - The Dogs of War (1999)

Weyoun

S04E22 - To the Death (1996)

S05E19 - Ties of Blood and Water (1997)

S05E25 - In the Cards (1997)

S05E26 - Call to Arms (1997)

S06E01 - A Time to Stand (1997)

S06E04 - Behind the Lines (1997)

S06E05 - Favor the Bold (1997)

S06E06 - Sacrifice of Angels (1997)

S06E09 - Statistical Probabilities (1997)

S06E11 - Waltz (1998)

S06E13 - Far Beyond the Star (1998)

S06E18 - Inquisition (1998)

S06E19 - In the Pale Moonlight (1998)

S06E26 - Tears of the Prophets (1998)

S07E01 - Image in the Sand (1998)

S07E02 - Shadows and Symbols (1998)

S07E06 - Treachery, Faith and the Great River (1998)

S07E17 - Penumbra (1999)

S07E18 - 'Til Death Do Us Part (1999)

S07E19 - Strange Bedfellows (1999)

S07E20 - The Changing Face Of Evil (1999)

S07E22 - Tacking into the Wind (1999)

S07E24 - The Dogs of War (1999)

S07E25 - What You Leave Behind (1999)

[deepspacedukat]

The Lifeline - Part One: The Message

...Yes this is another plot bunny. Yes I still have a ton of requests to get out. It's fine. Blame the brainrot.

If anyone wants to be added to or removed from my taglist, please feel free to let me know.

Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Vreenak (DS9) x Reader

[A/N: This will contain smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Spoilers for ST:VOY S1E7 "Eye of the Needle", references to Romulan politics, references to an interspecies relationship, Romulan/Human relationship, interspecies romance, threats, espionage, angst, time travel bs (it'll make your head hurt if you analyze it too much, or at least it made mine hurt), references to marriage/a mating bond.

~*~

**2367 - Stardate Classified, Late afternoon - Romulan Senate**

Listening to Sabrun drone on and on about the threat of the Federation-Cardassian peace treaty was usually something Vreenak would enjoy, but today, his head ached. He'd been in nothing but meeting after meeting for weeks on end, both for the Senate and the Tal Shiar, and the tedium was finally getting to him.

When was the last time he took leave? Years, most assuredly - before he was elected to the Senate seven years ago.

Wasn't that about how long Sabrun had been talking? Consciously straightening in his seat, he forced his shoulders to release some of their tension. He relished the opportunity to serve his people, to protect them, but he hated long-winded sessions like this.

A tap on the arm knocked him out of the deep, sinking morass of his thoughts, drawing his attention to the aide who'd approached him. He wore not the uniform of the government, but that of the Tal Shiar.

Elements bless Koval for saving him from such an utterly dull session!

Quietly, he gave the Praetor a deferential nod and slipped out of the Senate building. The fresh air caressing his face sent a bolt of relief through him. Even though he would likely not be allowed to rest for some hours, he couldn't find it within himself to be resentful. He did need to take some leave, no doubt, but for now, he'd gladly accept the moment's respite that his position with the Tal had just given him.

"Ah, the Chairman summoned you, as well?" Vreenak smirked at the sound of Letant's voice, and he slowed long enough for his friend to catch up.

"Luckily. I thought Sabrun would never shut up. He makes good points, obviously, but does he never tire of the sound of his own voice?"

Letant let out a tired chuckle of his own at Vreenak's ire, but both men were too relieved to be free to dwell on their frustrations.

"Any idea what this might be about, Mr. Vice-Chairman?" Letant's use of the title brought a genuine smile to the other man's lips. Vreenak had only earned it a year prior, and he was damned proud of his success. "Am I to finally be silenced for knowing too much about you?"

"Never, old friend. We may disagree on some points, but I value you too much to ever allow it to come to that." Vreenak murmured as they walked.

"Thank you for coming so promptly. I hope that I have not inconvenienced the Senate too much by pulling you both mid-session," Koval called the moment that the pair of Senators stepped into his office, shrugging off their outer robes. A smirk played across the Vice-Chairman's lips.

"You and I both know that inconveniencing others is one of your favorite pastimes," he called taking a seat before Koval's desk and allowing himself to sink into the cushioned chair with a relieved groan. Letant took the other. "I must thank you. One of our colleagues had become...tedious."

"You will not thank me in a moment." Koval's tone was graver than Vreenak had heard it in some time. Uh oh. That was always a bad sign. "What I am about to show you goes no farther than this room. One of the Empire's scientists - Telek R'Mor, Captain of the Talvath - died recently."

Vreenak's brow furrowed slightly, and Letant tilted his head.

"His family has our sympathies, but I, for one, fail to see the relevance," the latter remarked.

The Chairman stood and poured both of his guests generous servings of kali-fal.

"There was a data storage device found in his belongings. It was accessed, and the contents were...intriguing. You see, it contained personal messages from the crew of a Starfleet ship to their families," Koval continued, "a Starfleet ship that has not yet been built."

At that, Vreenak froze with his glass halfway to his mouth, and Letant's lips parted in surprise.

"They were messages from the future?" Vreenak hadn't meant to ask the question, but it slipped out anyway.

"Indeed, but that is not all. Computer, play visual message one-three-one-alpha," Koval ordered, and the screen before on the desk before the Senators lit up with the image of a woman - a Human woman.

Mentally, Vreenak acknowledged that she was actually quite pretty for a hevam.

"Hi, sweetheart. I know you're probably surprised to hear from me...after such a long silence, I mean. I doubt you'd write me off so quickly, but, well, I'm sure by now you've worked out that something is wrong." Vreenak glanced at Koval, not yet grasping the significance of this seemingly random message, but the Chairman simply nodded back at the monitor. Letant seemed intrigued by the woman on the screen. "It's been a few months since Voyager went missing, and while I can assure you that I'm physically alright, I...Vree, honey, we're stuck in the Delta Quadrant."

His eyes widened at a single syllable amongst the mess of her rambling. 'Vree.' Was...? She was talking to him? Why the hell would a Starfleet officer - a Lieutenant Commander, by the look of her rank pips - be contacting a Romulan Senator? He'd never seen her before in his life. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Letant look at him curiously, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"We're doing everything we can to find a shorter way home, but it might take years," she admitted, and he noted that tears had slowly gathered in her eyes. "I understand if you want to petition the Praetor for an annulment. After all, it's not much use having a wife who's stuck in a whole other quadrant of space. But, I...I want you to know that no matter how long it takes, I will make it home to you. You're in my thoughts every day and night, deyhhan. I love you. Give Koval and Letant hell for me, okay?"

She blew a kiss to the camera just as a tear rolled down her cheek, and Vreenak set his glass aside just as the message cut off.

"Computer," Koval called, "display addressee for visual message one-three-one-alpha."

Vreenak's stomach clenched as he saw his own name and rank pop up on the screen along with the stardate on which the message was recorded - nearly four years in the future by the Federation's calendar, assuming his mental calculations were correct.

"Well, my friend, you seem to have gotten quite lucky. As far as Humans go, she seems delightful," Letant murmured as he downed his drink. "She's stuck in another part of the galaxy, of course, but she obviously cares for you–"

"This is a joke," Vreenak rasped, feeling anger bubble up inside him. She seemed to know about all three of them, but that couldn't be possible. "I've never even seen her before! Why would I marry a...a hevam?"

"I assure you, I would not have called you here if I had not already verified that this was not a joke," the Chairman stated, and he handed the Senator a data pad containing the results of the inquiry he'd conducted into the subject. An encrypted visual message from Telek R'Mor himself detailed the encounter he'd had with Voyager in 2351, including his logs, and even a covert visual recording he'd snagged from their communications with his ship. Apparently, the man had left instructions for the delivery of these personal missives, but his daughter had turned them over to the Tal Shiar as soon as she'd discovered that one of them involved three well-known Romulans.

A wise choice.

Farther down, he found a report on the woman in the message. She was a Lieutenant currently serving aboard a science ship. Having received high honors at Starfleet Academy, she also had several commendations on her record from various superior officers. There was no indication that she was involved with Starfleet intelligence or Section Thirty One, though.

How odd, given the circumstances. How else, hypothetically, would they have met if not through clandestine contact?

Koval was nothing if not thorough, and the fact that he'd already looked into this meant that there truly was no chance that this was a deception.

Vreenak had a wife. A Human wife. Or, at least, he might end up with a one at some point in the next four years.

Just in time to lose her to the Delta Quadrant.

"I take it you're interested in having this looked into, then?" Koval asked, and the sound of his voice spurred Vreenak into action. He downed the kali-fal he'd been served, then got to his feet.

"You're damned right, but I'll do it myself," the Senator said, straightening his tunic before donning his robes once more. "If this woman really did send a message from the future, then I need to know more about her. Her intentions, motives, possible schemes... This isn't just a mystery, it's a personal one."

"Of course. Do what you have to. I'll have transportation and an alias arranged, as well as a surgeon," the Chairman confirmed. "I trust you'll want a Vulcan persona to save time?"

"Naturally."

"Oh, and Vreenak?" Through Letant's opening inquiry, he could already hear the mischief in his voice. The man in question glanced back at him over his shoulder. "If you don't like what you see when you meet her, do feel free to send her my way. She is rather alluring."

The Vice-Chairman let out a gruff huff of laughter.

"Be careful what you wish for. I'm certainly not marrying a hevam, but if you're willing to debase yourself in such a manner, then by all means, have at her," Vreenak said as he strode to the door.

Pledge himself to a Human? Ha! He would never disgrace himself like that. His taste was much more refined.

~*~*~

Romulan words:

hevam = derogatory name for a human

deyhhan = husband

~*~

Taglist:

@akamitrani @android-boyfriends @attention-bajoranworkers @bigblissandlove1 @darkmattervibes @emilie786 @groovyqueer @horta-in-charge @live-logs-and-proper @slutty-slutty-vulcans @starrynightgardens @toebeans-mcgee

[walkingstackofbooks]

I don't know if you're still playing your own game - but treat? I'd love to see some of your favorite writing on Trek!

Thank you! Sorry it's taken me a while to get around to, but this is one of the first things I wrote for DS9 (a whole year ago now!)... ince again I'm kind of stretching the limits of 'small extract' I'm afraid 😅

It was another five minutes, and another ten shocks before the doctor realised that Miles O’Brien wouldn’t be coming back. Jadzia saw when it happened; Julian had opened his mouth as if to call for another increasingly desperate “Clear!”, but all that came out was a shaky exhale as he bowed his head in defeat. She was by his side in an instant, taking his instruments out of his trembling hands and then guiding him to a chair. Her own hands weren’t too steady, either. Even seven lifetimes didn’t make losing a friend any easier. Collapsing into her own chair, she allowed Julian to rest his head against her shoulder, and started running her hand up and down his arm, just as much to ground herself as to comfort him.

Benjamin had come over to join them, and now laid a hand upon Julian’s shoulder. “You did your best, doctor,” he intoned, slow and steady. “Julian, it’s not your fault. You did everything you could.” 

No matter how many times she had seen Benjamin put his emotions aside for the sake of his crew, she would always be impressed with his control. That was not something that Curzon had taught him; Daxes had always worn their hearts on their sleeves. There were only two things that gave Benjamin away - the repeated clenching of his other hand into a fist, and the expression behind his eyes that she recognised all too well as deep fury. Otherwise, he was the picture of a perfect officer, utterly calm and composed. 

She wasn’t sure if Julian had heard Benjamin’s platitudes; if he had, he hadn’t reacted. He was too still, and too quiet. Even his breathing was surprisingly soft, a barely-there whisper in stark contrast to her own ugly, ragged breaths, which accompanied the sobs that had kept leaking out of her ever since she’d entered the infirmary. Evidently, Benjamin had noticed Julian’s silence too, judging from the concerned look he exchanged with her, and the way he crouched down in front of the chair, as though the doctor was a small child. 

“Julian? Doctor, can you hear me?” he asked, and Jadzia could see his eyes scanning the younger man’s face for any sign of response. He frowned, and looked back up at Jadzia. “He must be in shock, or something,” he said. “It seemed like he couldn’t even see me.” Shaking his head, he slowly raised himself to his feet again. “I’ll ask for a nurse to come and look at him.”

Surprisingly - although it shouldn’t really have been a surprise - the infirmary was still a hive of activity. Until now, Jadzia had failed to register anything apart from Chief O’Brien and Julian Bashir; when the Chief had died, everything, apart from Julian, had seemed to stop. But she realised now that could not have been true, since there were still numerous other patients littered on chairs and beds across the room, a few nurses flitting to and from the injured parties. She couldn’t help her gaze from wandering back to where the Chief’s body lay, and was relieved to see someone had covered him up, and that Nurse Jabara appeared to be attending to all the post-death duties that Julian would clearly be unable to complete. 

Benjamin had returned with Nurse Zielinsky, who began running a sonic disinfector over Julian as they examined him. Jadzia shook her head - she ought to have thought of that - and tried to help by removing his gloves from Julian’s surprisingly cold hands, and passing them to Benjamin to dispose of. Zielinsky then instructed the pair of them to use the disinfector on themselves, before disappearing to find a blanket for Julian, whom they had confirmed was in shock. 

“Keep him warm, keep him comfortable - he’ll come around eventually,” they said when they returned, handing the blanket to Jadzia. 

“How soon?” inquired Sisko.

The nurse looked a little uncomfortable, and Jadzia thought it was only professional restraint that stopped them from shrugging. “I don’t know, sir,” they replied briskly. “Everyone’s different. And I’ve never seen Doctor Bashir in this way before.”

“No,” agreed Sisko. “I don’t think any of us have.”

Zielinsky left to carry out their other duties, and Benjamin looked across to Jadzia, sighing heavily. “Do you remember,” he asked, “the first time you had to give an order that cost the life of a friend?”

Dax’s memories rose up inside Jadzia in a wave she had long learned to ride, letting the currents of emotion surge past and subside. Yes, she remembered: the situation had arisen in more than one lifetime. But it was Jadzia’s memory that surfaced most clearly and she was brought back to the time, almost two years ago now, when she and Kira had crash-landed in the middle of the Bajoran forest. It had always been all-too-easy to imagine a far graver ending to that particular situation; as soon as she’d realised how seriously Nerys was injured, leaving her friend behind had been a possibility she’d reluctantly readied herself for. If Bareil’s search parties hadn’t found them when they did…

Benjamin’s lips were pursed, and she could tell her friend was also thinking back through the years. She knew why he had asked the question, and it was one of the things she loved best about him - that he would always seek to empathise with his officers in the truest way possible. The similarities were obvious; when he had stopped trying to cure the Chief, Julian had, in effect, left him for dead, just as both she and Benjamin had had to do in the field. 

The differences were evident too. “It was all so sudden,” she said. “We weren’t in a battle, we weren’t on a mission - it just happened, here. None of us were prepared for anything like this.”

A peculiar look, one she didn’t quite recognise, crossed Benjamin’s face as she talked. “Exactly, old man,” he murmured, once again reaching out to lay a hand on Julian’s shoulder. “I don’t think back on that first time fondly - but in that moment, I was prepared for it.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to be wearing our doctor’s shoes.”

Jadzia gave a rueful smile. “Nor would I want to be in yours, Benjamin.”

Benjamin rolled his shoulders back and straightened up, a commander’s poise settling back over his face. “Yes, well. It will be my pleasure to make that Klingon wish he’d never stepped foot on this station.” He nodded at Jadzia. “I’ll leave the doctor in your capable hands, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Jadzia wouldn’t be able to neglect her duties forever, either - but for now, her place was here. 

[sparklylovegiver]

Day 3 - Scars | “I really mean it”

So, those of you only reading snippets i post on here might not know Spark wasn't Micah's first relationship! His first serious relationship was a Bajoran engineer named Julia. He meets her on DS9 right out of the academy and he falls head over heals in love with her in just a few weeks.

@fluffyjuly

She didn't always believe him. Julia didn't say it, but he could see her disbelief when he told her how amazing she was or laughed at one of her jokes. It was only their third date, so really Micah didn't blame her; work kept them both too busy to get to know each other. Her door opened, and Micah couldn't breathe. Her hair was long, straight and dark brown, her dress so dark red it was almost purple, a matching sawl over her shoulders. Micah's couldn't tell if she was wearing makeup but her soft bowrn eyes sparkled. He forced air into his lungs.

"Wow." He whispered. Micah could swear he saw a real blush on her cheeks.

"Down Ensign." She quipped, "Its just dinner, not a celebration." He smirked.

"I'm not sure about that. Dinner with a beautiful woman is reason to celebrate if ya ask me." He fired back and she let out a little laugh.

"Always quick, huh?" She asked. Micah offered out her arm as her shawl slipped from her arm. He caught just a glimpse of it, but it was unmistakable. Scars. He hadn't gotten a good enough look to guess how old or where they came from, but it wasn't hard to guess. As quick as they were exposed, Julia covered them with the shawl, looping her arm through his.

"I try to be." He responded with only half a beat. He wouldn't ask. It wasn't his business. He pushed the conversation to a musician she had suggested, telling her about a similar one from earth. Neither brought it up, but he could feel the tension in her arm looped through his. Micah could see the tension even after they sat down at Quarks and ordered, but he wouldn't ask.

"Will you just ask already?" She snapped in an uncomfortable silence. Micah shook his head.

"Nope. Its none of my business." He could see the tension start to melt.

"What?"

"If you wanna talk about it, I'll listen." Micah shrugged as her eyes darted to her hands in her lap, "but it's your life Jules, you get to decide who hears what parts of your story. You don't owe me or anyone else any part of it." The tension was high again, Julia nodding. "I really mean it." She looked up, head cocked.

"Jules?" She asked. Micah's cheeks flushed, his eyes darting from her like a kid in highschool.

"Sorry, I won't-"

"I dont hate it." She cut him off. His eyes darted up to her, and hers shot to her lap.

"Yeah?" He asked. "Cause if you like pet names, I've got a list a lightyear long. My old man calls my mom so many petnames, I thought Darlin was her name until i was five." A smile started to split her face, "I'm serious. The first time I heard my grandmother call my mom her name, i asked who Lana was." Julia let out a little chuckle, and his heart raced. God, she had such a beautiful smile. Julia’s past was hers, Micah didn't know if she would ever want to talk about it but it wasnt his. All Micah could do now was try and help her move forward, and have fun every step along the way.

[quasi-normalcy]

Best "Cardassian" Episodes by Series:

TNG: "The Wounded"; "Chain of Command"

DS9: "Duet"; "The Wire"; "Second Skin"; "Civil Defense"; "Improbable Cause"; "The Die is Cast"; "Return to Grace"; "In Purgatory's Shadow"; "By Inferno's Light"; "Call to Arms"; "A Time to Stand"; "Rocks and Shoals"; "Favor the Bold"; "The Sacrifice of Angels"; "Waltz"; "When it Rains"; "Tacking into the Wind"; "The Dogs of War"

VOY: "State of Flux"