Armed to the teeth with the ability to replenish ships, troops and supplies at rapid speed, the Dominion were a force to be reckoned with who were systematically crushing their opposition. The Jem’Hadar were taking their fair share of losses, but any soldier lost could be replaced by another batch of clones and with a huge amount of planets in servitude to the Dominion combined with a sharp focus of genetically engineered talents, there were always spare resources to replenish and push back.
It was a dire situation for the Federation. Waves of fleets would be lost in battle, boots on the ground were struggling to hold the line and even with the Klingons vast resources and more battle-ready way of life, it just wasn’t enough to push back hard enough against the invading Dominion. Not until another large nation joined the war when the Romulan Star Empire decided to stop being cautious observers pledging peace to whoever came out victorious and became a vital turning point in the war.
What swayed them was the death of Senator Vreenak; a key political figure who died in transit from a secret meeting who it turned out was carrying evidence of a Dominion plot to take advantage of Romulus’ passive attitude to the war and invade their Empire. A Senator assassinated while bringing home a recording of Dominion officials planning an invasion was more than enough motive for the Empire to join the Federation and the Klingons in a historic alliance to protect their territory and their future.
There was just one problem. The recording was a fake.
Frustrated and disheartened by the daily losses, Captain Sisko worked with former Obsidian Order agent Garak to manufacture the evidence. Twisting the laws and bending every rule, Sisko and Garak worked in secret with Starfleets approval to bring a criminal forger to create the recording and place it on a one-time use collinear rod manufactured exclusively on Cardassia for official logs. As far as Sisko knew, the plan was for Vreenak to present the evidence to the Romulan Empire, but when he discovered enough inaccuracies for it to be a fake, leaving the station furious, Garak sabotaged his ship to cover any doubts Vreenak had and build enough of a case for the Romulans to make the change. And those inaccuracies? Blame the explosion causing data corruption.
It was a gamble Sisko was furious about, but one that paid off. But what if it went wrong? Either from Vreenak surviving to tell the Romulans the truth, or the Romulans leaning into cautious over emotional response and spending more time analysing the data rod?
The Romulans and the Federation have a long history together. It was in the formative years of the Federation that the Earth-Romulan war kicked off with rippled effects lasting centuries including their re-emergence during the 23rd century and dominance in the early 24th which led to the stronger bonds between Starfleet and the Klingons. The Romulan Empire were suspicious of everything, had the power and reach to manipulate their will across the Quadrant and of course, were a powerful enemy with their own vast territories. With only joining the war as they saw a dangerous enemy in common, one that was a bigger risk to have as neighbours then the devil they knew, if the Romulans discovered as their Senator did that the evidence was a forgery, things would have likely been very different for Captain Sisko.
Always looking for an excuse to revive their war with the Federation, the Empire would have seen the data rod as the manipulation it was and it wouldn’t take a Julian Bashir to find out who was responsible. At this stage in the war, the Dominion are already collecting allies in the Alpha Quadrant to expand their reach. First the Cardassians, who are the home base of the Dominion outside the Gamma Quadrant, and eventually the Breen would be promised territories to fight on their side.
Discovering the Federation were plotting to manipulate them wouldn’t sit well with the Cardassians and would give them Senate all the excuses they needed to drop the non aggression pact for a partnership against their old enemies.
Throwing Warbirds and the Tal Shiar into the equation, the Federation and the Klingons would have no chance of survival even before the Bren got involved. On the promise of controlling Earth or Vulcan territories, the Romulans could be bargained into sharing sources they often keep to themselves. Warbirds carrying Jem’Hadar troops could overrun colonies and planets swiftly. Jem’Hadar ships equip with cloaking devices would cause even heavier losses on the already struggling Alliance.
Even in a best case scenario, if Damar’s rebellion still managed to form with the Dominion on the rise, the Tal Shiar would squash it before they could assert any influence. The Klingons may continue to fight, causing losses too heavy for the more influential houses to maintain and the Federation? Surrender may be only way to survive; just as the Jack Pack predicted in Stastistical Probabilities.
What if the Romulans learned the truth about Sisko’s deception?
In the long run, Voyager’s return home might not quite be a celebration as it was a revival, akin to Discovery’s third season. Perhaps instead of us going back to prequels, we’d see a new Star trek where the Federation is the underdog fighting to unite the galaxy against the new Dominion? Whatever the long run, it’d likely be a very, very short war that would lead to a much more depressing ending for the crew of Deep Space Nine.
About the author
[Treknology] Beam Me Up!
Step into the transporter and with the touch of a few buttons and sliders you're whisked away to an alien landscape ready to explore. As synonymous to the Star Trek lore as phasers and tricorders, the transporter is one of the most vital tools within Starfleet, letting officers and crew travel instantaneously between environments without the need for time consuming shuttle trips or finding a starship-sized parking space to land in. Developed as a narrative tool, the transporter lets the story move along swiftly without breaks in the action and in a budget friendly manner. All you need to film is someone stepping into the large chamber, paste over some special effects, then pick up in another filming location. Aside from the creative benefits, it also showed the enhanced technological nature of the 23rd century. How it works is fairly […]
That Guy From That Thing: Harris Yulin
Among the many acclaimed guest appearances from all corners of the Star Trek Universe, there are only a small few who gave as deep a performance as Harris Yulin in his sole appearance in the franchise. Taking the spotlight as Aamin Marritza in Deep Space Nine's first season episode Duet, a Cardassian civilian who arrives at Deep Space Nine and raises a massive red flag for Kira when she learns he has a condition that links him to a brutal mining camp that many Bajorans suffered through during the occupation. Yulin is an actor who you may not recognise by name, but you always recognise. Having made his name in the New York theatre scene in the 60's, he quickly established himself as a serious dramatic talent with an incredible command of language, subtly and presence before he'd ever step […]
A Fistful of Justice
Although it's one of the worlds most legendary science fiction shows, Star Trek has always dabbled with format and genre's, all dressed up behind deep space adventures. Whether using the holodeck for a touch of fantasy, or diving into the horrors of war through Deep Space Nine's run, the variety of story telling never seems to fit one mould. But out of all the different tales told in the wonderful world of Starfleet, one that always promises to deliver is the court room drama. This month we're diving into the most captivating of Star Trek's courtroom drama's with a Fistful of Justice! AD ASTRA PER ASPERA Strange New Worlds, Season 2 One of the most modern examples of Strar Trek's court room drama saw Pike's own Number One, Una-Chin Reilly, under court martial for a serious breach of Starfleet regulation […]
Who is The Borg Queen?
Since their first appearance in 1989, the Borg had been an oddly mysterious and chilling antagonist for the Federation. Following their first encounter with the Enterprise-D, an inevitable event accelerated by Q meddling to challenge Picard, the Borg would swiftly make their mark with the first of many attacks on Earth, forcing Starfleet to adapt and change to the new and unexpected threat. A cold, faceless enemy, the Borg are cybernetic beings acting as one collective mind. Spreading through the galaxy trying to find perfection, they absorb anything of value they see into their collective, spreading like a virus and wiping out individuality to become a drone serving their eternal mission. In trying to assimilate the Federation into their collective, the hive created a new leader in Locutus, a human given a unique voice to speak for the Borg and […]
[Q2&A] Fleet Recognition
While SFC's rank system is one of the most obvious form of rewards within Quadrant 2, with members informally given the rank and title for each grade, rank is just one level of recognition within the fleet for out Captains and Fleet Support to highlight a members contributions. While SFC's rank system is one of the most obvious form of rewards within Quadrant 2, with members informally given the rank and title for each grade, rank is just one level of recognition within the fleet for out Captains and Fleet Support to highlight a members contributions. A more common form of recognition are our Commendations and Citations. Having taken various forms over the years, our commendations are the more open of all with four categories – Service, Departmental, Leadership or Special Commendations. Commendations and Special Commendations are the most common […]
[Inside Trek] Behind the Viewscreen: Robert H Justman
It takes an army to bring a TV show to life, especially one creating it's own world to explore in and more often than not the people behind the scenes are often unsung heroes despite being key to the creation of an iconic a legacy as Star Trek. Robert Justman was one of the many responsible to shaping the Star Trek Universe, particularly in it's early days, and was one of the most influential producers in helping form the original series. Staring his career in technical and production roles, Justman learned the ropes in the 1950's as television in the US would go from a rare luxury to a household staple throughout the decade. Building his skills and reputation as assistant director and production manager on a variety of styles, Justman gained a reputation for being highly unorganised and keeping […]
Related
Relay Recap: July 2024
All Features Universe Categories Fleet Alert Comms GORN GIRL recap; july 2025 Picking up on the Season 2 cliff-hanger, Strange New Worlds returned to our screens this month to find Captain Pike and his crew on the edge of war with the Gorn as Season 3 was finally released!Exploring new worlds and new problems, the Enterprise crew are back in action on Paramount Plus and we're keeping ourselves up to date with weekly episode discussion threads on our FB Continuing Mission Group & Weekly episode reviews from Admin ! Explore... Episode Reviews Spoilers Group ACROSS THE UNIVERSE As we look back on Pike's adventures on the Enterprise in the prequel series, Paramount also gave us a look at whats to come next as Entertainment Weekly and SDCC's Star Trek Universe panel gave us a sneak peek at the reopening of […]
What If…. there was no Next Generation?
On the announcement of a new Star Trek show there was a lot of pushback. Most were excited at the idea of a new era, but some felt a new rehash of the concept was a mistake. It'll never work. The dynamics weren't right. They'd missed the point of what Star Trek was. It wasn't in the spirit of what came before. The casting was wrong, none of the new cast seemed likable It was doomed before it even began. And no, this wasn't Discovery. Nor the series of films introducing an alternate reality that played on the idea of Kirk and Spock fulfilling their destiny despite their radically changed origins. This was 1987 before the Star Trek Universe even existed. As of now (June 2025), Star Trek as an overall franchise consists of 818 episodes of live action over […]
What If… Spock Never Returned?
Over the years the Star Trek Universe has shown one part of it's original cast to be thee glue that holds it all together. From tempering Kirks emotions in the original series, to becoming a key asset in Starfleet's mission for peace decades later, Spock has been intertwined into several key points in galactic history. His appearance in The Next Generation led to a cultural shift over time that saw Romans and Vulcan's living as one nation. His disappearance during the Romulan Supernova led to the creation of the Kelvin Timeline. Even his strained relationships with his half brother and foster sister would have huge ramifications that would have an undeniable butterfly effect throughout time. But in essence, Spock's existence throughout most of his achievements shouldn't have happened. During Kirk's final showdown with Khan, Spock sacrificed himself to save the […]
[What If] The Defiant Does The Delta Quadrant
Time is broken, according to Q. So why not break it some more? Over the years we've seen alternate glimpses of our Starfleet heroes. From Terran Counterparts who's lives moved in rapidly different directions, to small changes as Worf zapped through parallel worlds to alternate futures threatening to destroy all of humanity. Looking back at what could have been, we're blatantly copying Marvel's ongoing What If series to look at hor Star Trek could have changed with a few small differences and to start, we're putting our focus on the Maquis...
