Chief Miles O'Brien and Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax quickly developed a working model, and the Defiant began laying down the minefield. Maintenance engineer Rom suggested using self-replicating mines equipped with cloaking devices for the blockade not only would such a minefield be undetectable to approaching ships, but it would also be virtually indestructible, as each mine destroyed would be replaced by another mine in the vicinity. With its strategic position rapidly deteriorating, the Federation resolved to prevent the Dominion from sending further reinforcements into the Alpha Quadrant by mining the entrance to the Bajoran wormhole. a war may be our only hope.' ( DS9: ' In the Cards', ' Call to Arms') With peaceful means failing to slow the Dominion's advance, Benjamin Sisko observed, '. Only the Klingon Empire stood with the Federation against the Dominion. Its classic strategy of divide-and-conquer seemed to be succeeding admirably. The Dominion's goal seemed clear: to isolate the Federation politically and militarily. The Dominion's greatest diplomatic achievement, however, was the signing of a nonaggression pact with the Romulan Star Empire, the third major power in the region.

In addition to the military advances, the Dominion made major inroads into the Alpha Quadrant politically as well, signing nonaggression pacts with several regional powers, including the Miradorn and the Tholian Assembly, and offering similar pacts to Bajor and other independent worlds in the area. ( DS9: ' Soldiers of the Empire', ' In the Cards') Casualties of these attacks included the USS Tian An Men and the IKS B'Moth. Aside from the Dominion's attempt to destroy the Bajoran system using a trilithium bomb, the Jem'Hadar and the Cardassians attacked and destroyed numerous Federation and Klingon patrol ships in a sustained campaign across the border sectors. ( DS9: ' By Inferno's Light')Īlthough a technical state of war did not exist, and neither side had fully committed to immediate combat, numerous skirmishes took place along the border during this period. As time went on, Cardassian space became a veritable fortress, teeming with Jem'Hadar soldiers and their Vorta overseers. Following their annexation of the Cardassian Union around stardate 50560, the Dominion began fortifying their foothold in the Alpha Quadrant with weekly convoys of warships and troops through the wormhole.

Deep space nine dominion episodes