- For the TV series, see Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. For the mirror universe counterpart, see Terok Nor (mirror)
- For the second station with the name, please see Deep Space 9 (II).
This article or subsection has an associated category. | Deep Space 9 |
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Deep Space 9 was a Federation starbase, located in Alpha Quadrant in the Beta Ursae sector block's Bajor sector, that became one of the single most strategically, historically, and socially important outposts in the galaxy. The station was of Cardassian design, built by Bajoran slave labor between 2346 and 2351. Called Terok Nor by the Cardassians, the station was used for the processing of uridium ore by Bajoran laborers. After the Cardassian withdrawal in 2369, the provisional government of the newly-established Republic of Bajor petitioned the United Federation of Planets for relief efforts and Federation member status, and offered to allow the Federation Starfleet to administer the station as a starbase, prompting its new designation.
History and specifics[]
Station layout[]
Deep Space 9 consists of three main areas: The central core which contains the power core, the Promenade and Ops. The habitat ring which provides quarters for crew and visitors and is connected to the rest of the station by large crossover bridges and the outer docking ring (otherwise known informally as the "outer ring") which can accommodate numerous small ships and has six docking pylons to allow larger vessels to dock.
Facilities on the station include Medical D for autopsies, 25 personnel and cargo transporters, and the mineral assay office. (DS9 novel: Devil in the Sky; DS9 video game: Crossroads of Time)
History[]
Terok Nor[]
- See also Terok Nor
The design and construction of the station was made by the Cardassian designer Kotan Darek who worked with the unwilling assistance of the Bajoran architect Charna Sar. At the time, Darek remained in charge of the construction of the station until its completion whereupon it was targeted by the Bajoran Resistance who managed to damage it. This act weakened Darek's influence and led to the appointment of Gul Dukar who immediately took control of management of the station after relieving Kotan Darek of command. However, Kotan Darek secretly helped the Bajoran Resistance by way of Charna Sar which allowed a raid to be conducted on Terok Nor where Gul Dukar attempted to kill the Bajoran workers by ejecting them into space. The incident killed Dukar but left his son alive and allowed for Bajoran workers to continue working at the space station. (DS9 comic: "Terok Nor") In the year 2366, while the station was under the command of Cardassian Gul Skrain Dukat, prefect of Bajor during the Cardassian Occupation, Terok Nor was used as a testing ground for a new variation of the Double Helix virus created by Thallonian General Gerrid Thul. The virus crossed species and affected Bajorans, Cardassians, and Ferengi.
At the behest of Bajoran doctor Kellec Ton, Dukat allowed a small contingent of Federation medical personnel, lead by Kellec's Human ex-wife, Doctor Katherine Pulaski of Starfleet, to offer aid. With the assistance of Kira Nerys, a member of the Bajoran Resistance, who found the source of the virus on the surface of Bajor, Pulaski and her team managed to find a cure for the virus before the station was destroyed by the Cardassians in order to contain the outbreak. (TNG - Double Helix novel: Vectors)
When the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor in early 2369, they took every component of value from the station, destroyed what they could, and left behind only a confused Cardassian tailor, the exile Elim Garak, who was to act as the eyes and ears of the Cardassian Central Command. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
- More about this era was revealed with the release of the Star Trek: Terok Nor series.
The Federation[]
At the request of the Bajoran Provisional Government, Starfleet took command, administering it as a Federation Starbase (even as the station remained in Bajoran territory). Starfleet Commander Benjamin Sisko was made commanding officer, tasked with providing the Bajorans with the requisite help and stability to allow them to join the Federation. Sisko requested a Bajoran national as his first officer, and the post was given to Kira, now a major in the Bajoran Militia. The discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole leading to the distant Gamma Quadrant soon after turned the station into a port of call and a place of enormous scientific, strategic, and commercial importance. (DS9 episode & novelization: Emissary)
At first, Kira was opposed to the Federation's presence on DS9, but the deeply spiritual Major slowly started to come around after learning that Kai Opaka Sulan believed Sisko to be the foretold Emissary of the Prophets of prophecy. (DS9 short story: "Ha'mara")
In 2370 DS9 played host to clutch of Horta eggs, they were kept in stasis, however Jake Sisko and Nog deactivated the field resulting in the eggs hatching on the station. The baby Horta proceeded to cause havoc on the station and cause massive damage before they were beamed to a new home on the passing moon Baraddo. (DS9 novel: Devil in the Sky)
When Klingon Chancellor Gowron briefly withdrew from the Khitomer Accords in early 2372, DS9 was the site of the first battle of renewed hostility with the Klingons. (DS9 episode & novelization: The Way of the Warrior)
Later that year, the station became the focus of events when war was briefly declared between the Republic of Bajor and the Ferengi Alliance. (DS9 novel: The 34th Rule)
The Dominion War[]
When war with the Gamma Quadrant power known as the Dominion, which had annexed the Cardassian Union, began in late 2373, Starfleet was temporarily forced to abandon the station. But Sisko, commanding the starship USS Defiant, eventually fought his way back, liberating the station and ending the ongoing threat of Dominion occupation of Bajor. (DS9 episodes: "Call to Arms", "A Time to Stand", "Rocks and Shoals", "Sons and Daughters", "Behind the Lines", "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels"; DS9 novelizations: Call to Arms..., ...Sacrifice of Angels; DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Three Sides to Every Story")
In 2374, just after the Romulan Star Empire entered the war against the Dominion, the station was the site of the theft of a latinum shipment. This was a small part of a huge plot by the nefarious Section 31 to create a virus that would wipe out the Founders, the shapeshifting leaders of the Dominion. (DS9 novel: Hollow Men)
In early 2375, the station was home to a research effort attempting to cure a crew of Vulcans from the effects of a Dominion biological weapon called Vulcan scourge that was specifically designed to infect Vulcans. The cure was found through the combined efforts of Doctors Julian Bashir and Beverly Crusher, the Emergency Medical Hologram of the USS Enterprise-E, long distance assistance from Admiral Leonard McCoy, and the notes of a 22nd century Denobulan physician named Phlox. (DS9 - Tales of the Dominion War short story: "Mirror Eyes")
After the end of the war in late 2375, DS9 was the site of the signing of the official declaration of peace between the powers of the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants. Before the treaty was signed, Sisko averted an attempt to assassinate the Female Changeling who was acting as the voice for the Dominion. (DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind; DS9 - Tales of the Dominion War short story: "Requital")
The onset of the new year found the station, now under the command of Colonel Kira Nerys, infected by the N-Vector Viroid, an agent that was created (or perhaps discovered) by Romulan scientist Mos Senay. The station was purged of the viroid, but it survived in a dormant form and may one day return. (DS9 comic: "N-Vector")
2380 marked the return of the notorious rogue Vulcan scientist T'Uerell and her Borg faction. After the majority of the people in the Aurelius region were rescued by Starfleet from the jaws of the Borg invasion, the Borg fleet assaulted Bajor and Deep Space Nine. The Borg were also engaged in battle with Klingon and Romulan fleets across the system. A Starfleet task force led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-E arrived and united the Klingon and Romulan fleets, turning the tide of the battle. The Borg were soon defeated and fled the system. (ST video game: Legacy)
In 2382 Ro Laren was commissioned as an officer in the Bajoran Militia, following completion of a prison sentence for desertion from Starfleet, and became security chief for Deep Space 9.
In 2384 the Ferengi Alliance opened an embassy on the station near Quark's in anticipation of an upswing in trade due to Bajor's renewal of its application for Federation membership. (STO website: The Path to 2409)
25th century[]
By 2409 Deep Space 9 was under the command of Captain James Kurland, who also held dual command of the USS Defiant permanently assigned to the station. Despite an ongoing war with the Federation, the Klingon Empire also maintained a token diplomatic presence aboard, led by Ambassador S'taass of the Gorn Hegemony. (STO - Cardassian Struggle mission: "Venture into Deep Space")
In 2409 the Federation hosted a conference between several major powers of the Alpha and Beta quadrants at DS9, for the purpose of negotiating a united task force against the Borg. The Cardassian Union, the Klingon Empire, the Deferi and Starfleet had representatives in attendance.
However, during the conference, the station was attacked by Dominion forces that emerged suddenly from the wormhole. Despite interference from Starfleet ships in the area, the station was overrun and once again taken over by the Dominion. The Vorta Loriss named herself the new commander of Deep Space 9. (STO - The 2800 mission: "Second Wave")
On Bajor, it was discovered that this group, the 2800, was the fleet that the Prophets made disappear in 2374. However, an attempt to convince the Jem'Hadar there that the Dominion War is over failed and they were ultimately forced to confront the Dominion themselves to ask for help. (STO - The 2800 mission: "Of Bajor")
A shuttle was able to slip through into the wormhole while a group of Starfleet and Klingon ships made a diversionary attack on the Jem'Hadar lines, and contacted the Vorta Eraun. Eraun agreed to command Loriss and her First, Kar'ukan, to stand down, in exchange for the release of the female Changeling from Federation custody. (STO - The 2800 mission: "Operation Gamma")
The female Changeling commanded Loriss and Kar'ukan to stand down and return with her to the Gamma Quadrant, but Kar'ukan defied the Founder, refusing to surrender the station. One of the commanding officers involved in the operation proposed the bold plan of spacewalking onto DS9's hull to assassinate Kar'ukan, but the First ultimately escaped to his flagship and the joint Starfleet and Klingon Defense Force was forced to engage the Jem'Hadar. The tide was ultimately turned with the arrival of Starfleet reinforcements led by the newly launched USS Enterprise-F. Kar'ukan's dreadnought was destroyed with all hands, Kurland resumed command of the station, and Loriss and her surviving Jem'Hadar returned to the Gamma Quadrant with the Founder. (STO mission: "Boldly They Rode")
In 2410, Deep Space 9 was moved to Bajor when it became known that the Tzenkethi were going to attack the world with their Protomatter torpedoes. However, to their horror, they learned that the Tzenkethi war of genocide was aimed at trying to destroy the Hur'q, who hatched from various crystals buried underneath various worlds. Deep Space 9 took the worst of the attack, nearly being destroyed until the arrival of a Dominion fleet lead by Loriss 4 and at the insistence of Odo. (STO mission: "Scylla and Charybdis")
Alternate realities[]
In an alternate timeline, Deep Space 9 was destroyed by a Romulan D'deridex-class Warbird in 2371. (DS9 episode: "Visionary")
In another alternate timeline in which Captain Sisko became trapped in a subspace field in 2372, DS9 fell under the control of the Klingon Empire in 2373. It was still occupied by the Klingons in 2422. (DS9 episode: "The Visitor")
In an alternate reality in which the Federation was defeated by the Borg Collective at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367, the Borg occupation of the Alpha Quadrant had spread to the Bajor sector by 2371 and Deep Space 9 had been assimilated. While the USS Defiant of another reality was travelling between universes in 2371, it discovered the assimilated DS9 and was fired upon by a Borg cube before escaping to a different reality. (DS9 comic: "The Looking Glass War")
First Splinter timeline[]
- All dates are derived from the timelines included at the beginning of Unity, and the end of Worlds of Deep Space Nine volume three
2376[]
In March, upgrades began on the infrastructure of the station as well as the USS Defiant to completely replace the station's forever uncooperative Cardassian computer system with a Federation ODN network that would no longer require makeshift patches between the two systems. The upgrades also saw additions to DS9's defenses, including quantum torpedoes. Personnel were stretched throughout the upgrades as only half of the station's usual thirty-five man contingent of Starfleet Corps of Engineers personnel remained on the station following the war.
The USS Aldebaran was assigned to defend the station while it was vulnerable. In April, the station was attacked by a trio of rogue Jem'Hadar fighters who sought to erase the shame of losing the previous war by starting a new one. The Jem'Hadar were defeated, but the Aldebaran was lost with all hands and sixty-one people on DS9 were killed. Several Jem'Hadar managed to beam to the station and attempted to overload the station's fusion core. The station was saved with the assistance of the Jem'Hadar named Taran'atar, but the core had to be ejected. (DS9 novels: Avatar, Book One, Avatar, Book Two)
DS9's chief engineer, Nog, came upon a solution for the station's fusion core problem. With the help of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, the abandoned Cardassian station Empok Nor was towed to the Bajor system and its fusion core transferred to DS9. (CoE eBook: Cold Fusion; DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss)
In May, DS9 was the center of operations in the evacuation of Europa Nova, a colony that had the misfortune of having their world contaminated by a cloud of anti-matter waste, courtesy of an Iconian Gateway and a Malon freighter in the Delta Quadrant. (DS9 - Gateways novel: Demons of Air and Darkness; DS9 - Gateways What Lay Beyond short story: "Horn and Ivory")
In late August, Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon was assassinated on the station's Promenade by a Joined Trill named Hiziki Gard while about to sign the paper officially inducting the Republic of Bajor into the United Federation of Planets. It was later revealed that Shakaar had been consumed by an alien Parasite, a race of sworn enemies to the Trill, who were using Shakaar for their own race's purposes. The station was subsequently locked down and quarantined. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novels: Cathedral, Lesser Evil) In early September, after the return of the USS Defiant from a three-month exploratory mission of the Gamma Quadrant, the station was cleared of the parasite threat, due in part due to the miraculous return of Captain Sisko from his stay with the Prophets.
On September 26, 2376, the crews of Deep Space 9, past and present, attended the ceremony on Bajor that officially inducted that world into the United Federation of Planets. (DS9 novel: Unity)
On the final day of the year, Taran'atar, who was being mind-controlled by an outside source, attacked and severely injured Captain Kira and Lieutenant Ro Laren. (DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novel: The Dominion: Olympus Descending)
2377[]
Shortly after the attack on Kira and Ro, Nog and Major Cenn discovered evidence implicating Intendant Kira Nerys in directing Taran'atar's actions.
In sickbay, Dr. Bashir saved Captain Kira's life by replacing her heart, which had been pierced by Taran'atar's Kar'takin, with an artificial replacement, and Dr. Tarses used an innovative technique to repair Lieutenant Ro's spine. (DS9 novel: Warpath)
2383[]
- For more detail, please see The Destruction of Deep Space 9.
In 2383, Deep Space 9 became a hub of commerce once more following the decision by President Nanietta Bacco to open the Bajoran sector and the Gamma Quadrant to exploration and trade missions within the region. During this time, however, life aboard the station was severely strained resulting from the turmoil that had engulfed the Federation in the secession of Andor and the effects it had upon the station's Andorian crewmembers. During this time Chief of Security Jefferson Blackmer discovered evidence that Andorian terrorists were planning to destroy Deep Space 9. He launched an investigation; however, he was uncertain whom he could trust.
The danger came to a head when DS9 came under attack shortly after the return of the Breen freighter Ren Fejin which was being escorted by the Mogai-class warbird Eletrix. Additional Tzenkethi and Breen warships decloaked a short time afterward and also began an attack during a mass evacuation of DS9 following the discovery of multiple antimatter charges attached to the fusion core. After a series of detonations, which were initially believed not to be threatening to the station, Deep Space 9 lost the ability to eject its fusion reactors and it was believed that the station would have only a few moments left before it would be destroyed. Captain Ro Laren ordered that they transfer all available power to structural integrity to try to safeguard the 2,000 lives still aboard the station. Explosions were still observed to occur by the USS Robinson following its arrival at the battle scene. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Plagues of Night)
Mere moments later, the station was destroyed. While the majority of the station's residents were evacuated by the Defiant, several runabouts, and the USS Canterbury, 630 Starfleet officers and 461 civilians were killed. Despite the large figure, Leonard James Akaar felt that the number was acceptable given the situation. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Raise the Dawn)
Residents[]
Station personnel[]
- For a full personnel listing see Deep Space 9 personnel.
- Commanding officer:
- Commander Benjamin Sisko (2369-2371)
- Captain Benjamin Sisko (2371-2374)
- Major Kira Nerys (2374-2375)
- Colonel Kira Nerys (2375)
- Captain Benjamin Sisko (2375)
- Colonel Kira Nerys (2375-2376)
- Captain Kira Nerys (2376 - 2378)
- Captain Elias Vaughn (2378 - 2379)
- Commander Ro Laren (2379 - 2382)
- Captain Ro Laren (2382 - 2383)
- Captain James Kurland (by 2409-)
- Executive officer:
- Major Kira Nerys (2369 - 2370)
- Navarch Li Nalas (2370)
- Major Kira Nerys (2370 - 2374)
- Colonel Kira Nerys (2375)
- Commander Tiris Jast (2375 - 2376)
- Commander Elias Vaughn (2376 - 2378)
- Commander Ro Laren (2378 - 2379)
- Colonel Cenn Desca (2379 - 2383)
- Commander Karen Andrews (by 2409) (KIA)
- Liaison officer:
- Major Kira Nerys (2369 - 2370)
- Navarch Li Nalas (2370)
- Major Kira Nerys (2370 - 2375)
- Colonel Kira Nerys (2375)
- Major Cenn Desca (2376 - 2379)
- Colonel Cenn Desca (2379 - 2383)
- Science officer:
- Lieutenant Jadzia Dax (2369 - 2371)
- Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (2371 - 2374)
- Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane (2376)
- Lieutenant Commander John Candlewood (by 2383)
- Tactical officer:
- Lieutenant Commander Worf (2372 - 2375)
- Lieutenant Samaritan Bowers (2376 - )
- Chief medical officer:
- Lieutenant j.g. Julian Bashir (2369 - 2371)
- Lieutenant Julian Bashir (2371 - 2376)
- Lieutenant Commander Julian Bashir (2376 - by 2382)
- Commander Julian Bashir (by 2382 - 2383)
- Chief of operations:
- Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien (2369 - 2375)
- Lieutenant Nog (2375 - 2379)
- Lieutenant Commander Jeannette Chao (by 2383)
- Security chief:
- 'Constable' Odo (2365 - 2375)
- Lieutenant Nog (2375 - 2376)
- Lieutenant Ro Laren (2376 - 2377)
- Lieutenant Commander Evik Nath (2377 - 2382)
- Lieutenant Commander Jefferson Blackmer (2383 - )
- Counselor
- Telnorri (2372)
- Lieutenant j.g. Ezri Dax (2375)
- Lieutenant Ezri Dax (2375 - 2376)
- Lieutenant Commander Phillipa Matthias (2376 - )
(A note on ranks: for the most part, all characters have the rank that they were last seen with in the post-finale 'Deep Space Nine' fiction set in early 2377, a year after the show ended.)
The station's personnel typically included a thirty-five man Starfleet Corps of Engineers team which was supplemented by nearly the same number of Bajoran Militia technicians. (DS9 novel: Avatar, Book One)
Civilians[]
- Quark
- Hadron
- Jake Sisko
- Kasidy Yates
- Elim Garak
- Keiko O'Brien
- Rom
- Leeta
- Tora Ziyal
- Taran'atar
- Treir
- Morn
- Kaga
Support vessels[]
Active (2377)[]
- USS Defiant (NCC-75633) (2375-)
- USS Rio Grande (NCC-72452) (2369-)
- USS Rubicon (NCC-72936) (2371-)
- USS Platte (2371-)
- USS Volga (NCC-73196) (2372-)
- USS Brahmaputra (2376-)
- USS Yolja (NCC-75353) (2376-)
Destroyed[]
- USS Yangtzee Kiang (NCC-72453) (2369)
- USS Ganges (NCC-72454) (2369-2370)
- USS Mekong (NCC-72617) (2370-2371)
- USS Orinoco (NCC-72905) (2370-2372)
- USS Defiant (2371-2375)
- USS Yukon (2372-2373)
- USS Shenandoah (NCC-73024) (2374)
- USS Gander (NCC-72311) (2375)
- USS Sungari (2376)
- USS Euphrates (2376-2377)
Appendices[]
Connections[]
Bajor system | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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orbital landmarks (planets, planetoids, moons & asteroids): | B'hava'el (primary) • Bajor I • Bajor II • Bajor III • Bajor IV • Bajor V • Bajor VI • VII. Bajor (Baraddo/The Prodigal • Derna • Endalla • Jeraddo • Ostratus • Penraddo) • Cajara (Empok Nor) • Denorios Belt (Bajoran wormhole • Construction support station 173 • Deep Space 9 • Deep Space 9 (II)) • VIII. Andros (2 moons) • Bajor IX • Bajor X • XI. Ba'Syladon (Syladdo • 3 other moons) • Bajor XII • Bajor XIII • Bajor XIV • Tiljara (Comet Alpha) |
Background[]
- In the video game D-A-C (a tie-in to the movie Star Trek), in the background of the map "cryophobe" a structure of similar design to Deep Space 9 can be seen.
Appearances and references[]
Appearances[]
References[]
- Last Unicorn RPG module: Raiders, Renegades & Rogues
- ST reference: Star Trek Chronology, 1996 edition; pages 183, 188
External links[]
- Deep Space 9 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.