History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E24EmpokNor

* CoolGuns: Nog is armed with the sleek Type 3 phaser rifle from ''[[Film/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]'' while Stolzoff and Amaro are still using the boxier TV-style rifles. Presumably, the Type 3 is already standard issue at Starfleet Academy but hasn't filtered down to [=DS9=] yet.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Deep Space Nine is still, first and foremost, a Cardassian-built installation. While O'Brien and Starfleet have patched and tweaked as best as they can, replacing more critical and sensitive components/systems is difficult due to technological incompatibilities. Cardassia was never helpful or interested in helping Starfleet out and trying to obtain new components from [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Dukat]]'s Dominion-backed regime is likewise a dead end.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Deep Space Nine is still, first and foremost, a Cardassian-built installation. While O'Brien and Starfleet have patched and tweaked as best as they can, replacing more critical and sensitive components/systems is difficult due to technological incompatibilities. Cardassia was never helpful or interested in helping Starfleet out and trying to obtain new components from Dukat's Dominion-backed regime is likewise a dead end.

Chief O'Brien and Nog are trying to repair a plasma distribution manifold inside Quark's bar, making a lot of racket. The pair simply can't get the thing to work, and O'Brien tells Sisko that he'll need to replace the manifold completely but can't make one himself. He'll need to go to ''Empok Nor'', a sister station that was abandoned by the Cardassians, to scrounge one up. They recruit Garak to tag along to address any booby traps left behind by the Cardassians as well as Nog and a group of [[RedShirt red-shirt]] engineers and security personnel.

On the way there, Garak challenges O'Brien to a war game and teases him about his war history fighting Cardassians, but O'Brien doesn't rise to the bait. When they get to the station, Garak disarms the trap and restores power to the station. Garak discovers three stasis pods, one containing a mummified Cardassian soldier and the other two empty. They realize that they've got two Cardassian soldiers running loose on the station. Worse, the pair have already destroyed their runabout, stranding them on the station.

O'Brien comes up with an idea to send "smoke signals" back to Deep Space Nine. As they get to work, however, two redshirts are killed by the Cardassians. Garak, looking a little twitchy, announces that he's going to hunt down the Cardassians himself and tries to prod O'Brien, the war hero, to join him, but O'Brien passes. Garak manages to ambush one of the Cardassians and kills him, which he finds very enjoyable. A scan of the body reveals that the Cardassians have been pumped full of experimental drugs that heighten their xenophobia. The remaining Cardassian kills another redshirt before Garak kills him. But as the last redshirt thanks Garak for saving him, Garak stabs him, having gone kill-crazy on the drug himself.

The final redshirt lives just long enough to warn O'Brien and Nog before dying. A cat-and-mouse game ensues, with Garak taunting O'Brien through a combadge. He manages to capture Nog and lures O'Brien out to rescue the Ferengi cadet. The pair agree to a hand-to-hand duel to settle the dispute, and O'Brien disarms himself of his two phasers and tricorder. They brawl, and just as Garak gets the upper hand, O'Brien's tools explode, knocking Garak out. O'Brien reiterates that he's not a soldier but an ''engineer'' these days. Back at the station, O'Brien visits the recuperating Garak, who expresses remorse over his actions. He's thankful that O'Brien's explosion didn't kill him, but O'Brien admits that killing him ''had'' been the plan.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: A security officer guarding one of the engineers is standing so her phaser is pointed right at him. When he complains, she patronizingly tells him the safety is on and keeps pointing it at him. Anyone trained with a firearm would know that the first rule of gun safety is not pointing your weapon at anything you're not going to shoot at, ''regardless'' of whether the safety is on.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted, but just barely. Puchetti bites it mere seconds before Stolzoff.

* CoolGuns: Nog is armed with the sleek type 3 phaser rifle from ''[[Film/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]'' while the engineering crew uses the boxier TV-style rifles. Presumably, the type 3 is already standard issue at Starfleet Academy but hasn't filtered down to [=DS9=] yet.

* TheEngineer: O'Brien's status as this gets highlighted, as he was formerly a soldier who fought on the front lines of an earlier war between the Federation and the Cardassians. He provides a handy demonstration of why Starfleet engineers are so well-respected when he creates an improvised bomb from some stuff he happened to have on him.

** The Cardassian PsychoSerum is designed to amplify their natural xenophobia, literally making them violently racist. Garak, while under it's effects, only refers to Nog as "the Ferengi".

* HowDidYouKnowIDidnt: At the end of the episode, Garak compliments O'Brien for managing to detonate his phaser bomb when Garak was at precisely the right distance for the blast to knock him out, but not kill him. O'Brien then admits that he had intended to kill him outright with the explosion, which Garak admits was a prudent goal.
* HumanPopsicle: The Cardassians left three AxCrazy soldiers behind in stasis pods to guard Empok Nor from looters. One of the pods was breached by debris, leaving two.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Garak tells O'Brien that beneath his pacifistic Federation exterior, [[HumansAreWarriors he's a predator]] as much as the Cardassians he fought.

* RecklessGunUsage: Stolzoff, despite being a trained security guard, points her phaser rifle at another crewmember who asks her not to, with Stolzoff's only response being that the safety is on.

* VariantChess: Kotra, a Cardassian version. Nog's playing style is too conservative for Garak's taste.

* BadassBoast: "Death to all", the motto of the Cardassian third battalion.

* TheEngineer: O'Brien's status as this gets highlighted, as he was formerly a soldier who fought on the front lines of an earlier war between the Federation and the Cardassians. He provides a handy demonstration of why Starfleet Engineers are so well-respected when he creates an improvised bomb from some stuff he happened to have on him.

* HumanPopsicle: The Cardassians left two AxCrazy soldiers behind in stasis pods to guard Empok Nor from looters.
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: O'Brien tries to reason with Garak, but fails.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed, but Garak is clearly regretful for what he did under the drug's influence, apologizing to O'Brien and asking him to pass along condolences to Amaro's wife.

* BittersweetEnding: The mission does succeed, but it costs the lives of four Starfleet officers, one of whom was murdered by a drugged and insane Garak, who bears the guilt of doing so.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: A security officer guarding one of the engineers is standing so her phaser is pointed right at him. When he complains, she patronizingly tells him the safety is on and keeps pointing it at him. Anyone trained with a firearm would know that the first rule of gun safety is not pointing your weapon at anything you're not going to shoot at.

* TooDumbToLive: Stolzoff. Despite already warned about the Cardassian soldiers, she doesn't take the situation very seriously.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: A possible unintentional example. Earlier on, Garak's claustrophobia comes into play when he's unnerved by the thought of being in a stasis pod. When he willingly hides inside one and pops out with a cool PreMortemOneLiner to take down an enemy, it's a sign he's not in his right mind.

** The Cardassian PsychoSerum is designed to amplify their natural xenophobia, literally making them violently racist.

* DerelictShip: Space station, but the same general concept. (In fact the original script was to involve an actual ship that Worf and Garak happened upon.) With the whole thing tilted due to attitude control being out of alignment, darkened corridors filled with wreckage and abandoned detritus, and the occasional distant groan of unseen girders, it's unnervingly effective.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Deep Space Nine is still, first and foremost, a Cardassian-built installation. While O'Brien and Starfleet have patched and tweaked as best as they can, replacing more critical and sensitive components/systems due to technological incompatibilities. Cardassia was never helpful or interested in helping Starfleet out and trying to obtain new components from Dukat's Dominion-backed regime is likewise a dead end.

The final redshirt lives just long enough to warn O'Brien and Nog before dying. A cat-and-mouse game ensues, with Garak taunting O'Brien through a combadget. He manages to capture Nog and lures O'Brien out to rescue the Ferengi cadet. The pair agree to a hand-to-hand duel to settle the dispute, and O'Brien disarms himself of his two phasers and tricorder. They brawl, and just as Garak gets the upper hand, O'Brien's tools explode, knocking Garak out. O'Brien reiterates that he's not a soldier but an ''engineer'' these days. Back at the station, O'Brien visits the recuperating Garak, who expresses remorse over his actions. He's thankful that O'Brien's explosion didn't kill him, but O'Brien admits that killing him ''had'' been the plan.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Under the influence of the PsychoSerum, Garak maintains his usual wit and cheerful disposition, but he pairs it was a gleefully sadistic madness and fondness for verbally screwing with his would-be victims.

* ShootTheDog: O'Brien's improvised explosive was actually supposed to ''kill'' Garak. When he tells Garak this during the final scene of the episode, Garak simply replies, "I understand."