The Siege is about to begin. With the Circle inbound for Deep Space 9, Sisko rallies those willing to stay and defend the station. As evacuations get underway, goodbyes are exchanged. Nog says goodbye to Jake, and Keiko begs O'Brien to come with them. He insists he's needed on DS9. And Quark, naturally, sees profit to be made in the limited escape seating available.
It turns out that Quark's greed has resulted in a bit of an overbooking problem. As throngs of panicking people try to leave, Li Nalas speaks up. He reminds the Bajorans there they fought a war against Cardassia, and now they're running like scared children. His speech, combined with his legendary status, convinces the Bajorans among them to stay.
As the final runabout departs, Quark comes plodding along, dragging a case full of latinum, only to find out from Dr. Bashir that Rom has already given Quark's ticket to a Dabo girl, leaving his elder brother stuck on the station.
With everyone evacuated, the occupation arrives. Led by General Krim, they find no resistance awaiting them. Krim is naturally suspicious, warning his men about Odo and ordering them to scan at random intervals for any crew that may be hiding aboard the station.
When Jaro hails them, he makes sure they know it's not a victory until the entire crew is accounted for, especially Li Nalas. The last thing The Circle needs is a martyr-making death. Soon after, the sensor array is tampered with, confirming there are still Federation members on-board. The resistance soon makes its presence felt when they ambush a small party of Bajoran soldiers and take prisoners.
On one of Bajor's moons, Kira and Dax manage to get a rusted old fighter up and running. They quickly get engaged in a dogfight with Circle forces. They manage to take one out before getting shot down themselves and crash-land on Bajor.
Back on DS9, Sisko manages to trick Krim's second in command, Day Kannu, into a holo-suite. Sisko reveals to the Bajorans that the Cardassians are the ones supplying the Circle. Keeping the rest as prisoners, he transports Day back to Krim in Ops to deliver the message. Day, however, withholds Sisko's info and lies about the circumstances of his release.
Kira and Dax have survived their shuttle crash, but Kira is barely mobile. Dax insists on dragging Kira with her. She passes out from the pain and awakens in the care of Vedek Bareil. Dax has already told him the news and disguised herself as a Bajoran. They burst into the Bajoran senate with proof of the Cardassians' actions. Jaro attempts to have them thrown out, but Winn breaks ranks with him to insist that the evidence be examined. The scandal breaks the influence of the Circle, and its forces on DS9 are ordered to stand down.
General Krim accepts his orders and berates Day for withholding the information about the Cardassians. He respectfully returns command back to Sisko and prepares to return to Bajor to face his resignation. Day, however, is having none of it. Drawing his phaser, he attempts to gun down Sisko, only for Li Nalas to take the shot. He dies right there on the Ops floor, having finally achieved the noble death he'd desired.
With the occupation over, the evacuees return to DS9. Kira, naturally, is devastated by the death of Li Nalas. After she excuses herself, Miles wonders why she idolizes Li so much. Sisko keeps Li's secret.
- Sisko: Chief, Li Nalas was the hero of the Bajoran Resistance. He performed extraordinary acts of courage for his people and died for their freedom. That's how the history books on Bajor will be written, and that's how I'll remember him when anyone asks.
Tropes
- Air Vent Escape: Sisko's people sabotage the internal sensors and hide in the station conduits.
- The Alleged Car: The old fighter Kira and Dax find on the Bajoran moon could only charitably be called functional. The thrusters barely work, there's no emergency gear, no sensors, no impulse engines, and no leg room. It still lasts longer than one would expect against the militia's superior fighters before being shot down.Dax: I guess the Bajoran Resistance must have had a lot of short pilots.
Kira: No, just short engineers. They were always building these things without thinking. - Anime Hair: There's a Starfleet woman who has an impressive pompadour.
- Bad Habits: Dax (via Magic Plastic Surgery) and Kira are disguised as Bajoran monks so they won't be stopped from entering the capital.
- Bittersweet Ending: Despite the somber ending, more sweet than bitter. Li Nalas dies, but his murder at the hands of a Circle member, combined with the fact they nearly delivered the wormhole and Bajor back to the Cardassians, so completely discredits the Bajoran isolationist/supremacist movement that they are not mentioned for the rest of the show. Winn escapes punishment, but the cold reality that the Federation is required to keep the Cardassians out means that she won't make another attempt to kick them out either.
- Blatant Lies: Quark tells Bashir that the heavy box he keeps hauling around is full of mementos and other keepsakes. Bashir, of course, knows damn well that it's full of latinum.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: General Krim and Colonel Day.
- Cassandra Truth: After capturing Colonel Day, Sisko tells him that the Cardassians are secretly supporting the Circle before returning him to General Krim. Day refuses to believe it and doesn't bother telling Krim. When Krim finds out later, he's furious with Day.
- Death Seeker: Li is glad to die for Sisko as he no longer has to live with the pressure of living up to his legend.
- "Die Hard" on an X: A downplayed example, as the Starfleet guerrillas are only trying to forestall the Bajoran takeover of the station until Kira and Dax can defuse the situation on Bajor.
- Don't Create a Martyr: Jaro orders that Li Nalas not be harmed as that would turn him into a martyr. Instead he's prepared to offer Nalas anything he wants if he will support Jaro's cause.
- Food Pills: Starfleet's combat rations look like brownies, but they'll keep a person fed for three days. The Chief loves them, though he seems to be in the minority.Sisko: Sisko to all units: you can thank Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien for your repast this afternoon.
Bashir: Ugh... you haven't made any friends here, Chief. - Forgotten Phlebotinum: Krim has his soldiers at Ops conduct random scans for organic life in case Odo is hiding there. We hear nothing about this tactic ever again (though in fairness there's no sign this actually works).
- Garbage Hideout: Recycled In Space when Bashir's squad hide in plastic waste disposal containers in a cargo bay to ambush a squad of Bajoran soldiers.
- General Ripper: Not Krim himself, but his Number Two, Colonel Day, is overflowing with hatred and contempt for the Federation. So much that he lies to Krim's face rather than say anything that might soften his attitude toward Sisko, and even tries to murder Sisko in a fit of pique after he reestablishes peace with Bajor.
- Graceful Loser: When the truth about the Circle comes out, Krim respectfully concedes to Sisko.Krim: (to Sisko) Commander, since the provisional government has prevailed, I believe it is appropriate to return the command of this station to Starfleet. (to Li Nalas) Well fought, sir.
- Guy in Back: Jadzia does the shooting while Kira does the flying.
- Hero Antagonist: General Krim is a polite and reasonable man who is fighting for Bajor's freedom, and when he learns about the Cardassians' involvement he gracefully surrenders.
- Hidden Depths: When a squad of soldiers is heading for where Bashir is hiding, O'Brien suggests sending someone with more experience to handle the problem. Sisko refuses however, and Bashir hands the situation admirably, capturing the entire squad without any losses on either side.
- Home Field Advantage: Starfleet uses their knowledge of the station to their advantage against the Bajoran Militia. General Krim knows this, but Colonel Day is not so smart and insists on running his men around the station, where they are easily isolated and captured.
- Interspecies Romance: While talking to his crew about how they have a personal stake in the conflict with the Circle, Sisko goes up to a human Bridge Bunny and mentions that she's engaged to a Bajoran.
- I Want Them Alive!: Minister Jaro wants Li alive, not martyred.Jaro: Dead, he's a martyr. Alive, he seals our victory.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Kira to Dax, complete with That's an Order! Dax, of course, doesn't listen. Fortunately the people searching for them turn out to be members of Bareil's religious order.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Krim concedes the battle for the station as soon as he learns about the evidence of Cardassian involvement in the Circle's coup attempt, rather than continuing a fight that would likely see needless casualties on both sides. Colonel Day, sadly, doesn't know when to quit.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Quark coerces his brother into selling his own seat on the evacuation runabouts, saying he'd never leave his brother behind to die just for profit. Then he overbooks the seats on the evacuation runabouts, almost starting a riot. When it's time for Quark to evacuate, it turns out Rom sold Quark's seat to a dabo girl, so Quark gets left behind.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Colonel Day. In contrast to Krim's caution and understanding of Sisko's tactics, Day's recklessness gets him and his men captured.
- Line in the Sand: Sisko can't order any of the Starfleet personnel to stay as they've been ordered to leave, but he's staying behind to "supervise the evacuation". When he asks if anyone else wants to be evacuated, the answer is complete silence. Miles O'Brien however has to explain this to his wife and daughter afterwards, who aren't happy about him staying because of Federation strategic interests instead of leaving with them.
- The Load: Both Quark and the huge case of latinum he insists on dragging around with him.
- Magic Plastic Surgery: The monks at Bareil's monastery fix Dax up with a set of rhinal ridges so she can pass as Bajoran. She jokes that she's thinking of keeping it.
- Meaningful Echo: Li Nalas is willing to die for his people, because, as Sisko points out, "it gets you off the hook", though Sisko challenges Li if he is willing to live for his people. Later, when Li Nalas is dying, his final words are, "Off the hook, after all."
- Mildly Military: Colonel Day seems to ignore General Krim's orders at will. Justified because, as Kira points out, the Bajoran military forces were La Résistance just a year ago, and so don't have the years of ingrained discipline of Starfleet or the Cardassian military.
- Mundane Utility: Odo morphs into a tripwire against a couple of pursuing soldiers.
- Neck Lift: Turns out even Sisko has limits to dealing with Quark. He's lucky his neck was just used to lift him.
- Never Split the Party: Krim refuses to send men to search for the Starfleet personnel because he knows Sisko is trying to get him to divide his forces so the much smaller Starfleet force can take them on. Day refuses to listen and suffers the consequences.
- Percussive Maintenance:Kira: Is the proximity system working?Dax: (hits console, something whirrs) I think so.
- Plot-Demanded Manual Mode: The fighter Kira and Dax salvage has no sensors, so has to be flown and aimed by hand. At one point, Dax has to use her tricorder to get some readings on the ships shooting at them.
- The Power of Legacy: Sisko, keeping Li's secret so that his legend will continue to go down in the history books and inspire the Bajoran people.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Vedek Winn is very much on board with Jaro's coup, but the moment he's exposed as being an unwitting pawn for the Cardassians, she's the first to turn on him and demand a full investigation. Likely crosses over with Even Evil Has Standards, as she genuinely didn't know before, and she hates the Cardassians as much as anyone.
- Prophecies Are Always Right: The vision Kira received from the Orb in the previous episode, which had appeared to be a metaphorical depiction of the many figures fighting for control of her life and the future of Bajor, turns out to be far more literal: not only does she have to actually enter the Chamber of Ministers to plead her case and offer the proof of the Cardassians' secret arms-dealing, no matter how many voices argue against her, but both Bareil and Winn are there, as is Dax—and the latter is even wearing the same monk's garb of the Vedek order (because dressing as monks, who have religious immunity to enter the chamber, is the only way they can get in).
- Proxy War: With the caveat that the proxies didn't know that's what they were. The Cardassians were covertly supplying the Circle in hopes that they would drive out the Federation and allow a resumption of the Occupation.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Krim is the Blue Oni, he's the calm and composed one. Day is the Red Oni, who is far more impulsive and refuses to accept he's lost.
- Rousing Speech:Li Nalas: Where are you running to? This is Bajor. We are Bajorans. We fought a war to regain our homeland, how can you abandon it like frightened Cardassian voles? These ships are for our guests, who must leave because it is no longer safe for them here! However, we are Bajorans, and I say that we stay and we solve our own problems together. Are you willing to join me?
- Schmuck Bait: On being told that Sisko is hiding in a holosuite, Day and his soldiers rush in to take him prisoner. The door locks behind them and the holograms of Sisko and the others promptly vanish.
- Skewed Priorities: Quark spends the siege hauling around a heavy box containing all the latinum to his name.
- Suggestive Collision: A still-wounded Kira stumbles and is caught by Bareil, leading to a moment of UST.
- Taking the Bullet: Li Nalas, in his final act of bravery, saves Sisko from being shot by Day.Nalas: Off the hook after all...
- That's an Order!: Kira is wounded after a crash landing and orders Jadzia to leave her behind. Dax replies that as Starfleet has temporarily pulled out of Bajor, Kira's no longer her superior officer and so she doesn't have to obey her orders.
- That's What I Would Do:
- When General Krim arrives with his mooks on DS9, he muses that if he were Sisko, he wouldn't have left so easily. Upon then being told that the security systems have been sabotaged, he starts to realize that he was right.
- When Odo reports that Krim is going to flood the conduits with Knockout Gas to flush out Sisko and his troops, O'Brien comments that he would've done the same thing.
- Truce Trickery: The Cardassians are shown to be secretly supplying the Circle despite previously having conceded defeat, in hopes of reoccupying Bajor once the Federation is gone and the Bajorans have exhausted themselves.
- Unwitting Pawn: Odo's evidence proves that Jaro's nationalist revolution is being secretly supported by none other than the Cardassians, who are eager for another opportunity to annex a defenseless Bajor. The moment this comes to light, the Circle loses any and all credibility.
- Villainous Breakdown:
- Quark, who decided to be a greedy Jerkass and overbook seats on the evacuation ships. When he realizes that he's stuck on the station in the face of a Bajoran assault force, he screams for someone to call the ships back.
- Colonel Day also breaks down when the coup collapses and tries to murder Sisko.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Trills are allergic to many insect bites and stings, so Dax isn't happy about the Cobwebs of Disuse in the former Bajoran resistance hideout, let alone the spiders the size of a small dog.
- Worthy Opponent: General Krim knows both Sisko and Li to be men of good character, and shows respect for them when it comes time for him to concede. He even looks and sounds downright pleased when he deduces that Sisko hasn't abandoned DS9. Unsurprisingly, the script compared him to Erwin Rommel.
- Your Mom: When Bashir makes a crack about Quark's mom, we learn Ferengi are pretty protective about them. Rule of Acquisition #31: Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother.
