Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 16, 2016 @ 4:12am

THE SECOND DOMINION WAR

The SECOND DOMINION WAR (2422-2424) was a protracted, bloody, and ultimately pointless war fought between the Federation, assisted by Borg allies, and Dominion forces. It is the most recent war with a foreign power in the Federation's history, being less than a decade old, and many tens of thousands of current Starfleet personnel are veterans of the conflict.

In early 2422, a new orb appeared to the Bajoran people, but unlike its predecessors, the Orb of Judgement ushered in a wave of religious zeal among the Bajorans. Ancient prophecies foretold a time of great trial for the Bajorans, and this eschatological fervour was compounded with the mysterious closing of the Bajoran wormhole, stranding the Federation's Gateway station in the Gamma Quadrant with thousands of Starfleet officers and civilians still aboard.

With the closing of the wormhole apparently permanent, it did not take long before the Dominion began to put political pressure on Gateway and its nearby planets, and moved a fleet into the sector to pursue its goals. When the Dominion announced the station's annexation, the remaining command staff refused to submit, and the Dominion laid siege to the station. The crew fought desperately, but all seemed lost until a fleet of Federation ships, along with a small fleet of Borg vessels, arrived at Gateway via transwarp conduits. The ensuing battle saw the Dominion driven away, but the Second Dominion War had officially begun.

The Dominion fought mostly to push Starfleet forces out of the Gamma Quadrant, using their ferocious Jem' Hadar soldiers to conquer several settled worlds and then exterminating or enslaving the populations. Starfleet and their Borg allies did their best to protect Federation assets on the Gamma side of the wormhole, but long supply lines and attrition made reinforcing its positions difficult. Bloody battles were fought system by system, with a single strategically valuable moon or planetoid often changing hands more than once in the space of a few days. The Dominion also made a second attempt to capture GATEWAY Station, but they were ultimately repelled by the Federation fleet after a desperate defence using the hulks of mothballed starships.

After almost two years of bloody, often pointless conflict, a cease-fire was reached when the wormhole opened again, seemingly of its own accord. The treaty allowed the Dominion to keep most of the territory it recaptured from Starfleet during the war, but the fighting was officially discontinued, and in return the Federation was allowed to keep its remaining interests in the Delta Quadrant, strengthening its alliance with the Borg.

The Second Dominion War is remembered today as brutal conflict, fought for nationalistic reasons by aggressive leaders on both sides who were too quick to pull the trigger. Many veterans still carry the scars it left behind.