Why are they even still around post-Homeland/Paradise Lost? I have the feeling Admiral Leyton may have created Red Squad specificly for his plans to take over Starfleet - hence, the reason why officers long out of the Academy had no idea what the hell Red Squad was. So let's assume this is the case: Leyton enlists a group of cadets whom he believes will be unquestioning in their allegiance to him. As evidenced in the episode, they might not even be (probably aren't) aware of their role in everything. So, the coup fails, and Red Squad is not only allowed to go on existing, someone gives them a DEFIANT-Class starship to run around in?! Woah. Maybe Leyton had some co-conspirators who managed to stick around. I certainly don't understand why Cadet Shepard was left in Starfleet - he seemed to know EXACTLY what he was doing when he was grilled by Sisko.
Musing Two: Fleet Combat.
So, there we are in "Favor the Bold". A big Starfleet ... fleet against a big Dominion fleet. "Why don't they just ... fly around each other?" seems to be the big thing when referencing DS9's huge fleet on fleet combat scenes. I've been thinking about this a bit, and I think I might know why ...
Ok, so in this particular scenario, you have a fleet of 600 ships, and you need to get to Deep Space Nine and destroy the graviton emmiter to prevent Dominion warships from flooding through the wormhole. The Dominion has a fleet of 1200 ships assembled right in the space where you need to fly through. Simple enough, right, split your ships up and run them AROUND the Dominion forces. Okay, but the Dominion outnumbers you 2:1 ... how hard would it be for them to match speeds and courses with your ships and either take them out of warp and destroy them, or chase them to DS9 where they'll face a very powerful space station and the ships there PLUS the ships in pursuit?
I don't think this was very clear.
Musing Three: Pot?
I bet the crew of the Sutherland indulges in marijuana.
Musing Four: Nameless crewman.
He's a background character, in many episodes. I only bring him up because he's not in season six. In "WoTW" when Bashir threatens to have security hold Dukat down so he can get a blood sample, he's the security guard with the phaser rifle standing behind Bashir and looking at Dukat. Anyway, I guess I only noticed him because when I started buying the DS9 box sets and watching the episodes in such close proximity, it's hard not to notice him (literally, the guy is in almost every episode). I think in "Inferno's Light" he's in the background of the Sisko/Gowron/Martok scene with a phaser rifle. Eh, whatever, he's probably dead.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Whether Red Squad was Leyton's brain child or not, it seems likely that the whole group was ordered onto the Valiant and departed the day that Sisko grilled Shepard. Leyton said he doubted they would be returning to Earth any time soon. By the time the whole mess was sorted out and Starfleet got any intel on the Squad's activities, the Valiant may have already been in mid-mission and the Squad was making up a significant portion of their crew.
I've often wondered, too, about how hard it would be to just send 4 or 5 ships way around the fleet. With the range of sensors, it's probably a time thing. They don't have enough time to make a wide enough loop to avoid sensors. And any detected ships could easily be cut off given the distance they'd have to make up to swing back in. Sort of makes you wonder why Starfleet hasn't tried to secretly develop some kind of top secret cloaking device... oh... wait a minute...
The crew of the Sutherland... yah... definite hemp-heads. "Computer dude... gimmie a fat, chronic blunt...."
No comment on the phaser rifle guy. Though I can almost see the scene with Bashir and Dukat in my head....
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Re: Red Squad... That's what I thought when I saw the rerun of "Paradise Lost" the other day, that the Red Squad stooges had been shipped off on the Valiant. Except that this two-parter took place in mid-season four, meaning it would've been a whole year and a half between then and the point when the war even started! I don't recall exactly how long they'd been out there, but the Valiant couldn't have left already.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
The Valiant had been caught behind lines and missing for eight months before Jake and Nog stumbled across them on the Shenendoah. The Valiant was reported missing as soon as the war started, which is the end of the season. Their mission was to circumnavigate the Federation so they might have been sent out in mid-fourth season.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Re the security guard - are we talking about Odo's Bajoran Deputy who was around since season 1 - a rather gruff, balding guy.
There is that other security guard I noticed always reappearing in later episodes - he sort of looked 'softer' than that Bajoran guy, younger and taller. Didn't look like 'security' to me.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
No, Starfleet guy. Actually, he has a line of dialogue in "Time's Orphan" and is identified as "Jones."