posted
So, in that timeline, the Dominion would've been waiting for the unbalanced Alpha Quadrant to fall apart before coming through the wormhole and taking over.
Huh.... what do you know... it *does* fit.
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Cartman
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...And all for the want of a horseshoe nail!
I do believe Franklin had it surrounded.
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posted
We neveer heard what happened to the cardassians or Romulans in that timeline though and jusging from DS9's poor shape, the Klingons either werent doing so well themselves or no longer considered the Dominion a threat. mabye Changling Martok took over the Empire, made the Dominion seem to be a minor threat and had the Klingons wipe out the cardies and at least keep the Rommies on the defensive....
There's so much there that is unknown that the Founders could easily be dismantling the Alpha powers without direct military force.
In that future timeline, the Dominion War could very well be just over the horizon without the Alpha powers even knowing about it.
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Cartman
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Maybe, but the fact that there hadn't been a war in fifty years (the Federation was alive and kicking, after all) suggests that the Dominion had bigger fish to fry in their own pond, were biding a LOT of time, or just rescinded their AQ excursion plans altogether. It's a flimsy inference, but still...
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Well, considering that by the time we saw DS9 again in that alternate timeline, it had already been fifty years -- so of course the station was going to look pretty run-down!
It seems to me that also, in part, the Federation lost a lot of its nerve since Sisko wasn't on the front lines pushing for some action or other -- why else would just Sisko's absence cause the station to be handed over to the Klingons?
I think that, despite the changes, as far as the Dominion was concerned it was a less radical road. Although the UFP and KE were probably fighting each other, it seems that neither of them would ever choose to join the Dominion voluntarily. Neither would the Romulans. The Cardassians certainly would've, but only at the instigation of an idiot like Dukat.
It seems to me that the Founders probably realized that they couldn't take the entire Alpha Quadrant by force. Storming through the wormhole to capture DS9 would leave them with a beachhead, and a clear supply line to bring in more troops and ships, but it would be one that would be difficult to defend, and their entire war effort would rely on the wormhole. The way it turned out in the "actual" show, they gained the Cardassian territories as a solid production base from which to launch a more widespread assault.
So, without Dukat, the Dominion would never have gotten any chance of a foothold, and so eventually settled for a stalemate once they realized they could keep the chaotic Solids on the far side, busy among themselves.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: It seems to me that also, in part, the Federation lost a lot of its nerve since Sisko wasn't on the front lines pushing for some action or other -- why else would just Sisko's absence cause the station to be handed over to the Klingons?
Basically it went like this (all of which occurred between the beginning of what would have been alternate timeline DS9 Seasons 4 & 5)...: (Note: the red lines indicate different scenes containing pertinent lines.)
...followed by the aforementioned (20 years later):
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We never saw what happened to Odo either: it's possible he went back to the Founders early and convinced them not to invade.
Strange to think that his love for Kira and the inspirational leadership of Sisko might have kept him on DS9 and ensured the war.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Of course, that shouldn't be taken as a condemnation of Sisko. We don't know what a lack of a war would have done for the galaxy.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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True. For all we know, the Dominion might have just gone for the long-term destablisation of the Alpha Quadrant powers, and THEN invaded, when they were week. By mining the wormhole (and doing other things), Sisko forced them to fight before they were ready, which could have been one of the things that led them to defeat.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I'm not sure I agree. Sisko mined the wormhole yet despite that there seemed to be a massive Dominion fleet on the other side waiting to get through the whole time Dukat was working on dismantling it.
Granted there were no other Gamma Quad-based episodes for the last 56 shows - its just odd to think that during the whole time the Dominion was wrapped up in such a massive invasion/war there was no word of uprisings and/or Gamma Quad races taking advantage of Dominion still based in the Gamma Quad.
Seeing that they had so much committed to the Alpha Quad so much as to have the upperhand for most of the war, and that they lost 2800 of their ships in the wormhole, and held things together in the Gamman Quadrant - and sure Weyoun bitched about needing those ships in the Gamma Quad and whined when they were lost and whined when Dukat collapsed the wormhole - it nonetheless would seem that they were not overextending themselves for most of the war let alone the time they made their initial invasion.
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How would they hear about any uprisings? The only way to communicate with the Gamma Quadrant was to actually go there (since the destruction of the subspace relay) and no-one was doing that.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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You know, I seriously doubt the Dominion would have sent those 3,000 ships through if they needed them that badly to maintain the stabiltiy of the gamma quadrant. Destroying an empire to win a battle is no victory. And IIRC, once they took that comet through the wormhole you could send signals easily, the relay station was just conveniently placed and under 'Fleet control. The Dominion could have had their own. So it's more of a question of where the Alpha-Dominion would have to be relative to the wormhole to communicate with the Gamma-Dominion.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: How would they hear about any uprisings? The only way to communicate with the Gamma Quadrant was to actually go there (since the destruction of the subspace relay) and no-one was doing that.
Actually, no. At the very least, the Dominion must've constructed a new relay. After all, the Female Changeling ordered their fleet to be contacted through the wormhole as soon as they destroyed the minefield.
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