The Battle of Cardassia was the final battle of the Dominion War, fought in late 2375. The Federation Alliance (the forces of the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire) launched an invasion of the Dominion-held Cardassian Union, with the goal of capturing the Dominion's capital on Cardassia Prime. The battle would ultimately lead to the Dominion's unconditional surrender of all forces in the Alpha Quadrant.
The events of the battle must also be considered alongside concurrent events on Cardassia Prime in the final stages of the Cardassian Rebellion, led by Legate Damar. The sabotage committed by the Cardassian insurgents played an important role in disrupting Dominion communications and support behind the front lines, and ultimately led to the Cardassian ships in the battle switching sides. Before the battle was over, however, more than 800 million Cardassian civilians would be killed by Dominion genocide, leaving the once-proud capital planet in ruins. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
Prelude
By late 2375, the Dominion's massive offensives into the Alpha Quadrant had stalled, leaving its forces embroiled in a war of attrition spread across multiple sectors that it could not win under the present circumstances. Reinforcements through the Bajoran wormhole had been blocked since the beginning of the war (q.v. Second Battle of Deep Space 9), and the existing industrial infrastructure in Cardassian territory was insufficient to maintain the offensive for a prolonged period of time.
The Founder reveals her new defensive battleplan to Weyoun and Thot Pran.
The Dominion's last hope for a quick victory was its alliance with the Breen Confederacy and their mysterious energy dampening weapon, against which the allies initially had no defense. Although the Breen's weapon had a major effect in its first uses, particularly at the Second Battle of Chin'toka, the Dominion's chance at a quick offensive was lost by the timely start of Legate Damar's rebellion, which caused massive disruptions behind the lines and forced the Dominion to devote considerable resources to quelling the uprising. By the time Damar's resistance cells were eradicated, the Federation and the Romulans had developed countermeasures after acquiring an example of the weapon stolen by Damar (with the help of Odo, Elim Garak and former resistance fighter Kira Nerys), effectively negating the greatest advantage that the Dominion had in the war. The Klingon fleet had already rendered the weapon useless against their ships, as a chance warp core modification in the IKS Ki'tang intended to compensate for a containment problem had rendered the Ki'tang immune to the weapon prior to the battle, making it the only Allied ship to survive the battle and the template for all Klingon warships. However, this modification only worked on the Klingon fleet and required them to hold the line until countermeasures could be developed. This nearly failed when Chancellor Gowron attempted to take the initiative and place Martok in a losing position in order to eliminate him as a political rival. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind")
The allied assault fleet departs Deep Space 9
Apparently becoming disillusioned with the war, the Female Changeling ordered Dominion forces to effect a complete withdrawal from all territories held inside the Federation Alliance. It was hoped that by reverting to pre-war territories, the Dominion would be able to build up a defense perimeter in which it could rebuild its forces more quickly, shorten its supply lines and survive longer than it would in its current position (which was severely overstretched by Romulan, Federation, and Klingon fronts to maintain). With less territory to defend, the Dominion could repel any attack and build up its forces for a renewed invasion several years later.
This move could have signaled an end to the war – the withdrawal of all enemy forces from conquered territories was one of the major aims of the war for all allies. However, the Founder seriously miscalculated the allies' resolve to win the war at any cost. In addition, Captain Benjamin Sisko and Admiral William Ross recognized the threat of allowing the Dominion to remain in Cardassian space unchallenged. Therefore, the allies agreed to launch an invasion of Cardassia Prime itself, with the aim of decapitating the Dominion leadership and throwing its hierarchy into chaos. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
The Battle
Phase One: Invasion
Launching their attack fleet from Deep Space 9, the allied fleet made a beeline for Cardassia, crossing the five light year distance in approximately one and a half days. The Female Changeling ordered as many ships as possible to meet them, perceiving the nearing endgame of the war.
On the allied side, Chancellor Martok prophetically spoke of the allied victory, having brought a barrel of bloodwine (vintage 2309 – the finest) in preparation of the celebration.
The battle begins...
As the two enemy fleets made their final approach, the Female Changeling, the Vorta Weyoun, and Breen Thot Pran were inside Dominion Headquarters making final plans for the attack. Under orders from the Founder, Weyoun was planning to send large reinforcements to the Dominion Fleet assembling to halt the allies advance. Suddenly, nearly every Dominion installation on the surface of Cardassia lost power – the Cardassian rebellion, led by Legate Damar, had inspired the Cardassian populace to rise up and overthrow their Dominion occupiers. The Dominion was completely cut off from any support from the surface of Cardassia.
In space, the two fleets bore into each other with abandon, the battle degenerating into a melee of close-quarters combat between the highly maneuverable Starfleet, Cardassian and Breen ships and the less-maneuverable but heavier Dominion, Klingon, and Romulan ships. The new USS Defiant in particular fought well considering it was in its first battle. Although the Dominion's lines were spread relatively thinly in the center of their formation, the Jem'Hadar forces heavily hammered the Romulan lines, destroying the Romulan flagship IRW D'ridthau. Captain Sisko marshaled several attack wings to reinforce the Romulan lines, while Admiral Ross and Chancellor Martok's forces targeted the Dominion center.
On Cardassia, as the Dominion attempted to regain access to their communications, they launched hard and swift punishment for the Cardassians' betrayal of the alliance. The Female Changeling ordered Jem'Hadar forces in orbit to bombard Lakarian City, destroying it utterly and killing two million men, women, and children in a matter of seconds. Weyoun announced to the public that another Cardassian city would be destroyed for each further act of sabotage. However, rather than cowing the Cardassian people back into submission, the opposite effect was achieved and the people began to revolt against their oppressors.
The Cardassian fleet changes sides
In space, the allied lines were in danger of crumbling under pressure from the Dominion's right and left flanks. Losing ships at an accelerating rate through the protracted battle, success was in jeopardy as the Dominion pressed their advantage.
Starfleet and the Romulans were preparing to retreat when the impossible happened – the Cardassian fleet switched sides, turning on their erstwhile Dominion allies in response to the destruction of Lakarian City. Taking advantage of the sudden chaos amid the enemy forces, the allies rallied an attack on the Dominion's center, punching into the core of the defending fleet.
Back at Dominion Headquarters, the Dominion command staff finally reestablished communications with their fleet, only to discover that the Cardassian squadrons had completely turned against them. Furious, the Female Changeling ordered the Dominion and Breen forces to disengage and retreat to Cardassia Prime, proclaiming "there will be no more running." The defending forces withdrew from the battle, leaving the allies victorious.
Phase Two: Final Solution
The battle was not yet over, however. Captain Sisko convinced Chancellor Martok and Admiral Ross to press their advantage, despite having already lost an astounding 33% of their forces during the battle. Even with the Dominion's influence restricted to Cardassia Prime itself, its potential for rebuilding its forces would only prolong the inevitable. Recognizing this, and with a large number of Cardassian ships on their side, the allies chose to press onwards.
On Cardassia, the Female Changeling, suffering from the final stages of the debilitating morphogenic virus, seemed to grow completely frustrated with the Dominion's allies, ordered the Jem'Hadar to begin exterminating the entire Cardassian population. Rampaging across the planet, the Jem'Hadar summarily executed every civilian they came across and began destroying residences building by building. Among the Cardassians killed was Legate Broca, who tried to reaffirm his loyalty to the Dominion to no effect.
Damar, along with Kira Nerys, Elim Garak (the three had at one point been captured, but as they stood in the firing line a Cardassian unit gunned down their Jem'Hadar executioners, with the leader, Ekoor, proclaiming "That's for Lakarian City" as the last one fell), and a handful of Cardassian volunteers, mounted a daring assault against the Dominion headquarters compound, seeking to capture the Founder alive and force an end to hostilities. With so many of the Jem'Hadar guards sent to destroy the Cardassians, there were only a few left to guard the shapeshifter. Although Damar was tragically killed during the short but sharp fight, most of the remaining rebels fought their way to the headquarters' briefing room, capturing the Female Changeling and killing the last Weyoun.
The Dominion's last stand
In orbit, the allies found a daunting sight, with thousands of Jem'Hadar and Breen warships, plus thousands of the Cardassian orbital weapon platforms (last encountered at the first Battle of Chin'toka a year before) waiting for them. Unwilling to turn back, they prepared to launch a three-prong attack on the Dominion's defenses, Federation vessels would attack the platforms, the Romulans and the Cardassians would hit the Jem'Hadar forces while the Klingons would take on the Breen – an attack that was projected to cost up to 40% of their remaining forces, without even accounting for the following ground assault.
As the rebels on the surface tried to convince the Founder to surrender, her chilling plan became clear – by ordering the Jem'Hadar and the Breen to fight to the very last man, she sought to make the allies' victory so costly that it would be only Pyrrhic. With such a great cost of victory, she hoped to ensure that the Alpha Quadrant powers would never again threaten the Dominion. She believed that the Alliance would attack the Gamma Quadrant despite claims they would not.
Before the final assault began, however, Odo, recently cured of the Founders' disease, volunteered to try to convince the Female Changeling to surrender to the allies. By linking with her, Odo managed to cure her of the disease and persuade her to call for an end to the fighting. The Dominion forces in orbit and on the surface stood down and surrendered. The battle – and the war – were suddenly over.
Aftermath
The Treaty of Bajor is signed
The instrument of surrender, the Treaty of Bajor, was signed at Deep Space 9 only days later. In it, the Dominion agreed to withdraw all of its forces to the Gamma Quadrant, and the Cardassian Union was occupied by Federation Alliance forces. The Female Changeling agreed to stand trial for war crimes committed by the Dominion in exchange for Odo returning to the Great Link to cure the rest of their race of the morphogenic virus.
The result of the battle can be considered fortuitous, at the least. Had the Founder not chosen to surrender, the Jem'Hadar and Breen would have fought to the last man on Cardassia. This would have resulted in a costly fleet engagement that would have resulted in the loss of an estimated 40% of the Alliance fleet, as well as a ground invasion with its own incredibly high casualties.
As it was, the battle was nothing short of a disaster for Cardassia, devastating a huge portion of its surface and killing over 800 million civilians. Hundreds of allied warships were lost at the cost of many thousands of lives. It was only in avoiding the final assault on Cardassia itself that more bloodshed was averted.
| Major battles of the Dominion War |
|---|
| 2373: Second Battle of Deep Space 9 • Battle of Torros III |
| 2374: Battle of the Tyra system • Operation Return • Battle of Betazed • Liberation of Benzar • First Battle of Chin'toka |
| 2375: Destruction of Monac shipyard • Raid on Trelka V • Siege of AR-558 • Battle of Ricktor Prime • Invasion of Septimus III • Breen attack on Earth • Second Battle of Chin'toka • Battle of Rondac III • Attack on Avenal VII • Battle of Cardassia |
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