On leave since the destruction of the Enterprise-D, Lieutenant Commander Worf is temporarily assigned to Deep Space Nine in order to find out why the Klingons have massed a fleet of warships at the station. Worf does find out that the Klingons are planning to attack Cardassia to stop what they feel is a Dominion-led coup. Captain Sisko warns General Martok that the unprovoked attack could lead to the breakdown of the treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. However, Martok chooses to ignore Sisko's ultimatum and sends his fleet towards Cardassian space.
When the Cardassian occupation of Bajor ended in 2369, the mining space station Terok Nor was left abandoned, its systems ripped out. By invitation of the Bajoran provisional government, Starfleet stepped in to oversee the rebuilding and day-to-day operations of the newly christened Deep Space Nine.
The years of Starfleet's nonintervention into Cardassian matters, however, had taken its toll on relations with the Bajorans. Consequently, Starfleet's position was a tenuous one; many Bajorans, suspicious and hostile as a result of decades of Cardassian oppression and brutality, did not greet the Federation's presence with open arms. The Federation's assistance is put to the test as DS9 becomes a center of travel and commerce that stretches into the Gamma Quadrant.