The Federation advances on Deep Space Nine with nearly the entire Dominion's Alpha Quadrant fleet waiting for them. Outnumbering Starfleet two to one, the only edge that Captain Sisko has is to create a hole in the wall of Dominion and Cardassian vessels and race towards DS9. On the station, the situation looks grim as the Major and her collaborators are to be arrested for crimes they did not commit. Fortunately, the former crew of Deep Space Nine is full of surprises.
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.