In our last look at Star Trek, the crew of the Enterprise was thrust into the future by the omnipotent Q, once there, The Enterprise was captured by Gul Dukat, the commander of Terok Nor, while Kirk, Scotty and Uhura escaped to Earth with the help of Benjamin Sisko, only to find that Earth was now ruled by the Klingon Empire. Oh, and Sisko knocked out Kirk with one punch, I especially liked that part.
So, you’re probably wondering how Earth came to be taken over by the Klingons. Well, as it happens, so is Kirk. As it turns out, in this timeline, the wormhole to the gamma quadrant opened much earlier than usually, likely due to the destruction of Vulcan. The Dominion sent ships through the wormhole with intent to conquer, the Cardassians being the first to fall under their sway.
Following that, they infiltrated the Romulan Empire and used the Red Matter to destroy their planet. The federation tried diplomacy, but quickly learned that this was not an option for the dominion and were wiped out with barely a struggle. This left only the Klingons to oppose the Dominion. As a preemptive strike, the Klingons conquered Earth before the Dominion could get their hands on it.
Sisko himself grew up under the banner of the Klingon Empire. When he came of age Sisko joined the human auxiliary corps as a cargo pilot and worked his way up through the ranks to become one of the empires most trusted spies. When they arrive on Earth, they are greated by Kurn, a recurring character from both TNG and DS9, who says that the chancellor of the planet has requested his presence.
Back with the rest of the enterprise crew, they’ve been sent to work at a mining camp on the planet Bajor. McCoy mouths off to one of the overseers and gets his ass kicked for his trouble. This catches the attention of the doctor at the camp, Julian Bashir, yet another regular from Deep Space Nine. This gets me especially excited. McCoy and Bashir are two of my favorite characters from their respective series’ so seeing them interact with one another is an irresistible pleasure. Eventually, McCoy and Spock tell Bashir who they are and while at first he doesn’t believe them, he later says that if they are who they claim to be then there’s someone they need to meet.
Back on Earth, Kirk and company are brought before the ruler of Earth, none other than main character from both TNG and DS9, Worf. That’s right, Worf is the ruler of Earth… just let that sink in a bit. Worf is immediately aware of who Kirk and the others are and regards them and sisko with respect, and proposes a way they could mutually benefit one another.
Back on Bajor, Q appears before Spock and McCoy in the guise of a Cardassian to make a few jokes, taunt our heroes for a bit and then promptly disappear. Elsewhere on Bajor, Bashir is having an argument with a Ferengi merchant, a Ferengi merchant named Quark. Quark is one of the main characters of Deep Space Nine. He is also a lying, cheating, lowlife scumbag who would shoot his own mother if it could make him a few slips of gold pressed latinum.
Quark is my favorite character in the entirety of the Star Trek franchise. I am not even remotely kidding. In the world of the nauseatingly optimistic and virtuous federation, it’s a nice contrast to have character around who still sees the value of greed, cynicism and sleaze.
Anyway, it turns out the argument was an act for the dominion and Quark and Bashir are actually in cahoots. Together they bring Spock and McCoy before the leader of the resistance, Kira, the second in command of Deep Space Nine in the regular continuity, who in this reality has a plan to help save the entire galaxy, as well as long hair… cool!
Back on Earth, Worf orders that his guests be shown to their quarters but Kurn disobeys and Worf’s guards murder him, revealing themselves to be Changelings in disguise and that Earth is now under dominion control.
What Works:
This story arc continues its excellent momentum and introduces a few more players as the full scope of this story takes shape. Also, the DS9 elements felt less overpowering to uninitiated readers this time around.
What Doesn’t:
Not too much, this issue is a ton of fun.
Overall:
5/5
This series continues it’s incredible momentum, leading the reader wanting more with each passing issue.
