The Dogs of War

Originally Appeared Here

Waiting for the Federation to send a replacement ship
Says this lateness is no way to start a relationship
By special dispensation Sao Paulo is rechristened
And Odo's upset even with his sickness in remission
Used like Yuta on Gatherers as a factor of vengeance(1)
Engineering a virus with genocidal intentions
An ethical lapse that gives the constable pause
While rushing back to aid Kira in her improbable cause(2)
Stuck away in a basement, getting sick of being sedentary
Find out they're larger than life like Li Nalas(3), status is legendary
From Damar's mountain hideaway to Quark's last outpost of avarice
His Ferenginar is gone like Tkon(4), wasted away and cadaverous
While he draws a line like Travis at the Alamo long before(5)
'Cause it's time for Crying havoc and lettin' slip the dogs of war(6)

1. In TNG's "The Vengeance Factor", Yuta was an Acamarian genetically altered to transmit a deadly microvirus targeting the Lornak clan.
2. "Improbable Cause" was an earlier DS9 episode, which marked the previous appearance of Mila, who is sheltering Kira and the other resistance members.
3. Li Nalas was a Bajoran resistance hero whose exploits took on legendary status.
4. "The Last Outpost" was the first-season TNG episode which first showed the Ferengi. The titular outpost was one of the last relics of the Tkon Empire.
5. The phrase "line in the sand" is commonly connected with Colonel William Travis at the Battle of the Alamo. The Alamo was a favorite Holodeck recreation of O'Brien and Bashir, with Bashir often playing the role of Travis.
6. From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1, when Marc Antony predicts war in the wake of Caesar's murder. It was previously quoted by General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.