Once More Unto the Breach

Originally Appeared Here

In his quarters Worf receives an unexpected visit from Kor
Complains the Klingon Empire has no place for him in war
Worf instates him as an officer over objections from Martok
Hear him regale them with tales that would dispatch the Dal'Rok(1)
Like Picard being forced to relive a battle by Bok(2)
Starts to imagine that they've turned back the clock
To before at Caleb IV or attacking at Klach D'Kel Brakt(3)
He's outlived his usefulness(4), says the fruit of life is bitter
But he can still prove crucial when he's shooting with a graviton emitter
Sacrifice himself to save the rest, the lessons that war teaches
It's why they practice ordering La Forge once more unto the core breaches(5)
Died a death worthy of Kahless but he won't reappear
Reunite Kor, Kang and Koloth- kings of the final frontier(6)

1. In DS9's "The Storyteller", the Sirah uses a story to unite the village and repel the Dal'Rok.
2. In TNG's "The Battle", Daimon Bok uses a thought-maker to make Captain Picard relive the Battle of Maxia.
3. Site of a memorable victory for Kang, which he recreated in a holosuite in "Blood Oath".
4. In Star Trek VI, Spock suggests he and Kirk may have outlived their usefulness.
5. A reference to the title of the episode, from the play Henry V, and to the Bridge Officer's Test in TNG's "Thine Own Self" where Counselor Troi must order Geordi La Forge to make repairs while exposed to deadly radiation.
6. Refers to Kor's old comrades from "Blood Oath" and the popular "Ballad of Davy Crockett", referred to as the 'king of the wild frontier'. Crockett's presence at the Alamo was discussed by O'Brien and Bashir earlier in the episode.

Take Me Out to the Holosuite

Originally Appeared Here

Solok claims the humans are irked by his precision
Throws down the gauntlet, dad makes a quick decision
Says his team will take them on if they can practice for a minute
Vulcans have strength and smarts, but their hearts just aren't in it(1)
Pulls a few strings to bring Kasidy to the bat(2)
Explains that this rivalry dates back to a spat
He had with Solok when he was back at the Academy
So now the crew takes the game as serious as my dad and me.

Watchin' Worf at the plate, wishin' he was Willie Hawkins(3)
Before Odo calls ball four the Klingon takes off walkin'
The ump rings him up, sends dad to the stand sulkin'
Recovers his enthusiasm seeing Nog tag all the Vulcans
That's what he loves about the game, that it's so unpredictable
Looks over to Rom and decides there's one more trick to pull
Rom brings the bat square, the bunt stays fair
Drives Nog home, and the Niners lift him in the air.
We manufactured a triumph over Solok, so conceited
Just had no idea what that shape is until it was completed.(4)

1. Quote from Dr. Soran in Star Trek: Generations after torturing Geordi La Forge.
2. Reference to the famous baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Thayer.
3. Fictional 1950's New York Giants outfielder, portrayed by Michael Dorn in the episode "Far Beyond the Stars".
4. In the pilot episode "Emissary", Benjamin Sisko uses the example of a baseball game to explain linear time to the Prophets, and how he does not know what will happen next.

Shadows and Symbols

Originally Appeared Here

Coming from Exile on Bourbon Street(1) and dad just wants to see a face(2)
Says he hope we can endure the heat, 'cause Tyree is the place
Comb the desert like the Spaceballs, but you know we ain't found shit(3)
Until Ezri throws his baseball, dad starts digging where it hit
Meantime on DS9, it's another case of Cuban Missile Crisis(4)
Keep weapons out of commission like Gary Seven and Isis(5)
Romulans are early, or maybe Cretak's math is wrong
And Worf's upset his better half is gone,
But vengeance isn't cold like in the Wrath of Khan(6)
Mercury line, it climbs as the temperatures get higher
With an attack like K'ratak and The Dream of the Fire(7)
Annihilate like Ensign Taitt(8), solar ejection at Monac
Say a prayer, he's outta there, try to outrun the blowback
While Benny Russell writes the words and the wormhole reopens
Bajorans lost to despair now find reasons for hopin'.

1. Famous street in New Orleans, near Joseph Sisko's restaurant.
2. "I Just Want to See His Face" is a song from the Rolling Stones album Exile on Main St. This refers to the face of Sarah Sisko previous episode "Image in the Sand".
3. When ordered to literally comb the desert in the sci-fi parody Spaceballs, one of the troopers replies with this line. He is portrayed by Tim Russ, who would go on to portray Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager.
4. 1962 confrontation between the USA and Cuba, arising when the USSR attempted to place nuclear missiles on the island, similar to Romulan efforts to arm their facility on Derna with plasma torpedoes.
5. In the TOS episode "Assignment: Earth", Gary Seven and his cat Isis intervene to prevent the United States from launching a nuclear weapons platform in 1968.
6. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan famously quotes the Klingon proverb "Revenge is a dish that is best served cold."
7. Classic Klingon novel, once given to Data as a gift by Worf.
8. Junior Enterprise-D officer and expert on solar dynamics. In the TNG episode "Descent, Part II" she triggered a solar eruption to destroy a Borg ship, much as Martok's crew does here.

Tears of the Prophets

Originally Appeared Here

In the ward room dad's awarded a medal for valor
Suggests they set off for war at some ungodly hour
But he's warned against this path in dangerous visions(1)
Ross thinks the Prophets shouldn't guide his decisions
Seems that they've trapped him
Choose between being emissary or captain
Puts the fleet first when he picks his course of action

With Defiant launching an attack across Cardassian border
I ask to come along as a front line reporter
While Dukat hatches a scheme to release that Kosst Amojan(2)
And when he cracks the artifact, thrown back by the explosion
Tells 'em concern is touching but dispensible
He's off to do something reprehensible
Committing murder random, senseless and incomprehensible

Dad stops in battle, fears something terrible has happened(3)
When the wormhole is closed and the orbs have all blackened
Worf catches Dax's dying words when we return to the station
Behind Dominion lines, Weyoun doesn't share Dukat's elation
Put the prophets to sleep, and they may never awaken
Left the people of Bajor feeling lost and forsaken
And their Emissary's on earth, even his faith is shaken

1. Science fiction anthology edited by Harlan Ellison, the writer behind "The City on the Edge of Forever".
2. Pah-wraith (or group of pah-wraiths) that first appeared possessing Jake Sisko in "The Reckoning"
3. Quote from Obi-Wan Kenobi on the destruction of Alderaan.

Valiant

Originally Appeared Here

Promise I'm not with the press on our way to Ferenginar,
Shenandoah's in distress before we're getting very far
Rescued by a children's crusade(1), straight out of the crib
Watters takes a shine to Nog, likes the cut of his jib
Puts him in charge of engineering, the whole kit and kaboodle
Says they can turn Dominion viterium into a wimpy wet noodle
Plan goes awry, crew is punished for his recklessness
Followed him blindly as he led them past a precipice
Like a previous Valiant, when a magnetic storm carried her(2)
To the edge of the galaxy and over the barrier
And Mitchell and Dehner(3), delusions of godhood, too
Tin-plated dictator overrated(4) what his squad could do
But some say it was his crew that cost him his objective
Like a trial at Tanuga(5), I'll present them both perspectives.

1. Disastrous 13th century crusade to convert Muslims in the Middle East to Christianity
2. Early exploration starship that was lost in 2065. Their disaster recorder was recovered by the Enterprise in the second TOS pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
3. In the aforementioned "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Captain Kirk's friend Gary Mitchell acquires god-like powers and turns on the crew.
4. When attempting to provoke the Starfleet crew members in "The Trouble With Tribbles", Korax describes Kirk as "a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood."
5. In TNG's "A Matter of Perspective", Commander Riker is put on trial and both sides use the holodeck to present their version of events.

In the Pale Moonlight

Originally Appeared Here

Dad's gotta convince the Romulans to enter in the war
Committed to a plan, like he was stepping through that door
When the news comes in they lost the battle for Betazed
Abandon the planet like Sarpeidons and A-to-zed(1)
But other times he finds he's unsure of that position
Make a bribe to Quark, his faith in Rules of Acquisition
Is restored, dad's doubts get ignored
'Cause now there's a senator coming on board
Rod's fraudulent, but show the Romulans
And maintain that it's perfectly cromulent(2)
Like trying to bluff Balok back aboard the Fesarius(3)
But Captain Kirk's associates were never this nefarious

With the truth exposed, so Romulus goes from neutral to opponent

A fair approximation(4), but it only convinced him for a moment

Until it's clear that Garak just wanted him on the station

To plant a bomb on his shuttle, looks like Dominion assassination

Is it abandoning what he stands for, or protecting the Greater Good?(5)

Just like Sandford NWA hiding Under the Hood(6)

One senator, one crook, and unless he's off the mark

Starfleet's struck a bargain would be the envy of Quark

1. Mr. Atoz was a librarian who oversaw the atavachron, used by inhabitants of the planet Sarpeidon to escape an imminent supernova in the episode "All Our Yesterdays".
2. Neologism from The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Iconoclast",  meaning valid or acceptable.
3. From TOS's "The Corbomite Maneuver",  where Captain Kirk successfully bluffs the captain of the Fesarius.
4. Senator Vreenak's description of the replicated Kali-fal, which could also be applied to the holographic simulation.
5. From Hot Fuzz, where the Sandford Neighborhood Watch Association, in hooded cloaks, kills undesirable elements claiming it was for "the greater good".
6. Autobiography of the superhero Nite Owl / Hollis Mason in Watchmen, who was portrayed by Stephen McHattie (Senator Vreenak) in the film version.

Inquisition

Originally Appeared Here

I'm back with some rhymes, Bashir is seeking warmer climes
Gonna get away to a conference on Casperia Prime
He's stopped in that ambition, an unexpected inquisition(1)
Sloan badgers the crew, tries to force a guilty admission
Says the Dominion had turned him, back during internment
When dad intervenes, Sloan says It's not you concern, man
Super deep cover, Iliana Ghemor,(2)
Sloan wants the doctor kept in jail through the war
Snatched from his cell by Weyoun, says they've been through this before.
But the charade starts to show,
O'Brien's shoulder healed like John Doe(3)
Convinces Section 31 to shut down their holographic tableau
Bashir sees they're unscrupulous,
can't believe Starfleet would stoop to this
Up against Obsidian Order, they may have their usefulness.
It's not all sexy babes and sippin' Saurian brandy(4),
But all that time playing spy might still come in handy.

1. From the famous Monty Python skit, where "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
2. From DS9's "Second Skin", in which Major Kira is told her memories were implanted as part of her cover, and that she was a spy (named Iliana Ghemor) without knowing it, much as Bashir is told by Sloan in this episode.
3. In the TNG episode "Transfigurations", the Zalkonian known as John Doe heals Chief O'Brien's dislocated shoulder with a touch.
4. Alcoholic beverage appearing throughout Star Trek.