What You Leave Behind

Originally Appeared Here

Kassidy says reports of her death are great exaggeration
Like a paraphrase from Picard when he escaped assimilation(1)
Kira's waging war on Cardassia, glad to know Damar supports her
Make the Dominion machine stop like a story from E.M. Forster(2)
Weyoun makes an example of Lakarian, radicals come to realize
Who'd follow a short-sighted Vorta versus a rebel with steel eyes?

Let's finish it once and for all, the fleet's beaten them back
Strike like a d'k tahg(3) with a three-pronged attack
Standing on Cardassia, Martok says it's all poetic justice
Dad pours bloodwine on the ground 'cause cost of war disgusts us
Dukat shoulda done likewise when he accepts a poisoned chalice
While Kosst Amojan rage in the cave like fire storms on Bersallis(4)
Winn spits wack verses as if she's afflicted with aphasia virus(5)
Should fix her frame of mind in an asylum run by crazy Syrus(6)
But the Gul's their only emissary, and the Prophets sent him a gift
Fight like fools in burning house(7), they jump in to the rift
And my dad awakes in the wormhole like Arthur in Avalon(8)
Like Odo coming home, no more to roam like a vagabond
Not dead or fighting evil in another dimension
But a god who can return when we need Divine Intervention(9)

1. In Star Trek: First Contact, Picard claims, "Reports of my assimilation are greatly exaggerated", a paraphrase of a quote from Mark Twain referenced by Kasidy Yates here.
2. "The Machine Stops" is a science fiction short story by E.M. Forster.
3. Traditional Klingon warrior's knife, it has two side blades that can spring out.
4. In TNG's "Lessons", the planet Bersallis III is home to a Federation colony and subject to violent firestorms every seven years.
5. From DS9's "Babel", a booby-trap intended for Cardassians leaves the station personnel unable to process language.
6. From TNG's "Frame of Mind", Syrus was an imaginary psychiatrist in a scenario designed to brainwash Commander Riker.
7. From TOS's "Day of the Dove", which introduces the Klingon proverb "Only a fool fights in a burning house."
8. Avalon is a legendary island where King Arthur is taken to recover from his wounds. From this place he is said to to return one day to lead his people against their enemies.
9. Divine Intervention is the title of Cirroc Lofton's (Jake Sisko) announced but unreleased rap album.

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.

Tacking Into the Wind

Originally Appeared Here

Gowron's messin' up, at least from what I can tell
Sends his men to their death and if they don't die well
It'll be a black matter for the Klingon that led them to it(1)
Martok throws himself into the battle just 'cause he said to do it
Just a commoner or yeoman, comin' from the Ketha Lowlands(2)
Doesn't wanna rock the boat and so the status quo stands
So Worf throws down the gauntlet, opposes him, dauntless
Fights with Gowron for the throne, but he doesn't want this
Best him with a broken Bat'leth, but he still gets his say
May have saved the Empire, but you will not have this day

1. From Shakespeare's Henry V, Act IV, Scene 1, "Now if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it." This was quoted by Captain Picard in the episode "The Defector".
2. Impoverished region on Qo'noS, where General Martok grew up.

When It Rains...

Originally Appeared Here

Damar thought he'd gain a lot more from taking over Dukat's war
Everything that he fought for just to take orders from Thot Gor
So now Kira and Odo are off to offer assistance
Help an old enemy run the Cardassian resistance
Against Breen weapons, Klingons are the only line of protection
Gowron takes charge of the fleet against all objection
'Cause he's a statesman sans Kolrami's skill with a stratagem(1)
Prophets' side needs protection 'cause Winn Adami is mad at them
A fake farmer filled her mind, sowing seeds of dissent
Cardassian lover disguising his face and his intent
A killer under cover like Anton Karidian(2)
Plans decimation of population like Odona down on Gideon(3)
Restore the Pah-wraiths like Titans to where Hyperion sat(4)
Only to find they've made him blind as a Tiberian bat.(5)

1. Sirna Kolrami was a Zakdorn master strategist and a grand master of the game Strategema.
2. In TOS's "The Conscience of the King", the former governor of the Tarsus IV colony, known as Kodos the Executioner, is living under the new identity of Anton Karidian.
3. In TOS's "The Mark of Gideon", a severely overpopulated planet attempts to introduce a virus (carried by Captain Kirk) to reduce their number.
4. Hyperion, meaning "The High One", was one of the twelve Titans that ruled in Greek mythology before being overthrown by the Olympians. The aftermath of this battle was the subject of an unfinished poem by John Keats.
5. Blind, winged mammal referenced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Penumbra

Originally Appeared Here

Son of a prophet doing some personal reappraising
When he sees himself in the mirror, half man, half amazing(1)
He found a couple hecapates to set up a homestead
Let his hands shape the landscape like he was Frederick Law Olmsted(2)
And Kasidy finds out she's a part of my Dad's plans
When he gets back from searching for Worf in the Badlands
Dax tracks him down when she decides to take a Gander(3)
But she can't talk about Jadzia, or ask of Alexander
Caught unawares and thrown in a Breen prison
While back on the station the Prophets send a vision
Hope the Emissary gettin married still if he can
'Cause in the ceremony, I'll be the best man(4)

1. From "It Ain't Hard to Tell" on Nas's debut album Illmatic, referenced in his later song "Nas Is Like".
2. Regarded by many as the father of American landscape architecture, Olmsted designed New York City's Central Park, among other works.
3. "Take a gander" can both mean "to take a look", and refer to the runabout U.S.S. Gander taken by Ezri Dax.
4. Paraphrase of lyrics from Young MC's "Bust a Move",  "Your best friend Harry has a brother Larry / In five days from now he's gonna marry / He's hopin you can make it there if you can / Cause in the ceremony you'll be the best man"

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

Originally Appeared Here

Garak wants to know the way of stoppin' this
How Bashir's an eternal optimist
Wakes up in his quarters and he knows he's not alone
Running through the hall to catch up to Luther Sloan
Finds Ezri Dax, she says relax
Too late anyway because Sloan covered his tracks
Now in the Bellerophon mess he's attending a reception
Sloan intercepts him, says he needs to practice his deception
Afraid their allies find a separate peace like John Knowles' tale(1)
Recalling Romulans with doctor, he remembers them wholesale(2)
And now Sloan got vaporized but he never said die
Confronts the admiral with allegations, demands to know why
It benefited Starfleet but their ways are awful violent
Ross just makes excuses, in times of war the law falls silent(3)

1. American novelist best known for the novel A Separate Peace.
2. Sloan praises Bashir's eidetic memory, or "total recall". The film Total Recall was based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale".
3. English translation of the Latin episode title.

Chimera

Originally Appeared Here

O'Brien and Odo don't come back empty-handed
Dad releases the changeling like the constable demanded
Thinks that Odo is denying his true self out of shame
Tells his friends, these solids, they all seem the same
And it's crazy how they just gaze in amazement
As they raze all the forests and phase in the pavement
Disrupt balance of nature, but he agrees to stay as a favor
Knows Odo won't leave the Major, now Laas takes the form of a vapor
Menacing mist on the promenade like the moors of Caldos II(1)
Klingon tries to start a fight so Laas runs him through
Now he's awaiting arraignment when Kira sets him free
Lay low, look for Odo in a mine on Koralis III
Laas admits he wouldn't stay on the station, mutatis mutandis(2)
Odo says because he's never known love he can't understand this

1. Federation colony from TNG's "Sub Rosa", with an environment similar to the Scottish Highlands.
2. Latin phrase meaning "changing only those things which need to be changed".