Soldiers of the Empire (episode)

After Worf becomes first officer of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by General Martok, he is caught between loyalty to his commander and loyalty to the crew.

Teaser
Doctor Bashir treats Klingon General Martok for an injury he claimed he suffered in the holosuite. Bashir chastises him for disabling the Holodeck safety protocol and for refusing to replace his maimed eye with an artificial one. Afterward, Martok visits Worf on the USS Defiant (2370). It is clear that the two men have come to have great respect for each other following their imprisonment in Internment Camp 371. Worf apologizes for inconveniencing Martok by causing his injury during a training session. Martok then informs Worf that the Klingon High Council has assigned him a mission, his first since their escape. He offers Worf to be his first officer aboard the, a Bird-of-Prey.

Act One
The son of Mogh gladly accepts, explaining to Captain Benjamin Sisko that the general had saved his life while imprisoned at Internment Camp 371. He explains that he had been about to let the Jem'Hadar kill him, when he and Martok experienced a moment of tova'dok, which is a "moment of clarity between two warriors on a field of battle." This encouraged him to continue fighting.

Their mission is to find the, a battle cruiser that has been missing for three days. Dax, jumping at the opportunity of being on a Klingon ship again, decides to come along, while Kira, Miles O'Brien, and Bashir are assigned Worf's regular duties. Despite the vessel's string of defeats by the Jem'Hadar in the last several months, Worf accepts the crew's battle records and pledges their lives to General Martok. Martok accepts the crew's lives and orders the helmsman to set a course around a nearby nebula, claiming that he wishes to avoid a confrontation if there should be Jem'Hadar ships hiding in it. The helmsman objects, but obeys the order. Once they have warped away, Worf starts to sing The Warrior's Anthem. Some of the others join in, but it is a dour unenthused version of the song. Worf and Dax immediately realize that this mission is not off to a good start.

Act Two
Dax arrives in the Mess Hall to find Ortakin sitting in her assigned seat. She throws him on the floor and threatens him before sitting down. She then tries to brighten the mood by informing the others that she has brought aboard three barrels of bloodwine, which the crew have not had for six months.

Meanwhile, Martok and Worf discuss the crew's unsatisfactory combat record and both realize that one defeat after another has taken away the crew's motivation and has even led them to expect defeat. They both agree that a victory would do much to lift their spirits. Back in the mess hall, the crew drinks Jadzia's bloodwine and discusses their previous failures in battle. Kornan claims that the ship is cursed and that they will never be victorious in battle. Just then, a klaxon goes off indicating that they have cloaked. They all report to the bridge to find that a Jem'Hadar patrol has crossed their path.

Act Three
Despite the ship's and the crew's readiness for battle, Martok decides not to risk attacking the Jem'Hadar ship, claiming that their real mission is to rescue the B'Moth. Even though the crew strongly disagrees with this, Worf refuses to challenge Martok. Dax warns him that a dangerous situation is developing.

In the mess hall, the crewmembers get drunk and Leskit begins an analysis of the Jem'Hadar after he speaks admirably of the Cardassians he fought against. He says that the Jem'Hadar have no honor and that makes them more efficient than Klingons. He even interprets the recent decisions of Martok as a fear of the Jem'Hadar. Suddenly, Kornan goes berserk and attacks Leskit. In the fight, he nearly kills Ortakin who came to the rescue. Dax then ends the combat by shooting Kornan with a phaser.

Worf runs into Dax in the corridor and notices the blood stains on her uniform. She informs him what happened and once again warns him that it will only get worse.

Act Four
A little after, the Rotarran crew picks up a distress call from the B'Moth. It is an automatic transmission indicating they were attacked by the Jem'Hadar, suffered heavy casualties and are in need of assistance. They set a course for the coordinates. Tavana thanks Dax for intervening in the fight and saving Ortakin, her Par'Mach'kai.

Worf and Martok discuss the distress call. Martok is convinced that it is a trap, that the Jem'Hadar purposely left survivors aboard the B'Moth in order for someone to come rescue them, or even that they may have faked the distress call. When the Rotarran arrives in visual range, they realize that the battle cruiser has drifted into Cardassian space. The crew is ready to cross the border in order to carry out the rescue, but Martok refuses to take them across, citing strict orders from the High Council and claiming that there must not be survivors anyway. He then leaves the bridge, and Worf decides that it is time to challenge him for command of the ship.

Act Five
Martok returns to the bridge and Worf challenges him. It is clear that the crew can't stand another defeat and Worf wants his friend to see that. In the following struggle, Martok again feels what it is to be a Klingon and when Worf realizes he made his point, he lets Martok defeat him. When a Jem'Hadar ship is detected nearby, a re-invigorated Martok promises to make the Jem'Hadar regret crossing them. This time, the crew are fully behind him and sing The Warrior's Anthem much more enthusiastically. Dax carries an injured but much-at-ease Worf to be treated.

Later, the ship returns to DS9 on a triumphant note. They had destroyed the Jem'Hadar ship and rescued 35 crewmembers from the B'Moth. The scope of their success allowed the High Council to easily forgive their crossing into Cardassian space; indeed, they commended the crew's bravery. The crew is completely changed by the recent victory, and Martok requests fifteen barrels of bloodwine to celebrate this. He later comes to Worf to thank him for making him remember he was a warrior and soldier, and Worf admits that when he let Martok defeat him, he wasn't sure he wouldn't kill him. Martok is impressed by the sacrifice Worf was willing to make, and makes his friend an offer. He mentions that Worf still wears the crest for the House of Mogh on his baldric. As the House of Mogh no longer exists, Martok offers Worf a chance to join the House of Martok, telling him he is proud to welcome Worf into his family as a warrior...and as a brother. Worf accepts, and replaces the House of Mogh crest with the one for the House of Martok. The two warriors and brothers clasp hands in victory, signaling a new beginning for Worf.

Memorable Quotes
"I am Worf, son of Mogh. I now take my place as first officer. I serve the captain, but I stand for the crew."
 * - Worf

"Doctor... Thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, don't walk in here dripping blood anymore. It takes days to get it out of the carpet!"
 * - Martok and Bashir

"It is clear to me that none of you are worthy of my blood or my life, but I will stand for you."
 * - Worf

"They are soulless creatures, Worf, fighting for no goal, no purpose except to serve the Founders. They take no pleasure in what they do... nothing is glorified, nothing affirmed. To the Jem'Hadar, we are nothing more than targets to be destroyed! I must not allow them to destroy us, Worf. I must..."
 * - Martok

''Hear! Sons of Kahless. Hear! Daughters too''.

The blood of battle washes clean

The warrior brave and true.

We fight, we love, and then we kill.

Our lives burn short and bright.

Then we die with honor and

Join our fathers in the black fleet,

Where we battle, forever battling, on

Through the eternal fight.


 * - Klingon Crew - war song translation

Story and script

 * The origins of this episode are to be found in a request Ira Steven Behr made to Ronald D. Moore: "Give me Star Trek: Klingon - a story that we could do as a Star Trek episode, but with all Klingon characters". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * Ronald D. Moore's original idea for this episode was for Worf and the crew of the Rotarran to answer a distress call from a Klingon colony. When they arrive, they find all of the inhabitants missing. Nearby is a lake surrounded in a mysterious fog, and when they approach it, a boatman appears and takes them to the entrance to Gre'thor. Once inside, they meet a friend of Martok's, who wants them to take him with them. And then they meet Worf's father, Mogh. There were a number of reasons that this particular story never made it into production. Firstly, Ira Steven Behr felt that the episode was trying to accomplish too much– showing both the realistic day-to-day operations of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and a mythic journey to the afterlife. Behr also felt it was too late in the season to do such a philosophical show dealing with life, death and hell. As well as this, the concept proved to be too complex and expensive. However, it is worth noting that Moore's idea formed the basic plot of the Star Trek: Voyager episode, which he also wrote. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * Of the writing of this show, Ronald D. Moore explains, "It became a show about Martok and Worf on the Bird-of-Prey, going out on a mission. I knew that Dax had to come along because I needed another voice. But what was important to me was giving that ship an inner life, in the sense that you walk in and each of the people there would have his own specific character and backstory and relationships. We'd find out how a Bird-of-Prey works, what the things are that make it run." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * Of special importance to Ronald D. Moore in this episode was giving each Klingon an individualized personality and look. Of the characterization of the crew of the Rotarran, Moore says, "One of them thinks they're cursed, and one of them is a female engineer who doesn't want to give up. And then there's the troublemaker who just enjoys making the situation worse and worse in a perverse desire to destroy them all." However, individualized physicality was also of vital importance; "On some of the shows where we've had a lot of Klingons on camera, even I get them confused. So we wanted more visual distinction here, and as a result, one was given short-cropped hair and one had no sleeves. Tavana's hair is red, and there was even a blond Klingon." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Production

 * The episode began shooting on the 24th February 1997.
 * The Warrior's Anthem first heard in the CD-ROM adventure Star Trek: Klingon enters Star Trek canon in this episode. Of the scene when the Rotarran crew break into song, assistant director B.C. Cameron said, "Everybody sang. All the background players, the extras, the crew. We had big cards with these Klingonese words written on them for the actors to read. For days, that's all you'd hear on stage: people singing this battle song." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * There is a short scene of Dax pushing some buttons on a control panel. Ronald D. Moore commented: "Dax was actually sending a message to Ortakin (Tavana's lover) warning him of the impending mutiny. Ortakin shows up on the bridge a few seconds later with two other armed Klingons. The cutaway to Dax didn't read as well on camera as we had hoped and now Ortakin's arrival is a bit mysterious."

Reception

 * This episode is a favorite of actor J.G. Hertzler, who sees it as solidifying the character of Martok after his return/debut in . Of Ron Moore, who wrote "Soldiers of the Empire", Hertzler comments "I'm forever in his debt." He also says of the episode, "It had a lot of heart." (Hidden File 09, DS9 Season 5 DVD, Special Features)
 * Although the cast and crew loved this episode and felt it was extremely successful, Ira Steven Behr was unsatisfied with it; "This is an episode that almost made it. LeVar is one of the strongest directors we have when it comes to working with actors. But the casting process was difficult, and I don't think the makeup always helped the actors. None of it went far enough." Behr was especially displeased with how the "toughness" of Martok's crew was handled; "The scene at Quark's really was depressing. They were supposed to be the baddest guys. One of them has teeth around his neck. And people in the bar talk about them like they're bad guys, but they're not badass at all! Throughout the entire show, without a doubt, the toughest man on the ship is Martok. And that totally screwed up the show in my mind." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Trivia

 * Worf becomes a member of the House of Martok in this episode, something which has great implications for the future.
 * The IKS Rotarran makes its first appearance in this episode. The Rotarran reappeared as Martok's command ship in  before being replaced by the  in . The Rotarran reappears In.
 * No stardate is given in this episode, but Worf makes a combat log on the fifty third day of the year of Kahless 999. (Note that Klingon years do not match standard Terran years.)
 * Armin Shimerman (Quark) does not appear in this episode.

Video and DVD releases

 * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5.11,
 * As part of the DS9 Season 5 DVD collection

Starring

 * Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

Also starring

 * Rene Auberjonois as Odo
 * Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf
 * Terry Farrell as Lt. Commander Dax
 * Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
 * Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien
 * Alexander Siddig as Doctor Bashir
 * Nana Visitor as Major Kira

Guest stars

 * David Graf as Leskit
 * Rick Worthy as Kornan
 * Sandra Nelson as Tavana
 * Aron Eisenberg as Nog
 * J.G. Hertzler as Martok

Co-star

 * Scott Leva as Ortakin

Uncredited co-stars

 * Susie Stillwell as a Klingon Rotarran officer

Stunt doubles

 * Bob Minor as stunt double for Michael Dorn
 * Tom Morga as stunt double for J.G. Hertzler