DS9 has been conquered by the Dominion! Fall back to Bajor and plan a counterattack!

This episode is going to be difficult to write from a play-by-play because there are so many “optionals” involved. There are six primary objectives or phases to “Of Bajor” each doled out one at a time, but each “phase” has two or three “optional” objectives. Only one need be completed to move to the next phase, so completionists will be back to replay the mission and seeking the objectives they didn’t do the first time.

In “Second Wave” last week, the Dominion fleet emerged from the Bajoran wormhole 30 years after the Prophets “moved” them through time. The Dominion quickly took the station, and now Starfleet and the KDF are allies working together to retake DS9. A temporary base is being set up in the Bajoran city of Hathon, much to the dismay of the citizens.

[Note: I ran out of time this morning, so I'm finishing this from my tablet. I will add the rest of the screenshots next week when I get back home from work.]

Commander Mesi Achebe is coordinating the efforts on Hathon and will direct you to visit your faction NPC as well as the Bajoran militia leader.

Phase 1 is helping setup the base on Hathon, and there are objectives for both your faction (Starfleet or KDF) or your captain’s department (Engineering, Science, or Tactical) to choose from. Starfleet wants to smooth over relations between the peaceful and spiritual Bajorans and the hot-tempered and argumentative Klingons. KDF players receive a secure communique to plant listening devices in Starfleet’s equipment. This alliance won’t last forever, after all, may as well get an upper hand now. Engineers can choose to help repair various pieces of malfunctioning equipment around the base. Science captains can choose to escort injured personnel who just beamed down from DS9 to the local infirmary for medical treatment. Tactical captains may examine the network protocol and upgrade the firewall of several consoles on Hathon.

Phase 2 and 3 are holodeck combat training sessions at the makeshift holodeck operated by Lt. Jirelle Kav. First is ground combat training, giving a choice of either fighting waves of Jem’Hadar soldiers or a Changeling. Next is space combat where you can fight either Dominion capital ships or smaller fighters and escorts.

Phase 4 and 5 has us appeasing the Bajoran population, who are distraught at the presence of Starfleet and the KDF, at the behest of militia leader Colonel Kubus Pohl then learning more about the Bajoran people and culture. Bad memories of the Cardassian Occupation and all… We can either talk down a Bajoran protester or visit the temple and search through several books for passages that will calm the citizens, then show your respect for their religion by lighting incense at several altars.

Finally, Phase 6 has us using the base communications to scan various frequencies, searching for a way to communicate with anyone still on DS9. Several frequencies are available, from the local temple to a local restaurant’s ordering channel, to classic references like Vic Fontaine’s lounge. Eventually, you find a private channel used by Hadron the bartender at Quark’s bar. He tells us the status of the station and remaining personnel, as well as identifying the Jem’Hadar Alpha serving under Loriss.

The episode concludes with by hailing Deep Space Nine with Captain Kurland to try to convince Loriss the Dominion War has been over for 30 years, and they are no longer enemies. An interesting addition is that after the initial dialogue, you’re put back into the game where you suggest different topics that Kurland can persuade Loriss with. Choosing one shows an appropriate cut scene, then back to the dialogue UI where you can either continue further into that topic or choose another.

Summary

All in all, “Of Bajor” is mostly a mission involving a lot of reading, lore, and Fedexing as its primary gameplay. The only combat is during the two holodeck sessions, so the more pewpew-minded players will be bored. But despite the entire series being focused around Bajor, my overall sense is that this episode is putting more “Trek-iness” to STO, probably moreso than any mission or series to date. As I mentioned last week, doing “Trek stuff” can be boring if you let it, or if you’re only an action player. Certainly, I’m looking forward to kicking some Dominion ass at some point in this five-part story arc as much as the next player. I definitely get the impression the story is building up something special, and I hope it plays out as epic as it has the potential to. So, I’m fine with adding more “boring Trek stuff” into the game if it offers something I can enjoy and learn from aside from pewpew after pewpew.

The voice work was much better for this episode, with the exception of some of Loriss’ lines. As with last week, I am attributing this to two factors: none of the actors are actors at all. They are staff members and podcasters. Plus they recorded their lines months ago, and I doubt the cut scenes were done for them to watch and they probably had little to no directing for their parts.

The highlight to “Of Bajor” is its location, however. Hathon is a brand-new social zone, with all the amenities you would expect (bank, exchange, mail terminals and vendors) and the town is absolutely gorgeous. Hathon is also the first zone added to STO that has a day/night cycle, which is very well done. Now I’m impatiently wanting the artists to retrofit the existing ground zones with day/night plus eventually add a fuller weather implementation into the game.