Spacedock

[Mikey]

Good point, Blackstar. The Bajorans have current-generation survivors of the Cardassian occupation, and might be a bit touchy about Terok Nor multiplied by a thousand in their backyard.

[Captain Seafort]

It might increase anti-federation sentiments if they build a massive starbase, much like how the Cardassians built their starbase during the occupation.

See the rest of my post. While building a such a base during the first two years of the Fed presence would almost certainly provoke comparisons with the Cardies, doing so after the destruction of New Bajor and the Odyssey would be doing so in response to a clear threat from the Gamma Quadrant.

[Teaos]

It would also be a very poor use of resourses.

The Federation needed to push everything it has into ship building. That massive station is a huge waste.

[Mikey]

It might increase anti-federation sentiments if they build a massive starbase, much like how the Cardassians built their starbase during the occupation.

See the rest of my post. While building a such a base during the first two years of the Fed presence would almost certainly provoke comparisons with the Cardies, doing so after the destruction of New Bajor and the Odyssey would be doing so in response to a clear threat from the Gamma Quadrant.

I tend to agree with you. The Bajoran people, on the other hand, seem to tend toward hysteria and knee-jerk reactions.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

It might increase anti-federation sentiments if they build a massive starbase, much like how the Cardassians built their starbase during the occupation.

See the rest of my post. While building a such a base during the first two years of the Fed presence would almost certainly provoke comparisons with the Cardies, doing so after the destruction of New Bajor and the Odyssey would be doing so in response to a clear threat from the Gamma Quadrant.

The Bajorans may not see it that way. It was only 2 years or so after the Cardassians ended their decades of occupation. I doubt the Bajorans would trust the Federation enough at that point to allow construction of a spacedock-type facility.

While the destruction of New Bajor would be considered a tragedy, the Bajorans may not feel that the Dominion is a real threat to them. At that point the Dominion was mearly threating anything coming through the wormhole. I doubt they'd feel comfortable with the Federation building a Starbase until about the time the Cardassians joined the Dominion and by then it was too late.

[Captain Seafort]

I tend to agree with you. The Bajoran people, on the other hand, seem to tend toward hysteria and knee-jerk reactions.

It depends which Bajoran you get - Kira's initial reaction to the Feds was "we don't need you, we can rebuild our own planet, so bugger off". She later came to support the Feds, and accept that Bajor was in no state to rebuild anything, let alone a planet. Ditto with Shakaar - the problem being that waiting until he was installed as First Minister wouldn't give enough preparation time before the Klingon attack, and eighteen months probably wouldn't be long enough to build such a station before the invasion was launched.

[Captain Seafort]

The Bajorans may not see it that way. It was only 2 years or so after the Cardassians ended their decades of occupation. I doubt the Bajorans would trust the Federation enough at that point to allow construction of a spacedock-type facility.

There'd certainly be some protests, but most of the extreme anti-Feds were discredited by Jaro's fall.

While the destruction of New Bajor would be considered a tragedy, the Bajorans may not feel that the Dominion is a real threat to them. At that point the Dominion was mearly threating anything coming through the wormhole.

They destroyed Bajor's first major colony, and more importantly a Galaxy-class starship - the most powerful warship in the quadrant. If that isn't a good enough reason to want the strongest defences possible in the system I don't know what is.

[Teaos]

But a spacedock wouldnt be the strongest. It is stuck in one place so you can go around it. It would be much better to build a small fleet for the same amount. It already has DS9 for a base.

[Captain Seafort]

But a spacedock wouldnt be the strongest. It is stuck in one place so you can go around it.

It's at the decisive chokepoint between the AQ and GQ - the Dominion can't go round without spending decades en route, and if you hold it there will be no war.

It already has DS9 for a base.

DS9 is old, and requires extensive refurbishment to even make it compatable with Fed technology. O'Brien and his team worked wonders to get the station ready to repel an attack, but a larger, brand-new, Fed designed station would definately be superior.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

DS9 is old, and requires extensive refurbishment to even make it compatable with Fed technology. O'Brien and his team worked wonders to get the station ready to repel an attack, but a larger, brand-new, Fed designed station would definately be superior.

True but there was only two and a half years between the first encounter with the dominion and the Cardassians joining the dominion. Even if you take the 3 years figure from the first attack I'm not sure if that's enough time to build a Spacedock.

And there's the risk of speeding up the Dominion's assault. They see a massive station under construction they'll send a fleet through and destroy it before it can be finished.

[mwhittington]

Good point, Teaos. I agree that it would be better to spread out the resources for ship building instead of a station because DS9 is already there. Not only that, but it also just makes better sense to have more ships in the area than another space station. It would be a waste of resources for the Federation to build one.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

They destroyed Bajor's first major colony, and more importantly a Galaxy-class starship - the most powerful warship in the quadrant. If that isn't a good enough reason to want the strongest defences possible in the system I don't know what is.

They might want the defences but they may not want to be sell-outs either.

There'd certainly be some protests, but most of the extreme anti-Feds were discredited by Jaro's fall

And if the Federation started acting like the Cardassians did the anti-fed movement would gain even more power then before. There arguement being: "If the Federation is given a solid foothold in our system then we'll never be able to get rid of them." And if a Spacedock isn't a solid foothold then I don't know what is.

[Mikey]

I tend to agree with you. The Bajoran people, on the other hand, seem to tend toward hysteria and knee-jerk reactions.

It depends which Bajoran you get - Kira's initial reaction to the Feds was "we don't need you, we can rebuild our own planet, so bugger off". She later came to support the Feds, and accept that Bajor was in no state to rebuild anything, let alone a planet. Ditto with Shakaar - the problem being that waiting until he was installed as First Minister wouldn't give enough preparation time before the Klingon attack, and eighteen months probably wouldn't be long enough to build such a station before the invasion was launched.

Surely there were some cooler-headed Bajorans; but the general populace seems to be all too willing to follow the loudest voice.

[mwhittington]

It's at the decisive chokepoint between the AQ and GQ - the Dominion can't go round without spending decades en route, and if you hold it there will be no war.

But a fleet of ships would be able to hold the wormhole better than a station. A station can't maneuver to get the stragglers that got through and can't evade enemy fire. A fleet of ships are more flexible to hold the enemy off, evade weapons fire, and chase after the ones that got through.

DS9 is old, and requires extensive refurbishment to even make it compatable with Fed technology. O'Brien and his team worked wonders to get the station ready to repel an attack, but a larger, brand-new, Fed designed station would definately be superior.

I thought they held off the Klingons pretty well, though. The Dominion, not so much, but the Dominion eventually had to abandon Terok Nor/DS9 because of the fleet of Starfleet ships coming after them.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

I thought they held off the Klingons pretty well, though. The Dominion, not so much, but the Dominion eventually had to abandon Terok Nor/DS9 because of the fleet of Starfleet ships coming after them.

Well, they did destroy 50 Dominion ships, and could have still destroyed even more if Sisko decided to stay. But that would have been suicide. And they were really worried because the weapons had been taken offline because of sabatage. With the Defiant already there, pounding away, the station was sure to fall back to the Federation at that point.