History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E18RulesOfEngagement

* StockEpisodeTitles: Besides ''Deep Space Nine'', a few other shows have had episodes titled "Rules of Engagement", including ''In The Cut'', ''Series/{{JAG}}'' (see [[Recap/JAGS05E02RulesOfEngagement recap]]), ''Series/McLeodsDaughters'', ''Series/OneLifeToLive'', ''Series/SEALTeam'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' (see [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E18RulesOfEngagement recap]]).

Commander Worf is stalking through the halls of the ''Defiant'' when he encounters the corpses of his fellow officers, with Klinggons raising bat'leths in triumph. Then instead of Starfleet officers, the corpses are Klingon children. What's going on? Worf awakens in the brig. It's all been a nightmare, and Odo advises him to get some rest before his trial starts tomorrow.

It turns out that Worf has been accused of murder by the Klingon Empire after a space battle gone wrong. Worf was commanding the '"Defiant'', defending Cardassian freighters from a Klingon attack, when he fired upon a civilian transport ship that accidentally decloaked in the middle of the fight. A Klingon advocate, Ch'Pok, has arrived to demand Worf be extradited to the Klingons to stand trial. Admiral T'Lara sits in judgment of the hearing, with Sisko as Worf's defense. Ch'Pok does not dispute the facts of the case but intends to show that Worf was acting as a Klingon warrior rather than a Starfleet officer when he ordered the attack.

As his first witness, he calls Dax, who recounts how she and Worf spar but always maintain suitable safety and control. However, she's forced to admit that Worf enjoys a particular holosuite program in which he replays a historic battle as a conquering general who orders an entire city's population slaughtered, including the civilians. He last played the program on the day before the battle. Next, Quark recounts how, before the escort mission, he overheard Worf say that he hoped Klingons would attack. Worf is looking more and more like a bloodthirsty and vengeful Klingon.

Things are going pretty poorly for Worf. Between session, Ch'Pok gloats to Sisko that Worf's eventual conviction will grant sympathy to the Klingon Empire and give them leeway to annex more territory from the Cardassians, bringing them right to Deep Space Nine's doorstep. This has been all too convenient for the Klingons, and Sisko has been having Odo dig for clues about the Klingdon transport vessel, looking for some evidence that it was intentionally sacrificed, but so far, no luck.

Worf's fate is looking grim as Admiral T'Lara goes to deliberate, but finally, Odo has brought Sisko good news. He has the hearing reconvened and brings Ch'Pok to the stand. He hands the Klingon a datapad and asks him to identify its contents, and Ch'Pok recognizes the names of the 400 victims of the destroyed transport vessel. Sisko counters that it's actually the manifest of a ''different'' civilian transport ship that crashed on Galorda Prime but were reported as all having survived the accident. What are the chances that every single member of this random assortment of people would all board another transport ship together and get destroyed? It's clear to everyone that the Klingons have falsely tried to use the casualties of a previous accident to pin on Worf, and the ship he destroyed was actually empty.

Worf is exonerated. Sisko comes by to collect him for his victory celebration. Worf is embarrassed by his behavior, and Sisko agrees he was out of line. The commander also chews Worf out for making the wrong call with the transport. He ''shouldn't'' have fired on it without confirming his target. Putting yourself in harm's way to protect civilians is part of the job. However, Sisko has full confidence that Worf will someday make a great captain and wish he'd gotten into botany instead.

* ContinuityNod: In [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E14ReturnToGrace "Return to Grace"]], Bashir mentioned that the Cardassians were suffering from numerous epidemics. One such plague is what led to the humanitarian convoy that Worf and the ''Defiant'' were escorting.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When Sisko confronts Ch'Pok with the evidence that Odo found, proving that the Klingon Empire set Worf up to look like a murderer.
--> '''Sisko:''' Tell me, ''Advocate...isn't...it...possible''?
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The episode completely falls apart when you factor in that SpaceIsBig. There is no sane reason for a civilian ship not part of the convoy to come within an astronomical unit of the battle in the first place (much less de-cloak ''right in the middle of said battle''), which should have clued people in that there was more going on.

* AmoralAttorney: Ch'Pok is in on the scheme of the Klingon Empire to frame Worf for a massacre, and says whatever he needs to in order to sell the story.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: As competent and experienced as O'Brien may be, he ''is'' a non-com. Would he really be able to take command of a warship without an officer's commission? And for that matter, if he's an engineer, why isn't he in the engine room?
** 1) Temporarily. While even [[TheChainOfCommand an ensign would outrank him]], as of this episode O'Brien's expertise in starship combat is official on the record. Any reasonable ensign familiar with his record would ask him to take command in such a situation. 2) For the same reason Geordi was often on the bridge during certain situations, to coordinate the ship's needs during combat with Main Engineering.
** It's a subtle touch, but during the "what-if" scene which shows O'Brien in command, the helm officer is replaced with an enlisted crewman (no rank insignia), whom O'Brien ''would'' outrank.

%%* CourtroomEpisode

** Not to mention the InUniverse FridgeLogic of ''why'' an unarmed freighter would decloak right in the middle of a battle--again, becoming irrelevant once the FrameUp is revealed. Same can be said of the question of why an unarmed passenger freighter even ''has'' a cloaking device in the first place. Sisko and Odo even discuss how nobody seems keen on answering those questions.

* HollywoodLaw: By the episode's own admission, there are no current diplomatic relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, which ought to mean that the Klingons have no standing to demand the extradition of an active-duty Starfleet officer for actions carried out in the performance of his duties (particularly duties in combat ''against'' the Klingons). However for some bizarre reason the Vulcan (!) judge finds it logical (!!) to not only allow the extradition hearing to proceed, but allow it to proceed under ''Klingon'' legal norms (!!!).

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The witness flashbacks speak directly at the camera, almost appearing to talk to the viewer.

* PunchClockVillain: Ch'Pok isn't evil; he's just doing his job, and even offers to defend Worf himself if the ruling is for extradition. (How much he knew about Worf being set up is never totally clear.)

Commander Worf is on trial. The cause of which is to establish motive in a horrible tragedy. In the heat of battle, did he purposely fire on a transport ship full of innocent civilians? Or was it simply a case of reflexive action in a heated situation?

** 1) Temporarily. While even an ensign would outrank him, as of this episode O'Brien's expertise in starship combat is official on the record. Any reasonable ensign familiar with his record would ask him to take command in such a situation. 2) For the same reason Geordi was often on the bridge during certain situations, to coordinate the ship's needs during combat with Main Engineering.

* CourtroomEpisode

* BrokenAesop: Sisko's lecture to Worf about how Starfleet never puts civilian lives at risk even for self-defense falls apart since the ''Defiant'' was protecting a civilian convoy; has they been destroyed, the convoy would've been next, and the people they were trying to help would've also died.

* WouldNotShootACivilian: Sisko makes it clear that a Starfleet officer ''never'' fires at a target unless they are absolutely sure it is a hostile, even if it means hesitating will cost them their life.

* DerailedForDetails: Quark's testimony. He keeps interrupting himself by trying to remember ''which'' dabo girl Julian was hitting on, and when he finally remembers that it was actually Morn doing the talking, the judge tells him to just skip ahead to what ''Worf'' told him.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The episode completely falls apart when you factor in that SpaceIsBig. There is no sane reason for a civilian ship not part of the convoy to come within an astronomical unit of the battle in the first place, which should have clued people in that there was more going on.

** Not to mention the question of ''why'' an unarmed freighter would decloak right in the middle of a battle--again, becoming irrelevant once the FrameUp is revealed. Same can be said of the question of why an unarmed passenger freighter even ''has'' a cloaking device in the first place...

* FrameUp: The entire situation was a ploy by the Empire to disgrace Worf. The transport ship was totally empty, and its passengers had already died in a horrific crash in the not-too-distant past.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Ch'Pok has O'Brien on the stand, and tells him to imagine that he was in command instead of Worf during the same situation. Would he also give the order to open fire? O'Brien says he wouldn't, but also points out that he ''wasn't'' in command and that it's easy to throw stones after the fact.

* DerailedByDetails: Quark's testimony. He keeps interrupting himself by trying to remember ''which'' dabo girl Julian was hitting on, and when he finally remembers that it was actually Morn doing the talking, the judge tells him to just skip ahead to what ''Worf'' told him.

* WouldNotShootACivilian: Sisko makes it clear that a Starfleet officer ''never'' fires at a target unless they are absolutely sure it is a hostile, even if it means hesitating will cost them their life. (Although somehow nobody had a problem with it when James T. Kirk was faced with practically the exact same tactical situation in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', and didn't even wait for the bird-of-prey to decloak before firing.)

*** Because it's unarmed?