We lost.

It was far from the most crippling defeat we've ever had--a few ships took heavy damage, but none were lost--but the Terran force was overwhelming and overwhelmingly powerful. They have weapons capabilities we've never seen before, and while we destroyed a number of their ships, there were others we could barely scratch.

They have their foothold, but we're going to study our readings of their techology, find ways to defend ourselves, and retake the Badlands.

We have fallen back to a position around an asteroid roughly midway between the Terran forces' entry point and the nearest edge of the Badlands. Crews from the Bajoran Sector Fleet are busy setting up a high-end shield generator on the asteroid to create a relatively safe zone for our ships, and vessels from the 8th Tactical Fleet are distributing probes and monitoring satellites so we can watch the Terran fleet.

We’ve arrived at Deep Space Nine, and just in time: long-range scans have picked up what may be a new dimensional rift in the Badlands.

I have received intel that Admiral Leeta of the Terran Empire is attempting to establish a base in our universe’s Badlands. Starfleet Command agrees with me that this cannot be permitted, and an assault force is gathering at Deep Space Nine, including the entirety of the 53rd.

It’s been a quiet week here at DS16. The Kaname, Nephilim, Inverse, and Oracle have just returned from a tour of the Wake. Everything is quiet there, as indeed it seems to be everywhere else. In this universe, anyway, but that’s about to change.

I just received a message from the other me: Leeta's fleet has wiped out the Iconians, but somehow managed to contain the temporal disruption to a minimum. Her new plan, inspired by the Pah Wraiths, is to establish a foothold in our universe's Badlands, and use it as a base of operations from which to conquer the Terran Empire and plunge her universe into flames.

What? Am I trying to bring my friends together into a personal mini-fleet within the larger one? Perish the thought! Why, next you’re going to suggest I’m secretly grooming Elisa to command that group under me...

After my rejection, my doppleganger has apparently decided to join forces with Leeta, at least according to the log files I just received. I guess if you can’t beat the coup, join it? Leeta’s forces now have temporal shielding as well future weapons, and she has deliberately retained the capacity to shut down the temporal shielding of her underlings' ships, so that any who betray her can be erased from the timeline.

Leeta’s log implies they plan to travel back to ancient Iconia and commit genocide with the temporal weapons, but also that the future travelers have kept the best weapons for themselves. Who could these mysterious benefactors be?