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The Chin'toka system was a star system located in the Alpha Quadrant. This Cardassian-controlled system contained four planets, the second and third of which were inhabited and formed a binary pair. It was the scene of two major confrontations in the Dominion War.

Location[]

Kiley local star chart

Chin'toka depicted on a star map

In 2259, the location of this system was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the USS Enterprise's ready room viewscreen. The system's symbol had a yellow color, indicating that it was affiliated with Cardassia Prime. Later that year, the symbol had an orange color. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds", "Children of the Comet")

In the 2370s, this system was located in Cardassian space, near the Federation-Cardassian border. Its position was depicted on "Tactical Map 4364W". (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets", "When It Rains...")

The system's location was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy's office at Starfleet Headquarters in 2399 and on the bridge of the USS Titan-A in 2401. The Chin'toka system was in or near to Federation space. (PIC: "Maps and Legends", "The Next Generation", "Disengage")

History[]

This system was home to a warp-capable civilization. By 2259, this system had or was in the process of being inducted into the United Federation of Planets. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds")

During the Dominion War, the Dominion established a subspace relay on AR-558, a small planetoid in this system.

Chin'toka planets

Federation Alliance forces approach Chin'toka's binary planets

At the end of 2374, the system was protected by only five squadrons of Jem'Hadar attack ships because the rest had been diverted to reinforce Dominion forces along the Romulan front. This vulnerability provided an opportunity for Allied forces to launch an invasion of Cardassian space. However, the Cardassians had anticipated their attack and deployed hundreds of orbital weapon platforms in the system. These platforms nearly turned the battle against the Allied forces, until a way was found to neutralize them. Subsequently, the system fell to Allied forces (see: First Battle of Chin'toka). (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets")

However, the invasion did not proceed further than Chin'toka as was hoped; the victorious Allies remained bottled up in the system, fending off constant Dominion attacks. (DS9: "Image in the Sand", "The Siege of AR-558")

A Dominion counterattack on the system in early 2375 was halted, although the forces of the Romulan Star Empire suffered heavy losses. (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols")

The Chin'toka system remained under Allied control for most of 2375, until it was retaken by a combined force of Dominion and Breen ships. An Allied attempt to repel their advance ended disastrously, in which 311 of 312 ships were destroyed with relative ease. This was due to Allied unpreparedness for the Breen energy-dampening weapon, which rapidly disabled the fleet, leaving all affected ships completely defenseless. The surviving Allies retreated from the system. (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil", "When It Rains...")

In the early 25th century, the system was the location of the Chin'toka scrapyard. (PIC: "Dominion")

Astronomical data[]

Appendices[]

Background information[]

While the two habitable planets were not explicitly stated to be binary planets, they were described as such multiple times in the script for "Tears of the Prophets". [1] An infographic depicting the Chin'toka system in DS9: "Tears of the Prophets" reads: "Chin'toka; Cardassia; binary orbit; perihelion 107 km; aphelion 109 km."

A close-up shot of a tactical map in the beginning of "When It Rains..." showed the position of the Chin'toka system in relation to Ferenginar, Starbase 375, Cardassia, Bajor, and the Badlands. The Chin'toka system was labeled by the AR-558 relay in the map.

A scene cut from "Tears of the Prophets" would have shown that Miles O'Brien came up with the idea to attack Chin'toka, over such alternatives as the Torg'Q system or the Ventani system. The last time he was on a patrol on that part of the border, he had noticed the warp signatures of the ships there to have been changed, suggesting the signatures might have been faked. Garak then suggested ships from the system might have been sent to the Romulan front, leaving the system less defended then previously thought.

According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 36) and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), the primary of the Chin'toka system was a G-class star.

External link[]

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