AR - 558 AR - 558 was a small barren planet in the Chin ' toka system . This system was located in the Alpha Quadrant . According to " Tactical Map 4364W " , this planet was located approximately twenty - five light year s from Ferenginar , thirty - five light years from Starbase 375 , forty light years from the Badlands , forty - five light years from Bajor , and fifty lights years from Cardassia . The terrain of AR - 558 consisted primarily of rocky surfaces and caverns , and was generally inhospitable to humanoid species for any extended period of time . ( ) History . During the Dominion War , the Dominion established a communication relay station into a rockface on a steep mountain on this planet . It was the largest communications array in the sector . Following a victory in the Chin ' toka system , ( See : First Battle of Chin ' toka ) , the Dominion were driven from the array by Starfleet troops who hoped to use the captured array to tap into Dominion communications . The array was held by these troops for five months without replacements . The planet proved very difficult to defend . The Chin ' toka system was the site of repeated confrontation , making re - supply to the planet impractical for extended periods . The Federation troops guarding the array selected a suitably defensible position at the closed end of a subterranean cavern , but were besieged almost from the start . Repeated Dominion attacks sapped both force strength and morale . Even though the location of their strongpoint forced the Dominion to advance through a narrow canyon , the casualties suffered by the Federation rendered it impractical to take full advantage of the terrain and forced them to wait for each successive assault while hoping for re - supply . Although there were initially one hundred and fifty personnel posted there , by the time the made a supply run to the planet in mid - 2375 that number had been reduced to only forty three surviving troops by repeated Jem ' Hadar attacks and the prevalence of subspace anti - personnel mine s , nicknamed " Houdinis " . It was only when the crew of the " Defiant " , working with the troops , were able to disarm the mines and re - purpose them to attack advancing Jem ' Hadar that the Federation gained some semblance of advantage in the situation . The casualties were heavy , however , and included Captain , Commander , Lieutenant Larkin , Crewman , McGreevey and Vargas . Relief troops and engineer s were later sent aboard the to replace the surviving troops . ( ) Nog experienced flashback s to the time he defended AR - 558 several weeks later . ( ) After the Federation was defeated at the Second Battle of Chin ' toka , AR - 558 was retaken by the Dominion . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The name AR - 558 was an in - joke , as the production number of " The Siege of AR - 558 " was 558 . ( ) The planet model for AR - 558 was first used for the Karemma homeworld ( ) . This model was used for Cardassia Prime , as well , in . The " " identified the sector as the Bajor sector . According to " " ( " United Federation of Planets I " ) , AR - 558 was treated by the author , Geoffrey Mandel , as two separate locations . Both locations were in the Alpha Quadrant . The first was an antenna / communications relay . The second was a planet in a binary star system of two F - type star s . This planet was the site of a battle . For " " ( " Federation Historical Highlights , 2161 - 2385 " ) , AR - 558 was located close to the Chin ' toka system in the Alpha Quadrant . The locates AR - 558 in the Chin ' toka system .