Benjamin Lafayette Sisko

: This page details Benjamin Sisko in the primary universe; for the Benjamin Sisko in the mirror universe see Benjamin Sisko (mirror); for the Benjamin Sisko in all other alternate universes see Benjamin Sisko (alternates) See Sisko for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname. Benjamin Lafayette Sisko is a Human male who is most famous as commanding officerof Deep Space 9 and as the Bajoran Emissary of the Prophets. He left DS9 at the end of the Dominion War to join the Bajoran Prophets, but returned to linear existence just in time for the birth of his daughter, Rebecca Jae Sisko. After a brief retirement, Captain Sisko returned to Starfleet due to the Borg invasion in 2381 and remained with the fleet following the end of the conflict, in command of the USS Robinson. His wife Kasidy Yatesand his daughter Rebecca joined him aboard the vessel, including during an extended exploration mission in the Gamma Quadrant.
=== Biography ===
==== Early life ====
Benjamin Sisko was born in the year 2332 in the city of New Orleans on planet Earth. When Ben was a newborn, his proud father, Joseph Sisko, the owner of the renowned restaurant Sisko's Creole Kitchen, would show off his infant son to diners with one arm, and serve tables with the other, not always successfully. A Sisko's patron named Andreas Nikolas once commented about Ben's crying, "...what I really remember is Sisko's boy - must have been just a few months old when I was there, and already the kid had a pair of lungs on him. I swear he drowned out the horn music from next door." Ben had two younger brothers, Samuel and Aaron, and a younger sister, Judith. 
==== Starfleet Academy ====
Sisko entered Starfleet Academy in the year 2350. Sisko once told Odo that he was nicknamed "Dead-Eye" at Starfleet Academy since he was the best shot there, able to bounce a phaser beam off a mirror and still hit the target. He later admitted however, that this was somewhat of an exaggeration. While at the Academy, Ben met and befriended fellow Cadet Cal Hudson. In the year 2353, Ben had not yet graduated from the Academy yet when he was assigned to Pelios Station as an Ensign. It was there that young Sisko first came under the tutelage of Ambassador Curzon Dax, a joined Trill. Sisko would later consider the "Old Man" Curzon to be both a mentor and a second father figure. In 2354 Ben was captain of Starfleet Academy Wrestling Team. 
=== Starfleet officer ===
Shortly after graduation and awaiting his first assignment, Sisko met and quickly married his first wife, Jennifer. As a junior officer, Sisko was assigned to the Federation embassy on Romulus. In 2355, while Ben was on paternity leave from his first posting on the USS Livingston, Jennifer gave birth to the couple's only child, Jacob Isaac Sisko, at a Starfleet medical facility in San Francisco. Around 2355, Sisko joined Zach Warner and a Starfleet team in a mission to Theta IV-Z. An incident happened that caused the mission to be botched and Sisko placed the blame on Warner. Sisko did not reveal his knowledge about that at the time. In 2360, Sisko was serving as a Lieutenant in the Engineering section of the USS Okinawa under Captain James Leyton when, at Curzon's urging, Sisko accepted a temporary assignment for Starfleet Intelligence under Admiral Nyota Uhura. The assignment saw Sisko in command of an undercover team deep within the space of the Romulan Star Empire. It was after this assignment that Sisko switched from Engineering to Command. Sisko soon found himself as first officer of the Okinawa. During his time on the Saratoga, Sisko and the crew encountered a hostile Breen ship at Guldammu IV. In a plan devised by Sisko and Hranok, a narrow-gauge phaser spread was fired from the weapons of the Saratoga, making several small gaps in the Breen's shields. This allowed the Saratoga crew to beam unwanted items into the Breen's weapon banks, clogging them and leaving them unable to fire. On Mariphasa IV, Sisko, Hranok, Aidan Thorn and Miriam Laffer were captured by the Cardassians and were about to be tortured to reveal their mission there. They were saved by Doctor Laffer's arguments with the Cardassian in charge, which bought time for Thorn to disarm one of the Cardassians and make their escape. On a mission to Thetalian Prime, Sisko, Hranok, Graal and Laffer were affected by alien organisms until Dr. Laffer was able to find a cure. Some of the organisms, which produced corlandium, remained in their systems. By 2367, Sisko was a Lieutenant Commander and the ships first officer of the USS Saratoga, when that ship was lost fighting the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359. Jennifer Sisko was killed in that battle. Sisko spent the next three years assigned to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars. During this time, Curzon Dax had died, and the Dax symbiont, with all of Curzon's memories, was transferred to a young female Starfleet lieutenant, Jadzia Idaris. In the year 2369, Sisko, now a full Commander, received new orders from Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise, placing him in command of Starbase Deep Space 9, a Cardassian-designed space station formerly known as Terok Nor, in orbit of the recently liberated planet Bajor. 
==== The Emissary of the Prophets ====
Shortly after arriving in Bajoran space, Sisko met with Bajoran Kai Opaka Sulan, who told him the he was the Emissary of the Prophets, foretold in Bajoran scripture, destined to find the Celestial Temple of the Prophets, home of the Bajoran gods. Sisko was skeptical, but soon after an encounter with the Orb of Prophecy and Change, he and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax discovered the Bajoran wormhole, an artificially created passageway to the distant Gamma Quadrant created by the beings that the Bajorans consider to be gods. Sisko requested a Bajoran national for the position of first officer, and the post was given to former Bajoran freedom fighter Kira Nerys, who was staunchly against the Federations presence on Bajor, believing the Federation to be little different from her former Cardassian oppressors. It wasn't until Kira discovered that Sisko was supposedly the Emissary of the Prophets, that she gave the Federation a chance. The Orb of Time-or in this case a similar one-transported Benjamin Sisko in 2369 back to his own past in 2366. In order to defeat a Bajoran/Cardassian insurgency in the present, he had to re-visit the USS Saratoga. Obtaining vital engineering materials from his doomed, former starship was the key to repairing sabotage throughout Deep Space 9. In late 2370, Sisko discovered the existence of the Dominion, a dictatorial power based in the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko led a mission into the Gamma Quadrant commanding the USS Defiant in search of the Dominions leaders, the Founders. The Founders turned out to be of the same race as DS9's shape-shifting Chief of security, Odo. His first contact with their Vorta facilitators left him with the notion he has no idea of what's begun. In 2371, the mirror universe counterpart of Miles O'Brien kidnapped Sisko to his own universe. There, Sisko posed as his own mirror counterpart, in an attempt to convince the mirror version of his wife, Jennifer Sisko, to join the Terran Rebellion. Sisko's experience from the regular universe proved invaluable in this mission, and Jennifer joined the Rebellion. Although Sisko and O'Brien were careful not to disclose Sisko's true identity, the truth later became common knowledge to the members of the Rebellion. 
==== The Maquis ====
Having just been promoted to Captain, Ben Sisko endured battles with his loyalties on all fronts for the next two years. He risked his personal and professional health to investigate both Starfleet and private, Federation citizens, as well as Bajorans and an underground host of other races seeking to weaken the Cardassian Union. These trials upon his conscience prepared him for even more difficult choices, as Sisko was pushed to the brink of his own morals, questioning his own integrity under fire.
==== The Dominion War ====
In 2374, Sisko was responsible for bringing the forces of the Romulan Empire into the war against the Dominion. Although Sisko violated several Starfleet regulations in this endeavor, the Admiralty was reluctant to punish Sisko, fearing reprisals from the Romulans.
In late 2373, when war broke out with the Dominion (and their new Cardassian allies), Sisko and Starfleet were forced to temporarily abandon the Bajoran sector. Shortly after receiving word of the near destruction of the Seventh Fleet, Sisko begins to hatch a long-term plan with General Martok that would eventually lead to the operation that retook DS9. Sisko led the combined fleet that retook DS9 and the Bajoran sector, but it was only the intervention of the Prophets, acting at the behest of their Emissary, that truly defeated the Dominion. He was then given the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor for his actions. 
When the Dominion War ended in late 2375, Sisko led the charge into Cardassian space for the final battle. Shortly thereafter, the peace treaty was signed on DS9. Sisko averted an assassination attempt on the female Changeling, who commanded the Dominion war effort in the Alpha Quadrant.
Shortly thereafter, Sisko ascended to the plane of the Prophets, but not before promising his pregnant second wife, Kasidy Yates, that he would return. 
==== The Prophets ====
While with the Prophets, Sisko was able to free both versions of the scientist Lazarus from their confinement in a magnetic corridor that spanned both the positive and antimatter universes. No longer locked in eternal struggle with each other, each Lazarus was deposited, by Sisko, onto their respective universes' versions of Bajor.
In the linear timeline, while still residing with the Prophets, in April of 2376, Sisko appeared to Kira Nerys in a dream and to Elias Vaughn in an orb experience. Later Sisko encountered Elias Vaughn, who was having another orb experience courtesy of the Orb of Unity. Sisko and Vaughn helped each other return to linear existence in time to save Bajor from the threat of the alien Parasites infecting Bajor.
The first lesson Sisko had to teach the Prophets involved the nature of linear existence. He told them a tale of an alternate future that was erased by the actions of his crew, negating the events as if they never happened, and yet the crew still remembered the events. 
==== Return from the Celestial Temple ====
Sisko returned just in time for the birth of his daughter, Rebecca Jae Sisko, called the Avatar of Peace in the ancient writings of the Bajoran heretic Ohalu. After his return, Sisko turned down a promotion to Admiral, and enjoyed an extended leave of absence from Starfleet. Sisko later spent time with his wife and daughter in his home on Bajor preparing for the return to Bajoran space of the mysterious Ascendants. Sisko returned to DS9 in early 2377, following the brutal attack on Captain Kira by the Jem'Hadar observer, Taran'atar. He stayed with Kira, and upon her emergence from a coma broke the news that Bashir had been forced to replace her heart. Sisko, an avid baseball fan, attended opening day for the Pike City Pioneers of the Cestus Baseball League on Cestus III in 2378. There, he met then-governor, future Federation President, Nanietta Bacco. In 2379, Sisko briefly worked at the excavation site at B'hala. 
==== Return to Starfleet ====
When the Borg returned in 2381 and launched their Invasion, Sisko accepted Starfleet's request for him to return to active service as Captain of the USS New York in defense of Alonis. Sisko was placed in command of a small battle group (also containing the USS Cutlass and the USS James T. Kirk) which engaged a fleet of six Borg cubes in orbit of the planet. During the engagement the Borg fleet was reduced to two ships, but at heavy cost. The Cutlass was destroyed, both the James T. Kirkand the New York were severely damaged, and the Borg were able to launch an attack against Alonis that resulted in over 11,000 deaths. The devastation had a tremendous effect upon Sisko, chief among them the losses on Alonis and the injuries to his friend Elias Vaughn.
Sisko decided to terminate his position with Starfleet once more even after being offered a promotion to Rear Admiral by his old friend George Walter. Shortly after informing Prynn Tenmei of her father's status, Sisko received a message from Jake informing him that his father had taken a turn for the worse. Sisko booked passage to Earth and was pleased to hear that his father's condition had improved before his return home; however, this would not last. Ben's father passed away hours before Sisko reached Earth. This led Sisko to believe that the Prophets had been right and Ben decided to put as much distance between those he cared about and himself as he could. Sisko met with Fleet Admiral Leonard James Akaar and arranged for his commission to be reactivated. He was then assigned to the USS Robinson as her commander. Benjamin and Kassidy would decide to separate following this and Sisko would spend his last two weeks before formally accepting command of the Robinson on Bajor attempting to contact the Prophets via the Orb of Prophecy and Change; his only attempt met with failure. Sisko met with Vedek Kira Nerys for a final time shortly afterward to congratulate her on her appointment and to discuss with her his situation. He informed her that he was no longer Emissary of the Prophets and that they had abandoned him. Kira attempted to reassure him, but failed leading Sisko down a path of isolation.
Captain Sisko was cold toward the crew of the Robinson and kept himself isolated from the ship's company including his new executive officer Rogeiro (Captain Vaughn's XO on the James T. Kirk). He focused entirely on his work as Captain of the Robinson and ignored any attempt to get to know him on a personal level. This led Commander Rogeiro to challenge his Captain's decision, which resonated with Sisko. He began to open up, slightly, toward his crew; however, he would remain aloof - including nearly attacking a young Bajoran officer who had called him Emissary.
The years following Benjamin's return from the Prophets were difficult for the Emissary of the Prophets. Ever since his return from the Temple, Sisko felt as if the Prophets had abandoned him as his tasks had met their completion. This placed a great strain upon both Benjamin and Kasidy, which was compounded when close friends of the Sisko family were put into harms way. Their neighbors were killed in a fire and his daughter Rebecca was kidnapped (but recovered).
Approximately one year after accepting his posting to the Robinson, Sisko formally filed to divorce his wife. After sending the petition to the Bajoran Courts, Sisko contacted Kassidy a final time to explain his reasons to both her and Rebecca. He informed her that he was still in love with her and that, in the end, he terminated their marriage so that she could be in peace and protected. However, Kasidy Yates did not sign the papers, so the divorce was never finalised. At that time he also decided that it was time to get to know his crew better, starting with Commander Rogeiro. 
Emissary, Sisko reconciled with Yates and she and Rebecca joined him aboard the Robinson.
In 2385, Sisko brought the Robinson to Deep Space 9 (II) in preparation to attend the dedication ceremony for the new station and had also set up a meeting between President Bacco and Odo, regarding the find of a possible Changeling. Later, Sisko was a witness to the assassination of Bacco. Sisko, like most of the senior staff of DS9, had been on the stages within minutes of Bacco's assassination to assess her condition. Upon determining there wasn't much they could do to help, he worked to secure Kasidy and all the other civilians until the station could be declared all clear. Upon her death in the Hospital, Julian Bashir had informed Captain Ro Laren and Sisko first, as they were the highest ranking aboard the station. When it was determined the sole assassin had been captured, Ro allowed Sisko to leave the station despite the lockdown and communications blackout in order to contact Admiral Akaar. He did so from the Robinson and returned to the station to assist in the efforts of piecing together what happened.
By this time, Sisko and his wife Kasidy had since put the issues of the past years behind them and had an improved relationship.
Sisko had also received new orders of an upcoming exploration assignment into the Gamma Quadrant, but this time in the form of a multi-year mission.
==== Hobbies and interests ====
Sisko was a skilled wrestler. He and Jadzia Dax often wrestled on the weekend and he invariably won, taking most of Dax's Tongo winnings in the process. 
==== Alternate timelines ====
In an alternate timeline created in 2371 by a time-shifting Karg temporal disruptor, Sisko had resigned from Starfleet in 2367, after the Battle of Wolf 359, in order to become a university professor on Earth. By 2371 in that timeline, Jake berated Sisko for leaving behind the potential of his former life in Starfleet service.
As the temporal distortions became more severe, Sisko found himself on Earth on October 27, 1995, listening to a televised announcement from victorious dictator Khan Noonien Singh regarding his plans for the future of the Human race's DNA.
During an orb experience in 2377, Sisko encountered seven alternate versions of himself, all of whom had become Emissary in their respective realities:
* Ambassador Sisko of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, who lost his wife Jennifer on during a Kohn-Ma attack on Cardassia Prime while negotiating the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor.
* Fleet Captain Sisko of a Terran Empire which never fell, who served as military governor of Bajor.
* Dr. Sisko of the Daystrom Institute, who discovered the wormhole following the death of his sister.
* Colonel Sisko of the Celestial Union, who discovered the wormhole during a war with the Tholians.
* Admiral Sisko, the hero of the Battle of Wolf 359.
* Sisko of the Borg, who became Emissary after the assimilation of Earth.
* Benjamin Sisko, whose son died aboard the Saratoga rather than his wife.
In this vision, it was explained to Sisko that his mirror universe alternate was also destined to become Emissary, and that he needed to help make that reality.
* Lord-Commander Sisko of the Earthfleet station D9. In this reality, Khan Noonien Singh won the Eugenics Wars and, as a result, Sisko was an Augment.
: It is unclear whether or not Sisko is the Emissary in this universe, but based on what has been revealed about Siskos from other universes, it is likely. See Benjamin Sisko (alternates). 
==== Alternate realities ====
: However, Sisko was saved by the Prophets and existed within the Prophets' Celestial Temple. In 2394, Sisko contacted his son via visions from the Prophets and pleaded with Jake to bring about the Reckoning. Following the conclusion of the Reckoning Sisko met Jake, Jake's wife and son upon their arrival in the Celestial Temple and welcomed them to the rebirth of Bajor. In an alternate universe, Sisko was killed when the Defiant was destroyed in the wormhole trying to prevent Dominion reinforcements from reaching the Alpha Quadrant during Operation Return.