William Ross
William J. Ross was a Human male who served as a Starfleet flag officer in the mid- to late-24th century. As an admiral, Ross took command of military operations during the Dominion War and led the Allied forces during the Battle of Cardassia, later presiding over the signing of the Treaty of Bajor, which ended the war.

Starfleet career

2374
In 2374, Ross was a leading flag officer responsible for the Dominion War and coordinated his battle plans from Starbase 375. When Captain Benjamin Sisko and his crew arrived at the starbase, Ross appointed him the lead in a mission to destroy a Dominion ketracel-white facility using a Jem'Hadar attack ship they had captured a year prior. ()

Later that year, following the success of the mission, Admiral Ross asked Sisko and his crew to report to the conference room for a full debriefing. ()

On Sisko's advice, Ross later approved a plan in which the  would attack the Dominion's new sensor array in the Argolis Cluster. Around the same time, Ross' adjutant Captain  was promoted to command the Seventh Tactical Wing. Since Ross had been impressed with Sisko's performance in the preceding weeks and believed they would make a good team, he made Sisko his new adjutant, effective immediately. Ross then ordered Sisko to review some tactical reports and present an opinion on the Bolian operation at 0600 the next morning. Meanwhile, Lieutenant commander Jadzia Dax took command of the Defiant and ultimately concluded the mission in the Argolis Cluster successfully; Ross and Sisko then recommended Dax and the entire crew to be cited for exceptional performance of their duties.  ()

Shortly thereafter, Ross was present during the briefing for Operation Return, Sisko's plan to retake Deep Space 9 from the Dominion. Ross supported the plan and allayed the concerns of Admiral Cobum that Earth would be left unprotected. Once everything was in place, Ross gave the go-ahead to Captain Sisko, wishing him good luck in the assault. ()

Towards the end of the year, Ross presented Sisko with the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor for his actions in retaking Deep Space 9 and forcing the Dominion into temporary retreat. Following the award ceremony, Ross had scheduled a briefing to discuss a new plan to strike the Dominion behind the lines. General Martok and Sisko observed the plan would need the help of Romulan forces, who until then, had also been on the defensive, protecting their territory. Martok, optimistic of their chances, believed that in just a year's time, all three of them would be drinking blood wine in the halls of the Cardassian Central Command, following their victory over the Dominion. During a meeting with Romulan Senator Letant, Ross attempted to convince him to join the fight, explaining the Dominion would continue to send ships at them one after another. Letant was ultimately swayed and committed his forces to the assault. Ross later ordered Sisko to take the lead in the operation, which was to become known as the First Battle of Chin'toka. ()

2375
In early 2375, Ross again visited Deep Space 9 to inform Colonel Kira Nerys, who was temporarily in command, that Romulan Senator Kimara Cretak and her delegation would be establishing a presence on the station for the duration of the war. ()

After it was discovered that the Romulans had established plasma torpedo launchers on the Bajoran moon Derna, Ross at first refused to get involved, as he felt it could destroy the alliance they had established. However, when Colonel Kira set up a blockade of the moon in protest, he realized her resolve and told Senator Cretak that if she didn't remove the weapons, he would. ()

Later that year, Admiral Ross aided the covert Federation organization Section 31 by helping their agents infiltrate a conference on Romulus, in order to place an operative named Koval at the highest levels of the Romulan government. Doctor Julian Bashir, who had also attended the conference, was deceived by Ross, as part of a plot to deliver Senator Kimara Cretak into the hands of the Tal Shiar in exchange for Koval's loyalty to the Federation-Romulan alliance. Cretak had been in consideration for a seat on the Romulan Continuing Committee, just like Koval; but when she was arrested by the Tal Shiar based on a scheme perpetrated by Section 31 and Ross, the seat fell to Koval, whose support for the alliance was believed to be even more convincing due to his previously uttered anti-alliance views.

When he found out, Bashir was furious and confronted Ross. Only agreeing to openly discuss the matter if the conversation was off-record, Ross defended his actions of setting up an innocent woman by stating that he had no choice. He saw Cretak as a patriot who would not have had any remorse delivering the Federation into the hands of the Dominion and striking a separate deal with them if it served the Romulan Empire. He admitted he disliked doing what he did. However, he also disliked ordering young women and men to die and felt this was the best way to maintain the alliance. In justifying his actions, Ross quoted Cicero's famous line "Inter arma enim silent leges", translated by Bashir as "In time of war, the law falls silent." ()

In late 2375, Admiral Ross met with Benjamin Sisko and ordered him to take the USS Defiant to the Chin'toka system, where Breen forces had broken through the lines in two places. During the engagement, which became known as the Second Battle of Chin'toka, the Defiant was destroyed and the system was lost to Dominion forces. ()

Admiral Ross later returned to Deep Space 9 to discuss the Breen energy-dampening weapon and Legate Damar's newly formed anti-Dominion resistance. ()

Following this, Ross met with Sisko, Martok, and Romulan General Velal to discuss the Dominion's retreat into Cardassian space. During discussions, Ross agreed with both Sisko and Martok in that to leave Dominion forces to rebuild would be a mistake, and that a major offensive against Cardassia Prime should be launched. ()

Ross personally participated in the assault, taking command of the Starfleet element aboard a Federation starship. During the battle, he maintained a constant communications link with Sisko and Martok, later ordering Sisko to help the Romulans, who had been hit badly, while he and Martok hit the center of Dominion lines.

When the Cardassian forces switched sides against the Dominion, Ross initially suggested they keep the Dominion bottled up at Cardassia Prime. After objections from both Martok and Sisko, he later changed his mind and ordered all forces to press on in a three-pronged attack, eventually defeating Dominion forces and taking Cardassia Prime.

On returning to Deep Space 9, Ross participated in the signing of a peace treaty to end the Dominion War, giving a speech that echoed that of Douglas MacArthur during Earth's World War II. ()

Personal relationships

Benjamin Sisko

Ross' relationship with Sisko was initially one of a professional nature. Their early meetings on Starbase 375 consisted of tactical reports and mission planning with no room for personal conversation. When Ross appointed Sisko his adjutant, he did, however, note that he was very impressed with Sisko's performance on the Defiant and felt they would make a good team. Sisko expressed some desire to remain with his ship, especially on the eve of the Argolis mission, and did not return Ross' expression of congratulations on his new position.

During the mission itself, Sisko could not sleep, but instead waited up for news of the Defiants progress. Admiral Ross attempted to remind him he was now responsible for an entire tactical wing with thousands of lives at stake and that he had to get used to the Defiant being away on missions. When the crew returned after completing their mission, Sisko relaxed slightly, and both he and Ross shared a drink in the ship's mess hall. ()

As time went on, Ross and Sisko began to discuss matters of a personal nature. Prior to the launch of Operation Return, Ross paid a visit to Sisko to wish him good luck on the mission. As Sisko was reading a book on Bajoran texts, the conversation quickly changed to Bajor, with the captain recommending he visit the planet sometime. Ross joked that he "was already planning [his] next R&R there." ()

Upon awarding Sisko the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor, Ross noted his remarkable leadership and meritorious service in the fight against the Dominion and his bravery in taking back Deep Space 9.  ()

Despite his respect for Sisko, the captain's role as Emissary of the Prophets did cause friction between the two. This came to a head when Ross ordered him, "to stop meddling in Bajoran affairs and return the damned tablet," referring to Sisko's acquisition of the Reckoning Tablet from Bajor and after an official protest from Kai Winn Adami. ()

The two also clashed after Sisko received a vision from the Prophets which told him not to go on the mission to Chin'toka. Sisko asked Ross to let him stay on Deep Space 9 but, unsatisfied by Sisko's reasoning, Ross warned him, "You've got to make a decision. You are either the Emissary or a Starfleet captain. You can't be both." Sisko ultimately decided to go on the mission as planned. ()

After Sisko took leave to return to Earth in 2375, Admiral Ross had his doubts about whether he would return. However, when Sisko did indeed return to the station, his relationship with Admiral Ross began to improve, so much that he invited Ross to preside over his wedding to Kasidy Yates. ()

This relationship improved as the year went on. Following the destruction of the Defiant at the Second Battle of Chin'toka, Ross promised Sisko he would find him a new ship, though it might take some time. He later kept this promise when he presented the captain with the  on stardate 52861.3, just in time for the assault on Cardassia Prime. Ross even arranged for the ship to be renamed the USS Defiant, in honor of Sisko's former ship. ()

Martok
As commanders of their respective fleets, Ross and Martok spent most of their time together discussing the war effort. ()

In late 2375, Ross was invited to participate in Martok's induction into the Order of Kahless, though appeared noticeably uncomfortable during the ceremony, especially when he learned he was to cut the palm of his hand using a Klingon d'k tahg. Even though this was a learning experience for Ross, he still took to it in honor of Martok's service and partook in some blood wine to celebrate. ()

Following the Battle of Cardassia, Martok opened a bottle of blood wine with both Ross and Sisko, having promised to do so upon their victory over the Dominion. However, Ross and Sisko declined to drink over the dead bodies of their enemies, much to Martok's displeasure. ()

Kira Nerys
 
As a Starfleet admiral and Sisko's superior, Ross did not come into contact with Kira Nerys until early 2375, following Sisko's decision to take leave on Earth. With Kira in command of Deep Space 9, Ross informed her Romulan senator Cretak and her delegation would be establishing a presence on the station for the duration of the war. Though Kira voiced her objections to the admiral, Ross firmly rejected them, telling her the decision had already been made and that she didn't have a say in it. Though the two of them clashed on the issue, Ross did compliment Kira on her command of the station in Sisko's absence, hinting that he didn't believe the captain would return. ()

Their relationship became further strained following the placement of Romulan plasma weapons on the Bajoran moon of Derna. Though Ross sympathized with Kira's stance that the Romulans had no right putting weapons on a Bajoran moon, he declined to assist her in removing them, for fear it would jeopardize the alliance. Kira took this to mean the Bajorans weren't as important to the war effort as the Romulans, and decided to take matters into her own hands by blockading the moon, thereby preventing any Romulan ships from reaching it. With the blockade in place, Ross attempted to convince Kira to stop what she was doing, to no avail. Realizing the colonel's resolve led Ross to his decision to instruct Cretak to remove the weapons "or he would." Following the incident, Ross jokingly instructed Kira to remind him never to play poker with her. ()

Ross was later present and approved of the plan to give Colonel Kira a Starfleet commission in order to assist Damar's resistance movement. ()

Personal life
Due to an embargo on Romulan ale, making it illegal in the Federation, Ross had never sampled it until the embargo was lifted in 2375. He admitted that he was probably one of few Starfleet officers who hadn't ignored the law in this case. Upon drinking his first glass of ale aboard the , Ross was a bit overwhelmed by its strength and started coughing. ()

Memorable quotes
"I'm glad to see you made it back in one piece, Ben."
"I was lucky. We lost a lot of good people." "Yes, we did. And we're going to lose a lot more before this is over. I hope you'll find this office satisfactory." 
"Office? I wasn't aware I'd be needing an office. I thought I was here for an assignment briefing."
"I'm afraid you're going to be here longer than you think, Captain. As of right now, you're no longer in command of the Defiant."
-William Ross and Benjamin Sisko ()

"The Prophets don't see me as a Starfleet captain. They see me as their Emissary."
"That's the problem, isn't it? For the past six years you've tried to be both, and up to now I've been patient. I've indulged you, I've gone out on a limb for you many times, but this is it. You've got to make a decision. You are either the Emissary or a Starfleet captain. You can't be both."
- Benjamin Sisko and William Ross ()

"Let's get one thing straight, colonel. I came here as a courtesy to you. This decision has already been made."
- William Ross, of the Romulan presence on Deep Space 9 ()

"Remind me never to play poker with you."
- William Ross, following Colonel Kira's blockade of Derna ()

"I don't like it. But I've spent the last year and a half of my life ordering young men and young women to die. I like that even less."
"That's a glib answer and a cheap way to avoid the fact that you've trampled on the very thing that those men and women are out there dying to protect! Does that not mean anything to you?"
"Inter arma enim silent leges."
- William Ross and Julian Bashir ()

"Four hundred years ago, a victorious general spoke the following words at the end of another costly war. 'Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph. From both we have learned there can be no going back. We must move forward to preserve in peace what we've won in war."
- William Ross, quoting Douglas MacArthur at the signing of the Treaty of Bajor ()

Appendices

Appearances 
 
  (DS9 Season 6)
 
 
 
  (DS9 Season 7)

Background information 
William Ross was played by the late actor Barry Jenner.

The script for "A Time to Stand" described Ross thus; "Despite being a man no older than Sisko, [he] shows signs of the burden of office." As Sisko was born in 2332, this would put Ross around age forty-two at the time of the episode. 

Barry Jenner felt he won the part of Admiral Ross by doing basically what he thought any actor should do; rather than portraying the role as one-dimensional and instead of simply delivering the lines written for him in a technically proficient manner, Jenner thoroughly prepared for his audition and invested more work into imagining the role than he needed to, giving Admiral Ross a backstory. "He was obviously a line officer who'd seen a lot of combat, seen a lot of people killed, and he's got a lot of memories," Jenner pointed out. "And that really tied into the way I did the audition scene, where he was talking to Sisko about sending young men and women off to battle, knowing that some of them wouldn't come back." ()

Although Barry Jenner originally meant to play Admiral Ross only in "A Time to Stand", the probability of the character's return was first hinted to Jenner by Sisko actor Avery Brooks, when the two performers met each other for the first time. "He said, 'So you're going to be Admiral Ross," Jenner recollected. "And I said, 'No, I'm only here for today.' And he said, 'No, you're going to be around a lot. You'll be back, you'll be back." ()

The producers were so impressed by Barry Jenner's portrayal of Ross that they quickly wanted to get the admiral into the show as a recurring character. () Ira Behr recalled, "After 'A Time to Stand', we said, 'Hey, this guy's okay. We should give him another shot.' And then after we did one or two more with him, it suddenly dawned on us that Barry was a solid actor." () Hence, Behr jokingly told Jenner, "We've had other admirals on this show. We're glad we've found you. Sorry it took five years!" () When interviewed, Behr enthused, "Barry Jenner has made Admiral Ross such a well-rounded character." () As Admiral Ross, Jenner indeed "bucked the trend" – at least in the viewpoints of the DS9 writer-producers – of Star Trek admirals seeming untrustworthy, antagonistic, gruff, bland, or unconvincing. Hans Beimler reminisced, "When we found Barry, we knew we had found someone that we could develop and use on the show. He gave us the right attitude – that admiral attitude – that was really intelligent. He seemed like someone who could be Sisko's boss, although not his superior, obviously, because the show is about Sisko." René Echevarria said in agreement, "[Jenner] seemed like a good foil. Light and droll and all the things we wanted an admiral to be." Behr concurred, "He brings a gravitas to the role, and yet you can see there's a man behind the uniform. I think that Barry Jenner is one of the unsung heroes of the show, one of the pieces of the puzzle that might not be readily apparent to the audience. But he's part of the glue that makes our job easier." ()

The producers' interest in and approval of Admiral Ross greatly flattered Barry Jenner. He was particularly appreciative of the fact that his portrayal of Ross influenced how the DS9 writers wrote the character, Jenner saying that their usage of aspects he had introduced into the role made him "feel good as an actor." ()

Admiral Ross was given the first name "Cliff" in one of several wall-mounted diplomas created, during DS9 Season 6, as set dressing for his office on Starbase 375, although these documents weren't intended to be shown in detail on camera. ()

In "Image in the Sand", Odo refers to Ross as "Bill". This was originally put in as a joke by writers Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, who weren't thinking of the diplomas when they gave Ross a new given name. As Behr explained, however, it quickly became popular; "At the time Hans and I wrote the line, we weren't even sure if that was the admiral's name, because Odo was making a joke. But it caught on, and after that, every goddam writer had to put the name in his script. You know: 'Oh, there's Bill Ross.' 'Let's get Bill Ross to perform the ceremony.' So he's no longer 'Admiral Ross,' he's Bill." ()

Perhaps Ross' most notable episode is "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", in which his character goes through an important change. Looking back on the episode, Jenner recalled, "He'd do anything to save the Federation. And here he put so much value on the success of the war efforts that he's willing to do things that might not be thought of as honest and aboveboard. He was willing to bend some rules behind the scenes and go through some soul-searching to defend the integrity of the Federation." Behr observed that Ross was, in many ways, like Sisko; "Ross is a compromised guy, just like Sisko," he commented. "But it's not like he's a double agent. If he were, we'd have never allowed him to marry Sisko and Kasidy." ()

Speaking of the wedding itself in "'Til Death Do Us Part", writer Bradley Thompson revealed Ross' words were based on the marriage ceremony of Miles and Keiko O'Brien in ; "Ron [D. Moore] had written the speech that Captain Picard delivers when he married O'Brien and Keiko [...] and he based that on a speech Kirk gives at the wedding in the original series. David [Weddle] and I looked at both of those episodes, and then modified it a little. We took the tradition and improvised on it, because the words don't actually come out of a book. You can say whatever you want. So they're similar but not identical to what Kirk and Picard say." ()

Over the course of the series, actor Barry Jenner put together his own personal backstory for the character. "He has two children", Jenner explained, "a boy and a girl, both serving in Starfleet. The young man was lost in battle, but his daughter is still alive, and I think that one of he reasons Ross likes Benjamin Sisko is because he would trust for his daughter to serve under the captain." ()

In , a news article mentioned Jenner had been asked to reprise the role of Ross in . This reappearance of the character never transpired, though.

Apocrypha 
William Ross has become a popular character in numerous non-canon works.

The   reveals he and his parents took a publicly-offered tour of the Palais de la Concorde when he was just seven years of age, during the 2320s. During the tour, he enters the Presidential Office and meets several prominent Federation Councilors.

In the SCE eBook Home Fires, Ross is a Lieutenant Commander working with Starfleet Intelligence in the 2350s. In 2355 he recruits the services of civilian captains Giancarlo and Aldo Corsi of the freighter Ulrika's Hope to conduct some discreet scans of the Topin system in hopes of gaining intelligence on the workings within the Cardassian Union. Despite Ross's assurances, the scans are detected and the Ulrika's Hope is intercepted by a Cardassian vessel commanded by Gul Mogad, who kills Giancarlo Corsi. Ross and his team manage to save most of the Hopes crew, but the grieving Aldo gives Mogad the intelligence gathered in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.

Following this, in The Future Begins, Ross appears as Second Officer on the USS Leonov, during the conflict with the Tzenkethi. During one battle against two Tzenkethi vessels, the Leonovs warp core is breached, and the crew barely have time to make it to escape pods. The Tzenkethi kill half of the surviving crew by shooting down the pods. Those who survive, including Ross, find refuge on an L-class planet. A few months later, Ross learns that the ship's coordinates had been given to the Tzenkethi by a member of a rogue intelligence network from within the Federation. Ross tracks down the agent to a remote moon in the Arias sector, where he explains the Leonov had been about to receive orders to destroy a presumed Tzenkethi industrial complex that had been based on bad intelligence. Section 31 thought that the loss of innocent life would aggravate matters with the Tzenkethi, and took steps to keep the Leonov from carrying out its mission. Ross makes the difficult decision not to report the man to Starfleet Command. This is the first time Ross comes into contact with Section 31 during his career. The book also gives Ross's middle name as "Johannes".

The video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen reveals that Ross served as first officer on the  during a mission to locate the orb of the Pah-wraiths in 2361. During their search, the ship was attacked by a  warship and Ross was taken captive by the Cardassians. Furthermore, his character makes several non-speaking appearances on the station's promenade in-between missions.

In the The Sky's the Limit short story "Turncoats",  Admiral Ross travels to Draken IV after Vice-Proconsul M'ret and his aides N'veran and Revaik defect to the Federation aboard the  in 2369. Ross expresses his desire to oversee their debriefing but the Vulcans request they be brought to  instead. After the Enterprise is damaged by a Romulan weapon and Starfleet is unable to contact her, Ross sends the USS Nolan to investigate.

The Slings and Arrows eBook The Oppressor's Wrong reveals that Ross was given his assignment on Starbase 375 following the death of Admiral Eric Hahn and the arrest of Captain Ishmael Snowden for his role in a conspiracy against the Federation government.

In the Pocket DS9 novel Hollow Men, set in 2374, Ross is among the guests at a multi-species conference on Earth, which brings together Humans, Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians.

According to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine relaunch novels Avatar, Book One and Avatar, Book Two, Ross is kept busy in the months following the war, overseeing the response to an attack by rogue Jem'Hadar soldiers on starbase Deep Space 9. The books also state his flagship is the  USS Cerberus. He is also kept busy coordinating fleet actions in the Gateway Crisis, as featured in the Star Trek: Gateways novel series.

In the SCE eBook  Ross heads an inquiry into the near-destruction of the USS da Vinci at Galvan VI, later finding Captain David Gold not at fault for the incident. This takes place in the year 2376.

In the Pocket DS9 novel Abyss, also set in 2376, Ross has access to the Pathfinder Project database and asks the crew of Deep Space 9 for their opinions on the data gathered by the crew of the  during their time in the Delta Quadrant.

In the Star Trek: Titan novel Taking Wing, set in late-2379, Ross orders the  to Romulus in response to Praetor Tal'aura's request for relief and humanitarian aid to the stricken Romulan Star Empire, following Shinzon's assassination of the Imperial Senate.

With regards to Ross's personal life, the  of "Sacrifice of Angels" reveals Ross had a son who also served in Starfleet, while  of "What You Leave Behind" states he was a friend of Morn.

William Ross also appears as a selectable commanding officer in the video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars, in which he is voiced by his Deep Space Nine actor Barry Jenner. He also has a card in the Star Trek Customizable Card Game.

Ross also appears in the Star Trek: A Time to... novel series, during which, in 2379, he discovers that Federation President Min Zife is responsible for supplying the Tezwan madman Kinchawn with the weapons that were responsible for the deaths of 6000 Klingon warriors. Ross and several other Starfleet admirals resolve to remove Zife from office, with Ross insisting that the President needs to be held accountable for his crimes, even if the public never knew. Ross is later contacted by Section 31, who write Zife's resignation speech and have the President and two of his top advisers quietly executed for their crimes. Following Zife's resignation, Ross is considered as a likely candidate for the office but declines to run, instead becoming an advisor to Nanietta Bacco's campaign.

This story is followed up in Articles of the Federation, in which Ross is forced to retire from Starfleet when President Bacco discovers his involvement in Min Zife's death. Because of his respected position and historic accomplishments throughout his career, President Bacco allows Ross to disappear into obscurity rather than face public punishment. The novel gives his retirement year as 2380.

In the novel Available Light, following the disclosure of the existence of Section 31 to the public at large, Admiral Ross is arrested by the Federation Security Agency on Caldos for his role in the removal and susbsequent assassination of President Min Zife. Along with Ross, Admirals Edward Jellico, Alynna Nechayev, and Nakamura are also arrested for participating in the coup. While in holding at the FSA detention facility in San Francisco, Ross and his defense attorney are murdered during an interrogation by a grieving FSA agent, whose husband was killed in a staged shuttle crash near Bajor which was orchestrated by Section 31. Following Ross' death, an in-depth investigation would find that Ross had been one of the main organic leaders of the rogue agency.

External links

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