Sisko: Eddington compares me to one of the characters, Inspector Javert. A policeman who relentlessly pursues a man named Valjean, guilty of a trivial offence, and in the end Javert's own inflexibility destroys him. He commits suicide.
Sisko: He did that eight months ago. What strikes me about this book is that Eddington said that it's one of his favorites.
SISKO: Let's think about it. A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, and now he's a leader of the Maquis, a resistance group fighting the noble battle against the "evil Cardassians".
Sisko: Exactly. And you know what? Les Miserables isn't about the policeman. It's about Valjean, the victim of a monstrous injustice who spends his entire life helping people, making noble sacrifices for others. That's how Eddington sees himself. He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, he's a romantic, dashing figure, fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds.
Sisko: Eddington is the hero of his own story. That makes me the villain. And what is it that every hero wants to do?
SISKO: That's part of it. Heroes only kill when they have to. Eddington could have killed me back in the refugee camp or when he disabled the Defiant, but in the best melodramas the villain creates a situation where the hero is forced to sacrifice himself for the people, for the cause. One final grand gesture.
SISKO: I think it's time for me to become the villain. [Bridge] SISKO: Commander, prepare two quantum torpedoes. Have engineering attach a cargo pod with two hundred kilograms of trilithium to each torpedo.
WORF: The extra mass of the cargo pods will make the torpedo less effective. Maquis Raiders are small and manoeuvrable.
^Continued Sisko: Major, I want you to send the following message on all Maquis frequencies. "To all the members of the Maquis resistance. This is Captain Sisko of the U.S.S. Defiant In response to the Maquis's use of biogenic weapons in their recent attacks, I am about to take the following action: in exactly one hour, I will detonate two Quantum Torpedoes that will scatter Trilithium Resin into the atmosphere of Solosos 3. I thereby will make the planet uninhabitable to all human life... for the next fifty years. I suggest evacuation plans begin immediately." What are you waiting for people, you have your orders. Worf: Set Torpedo target to 50 Kilometres above ground level. Lock. Ready, Captain.