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Memory Alpha

The Breen attack on Earth was a surprise attack against Earth launched by the forces of the Breen Confederacy in late 2375. Although most of the attacking Breen warships were destroyed by Starfleet defenses, the raid caused massive damage to its intended target of Starfleet Headquarters, and the greater city of San Francisco including the Golden Gate Bridge.

The attack was a major blow to Federation morale and an equally major boost to the power of the Dominion. This bold military strike marked the Breen's entry into the Dominion War. Klingon General Martok remarked on the daring of the act, saying "even my people never attempted that." (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil")

Several days later, Chief Miles O'Brien cited the attack as being responsible for Commander Hilliard's odd behavior towards Doctor Julian Bashir. (DS9: "When It Rains...")The damage caused by this attack was repaired by 2376. (VOY: "Pathfinder")

Background

This attack may be the first successful one to occur in nearly two centuries at that point. Dialogue in "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" suggests that the last such occasion was during either the Xindi incident or the Earth-Romulan War.

The damage caused by the Breen attack was limited in comparison to the massive planetary damage depicted in previous examples of orbital bombardment, such as in "The Die is Cast". This suggests that perhaps Starfleet was able to stop the larger Breen warships from reaching Earth, or perhaps the attack force was solely composed of fighters or other small craft.

The non-canon short story "Eleven Hours Out" from the anthology Tales of the Dominion War tells of major involvement of Jean-Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise-E in stopping the raiding Breen ships. It also states that an orbital defense platform was taken over by an agent of the Dominion and used to destroy any incoming vessels. The non-canon Dominion War supplement for the Last Unicorn game goes further in-depth on the attack, stating that Beijing, Paris, and New York City were also attacked by Breen fighters, and a total of 22 million people were killed. Star Trek Online, however, claims that the attack only claimed 2,147 people.

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