Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Sisko Speeches

Call To Arms is one of the strongest season finales in Trek's history. While technically a cliffhanger, it was also a promise to keep the fight going. While the follow up episode would see a new horizon for Starfleet, there was high tension here mixed with a strong feeling of devastated hope. 

While the Dominion forces swarm the station, Sisko does his best to coordinate the defences. The Defiant sets the minefield while the Rotarran protects their efforts. However, there is a conspicuous absence of Starfleet back-up, leading to the shocking order to evacuate Deep Space Nine. While Star Trek had depicted the loss of a hero ship before - The Search For Spock and Generations being those two examples - but having an enemy take control was painful. 

This pain was compounded by Sisko's speech before his departure.

...no victory can make this moment any easier for me. And I promise, I will not rest until I stand with you again… here… in this place where I belong.

Far more than simply a promise to return, this was as much evidence as one would ever need that the Sisko who took control of the station five years previously was no more. This was a man who had not only settled into his post but come to accept the Bajoran sector as his stomping grounds and the Bajoran people as his family. It was a sore moment to see him forced to leave, though surely no one believed that any number of enemy forces would keep him away for too long.