Beating the Alliance: What's Next for Mirror Universe Minimates

Is it possible that the somewhat open-ended conclusion to the Emperor's New Cloak represented a closed circle?  What are the possible endings for the mirror universe?  The Defiant once again flew circles around the clunky, embarrassingly large Nek'Var and captured Regent Worf.  The cat-suited Intendant Kira managed to escape.  By the end of the episode, it was clear the Alliance was on the back-foot.  All Captain O'Brien need do now is replicate a few dozen Defiant-class warships and make a fiery "grand tour" of Alliance worlds.  Can we expect different from a Terran?     

Whether Klingons and Cardassians accept defeat and surrender or fight to the death doesn't really matter.  The mirror universe will be bathed in blood for decades to come.  O'Brien seems an honorable man.  He has proven that since we first saw him meekly standing up to Odo in the ore-processing center.  However, he does live in a less than honorable universe.  To keep the peace, he may have no choice but to become the very thing he seeks to overthrow.   

Regent Worf is a prisoner of war.  Garek is dead.  Kira is on the lamb--yet still looking fabulous!  With the technical files from our universe, it is possible that O'Brien can create a mini-Federation from among the assorted oppressed races that constitute the Terran Resistance.  However, it is more likely that, given the nature of his universe, such an entity would fail to thrive or collapse into tyranny in the end.  It would not be wise to replicate Spock's hubris. 

The smart play would be for O'Brien to consolidate his power base by building more Defiant-class warships.  He could then assure loyalty to his vision by dispensing commands of these shiny new ships to commanders loyal to him.  Handing commands out like patronage to loyal commanders in order to keep the coalition together is the best way to ensure that he can guide the war towards its inevitable conclusion.  To be fair, O'Brien would not discriminate based on race.  Key commands would most assuredly be given to Terrans, Ferengi, Trills, Vulcans, and any other race associated with the former Terran Empire.  In the end, though, loyalty (and perhaps fealty) would be to the man who crossed through the looking glass and enabled the movement to succeed.
 

 

To ensure a greater tyranny doesn't rise from the ashes of the old, O'Brien would have to use less than honorable methods.  For the greater good, he would need to dispense patronage in the form of Defiant-class warships.  He would need to become a benevolent dictator.  Its simply the nature of his universe.