One of the Bajoran mercenaries who invaded the Norkova has a 23rd century type-2 phaser.
Chief O'Brien Colm Meaney doesn't appear in this episode. It's explained during the previous episode "Dax" that he's back on Earth with his wife, celebrating her mother's 100th birthday. Jake Sisko doesn't appear in this episode or the previous one either.
This episode is not given a stardate. However O'Brien's and Jake's absences suggests that it happens right after the previous episode "Dax" (#1.7), which according to its own stardate is placed wrong in the episode order: it actually occurred between "If Wishes Were Horses" (#1.15) and "The Forsaken" (#1.16).
In addition to appearing here as Starfleet security officer Lt. George Primmin, James Lashly also portrayed the same character in Move Along Home (1993), as well as Ensign Kopf in Brothers (1990).