"Anatomy of a War" - Alt-Trekverse Fic
Moderator: LadyTevar
Turoa Mountains, Bajor
18:19 GST
The peace of the "morning" in the 13th Provisional Order's hideaway was shattered by a great series of tremors that gained everyone's attention. Luvar gathered his senior officers together and waited as each section gave a report.
Explosions had now blocked off all but one exit to the surface. At least two thousand of Luvar's men were dead and another thousand or so cut off. As they raised Luvar's camp to report on their status, the sounds of battle could be heard. Luvar sat and listened as each unit reported in growing casualties, being pinned in, and finally a loud explosion quickly followed by static.
The fighting had barely ended when one of the squads assigned to watch the only remaining way out returned with a guest. Luvar recognized Vedek Tuvipa, an older woman who was the senior cleric of the Kevima Valley province. "Gul Luvar, I am pleased to see you are safe."
Luvar had already guessed what she had come to say. "The same goes for you, Vedek. Are your people okay?"
"They are fine, thanks to your decision to evacuate the valley."
That was answered by a nod. "I did not want to drag civilians into the fight. I knew my people would be safer in the mountains anyway."
"You were right. However, you are now the only Cardassians left on the planet who have not surrendered. Alliance forces have established positions outside of this cave path and are offering you a chance to surrender. If you do not surrender within ten hours, they will collapse the cave entrance." Tuvipa smiled gently. "Gul Luvar, you have always proven a noble man, far better than others of your race. Please, for the sake of your soldiers, end this. They have no hope of victory and it is not the will of the Prophets to see unnecessary bloodshed."
Luvar listened to her speak. When she finished, he remained quiet for a moment, looking to his subordinates. "I will make my decision soon enough, Vedek. Please, go home and be with your family. Your people are going to be free of Cardassian rule now, and you should enjoy that."
Tuvipa nodded respectfully.
"Trooper, escort the Vedek to the cave entrance. Do not make any hostile moves, and stop before you make contact with the enemy."
"Yes Gul."
As the soldiers left with Vedek Tuvipa, Damar looked at Luvar. "Gul, what shall we do?"
Again quiet for a few moments, Luvar answered, "Assemble the men."
The surviving men of the 13th Provisional Order were gathered around Luvar, who stood upon a few crates of what meager rations they had left. "My good soldiers, these past weeks in these dark caves you have done me proud with your courage and your discipline. We have survived because of your indomitable spirit. You should all be proud."
"The enemy has given an ultimatum; surrender, or they will bury us alive in here. We are the only Cardassians left uncaptured and alive on this planet, and they want us subdued quickly, I think, so they can proclaim the planet completely taken."
There was mumbling about the crowd, but Luvar silenced it by continuing to speak. "We can therefore surrender. I know many of you would enjoy seeing daylight again, having a warm meal, and knowing you will go home."
"And when you go home, men, what will you tell your families about your time here? That you spent the entire battle for Bajor huddling in a cave until you surrendered to the enemy without firing a single shot?" Luvar's voice began to rise a bit. "What will your families think of you then? What will that say about every man here? Millions of our fellow Cardassians have been slain in this war, dying bravely for their homeland, yet we will have not even raised a hand in Cardassia's defense. Do you want to endure that shame?"
Seeing that the men were increasingly torn between their duty, their desire to survive, and their growing contempt for their own government, Luvar continued. "I do not defend our government's policies. I am an orphan. I was bounced from home to home, forced to labor and work from an early age simply so I could survive. All I have is Cardassia, which I have defended since I was a child. I have seen the State's foolishness, the petty vendettas of our bureaucrats, the dead killed by the pride and greed of our leaders. I have no love for the State, which has harmed many of it's own defenders over the years. I have only one love, only one family, and that is Cardassia and her people. For me they are all."
These words were damning, of course. They would get him denounced to the Obsidian Order in any other place, but here, with men who had seen firsthand the consequences of the Cardassian State's policies and customary brutality, he found only willing listeners. "And that is why I say no to surrender. Not for the treacherous, brutal State, which has turned our people into slaves for it's cold whims, but for Cardassia herself. For the dignity of our families, for the dignity of Cardassia, it must be said that even when all was lost, we fought on! We must show the enemy the true heart of the Cardassian people, not the broken submission to the State they know, but a Cardassian's love of home and family and our devotion to protect the dignity of the same! I am not ordering you to fight and die for the State! I am ordering you to fight and die for your families and for Holy Cardassia!"
The men roared. Luvar's words had been carefully chosen, and his reference to "Pikat Cardassi" - never used in the rhetoric of the State, which preferred more secular-sounding terminology tying the greatness of the nation to the State - proved wise. The shattered morale of his men was replaced by a grim, fatalistic determination. In each man's mind, their duty was clear. Cardassia needed them to set an example of Cardassian courage and devotion that the enemy could not ignore, and which might make him think twice on carrying this war on to the Cardassian heartland.
And so they would not surrender, and nor would they wait for the enemy to entomb them in this grotto. They would attack, and fight until none could fight on.
Turoa Mountains, Bajor
3 January 2154 AST
04:19 GST
It was still night-time in the Mountains when, ever so quietly, Luvar's men crept up through the caves. The enemy was keeping their troops clear of the cave entrance to facilitate bombing.
The soldiers watching the cave entrance were from the 229th Infantry Battalion, mostly drawn from American space colonies from SE-1. The troops were inexperienced, and most of their officers were new to the higher commands they found themselves in. The swift victory against the other Cardassians on Bajor and knowledge that the 13th Provisional Order was just that - a provisional unit made up prrimarily of middle-aged re-conscripted NCOs and young conscript troops with a smattering of experienced officers - had made the local commanders careless. They didn't think much of provisional units in the Cardassian army, which had melted away against the Alliance Army in other battles, so there was no perceived need to put a good blocking force against them. Rather, the troops were simply meant to collect surrendering Cardassians or prepare to block the entrance.
The squad watching the cave entrance were thus not using their HUD sensors to watch for possible enemy movement, carelessly convinced that nothing was going to happen. They were now to find out how wrong they were.
There was no sudden savage battle cry, or a gaggle of troops to make noise and thus bring withering fire down upon itself. Luvar had carefully culled amongst his men a squad of his smallest and most quiet troops, who carefully came out of the cave and spotted the enemy positions. They each had a precious plasma grenade - most of the 13th's grenades had been lost with the other units cut off the day before - and with steel-nerved precision tossed them at the unsuspecting Alliance troops.
The resulting explosions covered the covering troops with deadly plasma, killing or badly wounding many of them. As soon as the explosions were heard in the cavern, Luvar's troops came out platoon by platoon, swiftly moving to take up position as Alliance forces from their nearby encampments moved up to investigate the explosions. Those brave men who had successfully ambushed the enemy now raced forward and, with swiftness, took control of the enemy's heavy machine guns. When the first Alliance troops came into range, they pulled the triggers. Their fire was erratic and inaccurate first, as they were unused to firing such weapons, but the mere use of the guns made the Alliance troops hit the dirt.
Luvar came up with the fourth platoon, observing as the second and third dismounted their mortars with expert swiftness and aimed them to fire down at the enemy camps slightly uphill. The first, fith, and sixth platoons began their work of slipping past the enemy to attack them from further uphill.
Though the enemy camp was uphill, the incline and the distance wasn't such that mortar fire from the Cardassians couldn't reach them. Green and orange-colored plasma charges rained down on the camp. Some hits killed or wounded soldiers, and it added further to the chaos that suddenly struck the Alliance troops. In disarray, they began to call for air support as they fell back from their burning camp, coming under assault by an increased number of Cardassians as they managed to get out of the cave.
As the unit was green, withn it's commander killed in the mortar attack, the 229th soon began to retreat on foot, trying to get away from the numerically-superior Cardassian forces coming out of the cave. Some troops grabbed what they could, but either way, quite a bit of their material was left for the Cardassians, along with dead and wounded that numbered in the dozens.
Luvar surveyed the remains of the Alliance camp. His men gathered up their arms, particularly their remaining mortars, machine guns, and infantry rifles. The enemy was retreating beyond the hill, where forest led eventually to the gulley that served as a swift exit to the valley below. He would lead his men down through there, pursuing the enemy and hopefully overrunning their defensive positions. From there, he would decide on what to do next.
Despite his speech, Luvar did not want to see too many of his men die needlessly. Already they had fulfilled some of their obligation, having fought the enemy, but he wanted to do more than just ambush a complacent enemy unit. He wanted to bring them to direct battle, and then, if their overwhelming air and artillery support forced him to, he would agree to surrender.
Perhaps I should have surrendered after all. No, no I shouldn't have. Cardassia needs this sacrifice, something to make our people proud in the face of such horrible defeat. Luvar looked down at a body. It was an Alliance soldier with his chest torn up by the rounds from one of the commandeered machine guns. Luvar knelt down beside the soldier, who was clearly in his last moments. His armor even includes mechanisms to try and preserve his life, Luvar noted to himself, seeing the sterilization foam covering his wounds to protect them from infection. The man looked up at Luvar, his dark skin almost as dark as the barely-lit ground, his jaw tremoring. There was fear in those eyes, fear of the end that Luvar had seen in too many eyes in his long life. The aged veteran took the dying soldier's hand. "It's okay, soldier. It's okay to be afraid," he said, a slight metallic tone to his English from the Universal Translator implanted in him.
After another moment, the Human ceased moving. Luvar had seen death often enough to know it had come. Amazing that no matter how different our races are in so many ways, our eyes are so similar. The dead Human's eyes were too much like the eyes of many young Cardassians Luvar had seen die. The Central Command's folly claims another life, Luvar thought in irritation.
Standing up, Luvar was immediately greeted by Damar. "Gul, the enemy is fleeing toward the gulley. Should we pursue?"
"Yes. All companies are to pursue immediately. Send a runner to get Doctor Kuvar and his people up here to tend to the wounded. And make sure they have their markings up so the enemy will not attack them."
"Yes, Gul." Damar went off and began barking orders to the other Glins.
Camp MacReynolds, Turoa Mountains, Bajor
Major Reginald Trewen of the Royal Black Watch was quick to respond as the frenzied radio reports of the Cardassian attack reached him. He had a full overstrength battalion with him, the Black Watch's 1st Battalion, with roughly a thousand men, and with no hesitation he ordered them into readiness and prepared to march them forward.
As the Black Watch took up positions just inside the gulley, in the trees, the 229th Battalion's men fell back through them. Cardassian skirmishers sniped at the British here and there but were silenced when heavy fire was made against them. Trewen carefully arranged his men to form a crescent, with the center bulging forward into the forest while the wings were fixed to the sides of the gulley.
The main body of the Cardassian 13th Provisional Order came on soon. Advancing carefully through the forest, in many cases using captured weapons abandoned by the 229th Battalion, they soon pressed on Trewen's center.
Leading his men, Trewen kept his SA-115 Particle RIfle at the ready while his combat helmet's HUD switched to infrared, allowing him to see the Cardassians in the dark. They came on strong and Trewen was forced to hide behind a tree, rolling out every moment or so as the streaks of energy and cacophony of automatic fire died down and allowed him to squeeze shots off. He saw the particle charges from his rifle slam into an advancing Cardassian, killing the young man instantly. Trewen took refuge again behind the tree, though even it was starting to buckle as multiple phaser shots vaporized it's bark and trunk. "Fall back!" Trewen could see that the enemy, still numbering seven or so thousand, was too numerous for him to hold against like this. He waited for a sergeant to give him cover fire from a heavy machine gun before retreating to another tree.
Gul Luvar followed his men closely now, watching his forward companies slam up against prepared enemies in the forest. He had commandeered a helmet from one of the wounded enemy soldiers back in camp and could now, for the first time, understand just how much more capable an Alliance soldier was over his men. The helmet didn't just provide protection, but alternate spectrums for viewing and various communications and command capabilities. With infrared Luvar could see friend and foe alike in the dark.
With a rifle in his arms, Luvar slid beneath a fallen tree partially propped up by a distant stump, giving just enough room for him to crawl through. "Glin Tupal, have your company cease their advance! Glin Rudai, Glin Okar, advance on the enemy's flanks!"
Trewen's troops were holding hard in the forest. The enemy had great courage, pressing hard even against the superior firepower-per-man of the Black Watch. One enemy company was devastated by trying to advance against Captain Stuart's company on Trewen's right, but Captain Pitcairn was forced to fall back further as the weight of what seemed to be an entire battalion came down on him.
Barely avoiding an enemy beam, Trewen turned from around a tree - thicker and stronger than the one he'd had before - and gave cover fire for a fireteam to get further away. The enemy was pressing hard, though taking losses doing so. Trewen hoped to bleed them as much as possible in this retreat, and then finally secure a line at the gulley to hold until fire support could be provided.
Luvar could see he couldn't outflank his enemy. His troops had moved too fast to engage and had not attained the kind of careful organization needed for a concentrated attack on the enemy's flanks despite his firepower advantage. Seeing the enemy's line began to flatten, as he successfully fell back and reduced his front's length, it was clear that maintaining this battle in the dark would only waste his men's lives. Most of them were firing blindly at flashes of light and toward the sound of movement against an enemy where every man had the means to see his enemies in the dark and the firepower to devastate them as they tried to advance. "Pull the men back," was his new order, swiftly sent via comms and runners. "We're disengaging until dawn. I want all battle groups reorganized and captured weapons evenly distribution. And make sure we have men to help send the wounded back to the medical camp!"
Trewen and the 1st Battalion accepted the enemy's disengagement. Wounded were quickly gathered up and sent to the rear to be treated; where possible, the dead were also collected, though thankfully there weren't many of them at all.
It was likely the enemy still had in excess of six thousand troops even after the bitter firefight in the forest, and probably no fewer than five thousand. Obviously they would seek to break through the gulley and into the forests leading into the valley, where again they'd enjoy the cover of forest and could potentially march toward another cave system. Trewen thus planned to stop them here, and to do so he arranged for a disproportionate number of his heavy machine guns and mortars to be assigned to the companies on his flanks. While his center would fall back into the gulley under the weight of the enemy attack, his wings and their heavy firepower would channel the enemy into the gulley, preventing attacks on themselves with dug-in riflemen, and be clear to fire down upon the Cardassians and destroy them.
It was still possible that Trewen might get fire support, but he wasn't going to count on that yet. The local fighters had all been armed with penetrating bombs to collapse the cave system and the artillery had been pulled back during the battle to keep it well away from the enemy.
In the end, it didn't matter. The Cardassians would be pulverized either by fire support or by the heavy weapons of the Black Watch. Whatever happened, Trewen would never let them break through and escape down into the valley. The Black Watch would hold.
18:19 GST
The peace of the "morning" in the 13th Provisional Order's hideaway was shattered by a great series of tremors that gained everyone's attention. Luvar gathered his senior officers together and waited as each section gave a report.
Explosions had now blocked off all but one exit to the surface. At least two thousand of Luvar's men were dead and another thousand or so cut off. As they raised Luvar's camp to report on their status, the sounds of battle could be heard. Luvar sat and listened as each unit reported in growing casualties, being pinned in, and finally a loud explosion quickly followed by static.
The fighting had barely ended when one of the squads assigned to watch the only remaining way out returned with a guest. Luvar recognized Vedek Tuvipa, an older woman who was the senior cleric of the Kevima Valley province. "Gul Luvar, I am pleased to see you are safe."
Luvar had already guessed what she had come to say. "The same goes for you, Vedek. Are your people okay?"
"They are fine, thanks to your decision to evacuate the valley."
That was answered by a nod. "I did not want to drag civilians into the fight. I knew my people would be safer in the mountains anyway."
"You were right. However, you are now the only Cardassians left on the planet who have not surrendered. Alliance forces have established positions outside of this cave path and are offering you a chance to surrender. If you do not surrender within ten hours, they will collapse the cave entrance." Tuvipa smiled gently. "Gul Luvar, you have always proven a noble man, far better than others of your race. Please, for the sake of your soldiers, end this. They have no hope of victory and it is not the will of the Prophets to see unnecessary bloodshed."
Luvar listened to her speak. When she finished, he remained quiet for a moment, looking to his subordinates. "I will make my decision soon enough, Vedek. Please, go home and be with your family. Your people are going to be free of Cardassian rule now, and you should enjoy that."
Tuvipa nodded respectfully.
"Trooper, escort the Vedek to the cave entrance. Do not make any hostile moves, and stop before you make contact with the enemy."
"Yes Gul."
As the soldiers left with Vedek Tuvipa, Damar looked at Luvar. "Gul, what shall we do?"
Again quiet for a few moments, Luvar answered, "Assemble the men."
The surviving men of the 13th Provisional Order were gathered around Luvar, who stood upon a few crates of what meager rations they had left. "My good soldiers, these past weeks in these dark caves you have done me proud with your courage and your discipline. We have survived because of your indomitable spirit. You should all be proud."
"The enemy has given an ultimatum; surrender, or they will bury us alive in here. We are the only Cardassians left uncaptured and alive on this planet, and they want us subdued quickly, I think, so they can proclaim the planet completely taken."
There was mumbling about the crowd, but Luvar silenced it by continuing to speak. "We can therefore surrender. I know many of you would enjoy seeing daylight again, having a warm meal, and knowing you will go home."
"And when you go home, men, what will you tell your families about your time here? That you spent the entire battle for Bajor huddling in a cave until you surrendered to the enemy without firing a single shot?" Luvar's voice began to rise a bit. "What will your families think of you then? What will that say about every man here? Millions of our fellow Cardassians have been slain in this war, dying bravely for their homeland, yet we will have not even raised a hand in Cardassia's defense. Do you want to endure that shame?"
Seeing that the men were increasingly torn between their duty, their desire to survive, and their growing contempt for their own government, Luvar continued. "I do not defend our government's policies. I am an orphan. I was bounced from home to home, forced to labor and work from an early age simply so I could survive. All I have is Cardassia, which I have defended since I was a child. I have seen the State's foolishness, the petty vendettas of our bureaucrats, the dead killed by the pride and greed of our leaders. I have no love for the State, which has harmed many of it's own defenders over the years. I have only one love, only one family, and that is Cardassia and her people. For me they are all."
These words were damning, of course. They would get him denounced to the Obsidian Order in any other place, but here, with men who had seen firsthand the consequences of the Cardassian State's policies and customary brutality, he found only willing listeners. "And that is why I say no to surrender. Not for the treacherous, brutal State, which has turned our people into slaves for it's cold whims, but for Cardassia herself. For the dignity of our families, for the dignity of Cardassia, it must be said that even when all was lost, we fought on! We must show the enemy the true heart of the Cardassian people, not the broken submission to the State they know, but a Cardassian's love of home and family and our devotion to protect the dignity of the same! I am not ordering you to fight and die for the State! I am ordering you to fight and die for your families and for Holy Cardassia!"
The men roared. Luvar's words had been carefully chosen, and his reference to "Pikat Cardassi" - never used in the rhetoric of the State, which preferred more secular-sounding terminology tying the greatness of the nation to the State - proved wise. The shattered morale of his men was replaced by a grim, fatalistic determination. In each man's mind, their duty was clear. Cardassia needed them to set an example of Cardassian courage and devotion that the enemy could not ignore, and which might make him think twice on carrying this war on to the Cardassian heartland.
And so they would not surrender, and nor would they wait for the enemy to entomb them in this grotto. They would attack, and fight until none could fight on.
Turoa Mountains, Bajor
3 January 2154 AST
04:19 GST
It was still night-time in the Mountains when, ever so quietly, Luvar's men crept up through the caves. The enemy was keeping their troops clear of the cave entrance to facilitate bombing.
The soldiers watching the cave entrance were from the 229th Infantry Battalion, mostly drawn from American space colonies from SE-1. The troops were inexperienced, and most of their officers were new to the higher commands they found themselves in. The swift victory against the other Cardassians on Bajor and knowledge that the 13th Provisional Order was just that - a provisional unit made up prrimarily of middle-aged re-conscripted NCOs and young conscript troops with a smattering of experienced officers - had made the local commanders careless. They didn't think much of provisional units in the Cardassian army, which had melted away against the Alliance Army in other battles, so there was no perceived need to put a good blocking force against them. Rather, the troops were simply meant to collect surrendering Cardassians or prepare to block the entrance.
The squad watching the cave entrance were thus not using their HUD sensors to watch for possible enemy movement, carelessly convinced that nothing was going to happen. They were now to find out how wrong they were.
There was no sudden savage battle cry, or a gaggle of troops to make noise and thus bring withering fire down upon itself. Luvar had carefully culled amongst his men a squad of his smallest and most quiet troops, who carefully came out of the cave and spotted the enemy positions. They each had a precious plasma grenade - most of the 13th's grenades had been lost with the other units cut off the day before - and with steel-nerved precision tossed them at the unsuspecting Alliance troops.
The resulting explosions covered the covering troops with deadly plasma, killing or badly wounding many of them. As soon as the explosions were heard in the cavern, Luvar's troops came out platoon by platoon, swiftly moving to take up position as Alliance forces from their nearby encampments moved up to investigate the explosions. Those brave men who had successfully ambushed the enemy now raced forward and, with swiftness, took control of the enemy's heavy machine guns. When the first Alliance troops came into range, they pulled the triggers. Their fire was erratic and inaccurate first, as they were unused to firing such weapons, but the mere use of the guns made the Alliance troops hit the dirt.
Luvar came up with the fourth platoon, observing as the second and third dismounted their mortars with expert swiftness and aimed them to fire down at the enemy camps slightly uphill. The first, fith, and sixth platoons began their work of slipping past the enemy to attack them from further uphill.
Though the enemy camp was uphill, the incline and the distance wasn't such that mortar fire from the Cardassians couldn't reach them. Green and orange-colored plasma charges rained down on the camp. Some hits killed or wounded soldiers, and it added further to the chaos that suddenly struck the Alliance troops. In disarray, they began to call for air support as they fell back from their burning camp, coming under assault by an increased number of Cardassians as they managed to get out of the cave.
As the unit was green, withn it's commander killed in the mortar attack, the 229th soon began to retreat on foot, trying to get away from the numerically-superior Cardassian forces coming out of the cave. Some troops grabbed what they could, but either way, quite a bit of their material was left for the Cardassians, along with dead and wounded that numbered in the dozens.
Luvar surveyed the remains of the Alliance camp. His men gathered up their arms, particularly their remaining mortars, machine guns, and infantry rifles. The enemy was retreating beyond the hill, where forest led eventually to the gulley that served as a swift exit to the valley below. He would lead his men down through there, pursuing the enemy and hopefully overrunning their defensive positions. From there, he would decide on what to do next.
Despite his speech, Luvar did not want to see too many of his men die needlessly. Already they had fulfilled some of their obligation, having fought the enemy, but he wanted to do more than just ambush a complacent enemy unit. He wanted to bring them to direct battle, and then, if their overwhelming air and artillery support forced him to, he would agree to surrender.
Perhaps I should have surrendered after all. No, no I shouldn't have. Cardassia needs this sacrifice, something to make our people proud in the face of such horrible defeat. Luvar looked down at a body. It was an Alliance soldier with his chest torn up by the rounds from one of the commandeered machine guns. Luvar knelt down beside the soldier, who was clearly in his last moments. His armor even includes mechanisms to try and preserve his life, Luvar noted to himself, seeing the sterilization foam covering his wounds to protect them from infection. The man looked up at Luvar, his dark skin almost as dark as the barely-lit ground, his jaw tremoring. There was fear in those eyes, fear of the end that Luvar had seen in too many eyes in his long life. The aged veteran took the dying soldier's hand. "It's okay, soldier. It's okay to be afraid," he said, a slight metallic tone to his English from the Universal Translator implanted in him.
After another moment, the Human ceased moving. Luvar had seen death often enough to know it had come. Amazing that no matter how different our races are in so many ways, our eyes are so similar. The dead Human's eyes were too much like the eyes of many young Cardassians Luvar had seen die. The Central Command's folly claims another life, Luvar thought in irritation.
Standing up, Luvar was immediately greeted by Damar. "Gul, the enemy is fleeing toward the gulley. Should we pursue?"
"Yes. All companies are to pursue immediately. Send a runner to get Doctor Kuvar and his people up here to tend to the wounded. And make sure they have their markings up so the enemy will not attack them."
"Yes, Gul." Damar went off and began barking orders to the other Glins.
Camp MacReynolds, Turoa Mountains, Bajor
Major Reginald Trewen of the Royal Black Watch was quick to respond as the frenzied radio reports of the Cardassian attack reached him. He had a full overstrength battalion with him, the Black Watch's 1st Battalion, with roughly a thousand men, and with no hesitation he ordered them into readiness and prepared to march them forward.
As the Black Watch took up positions just inside the gulley, in the trees, the 229th Battalion's men fell back through them. Cardassian skirmishers sniped at the British here and there but were silenced when heavy fire was made against them. Trewen carefully arranged his men to form a crescent, with the center bulging forward into the forest while the wings were fixed to the sides of the gulley.
The main body of the Cardassian 13th Provisional Order came on soon. Advancing carefully through the forest, in many cases using captured weapons abandoned by the 229th Battalion, they soon pressed on Trewen's center.
Leading his men, Trewen kept his SA-115 Particle RIfle at the ready while his combat helmet's HUD switched to infrared, allowing him to see the Cardassians in the dark. They came on strong and Trewen was forced to hide behind a tree, rolling out every moment or so as the streaks of energy and cacophony of automatic fire died down and allowed him to squeeze shots off. He saw the particle charges from his rifle slam into an advancing Cardassian, killing the young man instantly. Trewen took refuge again behind the tree, though even it was starting to buckle as multiple phaser shots vaporized it's bark and trunk. "Fall back!" Trewen could see that the enemy, still numbering seven or so thousand, was too numerous for him to hold against like this. He waited for a sergeant to give him cover fire from a heavy machine gun before retreating to another tree.
Gul Luvar followed his men closely now, watching his forward companies slam up against prepared enemies in the forest. He had commandeered a helmet from one of the wounded enemy soldiers back in camp and could now, for the first time, understand just how much more capable an Alliance soldier was over his men. The helmet didn't just provide protection, but alternate spectrums for viewing and various communications and command capabilities. With infrared Luvar could see friend and foe alike in the dark.
With a rifle in his arms, Luvar slid beneath a fallen tree partially propped up by a distant stump, giving just enough room for him to crawl through. "Glin Tupal, have your company cease their advance! Glin Rudai, Glin Okar, advance on the enemy's flanks!"
Trewen's troops were holding hard in the forest. The enemy had great courage, pressing hard even against the superior firepower-per-man of the Black Watch. One enemy company was devastated by trying to advance against Captain Stuart's company on Trewen's right, but Captain Pitcairn was forced to fall back further as the weight of what seemed to be an entire battalion came down on him.
Barely avoiding an enemy beam, Trewen turned from around a tree - thicker and stronger than the one he'd had before - and gave cover fire for a fireteam to get further away. The enemy was pressing hard, though taking losses doing so. Trewen hoped to bleed them as much as possible in this retreat, and then finally secure a line at the gulley to hold until fire support could be provided.
Luvar could see he couldn't outflank his enemy. His troops had moved too fast to engage and had not attained the kind of careful organization needed for a concentrated attack on the enemy's flanks despite his firepower advantage. Seeing the enemy's line began to flatten, as he successfully fell back and reduced his front's length, it was clear that maintaining this battle in the dark would only waste his men's lives. Most of them were firing blindly at flashes of light and toward the sound of movement against an enemy where every man had the means to see his enemies in the dark and the firepower to devastate them as they tried to advance. "Pull the men back," was his new order, swiftly sent via comms and runners. "We're disengaging until dawn. I want all battle groups reorganized and captured weapons evenly distribution. And make sure we have men to help send the wounded back to the medical camp!"
Trewen and the 1st Battalion accepted the enemy's disengagement. Wounded were quickly gathered up and sent to the rear to be treated; where possible, the dead were also collected, though thankfully there weren't many of them at all.
It was likely the enemy still had in excess of six thousand troops even after the bitter firefight in the forest, and probably no fewer than five thousand. Obviously they would seek to break through the gulley and into the forests leading into the valley, where again they'd enjoy the cover of forest and could potentially march toward another cave system. Trewen thus planned to stop them here, and to do so he arranged for a disproportionate number of his heavy machine guns and mortars to be assigned to the companies on his flanks. While his center would fall back into the gulley under the weight of the enemy attack, his wings and their heavy firepower would channel the enemy into the gulley, preventing attacks on themselves with dug-in riflemen, and be clear to fire down upon the Cardassians and destroy them.
It was still possible that Trewen might get fire support, but he wasn't going to count on that yet. The local fighters had all been armed with penetrating bombs to collapse the cave system and the artillery had been pulled back during the battle to keep it well away from the enemy.
In the end, it didn't matter. The Cardassians would be pulverized either by fire support or by the heavy weapons of the Black Watch. Whatever happened, Trewen would never let them break through and escape down into the valley. The Black Watch would hold.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Capital City, Cardassia, Cardassian Union
08:10 GST
Legate Kelataza was in his office, the paperwork of state in front of him and half-completed. Every senior figure on Cardassia had been keeping irregular hours since the war had begun, and Kelataza was no different. Perhaps it was the monotony of paperwork and the means of the bureaucracy that helped to distract from the specter of defeat hanging over everyone. The great spoiling attack had failed to prevent the new enemy offensive, and the enemy was driving into Cardassia once more. The Home Fleet might stop them, but in almost all major engagements so far Cardassia had been defeated. If they lost the Home Fleet, then there was nothing but disassociated squadrons crewed by third-rate men and officers and mothballed ships with old men and boys to stop the Alliance fleets.
Without any warning, the door to Kelataza's office swished open. Four armed men with Home Guard markings on their uniforms walked in, joined by Gul Rutak, a sub-commander in the Home Guard. A knot formed in Kelataza's stomach as his instincts told him what was going to happen. "What is it?"
"Aamin Kelataza, in the name of the Cardassian Union you are under arrest. The charge is gross incompetence in time of war."
With only a slight smile of resignation, Kelataza nodded. "I should have suspected Keve and Dukat were up to something. Very well, I'll go quietly..."
Turoa Mountains, Bajor
11:12 GST
It was almost dawn, with the first cracks of light coming over the horizon to the east. Within minutes the sun would come up over the eastern Kevima mountains and shine down here on the foothills of the Turoa. Major Trewen was in his camp, speaking angrily with a man over the radio. "Where is the air support? The enemy will be on top of us as soon as they have the daylight to see."
"As I said before, our air units have been redeployed in the past week to support the new offensive on Cardassia Prime. The only air unit we have available is the one from Rupara that was supposed to drop the penetrators on the caves. They lost track of their other ordnance, it could be a while before they find it."
"Lost track?! Lost track?! Bloody Hell, how do you 'lose track' of a bunch of missiles? God dammit to Hell, man, we're facing an enemy that has a six to one advantage on us and is mad as hell. We're going to need that air support before they can close range and engage us inside the friendly fire range."
"I'm sorry, but it can't be done. We have no air support for you and no orbital support. I did finally get divisional HQ to release the arty for you, but it won't be in position for another hour."
"You'd bloody well make them hurry up, because we don't have an hour before..."
One of Trewen's staff ran into the tent. "Major! The enemy infantry is moving again!"
"Get that bloody arty!" was Trewen's last shout before putting the radio down.
Gul Luvar's men had gathered for the final push. At any time, enemy artillery and aircraft could rain death down upon them, so time was off the essence. There was about seven hundred yards seperating the edge of the forest from the beginning of the gulley as well as the ridges that flanked it, which is where the enemy would have the strongest effect with little cover for the troops. Luvar's intention was to break through if possible, while flanking forces were tasked to attack and tie down enemy units that could otherwise pour fire into the gulley.
Luvar had pulled his men back through the forest and it's steady incline to protect them from mortar fire. Now they came back in, rushing downward as quickly and as orderly as they could. It had been impossible to get skirmishers in range during the night, with enemy sensors easily detecting their approach and mortar fire immediately following; this meant he couldn't get men into position to get around the enemy's flanks as he'd hoped.
Ultimately, with his six to one advantage, Luvar was hoping to use the initial advantage of higher ground to put such fire down on the enemy that his troops could bust through the gulley before enemy forces on the flanking ridges could tear the 13th Order apart with their support weapons.
As the Cardassians rushed through the last parts of the forest, the enemy's mortars opened fire. Bomblet shells exploded in the trees, ripping through flesh and wood alike. As the first cries of the wounded came, Luvar was amongst the men in the center companies, giving them encouragment and orders through the bombardment. He watched Glin Rudai go down, bomblet fragments in his ridged skull, and a younger Glin in charge of a Troop (Company) took over without a moment's hesitation. It made Luvar proud; every man knew his duty and performed it without pause.
The trees were past now and the Cardassians were racing downward toward the gulley over the open grass, rock, and dirt of the mountain. Those so assigned took up their captured heavy machine guns and mortars and set them up to pour fire upon the enemy in the distance. As they did so, mortar fire came down upon them as well, accompanied by the invisible threat of bullets and the all-too-visible particle charges of enemy rifles alike.
The Cardassians didn't just charge blindly. Men would go prone and take what cover they could when shots came around them. Some of the youngest men in the unit lost their heart, having never endured such heavy attack, and kept to their cover, only in some cases being pulled out of it by seeing their comrades, many of whom were from the same towns and provinces as they were, keep going.
For most Cardassians, the instinct was not to stop but to keep running, to go down only as long as was necessary to avoid getting hit before they kept going. The Cardassian machine gunners valiantly tried to suppress the enemy fire, though they were clearly not numerous enough to do so, but every enemy machine gunner forced to duck his head was one machine gun not firing.
As the Cardassian flanking Battle Groups (Battalions) tried hard to press against the dug-in enemy riflemen on the flanks guarding their mortar and machine gun platoons, Luvar led his dwindling number of fighting men down into the gulley. This was not the first charge in his life, but he knew in his heart it would be his last, so he gave a battle cry appropriate to his fatalistic mood. The words echoed amongst his men: "Du Pikat Cardassi!"
Their reply thundered down the gulley. "DU PIKAT CARDASSI!"
The Cardassians, despite their rising losses, were rushing into the gulley. Trewen noted with gratitude that the riflemen platoons on his flanks were successfully guarding the machine gunners and the mortars, who now opened up on the Cardassians as they rushed into the gulley, closing the distance quickly with the Black Watch from their hastily-prepared trenches. They were not solid defenses, as the soil in the gulley was thin, above a layer of hard mountain rock, so trenches were not very deep and men had to kneel in them to get any kind of protective cover.
The men of the Black Watch opened fire as the Cardassians came into range, the Cardassians giving them the same from soldiers who went prone. Trewen was with his men in the front trench, shots flying everywhere. From the flanks came mortar and machine gun fire from Trewen's support troops that were taking their toll on the enemy formations.
The Cardassians took cover where possible, taking advantage of grass where it was present, or of rocks growing out from the sides of the gulley. Their forward ranks were suddenly stopped when they stumbled into the hastily-formed minefield the Black Watch had put up about thirty yards from their main positions. The Cardassian mortars turned their attention to this minefield, even as they were finally coming under attack from Trewen's mortars, and the Cardassian troops quickly began tossing what grenades they had left into the field. Explosions erupted across the width of the gulley, and on Trewen's HUD he could see each mine disappear as it was detonated. The enemy would now be able to close.
Even before all of the mines were gone, Trewen bellowed the order "Fix bayonets!" His men hid any shock at the decision and instead slipped their diamond-coat bayonets onto their rifles. They had trained for this many times, even if it seemed so unlikely in a modern war. "Sound the quickmarch! Up, lads! Charge!"
"Huzzah!" was the cry that replied to Trewen's order. As one the men of the Black Watch that were in the gulley - numbering about seven hundred still - rose from their trenches, ignoring the raised dust from the enemy's detonation of their mines, and rushed forward. In their helmets the traditional quickmarch anthem of the Black Watch played, the Blue Bonnets ordering them onward as it had their ancestors in centuries past. Shoulder to shoulder, the gulley just wide enough to accomodate them like that in two rows, the Black Watch quickly closed the distance and crashed into the Cardassians.
Gul Luvar was quick to order his men forward as soon as it was clear that most of the enemy mines had been exploded. But no sooner had he stood up and ordered his men on into the thick dust that an alien cry had echoed in the gulley. He instinctively knew what was happening. "Charge men! For Cardassia!" he shouted, raising his weapon and firing into the dust before running forward. Most Cardassians only got a single shot off, wounding or killing some of the Black Watch before the two sides clashed together.
The dust was blinding, which was a disadvantage for the Cardassians, but Luvar knew if enough of his men could push through, their superior mass going downhill could force their way through the enemy. He opened his mouth and prepared for another shout of encouragement when a sharp pain struck his chest. He could hear a sucking sound and realized he'd been stabbed by something. A helmeted figure came through the dust, his rifle possessing a bladed end that was covered in blood that Luvar immediately realized was his own. Luvar tried to bring his rifle up to shoot the man, but his body lost all strength. He had been struck in the heart.
Falling over, Luvar did not take long to breathe his last, his final sensations being the pain in his body and the shouts and screams of his men.
Damar was further behind in the ranks and was probably one of the first to see Luvar fall. A savage howl came from his throat and he went forward, firing his rifle and shooting Luvar's killer square in the chest. The man fell over and likely died from the hit. Damar fired a second and third time and had about reached Luvar's body when a particle charge struck him in the hip. The pain shot up Damar's side and he collapsed. He looked up from where he'd fallen, about to fire again, when a boot struck him in the head from behind, and he lost consciousness.
Trewen's chest was on fire. No sooner had he plunged his bayonet into the first Cardassian he'd seen than an enemy shot had come out of the dust to strike him. He was on his back now, a Sergeant pulling him behind the line. His helmet's HUD displayed information from the medical sensors even as it summoned medics to his position, but Trewen - despite not being a doctor - knew that it would be too late. His lungs, his heart, his stomach, the high energy phaser blast had gotten though his armor and heavily damaged them all. There wasn't time. "Hold laddies! Push 'em back!" Trewen's cries became weaker and weaker after each.
He had the sensation of being lifted. Medics were rushing him back to be treated, but it was too late. Trewen silently breathed a prayer, asking God to see his men through to victory, and without more than a hard breath, he was dead.
Though both sides had lost their commanders, neither suffered immediately from it. The chain of command remained intact, and new officers gave orders, though they weren't much.
Now, after all this had begun, there were calls from Division HQ that artillery was in range, and they requested a grid-square for support. But no reply came. The battle was no longer to be decided by fire but by steel. The mass of desperate, undauned Cardassians pushed against the lines of the Black Watch, and though they bent, they did not break. The Black Watch held; the Cardassians pushed, even as they died by the dozens from the enemy machine guns above.
Even the mortars now silenced, not wanting to hurt comrades from misaiming, and instead the men who'd manned them took up their rifles and ran to join the companies on the flanks of the gulley ridge. Machine guns finished the silencing of the captured Cardassian weapons, and like a trap the two companies pivoted on the edge of the ridgeline and closed the gulley from the west, trapping the Cardassians - though only if the troops in the gulley held.
The battle became it's own. In the dust and blood, amidst the screams of dying foes and friends, the grand moral causes of the war no longer existed. It wasn't about protecting Cardassia, about liberating Bajor, or about avenging the dead, or even about the Honour of the Service and the Nation. It was about something for which neither side would easily yield. It was about the land, the soil. Not for it's natural worth, but for the fact that British or Cardassian blood had been spilled for it. On either side, with all wrapped up in the battle, there was no one willing to yield this precious land that friends had died to take or to hold. None gave the time to think about it, with all of their hearts now in the fight to stay alive and take or hold.
For several precious minutes it looked uncertain. The Cardassians were under withering fire from before and rear and their numerical advantage was steadily leaked away. Yet this, even the press of enemy infantry in their rear, only made the Cardassians that much more determined to press forward, where the men of the Black Watch stood amongst their slain with bayonets covered in Cardassian blood, thrusting and shooting, thrusting and shooting, their boots dug into the soil to hold firm as one dead Cardassian was replaced by another.
It did not become immediately apparent, particularly not for the men in that blood-soaked gulley who's task it was to thrust and shoot, but the Cardassian tide ebbed. There were too many dead now, men with bodies shredded by machine gun spray, scorched by particle charge, and ripped by bayonet, and the living could barely move forward as piled as the dead were. Finally a voice came calling surrender, with raised hands and discarded rifle. One surrender became two, which became three. Surviving Cardassian Groups surrendered here and there, covered in dust and the blood and gore of their slain comrades, many wounded in some way themselves. The order to cease firing came down from the Black Watch's company captains. Slowly, the dust settled in this unnamed gulley, now covered as it was in gore. The men of the Black Watch looked upon the carnage and were made speechless, for it was the greatest the regiment had seen in a great while.
Scattered in that gulley of their latest victory through the centuries were the bodies of about fifty-five hundred dead or dying Cardassians. Through the gulley and in the flanks above were another eighty-six, these the victorious dead of the Black Watch, with many more wounded. The medics were already coming in now, having called for helicopters and any other VTOL-capable craft to evac the wounded to the hospitals in the valley, and these wounded would in some cases live or die by their skill.
Even though their spirit had been splendid and they had fought with the valor demanded by their regiment's reputation, the men of the Black Watch knew that it was not the valor that had won the day, as the enemy's valor had been their match. It was their superior gear - unchivalrous and unfair as it was - that had saved their lives and won them the victory.
08:10 GST
Legate Kelataza was in his office, the paperwork of state in front of him and half-completed. Every senior figure on Cardassia had been keeping irregular hours since the war had begun, and Kelataza was no different. Perhaps it was the monotony of paperwork and the means of the bureaucracy that helped to distract from the specter of defeat hanging over everyone. The great spoiling attack had failed to prevent the new enemy offensive, and the enemy was driving into Cardassia once more. The Home Fleet might stop them, but in almost all major engagements so far Cardassia had been defeated. If they lost the Home Fleet, then there was nothing but disassociated squadrons crewed by third-rate men and officers and mothballed ships with old men and boys to stop the Alliance fleets.
Without any warning, the door to Kelataza's office swished open. Four armed men with Home Guard markings on their uniforms walked in, joined by Gul Rutak, a sub-commander in the Home Guard. A knot formed in Kelataza's stomach as his instincts told him what was going to happen. "What is it?"
"Aamin Kelataza, in the name of the Cardassian Union you are under arrest. The charge is gross incompetence in time of war."
With only a slight smile of resignation, Kelataza nodded. "I should have suspected Keve and Dukat were up to something. Very well, I'll go quietly..."
Turoa Mountains, Bajor
11:12 GST
It was almost dawn, with the first cracks of light coming over the horizon to the east. Within minutes the sun would come up over the eastern Kevima mountains and shine down here on the foothills of the Turoa. Major Trewen was in his camp, speaking angrily with a man over the radio. "Where is the air support? The enemy will be on top of us as soon as they have the daylight to see."
"As I said before, our air units have been redeployed in the past week to support the new offensive on Cardassia Prime. The only air unit we have available is the one from Rupara that was supposed to drop the penetrators on the caves. They lost track of their other ordnance, it could be a while before they find it."
"Lost track?! Lost track?! Bloody Hell, how do you 'lose track' of a bunch of missiles? God dammit to Hell, man, we're facing an enemy that has a six to one advantage on us and is mad as hell. We're going to need that air support before they can close range and engage us inside the friendly fire range."
"I'm sorry, but it can't be done. We have no air support for you and no orbital support. I did finally get divisional HQ to release the arty for you, but it won't be in position for another hour."
"You'd bloody well make them hurry up, because we don't have an hour before..."
One of Trewen's staff ran into the tent. "Major! The enemy infantry is moving again!"
"Get that bloody arty!" was Trewen's last shout before putting the radio down.
Gul Luvar's men had gathered for the final push. At any time, enemy artillery and aircraft could rain death down upon them, so time was off the essence. There was about seven hundred yards seperating the edge of the forest from the beginning of the gulley as well as the ridges that flanked it, which is where the enemy would have the strongest effect with little cover for the troops. Luvar's intention was to break through if possible, while flanking forces were tasked to attack and tie down enemy units that could otherwise pour fire into the gulley.
Luvar had pulled his men back through the forest and it's steady incline to protect them from mortar fire. Now they came back in, rushing downward as quickly and as orderly as they could. It had been impossible to get skirmishers in range during the night, with enemy sensors easily detecting their approach and mortar fire immediately following; this meant he couldn't get men into position to get around the enemy's flanks as he'd hoped.
Ultimately, with his six to one advantage, Luvar was hoping to use the initial advantage of higher ground to put such fire down on the enemy that his troops could bust through the gulley before enemy forces on the flanking ridges could tear the 13th Order apart with their support weapons.
As the Cardassians rushed through the last parts of the forest, the enemy's mortars opened fire. Bomblet shells exploded in the trees, ripping through flesh and wood alike. As the first cries of the wounded came, Luvar was amongst the men in the center companies, giving them encouragment and orders through the bombardment. He watched Glin Rudai go down, bomblet fragments in his ridged skull, and a younger Glin in charge of a Troop (Company) took over without a moment's hesitation. It made Luvar proud; every man knew his duty and performed it without pause.
The trees were past now and the Cardassians were racing downward toward the gulley over the open grass, rock, and dirt of the mountain. Those so assigned took up their captured heavy machine guns and mortars and set them up to pour fire upon the enemy in the distance. As they did so, mortar fire came down upon them as well, accompanied by the invisible threat of bullets and the all-too-visible particle charges of enemy rifles alike.
The Cardassians didn't just charge blindly. Men would go prone and take what cover they could when shots came around them. Some of the youngest men in the unit lost their heart, having never endured such heavy attack, and kept to their cover, only in some cases being pulled out of it by seeing their comrades, many of whom were from the same towns and provinces as they were, keep going.
For most Cardassians, the instinct was not to stop but to keep running, to go down only as long as was necessary to avoid getting hit before they kept going. The Cardassian machine gunners valiantly tried to suppress the enemy fire, though they were clearly not numerous enough to do so, but every enemy machine gunner forced to duck his head was one machine gun not firing.
As the Cardassian flanking Battle Groups (Battalions) tried hard to press against the dug-in enemy riflemen on the flanks guarding their mortar and machine gun platoons, Luvar led his dwindling number of fighting men down into the gulley. This was not the first charge in his life, but he knew in his heart it would be his last, so he gave a battle cry appropriate to his fatalistic mood. The words echoed amongst his men: "Du Pikat Cardassi!"
Their reply thundered down the gulley. "DU PIKAT CARDASSI!"
The Cardassians, despite their rising losses, were rushing into the gulley. Trewen noted with gratitude that the riflemen platoons on his flanks were successfully guarding the machine gunners and the mortars, who now opened up on the Cardassians as they rushed into the gulley, closing the distance quickly with the Black Watch from their hastily-prepared trenches. They were not solid defenses, as the soil in the gulley was thin, above a layer of hard mountain rock, so trenches were not very deep and men had to kneel in them to get any kind of protective cover.
The men of the Black Watch opened fire as the Cardassians came into range, the Cardassians giving them the same from soldiers who went prone. Trewen was with his men in the front trench, shots flying everywhere. From the flanks came mortar and machine gun fire from Trewen's support troops that were taking their toll on the enemy formations.
The Cardassians took cover where possible, taking advantage of grass where it was present, or of rocks growing out from the sides of the gulley. Their forward ranks were suddenly stopped when they stumbled into the hastily-formed minefield the Black Watch had put up about thirty yards from their main positions. The Cardassian mortars turned their attention to this minefield, even as they were finally coming under attack from Trewen's mortars, and the Cardassian troops quickly began tossing what grenades they had left into the field. Explosions erupted across the width of the gulley, and on Trewen's HUD he could see each mine disappear as it was detonated. The enemy would now be able to close.
Even before all of the mines were gone, Trewen bellowed the order "Fix bayonets!" His men hid any shock at the decision and instead slipped their diamond-coat bayonets onto their rifles. They had trained for this many times, even if it seemed so unlikely in a modern war. "Sound the quickmarch! Up, lads! Charge!"
"Huzzah!" was the cry that replied to Trewen's order. As one the men of the Black Watch that were in the gulley - numbering about seven hundred still - rose from their trenches, ignoring the raised dust from the enemy's detonation of their mines, and rushed forward. In their helmets the traditional quickmarch anthem of the Black Watch played, the Blue Bonnets ordering them onward as it had their ancestors in centuries past. Shoulder to shoulder, the gulley just wide enough to accomodate them like that in two rows, the Black Watch quickly closed the distance and crashed into the Cardassians.
Gul Luvar was quick to order his men forward as soon as it was clear that most of the enemy mines had been exploded. But no sooner had he stood up and ordered his men on into the thick dust that an alien cry had echoed in the gulley. He instinctively knew what was happening. "Charge men! For Cardassia!" he shouted, raising his weapon and firing into the dust before running forward. Most Cardassians only got a single shot off, wounding or killing some of the Black Watch before the two sides clashed together.
The dust was blinding, which was a disadvantage for the Cardassians, but Luvar knew if enough of his men could push through, their superior mass going downhill could force their way through the enemy. He opened his mouth and prepared for another shout of encouragement when a sharp pain struck his chest. He could hear a sucking sound and realized he'd been stabbed by something. A helmeted figure came through the dust, his rifle possessing a bladed end that was covered in blood that Luvar immediately realized was his own. Luvar tried to bring his rifle up to shoot the man, but his body lost all strength. He had been struck in the heart.
Falling over, Luvar did not take long to breathe his last, his final sensations being the pain in his body and the shouts and screams of his men.
Damar was further behind in the ranks and was probably one of the first to see Luvar fall. A savage howl came from his throat and he went forward, firing his rifle and shooting Luvar's killer square in the chest. The man fell over and likely died from the hit. Damar fired a second and third time and had about reached Luvar's body when a particle charge struck him in the hip. The pain shot up Damar's side and he collapsed. He looked up from where he'd fallen, about to fire again, when a boot struck him in the head from behind, and he lost consciousness.
Trewen's chest was on fire. No sooner had he plunged his bayonet into the first Cardassian he'd seen than an enemy shot had come out of the dust to strike him. He was on his back now, a Sergeant pulling him behind the line. His helmet's HUD displayed information from the medical sensors even as it summoned medics to his position, but Trewen - despite not being a doctor - knew that it would be too late. His lungs, his heart, his stomach, the high energy phaser blast had gotten though his armor and heavily damaged them all. There wasn't time. "Hold laddies! Push 'em back!" Trewen's cries became weaker and weaker after each.
He had the sensation of being lifted. Medics were rushing him back to be treated, but it was too late. Trewen silently breathed a prayer, asking God to see his men through to victory, and without more than a hard breath, he was dead.
Though both sides had lost their commanders, neither suffered immediately from it. The chain of command remained intact, and new officers gave orders, though they weren't much.
Now, after all this had begun, there were calls from Division HQ that artillery was in range, and they requested a grid-square for support. But no reply came. The battle was no longer to be decided by fire but by steel. The mass of desperate, undauned Cardassians pushed against the lines of the Black Watch, and though they bent, they did not break. The Black Watch held; the Cardassians pushed, even as they died by the dozens from the enemy machine guns above.
Even the mortars now silenced, not wanting to hurt comrades from misaiming, and instead the men who'd manned them took up their rifles and ran to join the companies on the flanks of the gulley ridge. Machine guns finished the silencing of the captured Cardassian weapons, and like a trap the two companies pivoted on the edge of the ridgeline and closed the gulley from the west, trapping the Cardassians - though only if the troops in the gulley held.
The battle became it's own. In the dust and blood, amidst the screams of dying foes and friends, the grand moral causes of the war no longer existed. It wasn't about protecting Cardassia, about liberating Bajor, or about avenging the dead, or even about the Honour of the Service and the Nation. It was about something for which neither side would easily yield. It was about the land, the soil. Not for it's natural worth, but for the fact that British or Cardassian blood had been spilled for it. On either side, with all wrapped up in the battle, there was no one willing to yield this precious land that friends had died to take or to hold. None gave the time to think about it, with all of their hearts now in the fight to stay alive and take or hold.
For several precious minutes it looked uncertain. The Cardassians were under withering fire from before and rear and their numerical advantage was steadily leaked away. Yet this, even the press of enemy infantry in their rear, only made the Cardassians that much more determined to press forward, where the men of the Black Watch stood amongst their slain with bayonets covered in Cardassian blood, thrusting and shooting, thrusting and shooting, their boots dug into the soil to hold firm as one dead Cardassian was replaced by another.
It did not become immediately apparent, particularly not for the men in that blood-soaked gulley who's task it was to thrust and shoot, but the Cardassian tide ebbed. There were too many dead now, men with bodies shredded by machine gun spray, scorched by particle charge, and ripped by bayonet, and the living could barely move forward as piled as the dead were. Finally a voice came calling surrender, with raised hands and discarded rifle. One surrender became two, which became three. Surviving Cardassian Groups surrendered here and there, covered in dust and the blood and gore of their slain comrades, many wounded in some way themselves. The order to cease firing came down from the Black Watch's company captains. Slowly, the dust settled in this unnamed gulley, now covered as it was in gore. The men of the Black Watch looked upon the carnage and were made speechless, for it was the greatest the regiment had seen in a great while.
Scattered in that gulley of their latest victory through the centuries were the bodies of about fifty-five hundred dead or dying Cardassians. Through the gulley and in the flanks above were another eighty-six, these the victorious dead of the Black Watch, with many more wounded. The medics were already coming in now, having called for helicopters and any other VTOL-capable craft to evac the wounded to the hospitals in the valley, and these wounded would in some cases live or die by their skill.
Even though their spirit had been splendid and they had fought with the valor demanded by their regiment's reputation, the men of the Black Watch knew that it was not the valor that had won the day, as the enemy's valor had been their match. It was their superior gear - unchivalrous and unfair as it was - that had saved their lives and won them the victory.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
-
Burak Gazan
- Jedi Council Member
- Posts: 1536
- Joined: 2002-12-30 07:45pm
- Location: Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
- Contact:
The Black Watch is still the Black Watch, whatever the Universe 
"Of course, what would really happen is that in Game 7, with the Red Sox winning 20-0 in the 9th inning, with two outs and two strikes on the last Cubs batter, a previously unseen meteor would strike the earth, instantly and forever wiping out all life on the planet, and forever denying the Red Sox a World Series victory..."
Capital City, Cardassia, Cardassian Union
18:10 GST
The chambers of the Detepa Council were far more spacious, ornamental, and splendid than the actual body. Once the center of government for Cardassia's old federation of industrial oligarchies, it was now a reduced legislature that acted as the rubber stamp for whatever the Central Command - or the Obsidian Order - desired. It's only "power" was that it was the arbiter between the two stronger branches of Cardassian government, and even then it's arbitration was often insincere and bought off by one faction or the other.
Loralo Puvek would change that today. Before him were the four hundred official members of the Detepa Council. They were "elected" by the leading citizens of all the provinces on Cardassia Prime. Almost all were former military, though in actuality these standard seats were not sought after by ambitious Cardassians - they were in fact considered a sign of the end of one's climb up the ladder of power. Again, something that Puvek would change.
"My fellow Cardassians," Puvek began, standing in front of the assembled Council Ministers who were the figurehead executives of the Cardassian government. "As I speak, our loyal soldiers are finding and arresting criminals within our defense forces who have caused this war for their own benefit, not that of Cardassia's! They have been denounced by those in the Central Command who can no longer bear to see our people suffer for their crimes! The time has come for us to make peace, to rebuild what we have lost, and to make a new path for the future prosperity of the Cardassian People."
"These men behind me, all of them loyal to the Central Command, have agreed. Gul Uvil Keve, the man in charge of the Central Command itself, has agreed. They have seen the corruption of men like Aamin Kelataza and Yatar Hergata ruin the Cardassian State. They know it must end. Even the Obsidian Order, who have always protected the leadership of Cardassia, have seen it's folly and have backed this step."
"I now ask you, members of the Detepa Council, to recognize me as your Minister."
Puvek was not well-liked, but the members of the Detepa Council liked what little influence and power they had, and they liked breathing as well. They could all see that key members of the military had, for whatever reason, backed Puvek, and so they did as they knew they were expected to. They unanimously elected Puvek to the post of Minister of the Detepa Council, making him the official head of the Cardassian State - a position formerly reserved to the leader of the Central Command.
San Francisco, Earth, United Federation of Planets
4 January 2154 AST
09:19 GST
It was morning in the city of San Francisco, and the daylight was shining through the windows of the Cardassian Embassy. Ambassador Kercet was alone in his office for the entire morning, reviewing paperwork and waiting for news from Central Command. He'd already heard through contacts that the Legate had been arrested, as had Gul Hergata, Gul Madred, and a number of others.
There was a tone at his monitor. Kercet pressed a key to open the encrypted channel and faced Loralo Puvek, whom he'd rarely met. "Well, hello Councilmember. How did you get the codes for this line?"
"There's been a change of government here on Cardassia Prime, Ambassador. I am now the Minister of the Detepa Council and the Central Command has given me authority to do what's necessary to end the war. I want you to give me the latest list of Alliance demands for an armistice. I need it immediately."
Kercet was very uncomfortable with this. "Um, very well, I'll do so immediately. Kercet out." He cut the line and quickly began opening a comm link to the Central Command. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.
He was batted around for the next several hours before someone finally gave him Gul Keve's chief of staff, Gul Imira. Imira was long suspected of having been Keve's lover - he was a life-long bachelor - and if it was true, he hoped she would quickly tell him what he needed to know. "I just got a call from Loralo Puvek saying he was the leader of the Cardassian government and wanting to know the Alliance's armistice demands," he explained.
"He is the leader of the Cardassian government," Imira replied testily, "and if you don't want to be made Ambassador to Breen, I suggest you do what you were told."
Kercet gulped. With complete disbelief, he went to work getting the list and having it transmitted back to Cardassia Prime.
18:10 GST
The chambers of the Detepa Council were far more spacious, ornamental, and splendid than the actual body. Once the center of government for Cardassia's old federation of industrial oligarchies, it was now a reduced legislature that acted as the rubber stamp for whatever the Central Command - or the Obsidian Order - desired. It's only "power" was that it was the arbiter between the two stronger branches of Cardassian government, and even then it's arbitration was often insincere and bought off by one faction or the other.
Loralo Puvek would change that today. Before him were the four hundred official members of the Detepa Council. They were "elected" by the leading citizens of all the provinces on Cardassia Prime. Almost all were former military, though in actuality these standard seats were not sought after by ambitious Cardassians - they were in fact considered a sign of the end of one's climb up the ladder of power. Again, something that Puvek would change.
"My fellow Cardassians," Puvek began, standing in front of the assembled Council Ministers who were the figurehead executives of the Cardassian government. "As I speak, our loyal soldiers are finding and arresting criminals within our defense forces who have caused this war for their own benefit, not that of Cardassia's! They have been denounced by those in the Central Command who can no longer bear to see our people suffer for their crimes! The time has come for us to make peace, to rebuild what we have lost, and to make a new path for the future prosperity of the Cardassian People."
"These men behind me, all of them loyal to the Central Command, have agreed. Gul Uvil Keve, the man in charge of the Central Command itself, has agreed. They have seen the corruption of men like Aamin Kelataza and Yatar Hergata ruin the Cardassian State. They know it must end. Even the Obsidian Order, who have always protected the leadership of Cardassia, have seen it's folly and have backed this step."
"I now ask you, members of the Detepa Council, to recognize me as your Minister."
Puvek was not well-liked, but the members of the Detepa Council liked what little influence and power they had, and they liked breathing as well. They could all see that key members of the military had, for whatever reason, backed Puvek, and so they did as they knew they were expected to. They unanimously elected Puvek to the post of Minister of the Detepa Council, making him the official head of the Cardassian State - a position formerly reserved to the leader of the Central Command.
San Francisco, Earth, United Federation of Planets
4 January 2154 AST
09:19 GST
It was morning in the city of San Francisco, and the daylight was shining through the windows of the Cardassian Embassy. Ambassador Kercet was alone in his office for the entire morning, reviewing paperwork and waiting for news from Central Command. He'd already heard through contacts that the Legate had been arrested, as had Gul Hergata, Gul Madred, and a number of others.
There was a tone at his monitor. Kercet pressed a key to open the encrypted channel and faced Loralo Puvek, whom he'd rarely met. "Well, hello Councilmember. How did you get the codes for this line?"
"There's been a change of government here on Cardassia Prime, Ambassador. I am now the Minister of the Detepa Council and the Central Command has given me authority to do what's necessary to end the war. I want you to give me the latest list of Alliance demands for an armistice. I need it immediately."
Kercet was very uncomfortable with this. "Um, very well, I'll do so immediately. Kercet out." He cut the line and quickly began opening a comm link to the Central Command. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.
He was batted around for the next several hours before someone finally gave him Gul Keve's chief of staff, Gul Imira. Imira was long suspected of having been Keve's lover - he was a life-long bachelor - and if it was true, he hoped she would quickly tell him what he needed to know. "I just got a call from Loralo Puvek saying he was the leader of the Cardassian government and wanting to know the Alliance's armistice demands," he explained.
"He is the leader of the Cardassian government," Imira replied testily, "and if you don't want to be made Ambassador to Breen, I suggest you do what you were told."
Kercet gulped. With complete disbelief, he went to work getting the list and having it transmitted back to Cardassia Prime.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Dulles Spaceport, Washington D.C., Alliance of Democratic Nations
Universe Designate HE-1
20:45 GST
The private government tarmac was abuzz with activity now that the sleek Sarna One had landed, the Lockheed-Douglas W-1340 emblazoned with the insignia of the Federated Commonwealth. Cameras rolled and journalists clamored at the security forcefields, further guarded by stern-faced Alliance Marines, as the band struck up the anthem of the Commonwealth and the reception's honor guard came to attention.
From the side hatch of the Sarna One came Archon Melissa Steiner, adorned beautifully in a flowing gown of ice-blue color with a jeweled tiara on her head. Aides and bodyguards followed her down to the tarmac and over to where a contingent of Alliance Marines awaited with President Mamatmas and a couple men from his own Presidential Security Service. "Madame Archon, welcome to Washington," Mamatmas said when she was close enough, using the method of address arranged prior to the meeting by their advisors.
"Mister President, a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Melissa's expression remained pleasant. "I've been looking forward to this visit for quite some time."
"As have I, Madame Archon."
The cameras followed as the two heads of state got into a limousine, and it slowly moved off, the flags of both powers fluttering on it's corners.
Inside the vehicle, Melissa and Mamatmas were arranged on opposing seats, flanked by their bodyguards. The windows were tinted one-way, allowing for them to look out but for no one to look in. "I've heard that this city was devastated on our Terra."
"So have I, but many cities were. ComStar provided a rather sobering example of what it is to be a sore loser." Mamatmas sat still, his hands folded in his lap. "It's a shame this visit had to come in wartime. The press will probably be hounding us both on details."
"Yes, it is a shame."
"Oh, I was asked by Ambassador Dresari to let you know that your daughter will be waiting for you at the Embassy. He had her doing field work at the subconsulate in Bern today."
Melissa nodded. "That's good to hear. I was hoping Katherine could learn from her time here."
There was a ringing tone at Mamatmas' side. He looked over and picked up the phone, it's light blinking red to show it was an encrypted call. It blinked green upon the sensors in the phone handle confirming his DNA via skin cell. "Hello?" Mamatmas listened to the voice on the other hand. He didn't react right away, though Melissa could see something important was being said. "Okay. Tell Parmika to keep us appraised. Orders will have to be sent out of this happens. Yes, it is good news. Mamatmas out."
"Good news?" asked Melissa.
"We've gotten more information on the coup that removed Legate Kelataza. The new leadership is under civilian control. They've agreed to all of our conditions for an armistice. A few details are being ironed out, but it'll likely happen in a few days. Even now Parmika's on his way to sign a ceasefire with Ambassador Kercet. It'll go into effect at 08:00 GST tomorrow."
"Absolutely wonderful!"
"I have to agree. Now we can get this bloody business over with." Mamatmas now reached down and got a bottle of wine, a fine champagne. "We'll be at the White House shortly, but I figured we have time for one glass." He settled two glasses upon the tray in the middle of the rear compartment and poured a bit into each, handing one glass to Melissa and keeping one for himself. "A toast to peace and prosperity, Madame Archon."
"To peace and prosperity, Mister President."
Universe Designate HE-1
20:45 GST
The private government tarmac was abuzz with activity now that the sleek Sarna One had landed, the Lockheed-Douglas W-1340 emblazoned with the insignia of the Federated Commonwealth. Cameras rolled and journalists clamored at the security forcefields, further guarded by stern-faced Alliance Marines, as the band struck up the anthem of the Commonwealth and the reception's honor guard came to attention.
From the side hatch of the Sarna One came Archon Melissa Steiner, adorned beautifully in a flowing gown of ice-blue color with a jeweled tiara on her head. Aides and bodyguards followed her down to the tarmac and over to where a contingent of Alliance Marines awaited with President Mamatmas and a couple men from his own Presidential Security Service. "Madame Archon, welcome to Washington," Mamatmas said when she was close enough, using the method of address arranged prior to the meeting by their advisors.
"Mister President, a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Melissa's expression remained pleasant. "I've been looking forward to this visit for quite some time."
"As have I, Madame Archon."
The cameras followed as the two heads of state got into a limousine, and it slowly moved off, the flags of both powers fluttering on it's corners.
Inside the vehicle, Melissa and Mamatmas were arranged on opposing seats, flanked by their bodyguards. The windows were tinted one-way, allowing for them to look out but for no one to look in. "I've heard that this city was devastated on our Terra."
"So have I, but many cities were. ComStar provided a rather sobering example of what it is to be a sore loser." Mamatmas sat still, his hands folded in his lap. "It's a shame this visit had to come in wartime. The press will probably be hounding us both on details."
"Yes, it is a shame."
"Oh, I was asked by Ambassador Dresari to let you know that your daughter will be waiting for you at the Embassy. He had her doing field work at the subconsulate in Bern today."
Melissa nodded. "That's good to hear. I was hoping Katherine could learn from her time here."
There was a ringing tone at Mamatmas' side. He looked over and picked up the phone, it's light blinking red to show it was an encrypted call. It blinked green upon the sensors in the phone handle confirming his DNA via skin cell. "Hello?" Mamatmas listened to the voice on the other hand. He didn't react right away, though Melissa could see something important was being said. "Okay. Tell Parmika to keep us appraised. Orders will have to be sent out of this happens. Yes, it is good news. Mamatmas out."
"Good news?" asked Melissa.
"We've gotten more information on the coup that removed Legate Kelataza. The new leadership is under civilian control. They've agreed to all of our conditions for an armistice. A few details are being ironed out, but it'll likely happen in a few days. Even now Parmika's on his way to sign a ceasefire with Ambassador Kercet. It'll go into effect at 08:00 GST tomorrow."
"Absolutely wonderful!"
"I have to agree. Now we can get this bloody business over with." Mamatmas now reached down and got a bottle of wine, a fine champagne. "We'll be at the White House shortly, but I figured we have time for one glass." He settled two glasses upon the tray in the middle of the rear compartment and poured a bit into each, handing one glass to Melissa and keeping one for himself. "A toast to peace and prosperity, Madame Archon."
"To peace and prosperity, Mister President."
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Kevima Valley, Bajor
Universe Designate ST-3
5 January 2154 AST
08:00 GST
The medical ward in the former base of the 13th Provisional Order was again in operation, with the Order's medical staff working with their Human counterparts to care for all who were there. The ward had been enlarged to control much of the base, in light of the hundreds of wounded from the fight in the Turoa Mountains the day before last.
It was just before dawn and Glin Damar was lying in his bed awake.. Six out of seven men that Gul Luvar had led out of the caves were dead now, including Luvar himself. Damar could remember his pain at seeing that great man fall, the anger he had that Gul Luvar's greatness would never be recognized by his own people.
A voice called out for their attention. It was Glin Duvar, the highest ranking officer to regain his health enough to be transferred out of the medical ward. Damar and those who could looked to the door. Duvar was standing there, the young officer's face still bearing the scar from mortar shrapnel that had imbedded itself below his right eye. "Good morning everyone," he said. "I've been asked by the Alliance commander here to inform all of you that, effective as of now, the Alliance and Cardassia have declared a ceasefire. Armistice negotiations are now beginning."
Some sighed, others merely grumbled or returned to their beds. Damar frowned and laid his head back once more. The Central Command had finally done what it was supposed to do, but it was too late for Gul Luvar and so many others.
Capital City, Cardassia, Cardassian Union
18:10 GST
Puvek was holding the first full meeting of his new government since the start of the ceasefire ten hours before. His second, Ukeney Jurel, was seated beside him, and to the other side was Gul Keve. Rofar Jurritza was the new representative of the Obsidian Order to Puvek's government. Other Ministers of government were also present, of course, and all of them new to their positions.
"I am pleased to report," began the new Justice Minister, Miya Surel, "that we have apprehended and placed into custody every official and officer named on the Alliance's list of suspected war criminals. They will be ready to be turned over to the Alliance in five to six days."
"Excellent news. What about the remaining Bajoran labor camps and Madred Villages?"
"They're being disassembled. The inhabitants are being moved to marshalling areas to be handed over to the Alliance, as well as those POWs we have from the Alliance and the Commonwealth."
Puvek nodded. "Everything is going well then."
"I must say, though, that the territorial issue is not a good one," Ukeney remarked. "We're letting the Alliance and Commonwealth keep all of the worlds they've occupied completely, not just the Bajoran systems and the five disputed systems on our border with the Alliance. I'm not sure this is tolerable."
"It will have to be. We don't have much choice. And if I might point out so, Ambassador Parmika's preliminary draft made clear that territorial issues beyond Bajoran territory and the five disputed systems will be decided during the negotiations for a peace treaty." Puvek put his hands together with a satisfied expression. "They will certainly be reasonable when they have what they want; Bajor and the leaders responsible for the atrocities committed in the name of the State. Now, we must discuss more pressing domestic matters..."
Washington D.C, Earth, Alliance of Democratic Nations
Universe Designate HE-1
6 January 2154 AST
14:15 GST
A late breakfast had been arranged for Mamatmas and his senior advisors. Rathbone, Nakamura, and Umachov were joined by outgoing Chancellor Montesque and Council Representatives Sir Kevin Maxwell-Fyfe (Britain SE-1), Tatanya Guseinev (Russia SE-1), and Elijah Weisbaum. The terms were given to all of them to read over.
"Aside from the systems that we had claim to and the Bajoran systems, the rest of the military zones will remain under official occupation zone status," Umachov was explaining, "until such a time as a peace treaty decides final territorial lines. Just this morning I received a note from New Avalon confirming the Commonwealth's acceptance to this term."
"Well, what worth are these systems aside from a buffer zone? We should use them to get further concessions from Cardassia in the official peace treaty," said Montesque.
Representative Guseinev beat the others to speaking. "Mister Chancellor, are there not millions of Cardassian dissidents, or half-Bajoran Cardassians who are not welcome in either place? We could hold these worlds to be homelands for them."
"Yes, we could provide a base for the Cardassian dissident movement to establish itself," was Maxwell-Fyfe's response. "One day they could very well finish the takeover of Cardassia and make it a respectable state."
Takahara shook her head. "I don't know if that's possible, Councilman. The nationalism of Cardassian society would make it too easy for their government to turn such a thing against the dissidents. They would be too closely linked to us for it to work."
"What I want to know is why." Weisbaum put a hand on the table. "We've beaten their fleet several times. They're on the ropes. Why are we going for this consolation prize when we could defeat the Cardassian Union utterly and force it's dissolvement?"
Everyone looked at Weisbaum. "Well, Councilman, we don't have the force right now," answered Rathbone. "We've lost over three hundred warships in the war, including a fair number of our existing battle line and one of our carriers. A couple hundred or so more are still layed up in the docks getting repaired. At current construction levels it will take us a few years to replace all of the losses, much less build up the further reserves we'd need to adequately control the Cardassian sectors and fulfill all other defense commentments. And we have enough of those as it is. If we try to push on, we'll only unleash chaos through that entire region."
"Is it better than throwing away the sacrifices of our servicemen? If we don't occupy Cardassia Prime and rebuild Cardassian society into a respectable model, our dead will have died for nothing."
"There are fourteen billion Bajorans who would feel otherwise, Councilman," Mamatmas replied. "I'm not going to jeopardize the security of the Alliance to continue the war unnecessarily just to satisfy your personal views on how the war should end. As soon as Parmika irons out the hard details, I am going to have him sign the armistice."
"You're making the same mistakes we have for so long," Weisbaum said in irritation. "Every generation we've had to deal with the fascists from Europe, or the aliens on our far frontiers, or other powers. And every time we win, and we restore things to status quo. And then our next generation of sons and daughters have to go and fight when the enemy attacks, as he inevitably does. The only way to guarantee peace, to end this cycle, is to crush criminal governments like the Cardassians and replace them with good ones committed to the fight against fascism. I will not accept this armistice. It is a mockery. You are condemning our children to fight Cardassia again in twenty years time."
Every remained silent. Weisbaum, having said his peace, nodded and stood. "Good day, Mister President, Mister Chancellor, everyone." He left with a brisk pace.
Sighing, Mamatmas looked to Takahara. "Do you think we'll be doing this again in twenty years?"
Takahara looked back at him and shook her head. "It depends on how long Puvek's new government lasts, but no, I don't think we'll have another war with Cardassia twenty years from now." Takahara shook her head, and then added, "It'll be in ten to fifteen years. Perhaps as little as eight if they rebuild quickly. Needless to say, Mister President, we must leave the future to tend to itself. At present, we need to accept this peace offer and end the war. It will let us focus on other problems, like rebuilding Bajor."
There were nods of agreement, at which the meeting continued on to other subjects.
Universe Designate ST-3
5 January 2154 AST
08:00 GST
The medical ward in the former base of the 13th Provisional Order was again in operation, with the Order's medical staff working with their Human counterparts to care for all who were there. The ward had been enlarged to control much of the base, in light of the hundreds of wounded from the fight in the Turoa Mountains the day before last.
It was just before dawn and Glin Damar was lying in his bed awake.. Six out of seven men that Gul Luvar had led out of the caves were dead now, including Luvar himself. Damar could remember his pain at seeing that great man fall, the anger he had that Gul Luvar's greatness would never be recognized by his own people.
A voice called out for their attention. It was Glin Duvar, the highest ranking officer to regain his health enough to be transferred out of the medical ward. Damar and those who could looked to the door. Duvar was standing there, the young officer's face still bearing the scar from mortar shrapnel that had imbedded itself below his right eye. "Good morning everyone," he said. "I've been asked by the Alliance commander here to inform all of you that, effective as of now, the Alliance and Cardassia have declared a ceasefire. Armistice negotiations are now beginning."
Some sighed, others merely grumbled or returned to their beds. Damar frowned and laid his head back once more. The Central Command had finally done what it was supposed to do, but it was too late for Gul Luvar and so many others.
Capital City, Cardassia, Cardassian Union
18:10 GST
Puvek was holding the first full meeting of his new government since the start of the ceasefire ten hours before. His second, Ukeney Jurel, was seated beside him, and to the other side was Gul Keve. Rofar Jurritza was the new representative of the Obsidian Order to Puvek's government. Other Ministers of government were also present, of course, and all of them new to their positions.
"I am pleased to report," began the new Justice Minister, Miya Surel, "that we have apprehended and placed into custody every official and officer named on the Alliance's list of suspected war criminals. They will be ready to be turned over to the Alliance in five to six days."
"Excellent news. What about the remaining Bajoran labor camps and Madred Villages?"
"They're being disassembled. The inhabitants are being moved to marshalling areas to be handed over to the Alliance, as well as those POWs we have from the Alliance and the Commonwealth."
Puvek nodded. "Everything is going well then."
"I must say, though, that the territorial issue is not a good one," Ukeney remarked. "We're letting the Alliance and Commonwealth keep all of the worlds they've occupied completely, not just the Bajoran systems and the five disputed systems on our border with the Alliance. I'm not sure this is tolerable."
"It will have to be. We don't have much choice. And if I might point out so, Ambassador Parmika's preliminary draft made clear that territorial issues beyond Bajoran territory and the five disputed systems will be decided during the negotiations for a peace treaty." Puvek put his hands together with a satisfied expression. "They will certainly be reasonable when they have what they want; Bajor and the leaders responsible for the atrocities committed in the name of the State. Now, we must discuss more pressing domestic matters..."
Washington D.C, Earth, Alliance of Democratic Nations
Universe Designate HE-1
6 January 2154 AST
14:15 GST
A late breakfast had been arranged for Mamatmas and his senior advisors. Rathbone, Nakamura, and Umachov were joined by outgoing Chancellor Montesque and Council Representatives Sir Kevin Maxwell-Fyfe (Britain SE-1), Tatanya Guseinev (Russia SE-1), and Elijah Weisbaum. The terms were given to all of them to read over.
"Aside from the systems that we had claim to and the Bajoran systems, the rest of the military zones will remain under official occupation zone status," Umachov was explaining, "until such a time as a peace treaty decides final territorial lines. Just this morning I received a note from New Avalon confirming the Commonwealth's acceptance to this term."
"Well, what worth are these systems aside from a buffer zone? We should use them to get further concessions from Cardassia in the official peace treaty," said Montesque.
Representative Guseinev beat the others to speaking. "Mister Chancellor, are there not millions of Cardassian dissidents, or half-Bajoran Cardassians who are not welcome in either place? We could hold these worlds to be homelands for them."
"Yes, we could provide a base for the Cardassian dissident movement to establish itself," was Maxwell-Fyfe's response. "One day they could very well finish the takeover of Cardassia and make it a respectable state."
Takahara shook her head. "I don't know if that's possible, Councilman. The nationalism of Cardassian society would make it too easy for their government to turn such a thing against the dissidents. They would be too closely linked to us for it to work."
"What I want to know is why." Weisbaum put a hand on the table. "We've beaten their fleet several times. They're on the ropes. Why are we going for this consolation prize when we could defeat the Cardassian Union utterly and force it's dissolvement?"
Everyone looked at Weisbaum. "Well, Councilman, we don't have the force right now," answered Rathbone. "We've lost over three hundred warships in the war, including a fair number of our existing battle line and one of our carriers. A couple hundred or so more are still layed up in the docks getting repaired. At current construction levels it will take us a few years to replace all of the losses, much less build up the further reserves we'd need to adequately control the Cardassian sectors and fulfill all other defense commentments. And we have enough of those as it is. If we try to push on, we'll only unleash chaos through that entire region."
"Is it better than throwing away the sacrifices of our servicemen? If we don't occupy Cardassia Prime and rebuild Cardassian society into a respectable model, our dead will have died for nothing."
"There are fourteen billion Bajorans who would feel otherwise, Councilman," Mamatmas replied. "I'm not going to jeopardize the security of the Alliance to continue the war unnecessarily just to satisfy your personal views on how the war should end. As soon as Parmika irons out the hard details, I am going to have him sign the armistice."
"You're making the same mistakes we have for so long," Weisbaum said in irritation. "Every generation we've had to deal with the fascists from Europe, or the aliens on our far frontiers, or other powers. And every time we win, and we restore things to status quo. And then our next generation of sons and daughters have to go and fight when the enemy attacks, as he inevitably does. The only way to guarantee peace, to end this cycle, is to crush criminal governments like the Cardassians and replace them with good ones committed to the fight against fascism. I will not accept this armistice. It is a mockery. You are condemning our children to fight Cardassia again in twenty years time."
Every remained silent. Weisbaum, having said his peace, nodded and stood. "Good day, Mister President, Mister Chancellor, everyone." He left with a brisk pace.
Sighing, Mamatmas looked to Takahara. "Do you think we'll be doing this again in twenty years?"
Takahara looked back at him and shook her head. "It depends on how long Puvek's new government lasts, but no, I don't think we'll have another war with Cardassia twenty years from now." Takahara shook her head, and then added, "It'll be in ten to fifteen years. Perhaps as little as eight if they rebuild quickly. Needless to say, Mister President, we must leave the future to tend to itself. At present, we need to accept this peace offer and end the war. It will let us focus on other problems, like rebuilding Bajor."
There were nods of agreement, at which the meeting continued on to other subjects.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Steve's got everything that was in this fic and more set out in history-book format in another thread. Thread's titled "The War That Wasn't" IIRC. Check that one out if you want to know, especially since I think he's planning to wrap this fic up soon now that the Winter War's winding down.dragon wrote:well at least they have 10 years to perpare for the cardies. Even though I wonder how the federation is going to react down the road.
Of course, I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong on that last part.
"I want to mow down a bunch of motherfuckers with absurdly large weapons and relative impunity - preferably in and around a skyscraper. Then I want to fight a grim battle against the unlikely duo of the Terminator and Robocop. The last level should involve (but not be limited to) multiple robo-Hitlers and a gorillasaurus rex."--Uraniun235 on his ideal FPS game
"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force."--Darth Vader
"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force."--Darth Vader
Turek Ikara, Yuvar, ADN Occupation Zone
Universe Designate ST-3
14:33 GST
Kellie was sitting alone in the eatery attached to the inn she was staying in, having a light meal while the armistice celebrations continued. This past week had been the hardest in her life, in which she had lost a lover and turned her back on her home, now set adrift in the wide cosmos to try and make her own way.
"May I have this seat?" The thinly-accented voice made Kellie look up. Kiyo Katayama was a reporter for IUNS that Kellie had met after arriving on Yuvar. She was not an embedded reporter, having been sent afterward to cover the domestic side of things on Yuvar. "Doing well, Kellie?"
"I'm glad to see the war over." Kellie stared at her drink for a long second. "Kyle was going to take me to an uncle's cabin up in the Kinleys on New Oregon."
"I'm very sorry for you. But remember, you did the right thing. Kyle would be very proud of what you've done." Kiyo took Kellie's hands. "I talked to my supervisor. He's very interested in you joining the Service."
"That would be great," Kellie said happily.
CDS Droumall, Marull System, Cardassian Union
14:45 GST
Gul Dukat was dining with his officers when the news of the armistice came. Emotions were mixed. There was relief that the fighting was over and Cardassia could rebuild. But there was also bitterness that Cardassia was giving up so much. Dukat listened to his men rave angrily about Loralo Puvek and smirked. Finally, one asked, "Gul, how could the Central Command support such a man coming to power? He's humiliated us all!"
"Calm yourself, Glin." Dukat nonchalantly set down a glass of kanar. "We must all recognize that the war had to be brought to an end before Cardassia's position deterioriated further. That Minister Puvek would be so brave as to put his political career and life on the line to accomplish that line should be something we recognize. Besides, would you rather that the Central Command had signed the armistice and not the head of our civilian government?"
The assembled officers looked at each other. They all knew the answer to that.
"Don't worry men, our day will come. We will heal our wounds, learn from this war and our mistakes, and then, one day, Cardassia will avenge this defeat."
The men nodded in agreement.
Parker City, New Liberty, ADN Colonial Zone
14:45 GST
In a non-descript farmhouse just inside the accepted city limits of Parker City, the Torcet family had now settled in to prepare for the day that an immigration court would decide on their fates. Vertal, now a widow with four children to raise in the midst of aliens and their ways, was fussing with Jorim and Laria over dinner while heart-broken Kerma sat alone in the living quarters. Samia was still with the family, ever the dutiful housekeeper despite Kerma's attempts to get her to return to her Bajoran family, and she was currently finishing the next meal.
Tarak came down from the upper floor bedroom he'd been given. Sympathetic Alliance citizens had given them amenities they'd never known on Cardassia. Advanced viewscreen units they called "televisions", one holovideo projector, cleaning machines, and a bright and colorful wardrobe that frankly hurt Kerma's eyes for all that her grandchildren loved it.
Finally turning on the "television" for the first time that day, Kerma watched as the news reported something that made her grow angry. Cardassia had signed an armistice with the Alliance. They'd done it now, now that her husband and her son were dead, that she and her family had been forced to flee, now that so many Cardassians had been lost, now they'd bothered to make peace?!
"Bastards!" Kerma screeched. "Bastards!"
Her cries brought the attention of the rest of the household. "Mother Kerma?" asked Vertal.
"They made peace! They made peace now, not when Relim was still alive! Why?! Why couldn't they have done it when he asked them?! It's not fair!" The old woman broke down into bitter sobs.
Ikila, Bajor
8 January 2154 AST
02:30 GST
The celebrations had broken out the previous night as the news broke across the city, every viewscreen displaying the image of the Alliance President and Commonwealth Archon declaring the armistice signed and the war over. Through the night they continued, all work on rebuilding nearly coming to a halt as the people danced and celebrated in the streets of Splendid Ikila, some of it's outskirts still bearing the scars of the uprising.
The next day, an impromptu parade broke out as those provisional units that had fought the Cardassians so long and hard in the uprising were paraded around. Their foreign officers and advisors remained in the background, allowing these men and women to enjoy the adulation they had earned from their courage. They were festooned with flowers and offered all sorts of treats and foods by their fellow Ikilans.
In the Great Temple's courtyard, thousands packed in to pray thanks to the Prophets for the end of the war and their final deliverance from Cardassia. Kai Opaka led the ceremony, with Opel Nevis given a place of honor and a stoic Anastasius Focht standing off to the side to witness.
As the day's activities went on, a transport ship landed at the spaceport, a crowd of people awaiting. They struggled forward, each trying to get a look at the people coming out of the ship as, row by row, Bajorans emerged in plain-clothes, looking somewhat unhealthy but better than they'd been. Jubilant relatives cried out names of loved ones who had been arrested and sent to the labor camps, freed by the Alliance weeks before and now, after their initial recovery, finally being returned home.
What developed was, for those watching, indescribable. As the new arrivals went through one final, very quick DNA check for identify confirmation, they were then sent through a gate at which the crowd was awaiting. Here relatives would see the former prisoners arriving and would run forward, tears streaming, at the sight of those they'd never dared hope to see again. One by one families were reunited with missing loved ones who had survived the worst cruelty of the Cardassians. Here a husband was tearfully embraced by a wife and young child crying without restraint; there, brothers and sister were reunited. Young women who had endured the merciless violation of their captors tearfully grabbed their weeping parents, seeking solace in their arms, parents who in turn cried happily at seeing their beloved daughters home again and alive. Widows were again happy wives, orphans regained parents, and parents too reclaimed their lost children; here, at this moment, all their suffering of years was forgotten in a swelling of joy that could not be measured. The years of suffering and terror were over; the future was finally bright.
In this grand reunion, participant and spectator alike could not restrain tears. The atmosphere of joy was unconquerable, inescapable; for the Bajorans here regaining their loved ones, against all odds, Hope, the comforter in danger and darkness, had prevailed.
And for those who were watching, those soldiers who had fought to bring about this occasion, there were tears. This was what so many of their countrymen and allies had died to achieve. The horrors of war had devoured so many thousands, but this was the result, this great and beautiful moment of healing and joy. It was a truth, now, plainly to see, that war itself was not the glory; the dying, the killing, the tension and terror, the fire and steel, was not glory. This moment was the glory that came from the hell of war. A noble outcome - the freeing of a people from a most odious and cruel bondage, the creating of a future where future generations would never know the terror and pain of the past - is where the glory lies. It is where history proclaims greatness. This was to be the glory and legacy of the Victorious Dead.
The war had ended, and by the arms of the Allied Nations, the Bajoran people became independent and free.
Universe Designate ST-3
14:33 GST
Kellie was sitting alone in the eatery attached to the inn she was staying in, having a light meal while the armistice celebrations continued. This past week had been the hardest in her life, in which she had lost a lover and turned her back on her home, now set adrift in the wide cosmos to try and make her own way.
"May I have this seat?" The thinly-accented voice made Kellie look up. Kiyo Katayama was a reporter for IUNS that Kellie had met after arriving on Yuvar. She was not an embedded reporter, having been sent afterward to cover the domestic side of things on Yuvar. "Doing well, Kellie?"
"I'm glad to see the war over." Kellie stared at her drink for a long second. "Kyle was going to take me to an uncle's cabin up in the Kinleys on New Oregon."
"I'm very sorry for you. But remember, you did the right thing. Kyle would be very proud of what you've done." Kiyo took Kellie's hands. "I talked to my supervisor. He's very interested in you joining the Service."
"That would be great," Kellie said happily.
CDS Droumall, Marull System, Cardassian Union
14:45 GST
Gul Dukat was dining with his officers when the news of the armistice came. Emotions were mixed. There was relief that the fighting was over and Cardassia could rebuild. But there was also bitterness that Cardassia was giving up so much. Dukat listened to his men rave angrily about Loralo Puvek and smirked. Finally, one asked, "Gul, how could the Central Command support such a man coming to power? He's humiliated us all!"
"Calm yourself, Glin." Dukat nonchalantly set down a glass of kanar. "We must all recognize that the war had to be brought to an end before Cardassia's position deterioriated further. That Minister Puvek would be so brave as to put his political career and life on the line to accomplish that line should be something we recognize. Besides, would you rather that the Central Command had signed the armistice and not the head of our civilian government?"
The assembled officers looked at each other. They all knew the answer to that.
"Don't worry men, our day will come. We will heal our wounds, learn from this war and our mistakes, and then, one day, Cardassia will avenge this defeat."
The men nodded in agreement.
Parker City, New Liberty, ADN Colonial Zone
14:45 GST
In a non-descript farmhouse just inside the accepted city limits of Parker City, the Torcet family had now settled in to prepare for the day that an immigration court would decide on their fates. Vertal, now a widow with four children to raise in the midst of aliens and their ways, was fussing with Jorim and Laria over dinner while heart-broken Kerma sat alone in the living quarters. Samia was still with the family, ever the dutiful housekeeper despite Kerma's attempts to get her to return to her Bajoran family, and she was currently finishing the next meal.
Tarak came down from the upper floor bedroom he'd been given. Sympathetic Alliance citizens had given them amenities they'd never known on Cardassia. Advanced viewscreen units they called "televisions", one holovideo projector, cleaning machines, and a bright and colorful wardrobe that frankly hurt Kerma's eyes for all that her grandchildren loved it.
Finally turning on the "television" for the first time that day, Kerma watched as the news reported something that made her grow angry. Cardassia had signed an armistice with the Alliance. They'd done it now, now that her husband and her son were dead, that she and her family had been forced to flee, now that so many Cardassians had been lost, now they'd bothered to make peace?!
"Bastards!" Kerma screeched. "Bastards!"
Her cries brought the attention of the rest of the household. "Mother Kerma?" asked Vertal.
"They made peace! They made peace now, not when Relim was still alive! Why?! Why couldn't they have done it when he asked them?! It's not fair!" The old woman broke down into bitter sobs.
Ikila, Bajor
8 January 2154 AST
02:30 GST
The celebrations had broken out the previous night as the news broke across the city, every viewscreen displaying the image of the Alliance President and Commonwealth Archon declaring the armistice signed and the war over. Through the night they continued, all work on rebuilding nearly coming to a halt as the people danced and celebrated in the streets of Splendid Ikila, some of it's outskirts still bearing the scars of the uprising.
The next day, an impromptu parade broke out as those provisional units that had fought the Cardassians so long and hard in the uprising were paraded around. Their foreign officers and advisors remained in the background, allowing these men and women to enjoy the adulation they had earned from their courage. They were festooned with flowers and offered all sorts of treats and foods by their fellow Ikilans.
In the Great Temple's courtyard, thousands packed in to pray thanks to the Prophets for the end of the war and their final deliverance from Cardassia. Kai Opaka led the ceremony, with Opel Nevis given a place of honor and a stoic Anastasius Focht standing off to the side to witness.
As the day's activities went on, a transport ship landed at the spaceport, a crowd of people awaiting. They struggled forward, each trying to get a look at the people coming out of the ship as, row by row, Bajorans emerged in plain-clothes, looking somewhat unhealthy but better than they'd been. Jubilant relatives cried out names of loved ones who had been arrested and sent to the labor camps, freed by the Alliance weeks before and now, after their initial recovery, finally being returned home.
What developed was, for those watching, indescribable. As the new arrivals went through one final, very quick DNA check for identify confirmation, they were then sent through a gate at which the crowd was awaiting. Here relatives would see the former prisoners arriving and would run forward, tears streaming, at the sight of those they'd never dared hope to see again. One by one families were reunited with missing loved ones who had survived the worst cruelty of the Cardassians. Here a husband was tearfully embraced by a wife and young child crying without restraint; there, brothers and sister were reunited. Young women who had endured the merciless violation of their captors tearfully grabbed their weeping parents, seeking solace in their arms, parents who in turn cried happily at seeing their beloved daughters home again and alive. Widows were again happy wives, orphans regained parents, and parents too reclaimed their lost children; here, at this moment, all their suffering of years was forgotten in a swelling of joy that could not be measured. The years of suffering and terror were over; the future was finally bright.
In this grand reunion, participant and spectator alike could not restrain tears. The atmosphere of joy was unconquerable, inescapable; for the Bajorans here regaining their loved ones, against all odds, Hope, the comforter in danger and darkness, had prevailed.
And for those who were watching, those soldiers who had fought to bring about this occasion, there were tears. This was what so many of their countrymen and allies had died to achieve. The horrors of war had devoured so many thousands, but this was the result, this great and beautiful moment of healing and joy. It was a truth, now, plainly to see, that war itself was not the glory; the dying, the killing, the tension and terror, the fire and steel, was not glory. This moment was the glory that came from the hell of war. A noble outcome - the freeing of a people from a most odious and cruel bondage, the creating of a future where future generations would never know the terror and pain of the past - is where the glory lies. It is where history proclaims greatness. This was to be the glory and legacy of the Victorious Dead.
The war had ended, and by the arms of the Allied Nations, the Bajoran people became independent and free.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue 1
The First Crack
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." - The American Declaration of Independence
Dionisotti, Nova Savona, United Federation of Planets
Universe Designate ST-3
12 January 2154 AST
The Savonard Parliament was in full attendance and joint session, including representatives from the mining colonies in the Altare and Vado systems and the farming colony in the Quiliano system. Every man and woman waited silently as the Prime Minister of Nova Savona, a middle-aged man named Silvio Bergomi, came up, President Maria Capuletti beside him. Though they could not hear it, all knew that there were thousands of Savonards in the streets outside the Republic's capital of Dionsotti that were waiting to see what course the Republic of Nova Savona would take. Among those were people who remembered the terror of the Cardassian raid over two decades before and younger people orphaned by it or the Cardassian war with the Federation.
The Prime Minister introduced President Capuletti, who returned to the podium. She had been widowed by the Rape of Nova Savona, her younger sons and daughter having only been spared by having been place with her in a bunker; her eldest daughter had been run down in the streets of Dionisotti by the Cardassian raiders, stripped and gang-raped, and left for dead, pregnant with a child from one of her attackers that the strict Catholicism of the Capulettis had spared from abortion. With a voice almost hoarse with angry emotion, Capuletti spoke.
"My people, fellow Savonards, we have all been thankful to see so many of our countrymen freed from Cardassian bondage by the might of the Allied Nations. Cardassia has been humbled, and because the Alliance has held firm and driven them from Bajor, Cardassia no longer poses such a threat to us as it has in the past."
With fire in her brown eyes, Capuletti continued. "But this war has also revealed to us the decadence, the perfidiousness, of our so-called federates on Earth. The people back on Earth, on Andor, on Alpha Centauri, turned their backs on us as the Cardassians raped our daughters and ravaged our homes twenty years ago, though even now their envoys demand from us nearly half of our yearly wealth so that the people back in the Core can live without work or worry. They steal from us yearly and promise us defense that they never give. They left us to fend for ourselves for all of those horrible years, leaving us in constant terror of Cardassian aggressions."
"Now, we find out that they forgot of us and many others when making their peace with the Cardassians. They abandoned our countrymen and other citizens of the colonies to Cardassian enslavement in the name of making a faster peace! And had it not been for the bravery of the Allied Nations' soldiers, our countrymen would have been slaughtered by the Cardassians in the ultimate act of inhumanity, just to keep them from being liberated and brought home!"
"And while the Alliance fought to free Bajor and the Federation colonists held in Cardassian slavery and to avenge Cardassian brutality, the Federation didn't just stand aside, but it openly sympathized with the Cardassians! The people in the Core worlds believe that Cardassian murderers are the victims, and the liberators of the Allied Nations the murderers. The victims of Cardassia are again forgotten by the self-centered lazy mobs of Earth and the other Core Worlds, the ones who have robbed us for so long and now abandon us to the attacks of alien empires."
"This has been the final insult. We can no longer justify silence now that we have seen the horrors our missing countrymen have had to endure these past twenty years while the Federation coddled their tormentors. Introduced for the consideration of this Parliament is a resolution of the greatest weight. With your approval, and the approval fo the Savonard people, the Republic of Nova Savona will sever all political ties with the United Federation of Planets and assert our sovereignty as an independent interstellar State!"
A roar came from the Parliament. Prime Minister Bergomi returned to the podium. "Order in the Parliament! Order!" They began to quiet down and did so long enough for Bergomi to ask for the formal vote.
It was overwhelming.
On that day, 12 January 2154 AST, the Interstellar Republic of Nova Savona officially declared it's independence, becoming the first government in decades to secede from the United Federation of Planets.
The First Crack
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." - The American Declaration of Independence
Dionisotti, Nova Savona, United Federation of Planets
Universe Designate ST-3
12 January 2154 AST
The Savonard Parliament was in full attendance and joint session, including representatives from the mining colonies in the Altare and Vado systems and the farming colony in the Quiliano system. Every man and woman waited silently as the Prime Minister of Nova Savona, a middle-aged man named Silvio Bergomi, came up, President Maria Capuletti beside him. Though they could not hear it, all knew that there were thousands of Savonards in the streets outside the Republic's capital of Dionsotti that were waiting to see what course the Republic of Nova Savona would take. Among those were people who remembered the terror of the Cardassian raid over two decades before and younger people orphaned by it or the Cardassian war with the Federation.
The Prime Minister introduced President Capuletti, who returned to the podium. She had been widowed by the Rape of Nova Savona, her younger sons and daughter having only been spared by having been place with her in a bunker; her eldest daughter had been run down in the streets of Dionisotti by the Cardassian raiders, stripped and gang-raped, and left for dead, pregnant with a child from one of her attackers that the strict Catholicism of the Capulettis had spared from abortion. With a voice almost hoarse with angry emotion, Capuletti spoke.
"My people, fellow Savonards, we have all been thankful to see so many of our countrymen freed from Cardassian bondage by the might of the Allied Nations. Cardassia has been humbled, and because the Alliance has held firm and driven them from Bajor, Cardassia no longer poses such a threat to us as it has in the past."
With fire in her brown eyes, Capuletti continued. "But this war has also revealed to us the decadence, the perfidiousness, of our so-called federates on Earth. The people back on Earth, on Andor, on Alpha Centauri, turned their backs on us as the Cardassians raped our daughters and ravaged our homes twenty years ago, though even now their envoys demand from us nearly half of our yearly wealth so that the people back in the Core can live without work or worry. They steal from us yearly and promise us defense that they never give. They left us to fend for ourselves for all of those horrible years, leaving us in constant terror of Cardassian aggressions."
"Now, we find out that they forgot of us and many others when making their peace with the Cardassians. They abandoned our countrymen and other citizens of the colonies to Cardassian enslavement in the name of making a faster peace! And had it not been for the bravery of the Allied Nations' soldiers, our countrymen would have been slaughtered by the Cardassians in the ultimate act of inhumanity, just to keep them from being liberated and brought home!"
"And while the Alliance fought to free Bajor and the Federation colonists held in Cardassian slavery and to avenge Cardassian brutality, the Federation didn't just stand aside, but it openly sympathized with the Cardassians! The people in the Core worlds believe that Cardassian murderers are the victims, and the liberators of the Allied Nations the murderers. The victims of Cardassia are again forgotten by the self-centered lazy mobs of Earth and the other Core Worlds, the ones who have robbed us for so long and now abandon us to the attacks of alien empires."
"This has been the final insult. We can no longer justify silence now that we have seen the horrors our missing countrymen have had to endure these past twenty years while the Federation coddled their tormentors. Introduced for the consideration of this Parliament is a resolution of the greatest weight. With your approval, and the approval fo the Savonard people, the Republic of Nova Savona will sever all political ties with the United Federation of Planets and assert our sovereignty as an independent interstellar State!"
A roar came from the Parliament. Prime Minister Bergomi returned to the podium. "Order in the Parliament! Order!" They began to quiet down and did so long enough for Bergomi to ask for the formal vote.
It was overwhelming.
On that day, 12 January 2154 AST, the Interstellar Republic of Nova Savona officially declared it's independence, becoming the first government in decades to secede from the United Federation of Planets.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
-
Agent Fisher
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 3671
- Joined: 2003-04-29 11:56pm
- Location: Sac-Town, CA, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Universe
Epilogue 2
Building the Future
"The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed." - Thucydides 2.43.2 (The Funeral Oration of Pericles)
Ikila, Bajor
8 April 2154 AST
The people of Ikila gathered this day at the Great Temple to witness an event that surpassed the prior week's visit of Pope Gregory XIX, as they watched the President of the Allied Nations ascend the raised stage at the Temple and head to the podium. Alliance citizens - journalists, soldiers, aid workers - were all assembled with the Bajorans to watch as President Mamatmas began to speak.
His speech was one of the more inspired ones he'd given. Starting off he listed the accomplishments of the rebuilding process so far. The environmental damage being corrected, the rebuilding of destroyed towns and cities, the slow and steady re-settlement of the millions upon millions of refugees scattered across the planet into permanent homes, either the rebuilt towns or the "new towns" being built up beside the camps.
"As the Allied Nations and the Bajoran people struggle, together, to build a better tomorrow for the generations to come, we must remember the sacrifices of those who fell to make this possible. I speak of the sacrifices of the brave who, loving life, still offered it as the price for the advancement of freedom for all sentient races. Bajor today is free from the blood of her patriots and lovers of freedom, men and women who gave up everything they were for the promise of the brighter tomorrow. They transcended themselves, and any flaws they may have had as individuals, with their sacrifices. For this, we will never forget them, and they will live on in the memories of those who live on in the beautiful world that we, here, are so close to building. It will be our responsibility to maintain that world, their legacy to us, to honor their sacrifices. And I believe we will."
"Before I leave, I would like to now honor some of those still living for their deeds."
Stepping away from the podium, Mamatmas walked up to a line of Bajoran figures. He took from an aide an object and walked up to a Bajoran man. "Shakaar Edon, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
The former Resistance leader accepted the medal as it was placed into his hands by Mamatmas, a disc of gold with the Alliance torch and stars etched onto it, the name of the recepient and the awarding President's signature etched into the back of the disc.
From there, Mamatmas continued down to a young woman. "Jorma Gedys, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
He moved on. "Vedek Bariel Antos..." was his next awardee, followed by another vedek, and then a community leader. The leaders of Verta and Salmio were presented, then Opel Nevis.
Standing face to face with a red-haired young woman wearing a crisp Marine's uniform, a new kind of medal was handed to Mamatmas. "Kira Nerys, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Valor." Kira was handed a disc-shaped latinum medal with the Alliance torch insignia in the center oversetting a shield, itself oversetting crossed swords. An inscription along the borders of the disc read Virtutis Gloria Merces: "Glory is the reward of Valor". On the back, her name and Mamatmas' signature had been engraved.
Smiling now, Mamatmas stepped past the line. "Last, but not least," he said, turning to an individual who had been courteously standing to the side, "it is my honor to present to you, Kai Opaka, the Medal of Freedom."
Opaka accepted the award humbly. She then exchanged a handshake with Mamatmas to the cheers of the assembled. And so was the day's activities done; Mamatmas had seen for himself the progress being made in restoring Bajor, and the healing of the long-festering wounds of the Occupation. With so much that might have gone wrong and soured the liberation of the Bajoran people, dooming them to further bloodshed and poverty, to see the entire world united in the purpose of guaranteeing their future prosperity was a heartening thing.
It was the middle of April, and the Bajoran Spring was in full bloom.
Building the Future
"The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed." - Thucydides 2.43.2 (The Funeral Oration of Pericles)
Ikila, Bajor
8 April 2154 AST
The people of Ikila gathered this day at the Great Temple to witness an event that surpassed the prior week's visit of Pope Gregory XIX, as they watched the President of the Allied Nations ascend the raised stage at the Temple and head to the podium. Alliance citizens - journalists, soldiers, aid workers - were all assembled with the Bajorans to watch as President Mamatmas began to speak.
His speech was one of the more inspired ones he'd given. Starting off he listed the accomplishments of the rebuilding process so far. The environmental damage being corrected, the rebuilding of destroyed towns and cities, the slow and steady re-settlement of the millions upon millions of refugees scattered across the planet into permanent homes, either the rebuilt towns or the "new towns" being built up beside the camps.
"As the Allied Nations and the Bajoran people struggle, together, to build a better tomorrow for the generations to come, we must remember the sacrifices of those who fell to make this possible. I speak of the sacrifices of the brave who, loving life, still offered it as the price for the advancement of freedom for all sentient races. Bajor today is free from the blood of her patriots and lovers of freedom, men and women who gave up everything they were for the promise of the brighter tomorrow. They transcended themselves, and any flaws they may have had as individuals, with their sacrifices. For this, we will never forget them, and they will live on in the memories of those who live on in the beautiful world that we, here, are so close to building. It will be our responsibility to maintain that world, their legacy to us, to honor their sacrifices. And I believe we will."
"Before I leave, I would like to now honor some of those still living for their deeds."
Stepping away from the podium, Mamatmas walked up to a line of Bajoran figures. He took from an aide an object and walked up to a Bajoran man. "Shakaar Edon, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
The former Resistance leader accepted the medal as it was placed into his hands by Mamatmas, a disc of gold with the Alliance torch and stars etched onto it, the name of the recepient and the awarding President's signature etched into the back of the disc.
From there, Mamatmas continued down to a young woman. "Jorma Gedys, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
He moved on. "Vedek Bariel Antos..." was his next awardee, followed by another vedek, and then a community leader. The leaders of Verta and Salmio were presented, then Opel Nevis.
Standing face to face with a red-haired young woman wearing a crisp Marine's uniform, a new kind of medal was handed to Mamatmas. "Kira Nerys, I hereby present you with the Presidential Medal of Valor." Kira was handed a disc-shaped latinum medal with the Alliance torch insignia in the center oversetting a shield, itself oversetting crossed swords. An inscription along the borders of the disc read Virtutis Gloria Merces: "Glory is the reward of Valor". On the back, her name and Mamatmas' signature had been engraved.
Smiling now, Mamatmas stepped past the line. "Last, but not least," he said, turning to an individual who had been courteously standing to the side, "it is my honor to present to you, Kai Opaka, the Medal of Freedom."
Opaka accepted the award humbly. She then exchanged a handshake with Mamatmas to the cheers of the assembled. And so was the day's activities done; Mamatmas had seen for himself the progress being made in restoring Bajor, and the healing of the long-festering wounds of the Occupation. With so much that might have gone wrong and soured the liberation of the Bajoran people, dooming them to further bloodshed and poverty, to see the entire world united in the purpose of guaranteeing their future prosperity was a heartening thing.
It was the middle of April, and the Bajoran Spring was in full bloom.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue 3
Restoration
Imperial Plaza, Cardassia Prime, Cardassian Union
27 April 2154 AST
Throngs of Cardassians cheered wildly as a single man, surrounded by soldiers, entered the plaza toward the prepared raised dais. This man, Gul Skrain Dukat, was now being hailed as a hero, the man who had stopped the Tsen'kethi invasion and advance on Cardassia Prime and thus saved Cardassia from alien conquest. With a somber look on his face, Dukat accepted the adulation of the crowd.
"My fellow Cardassians, I am honored by your welcome, truly. Without you and your sacrifices, it would not have been possible to stop the Tsen'kethi invasion. Cardassia, as a whole, is the true victor, and through victory we have retained our Union and regained our greatness. Cardassia has now broken the might of the Tsen'kethi Imperium and has reclaimed it's place in this region of the galaxy."
"For all that we have done, we might still have been defeated." Frowning, Dukat pointed a finger toward the capital complex. "Loralo Puvek and his criminals nearly destroyed our strength. They surrendered to the Alliance, the killers of our children that, I remind you, murdered millions of Cardassian civilians and gave Bajoran terrorists a sanctuary from which they can continue to murder more Cardassians. Instead of rebuilding the military, they sought to disarm Cardassia - despite all of her many enemies! - and make Cardassia like the Federation, whom Puvek admires and seeks to emulate. I have not one doubt that Puvek sought to subvert Cardassia and have it absorbed by the Federation! We would have maintained our sovereignty against the strength of the Alliance just to give it away to the Federation! Well, I cannot remain silent on this matter anymore. Puvek's stupidity has now become treason! I denounce Puvek and his stupidity! I denounce his government, for they are all traitors! And if the Detepa Council does not have the fortitude to see his treason and remove him, I will have no choice but to consider them traitors to Cardassia as well!"
The crowd roared their approval. The military men agreed as well.
Seeing this disasterous event unfold from his office, all that Loralo Puvek could do was ignomiously call home and have his wife get ready to flee. She and his children would later be beamed aboard a private Vulcan trading ship that Puvek secured for himself and his closest allies to flee in.
Within hours, even before his departure for the Federation and exile, the Detepa Councils tripped Puvek of his post. Uvil Keve was recognized as the new Legate of the Cardassian Union, and the Central Command and Obsidian Order again took control of the Cardassian State.
Restoration
Imperial Plaza, Cardassia Prime, Cardassian Union
27 April 2154 AST
Throngs of Cardassians cheered wildly as a single man, surrounded by soldiers, entered the plaza toward the prepared raised dais. This man, Gul Skrain Dukat, was now being hailed as a hero, the man who had stopped the Tsen'kethi invasion and advance on Cardassia Prime and thus saved Cardassia from alien conquest. With a somber look on his face, Dukat accepted the adulation of the crowd.
"My fellow Cardassians, I am honored by your welcome, truly. Without you and your sacrifices, it would not have been possible to stop the Tsen'kethi invasion. Cardassia, as a whole, is the true victor, and through victory we have retained our Union and regained our greatness. Cardassia has now broken the might of the Tsen'kethi Imperium and has reclaimed it's place in this region of the galaxy."
"For all that we have done, we might still have been defeated." Frowning, Dukat pointed a finger toward the capital complex. "Loralo Puvek and his criminals nearly destroyed our strength. They surrendered to the Alliance, the killers of our children that, I remind you, murdered millions of Cardassian civilians and gave Bajoran terrorists a sanctuary from which they can continue to murder more Cardassians. Instead of rebuilding the military, they sought to disarm Cardassia - despite all of her many enemies! - and make Cardassia like the Federation, whom Puvek admires and seeks to emulate. I have not one doubt that Puvek sought to subvert Cardassia and have it absorbed by the Federation! We would have maintained our sovereignty against the strength of the Alliance just to give it away to the Federation! Well, I cannot remain silent on this matter anymore. Puvek's stupidity has now become treason! I denounce Puvek and his stupidity! I denounce his government, for they are all traitors! And if the Detepa Council does not have the fortitude to see his treason and remove him, I will have no choice but to consider them traitors to Cardassia as well!"
The crowd roared their approval. The military men agreed as well.
Seeing this disasterous event unfold from his office, all that Loralo Puvek could do was ignomiously call home and have his wife get ready to flee. She and his children would later be beamed aboard a private Vulcan trading ship that Puvek secured for himself and his closest allies to flee in.
Within hours, even before his departure for the Federation and exile, the Detepa Councils tripped Puvek of his post. Uvil Keve was recognized as the new Legate of the Cardassian Union, and the Central Command and Obsidian Order again took control of the Cardassian State.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue 4
A Momentary Peace
Oakland, Earth, United Federation of Planets
19 January 2155 AST
VIPs had gathered in the large auditorium of the Starfleet Academy annex in Oakland to see the final signing of the treaty that had taken so long to negotiate. On the side of the Coalition Powers sat their chief representatives; the Allied Nations' John Land, American Secretary of State from the USA (Universe DN-9) who had led the Coalition negotiation team; the Federated Commonwealth's Marshal Arden Sortek, who had headed the staff of military advisors for the negotiations; the Saint Ives Compact's Kuan-Yin Allard Liao, who had acted as the general secretary for the delegation; and Bajor's Li Nalas, a famed Resistance hero who had been freed from a Cardassian labor camp after the war and had been sent to represent Bajor's interests in the negotiations. On the Cardassian side sat Legate Tekeny Ghemor, one of the half dozen high officials in Central Command to be granted the title Legate by Keve's reforms, and those of his staff who were counterparts to the Coalition delegation.
The Federation head of the Diplomatic Secretariat, a mild-mannered Human named Valerie Tuckmann, oversaw the handing out of copies of the peace treaty, which the assembled then signed.
Seated amongst the crowd, Jean-Luc Picard and his officers observed with interest the various personalities on the stage as they took their pens and each signed a copy of the treaty, upon which the copies were rotated and signatures made again, until each copy of the peace treaty had been signed by all signatories. When this was finished, Tuckmann stood and prompted the two delegations to do the same, after which each member shook the hands of his opposite. At this, the observers stood and began applauding.
Almost imperceptibly, Lt. Cmdr. Data whispered to his Captain, "By my estimates, I believe this treaty will be broken by Stardate 52594.3, Sir."
Picard frowned.
The Treaty of Oakland, now signed, guaranteed the independence and neutrality of Bajor in the affairs of the Alpha Quadrant Powers, to be protected by all signatories. To guarantee the neutrality, the Alliance presence was being reduced to advisors for the new Bajoran government and a five-year Federation presence would be established in the new space station built by Alliance companies to replace Terok Nor. Though no one knew it at the moment, this space station - currently simply called the Bajoran Orbital Station - would soon be given a new designation by the Federation: Deep Space Nine.
A Momentary Peace
Oakland, Earth, United Federation of Planets
19 January 2155 AST
VIPs had gathered in the large auditorium of the Starfleet Academy annex in Oakland to see the final signing of the treaty that had taken so long to negotiate. On the side of the Coalition Powers sat their chief representatives; the Allied Nations' John Land, American Secretary of State from the USA (Universe DN-9) who had led the Coalition negotiation team; the Federated Commonwealth's Marshal Arden Sortek, who had headed the staff of military advisors for the negotiations; the Saint Ives Compact's Kuan-Yin Allard Liao, who had acted as the general secretary for the delegation; and Bajor's Li Nalas, a famed Resistance hero who had been freed from a Cardassian labor camp after the war and had been sent to represent Bajor's interests in the negotiations. On the Cardassian side sat Legate Tekeny Ghemor, one of the half dozen high officials in Central Command to be granted the title Legate by Keve's reforms, and those of his staff who were counterparts to the Coalition delegation.
The Federation head of the Diplomatic Secretariat, a mild-mannered Human named Valerie Tuckmann, oversaw the handing out of copies of the peace treaty, which the assembled then signed.
Seated amongst the crowd, Jean-Luc Picard and his officers observed with interest the various personalities on the stage as they took their pens and each signed a copy of the treaty, upon which the copies were rotated and signatures made again, until each copy of the peace treaty had been signed by all signatories. When this was finished, Tuckmann stood and prompted the two delegations to do the same, after which each member shook the hands of his opposite. At this, the observers stood and began applauding.
Almost imperceptibly, Lt. Cmdr. Data whispered to his Captain, "By my estimates, I believe this treaty will be broken by Stardate 52594.3, Sir."
Picard frowned.
The Treaty of Oakland, now signed, guaranteed the independence and neutrality of Bajor in the affairs of the Alpha Quadrant Powers, to be protected by all signatories. To guarantee the neutrality, the Alliance presence was being reduced to advisors for the new Bajoran government and a five-year Federation presence would be established in the new space station built by Alliance companies to replace Terok Nor. Though no one knew it at the moment, this space station - currently simply called the Bajoran Orbital Station - would soon be given a new designation by the Federation: Deep Space Nine.
Last edited by Steve on 2006-01-20 02:29am, edited 1 time in total.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue 5
The Judgement
"The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated." - Justice Robert Jackson, Opening Statement at the 1st Nuremburg Trial
Gorkon City, Khitomer, Alliance of Democratic Nations
4 March 2155 AST
The Palace of Justice, once the central building of Camp Khitomer where James Kirk had saved the President of the Federation from a Starfleet assassin and the Khitomer Accords had been signed, had been rebuilt and refurbished for just this purpose. Now, twenty-eight Cardassians who had once been officials of the Cardassian Union were seated in the dock.
The tribunal was made up of seven judges. Two were provided by the Federation, a concession to ensure acceptance of the trial results across the Quadrant and from the hope that this trial would lead to a more permanent standard of interstellar justice. Two were from the Alliance, and three had been brought in from neutral states in other universes; one from the Free Worlds League, one from the Habsburg Confederation of Universe AGC-1, with the president of the tribunal being a worker caste elder of the Minbari Federation. The wizened old Minbari man was seated in the middle, his gavel wrapping upon the tribunal's table.
This prompted everyone to sit. The four prosecution teams; one each from the Federated Commonwealth, Saint Ives Compact, Bajor, and the Allied Nations, they were led by the head of the Allied Nations' prosecution, the ever-eloquent Sir Gregory Lowell who had been British Attorney General for many years before his first retirement and was known recently as the successful defense counsel for the Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky. Lowell had delivered excellent, well-crafted statements to open and close the trial, having directed an acclaimed prosecution that was equal in the parts the other delegations played and efficient in it's presentation of evidence.
Now, after over three weeks of deliberations, the seven justices returned with their verdicts. Kruvisall, the President of the tribunal, informed them to stand when called to hear the determination of the tribunal, and if guilty on any of the charges, the sentence to be imposed. The four charges, as he explained, were "conspiracy to commit aggression, the commission of aggression, crimes in the conduct of warfare, and crimes against sentience".
And so the sentences were handed down.
"Aamin Kelataza, this tribunal finds you guilty on all four counts, and sentences you to death by hanging."
"Yatar Hergata, this tribunal finds you guilty on all four counts, and sentences you to death by hanging."
The Habsburg judge took her turn now, her voice thick with her Austrian accent.
"Refimo Tapal, guilty on counts one, two, and four. This tribunal sentences you to death by hanging."
And so the charges continued. Ziyal Loskal, the other last surviving member of the Political Advisory Board that had started the war, was convicted of the first and fourth counts and sentenced to life imprisonment. Gul Koral, the last prefect of Bajor, was convicted of charges 3 and 4 and sentenced to death. One of the Alliance judges, an American, pronounced the death sentence of the feared head of the Military Interrogators, Gul Madred, who frowned in disgust, having been convicted of Counts 3 and 4 for his torture of prisoners and the villages and facilities he had given his name to. The Commandant of the Rupek Labor Camp was sentenced to hang for Count 4. His counterpart at Gallitep received the same. Gul Severak, who had been captured along with his elite troops after their failed assault on Ikila, was convicted of Count 3 for his troops' unhindered murdering of Bajoran civilians in the combat zone and given life in prison.
In the end, of twenty-eight defendents, fifteen were sentenced to death on the strength of the evidence against them for atrocities, and all but two more received life or lengthy prison sentences. One, the head of the Cardassian Press, was given a conviction on Count 1 for his participation in supporting attacks on Alliance shipping, and only one - Loska's chief of staff - was acquitted for the lack of strong evidence against her.
The tribunal's job done, it was adjourned. One of the Federation judges would later claim to their State Press that he had refused to vote for any death sentence and would denounce the trial as "planned murder", but nevertheless, the trial was the first of it's kind in the Alpha Quadrant, and would provide a standard to be used again in the future.
The Judgement
"The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated." - Justice Robert Jackson, Opening Statement at the 1st Nuremburg Trial
Gorkon City, Khitomer, Alliance of Democratic Nations
4 March 2155 AST
The Palace of Justice, once the central building of Camp Khitomer where James Kirk had saved the President of the Federation from a Starfleet assassin and the Khitomer Accords had been signed, had been rebuilt and refurbished for just this purpose. Now, twenty-eight Cardassians who had once been officials of the Cardassian Union were seated in the dock.
The tribunal was made up of seven judges. Two were provided by the Federation, a concession to ensure acceptance of the trial results across the Quadrant and from the hope that this trial would lead to a more permanent standard of interstellar justice. Two were from the Alliance, and three had been brought in from neutral states in other universes; one from the Free Worlds League, one from the Habsburg Confederation of Universe AGC-1, with the president of the tribunal being a worker caste elder of the Minbari Federation. The wizened old Minbari man was seated in the middle, his gavel wrapping upon the tribunal's table.
This prompted everyone to sit. The four prosecution teams; one each from the Federated Commonwealth, Saint Ives Compact, Bajor, and the Allied Nations, they were led by the head of the Allied Nations' prosecution, the ever-eloquent Sir Gregory Lowell who had been British Attorney General for many years before his first retirement and was known recently as the successful defense counsel for the Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky. Lowell had delivered excellent, well-crafted statements to open and close the trial, having directed an acclaimed prosecution that was equal in the parts the other delegations played and efficient in it's presentation of evidence.
Now, after over three weeks of deliberations, the seven justices returned with their verdicts. Kruvisall, the President of the tribunal, informed them to stand when called to hear the determination of the tribunal, and if guilty on any of the charges, the sentence to be imposed. The four charges, as he explained, were "conspiracy to commit aggression, the commission of aggression, crimes in the conduct of warfare, and crimes against sentience".
And so the sentences were handed down.
"Aamin Kelataza, this tribunal finds you guilty on all four counts, and sentences you to death by hanging."
"Yatar Hergata, this tribunal finds you guilty on all four counts, and sentences you to death by hanging."
The Habsburg judge took her turn now, her voice thick with her Austrian accent.
"Refimo Tapal, guilty on counts one, two, and four. This tribunal sentences you to death by hanging."
And so the charges continued. Ziyal Loskal, the other last surviving member of the Political Advisory Board that had started the war, was convicted of the first and fourth counts and sentenced to life imprisonment. Gul Koral, the last prefect of Bajor, was convicted of charges 3 and 4 and sentenced to death. One of the Alliance judges, an American, pronounced the death sentence of the feared head of the Military Interrogators, Gul Madred, who frowned in disgust, having been convicted of Counts 3 and 4 for his torture of prisoners and the villages and facilities he had given his name to. The Commandant of the Rupek Labor Camp was sentenced to hang for Count 4. His counterpart at Gallitep received the same. Gul Severak, who had been captured along with his elite troops after their failed assault on Ikila, was convicted of Count 3 for his troops' unhindered murdering of Bajoran civilians in the combat zone and given life in prison.
In the end, of twenty-eight defendents, fifteen were sentenced to death on the strength of the evidence against them for atrocities, and all but two more received life or lengthy prison sentences. One, the head of the Cardassian Press, was given a conviction on Count 1 for his participation in supporting attacks on Alliance shipping, and only one - Loska's chief of staff - was acquitted for the lack of strong evidence against her.
The tribunal's job done, it was adjourned. One of the Federation judges would later claim to their State Press that he had refused to vote for any death sentence and would denounce the trial as "planned murder", but nevertheless, the trial was the first of it's kind in the Alpha Quadrant, and would provide a standard to be used again in the future.
Last edited by Steve on 2006-01-20 02:40am, edited 1 time in total.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue 6
The New Course of History
Ikila, Bajor
27 March 2155 AST
Nearly a year after the crowds had come to see President Nicolas Mamatmas give his speech from the Great Temple, the crowds were now gathered at the new complex built in one of the few areas of eastern Ikila destroyed by Cardassian troops mere hours before they were driven from the city by Alliance troops.
Inside the complex, though with recorders showing the proceedings to the crowds outside, representatives from each Bajoran province, from each historically autonomous area and from each recognized ethnic group, as well as those from the other worlds, gathered together and one by one affixed their signatures to a massive series of documents that had been laid out on a beautifully-crafted table donated by the Great Temple for the ceremony. VIPs were watching from the balconys, including several Alliance high officers who had participated in the war now a year past and, alone amongst them, the Federation's senior officer on station: Commander Benjamin Sisko, the new Starfleet commander of the space station Deep Space Nine that had been just recently moved to hold the opening to the galaxy's first known stable wormhole.
When the signatures had been finished, there remained but one, and that was the one of the man who had led the Constitutional Congress as it's President. Opel Nevis, to the encouragement of the crowd, stood from where he'd been seated by the one-eyed Anastasius Focht - soon to be invested as Bajor's first Marshal of the Armies - and walked to the table. "I am proud to be here at this moment," he admitted. "For years I never thought it possible. But through sacrifice and perserverance, the Bajoran people are finally free, and will now have a government most attuned to their needs, and able to ensure their continued freedom and prosperity." Opel picked up a pen and, in Latin script, wrote down his name.
Cheers and applause came now. Outside of the building was more of the same, and across Bajor, people stayed up to all hours of the night to hear the news of what would be one of the greatest days in their lives; the day that the Bajoran Republic was born.
Sukar Juvik, Mapakar, ADN Colonial Zone (Cardassian Autonomous Region)
19 June 2155 AST
Nearly three months after the founding of the Bajoran Republic, a ceremony much more subdued in tone was taking place in the large city of Sukar Juvik on Mapakar. Mapakar, like the thirty other systems that Cardassia had given up to the Alliance (not counting the five that had been disputed before the war), was now home to the Cardassian dissidents who had, during Puvek's brief rule and then after the restoration of military control of the Cardassian State, moved or fled from their homes, the first taking advantage of Puvek's kinder rule and the later ones being banished or otherwise expelled from Cardassia on pain of imprisonment or death.
Some took up residence in the new Cardassian March of the Federated Commonwealth, ruled from Pelikar and now including all the worlds that had been in the FedCom OZ after the war. Most, however, preferred not to be ruled by Yulain Horvon and his lackies and alien overseers, so they instead chose to move to what became the "Cardassian Autonomous Region" of the ADN Colonial Zone.
Among those millions of Cardassians was Damar. He was a changed man from the one who had survived the Battle of the Turoa Mountains. After the war, he had been forced to see his former commander given the final betrayal of literally being left behind; Gul Luvar's body had not been requested by the Cardassian authorities for return. He would have been left alone if not for the unexpected decision of authorities of the Kevima Valley to allow Luvar's body to be buried in their land, a great gesture of gratitude by the people of the valley for the protection and justice Luvar had provided them during the Occupation. Damar could remember that day well, just before he and the other survivors were repatriated, when they were asked to lead the funeral procession. They had been given uncharged Cardassian rifles to carry for the procession, the frayed and damaged battle standard of the 13th Provisional Order draped over Luvar's coffin as it was carried in a wagon pulled by two horses through the streets and to Luvar's resting place.
The Royal Black Watch, the very men who had killed Luvar and most of his men on that bloody morning, had joined the procession, providing the soldiers for a 21 gun salute, an armed honor guard, and pipers who played martial Human music during the procession and burial. Damar had never been so moved, yet so angered, in his life, to see the enemy honoring Gul Luvar as if he were one of their own while the Cardassian government had forgotten him.
Returning home, Damar had begun to speak for Luvar, giving addresses and speeches to Cardassians who would listen to encourage them to take up Luvar's dream of a new Cardassian government "of the people, by the people, for the people". It had been tolerated under Puvek's rule, but when Puvek was removed, Damar became just another enemy of the State. He and his family had been arrested, his wife had been beaten and had lost the child she was carrying, and to force him to sign a document denouncing Gul Luvar's memory and some of his other comrades from the fight who had taken up the cause, the Obsidian Order had tortured his son to the point of paralysis and near-death. From there had come the standard "trial" and the court's sentence; death, commuted to life banishment. And so he and his family had been packed in with other dissidents and sent to the Autonomous Region.
Those hard days behind, Damar had joined the debates and arguments for what kind of government should rule the Cardassian worlds outside of the Alliance's claimed systems. He had argued with local colonial leaders who promoted a colony-centric view - they cared nothing for Cardassia's fate, caring more for the soil on which they and their families lived and toiled - as well as Socialists who had supported Puvek and wanted to create a "Cardassian Peoples' State" modeled after the Federation, or rather what some more extreme elements wanted the Federation to be like. Damar had argued with them all and every variation between, gathering his own supporters from those Cardassians who had fled or been expelled and from those in the colonies who still loved Cardassia and distrusted the "Federationist" Socialists.
And now he and his Nationalist-Republicans had won. Here, with delegates from every municipality in all the worlds of the Autonomous Region, a Constitution was to be signed. It incorporated many of Luvar's dreams, that of a government that, for all of it's similiarities to alien governments, nevertheless possessed a character that was wholly Cardassian and based on Cardassian values. There was some compromises with the colonial-minded, and a couple of concessions to the Socialists (whom Damar darkly suspected as having some support from the Federation or at least people within it), but these could not be avoided, and Damar knew his own inexperience in government function enough to willingly accept input from supporter and rival alike.
Signing now on behalf of the Rutak community on Jurivar, whom Damar represented in the Constitutional Assembly, Damar was soon asked by his supporters to speak.
"Fellow Cardassians, today we have embarked on a course full of peril but also promise," he began, remembering something Luvar had said. "Unlike our countrymen on Cardassia Prime, we here have decided that the People should rule the State, not the State rule the People. That government must be made to serve the public trust, and trust in the maintainance of our society placed in Cardassians themselves."
"On Cardassia now, the Central Command is likely sneering. The Obsidian Order will, I have no doubt, plot maliciously to seed our government with agents and sow chaos amongst us. But we must remain firm. We must keep our trust in ourselves and our people, who have never shirked from their duty, their devotion to their families and Cardassia. Cardassians have always been willing to sacrifice everything for the good of all, and we will now prove that we do not need the State to force us to. With your help, we will build a new State that will guarantee the security, the safety, the happiness of the Cardassian People. And, with fortune, perhaps one day, all of Cardassia will be united under this Constitution, and Cardassia will again take it's place among the civilized powers of the Alpha Quadrant as a great nation with a great people. I hope for this with all of my heart. In time I hope to convince those of you who disagree to feel the same way."
"Our future begins today, my fellow Cardassians. Let's get to work."
In the cheers that answered him, the Cardassian Republic was truly born.
The New Course of History
Ikila, Bajor
27 March 2155 AST
Nearly a year after the crowds had come to see President Nicolas Mamatmas give his speech from the Great Temple, the crowds were now gathered at the new complex built in one of the few areas of eastern Ikila destroyed by Cardassian troops mere hours before they were driven from the city by Alliance troops.
Inside the complex, though with recorders showing the proceedings to the crowds outside, representatives from each Bajoran province, from each historically autonomous area and from each recognized ethnic group, as well as those from the other worlds, gathered together and one by one affixed their signatures to a massive series of documents that had been laid out on a beautifully-crafted table donated by the Great Temple for the ceremony. VIPs were watching from the balconys, including several Alliance high officers who had participated in the war now a year past and, alone amongst them, the Federation's senior officer on station: Commander Benjamin Sisko, the new Starfleet commander of the space station Deep Space Nine that had been just recently moved to hold the opening to the galaxy's first known stable wormhole.
When the signatures had been finished, there remained but one, and that was the one of the man who had led the Constitutional Congress as it's President. Opel Nevis, to the encouragement of the crowd, stood from where he'd been seated by the one-eyed Anastasius Focht - soon to be invested as Bajor's first Marshal of the Armies - and walked to the table. "I am proud to be here at this moment," he admitted. "For years I never thought it possible. But through sacrifice and perserverance, the Bajoran people are finally free, and will now have a government most attuned to their needs, and able to ensure their continued freedom and prosperity." Opel picked up a pen and, in Latin script, wrote down his name.
Cheers and applause came now. Outside of the building was more of the same, and across Bajor, people stayed up to all hours of the night to hear the news of what would be one of the greatest days in their lives; the day that the Bajoran Republic was born.
Sukar Juvik, Mapakar, ADN Colonial Zone (Cardassian Autonomous Region)
19 June 2155 AST
Nearly three months after the founding of the Bajoran Republic, a ceremony much more subdued in tone was taking place in the large city of Sukar Juvik on Mapakar. Mapakar, like the thirty other systems that Cardassia had given up to the Alliance (not counting the five that had been disputed before the war), was now home to the Cardassian dissidents who had, during Puvek's brief rule and then after the restoration of military control of the Cardassian State, moved or fled from their homes, the first taking advantage of Puvek's kinder rule and the later ones being banished or otherwise expelled from Cardassia on pain of imprisonment or death.
Some took up residence in the new Cardassian March of the Federated Commonwealth, ruled from Pelikar and now including all the worlds that had been in the FedCom OZ after the war. Most, however, preferred not to be ruled by Yulain Horvon and his lackies and alien overseers, so they instead chose to move to what became the "Cardassian Autonomous Region" of the ADN Colonial Zone.
Among those millions of Cardassians was Damar. He was a changed man from the one who had survived the Battle of the Turoa Mountains. After the war, he had been forced to see his former commander given the final betrayal of literally being left behind; Gul Luvar's body had not been requested by the Cardassian authorities for return. He would have been left alone if not for the unexpected decision of authorities of the Kevima Valley to allow Luvar's body to be buried in their land, a great gesture of gratitude by the people of the valley for the protection and justice Luvar had provided them during the Occupation. Damar could remember that day well, just before he and the other survivors were repatriated, when they were asked to lead the funeral procession. They had been given uncharged Cardassian rifles to carry for the procession, the frayed and damaged battle standard of the 13th Provisional Order draped over Luvar's coffin as it was carried in a wagon pulled by two horses through the streets and to Luvar's resting place.
The Royal Black Watch, the very men who had killed Luvar and most of his men on that bloody morning, had joined the procession, providing the soldiers for a 21 gun salute, an armed honor guard, and pipers who played martial Human music during the procession and burial. Damar had never been so moved, yet so angered, in his life, to see the enemy honoring Gul Luvar as if he were one of their own while the Cardassian government had forgotten him.
Returning home, Damar had begun to speak for Luvar, giving addresses and speeches to Cardassians who would listen to encourage them to take up Luvar's dream of a new Cardassian government "of the people, by the people, for the people". It had been tolerated under Puvek's rule, but when Puvek was removed, Damar became just another enemy of the State. He and his family had been arrested, his wife had been beaten and had lost the child she was carrying, and to force him to sign a document denouncing Gul Luvar's memory and some of his other comrades from the fight who had taken up the cause, the Obsidian Order had tortured his son to the point of paralysis and near-death. From there had come the standard "trial" and the court's sentence; death, commuted to life banishment. And so he and his family had been packed in with other dissidents and sent to the Autonomous Region.
Those hard days behind, Damar had joined the debates and arguments for what kind of government should rule the Cardassian worlds outside of the Alliance's claimed systems. He had argued with local colonial leaders who promoted a colony-centric view - they cared nothing for Cardassia's fate, caring more for the soil on which they and their families lived and toiled - as well as Socialists who had supported Puvek and wanted to create a "Cardassian Peoples' State" modeled after the Federation, or rather what some more extreme elements wanted the Federation to be like. Damar had argued with them all and every variation between, gathering his own supporters from those Cardassians who had fled or been expelled and from those in the colonies who still loved Cardassia and distrusted the "Federationist" Socialists.
And now he and his Nationalist-Republicans had won. Here, with delegates from every municipality in all the worlds of the Autonomous Region, a Constitution was to be signed. It incorporated many of Luvar's dreams, that of a government that, for all of it's similiarities to alien governments, nevertheless possessed a character that was wholly Cardassian and based on Cardassian values. There was some compromises with the colonial-minded, and a couple of concessions to the Socialists (whom Damar darkly suspected as having some support from the Federation or at least people within it), but these could not be avoided, and Damar knew his own inexperience in government function enough to willingly accept input from supporter and rival alike.
Signing now on behalf of the Rutak community on Jurivar, whom Damar represented in the Constitutional Assembly, Damar was soon asked by his supporters to speak.
"Fellow Cardassians, today we have embarked on a course full of peril but also promise," he began, remembering something Luvar had said. "Unlike our countrymen on Cardassia Prime, we here have decided that the People should rule the State, not the State rule the People. That government must be made to serve the public trust, and trust in the maintainance of our society placed in Cardassians themselves."
"On Cardassia now, the Central Command is likely sneering. The Obsidian Order will, I have no doubt, plot maliciously to seed our government with agents and sow chaos amongst us. But we must remain firm. We must keep our trust in ourselves and our people, who have never shirked from their duty, their devotion to their families and Cardassia. Cardassians have always been willing to sacrifice everything for the good of all, and we will now prove that we do not need the State to force us to. With your help, we will build a new State that will guarantee the security, the safety, the happiness of the Cardassian People. And, with fortune, perhaps one day, all of Cardassia will be united under this Constitution, and Cardassia will again take it's place among the civilized powers of the Alpha Quadrant as a great nation with a great people. I hope for this with all of my heart. In time I hope to convince those of you who disagree to feel the same way."
"Our future begins today, my fellow Cardassians. Let's get to work."
In the cheers that answered him, the Cardassian Republic was truly born.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
Epilogue - Final Note
"For all that the Winter War changed the Alpha Quadrant, it today is considered to be overshadowed by the larger wars that have been fought since. From 2160 to early 2163, the wars against the Dominion - allied to a revanchist Cardassia - and New Plymouth Colony in Universe CON-5 occurred over much greater spaces and caused greater damage, death, and dislocation than any historical wars prior. The Second Battle of Darane, at the time considered the greatest naval clash in history, was grossly overshadowed a mere eight years later at the decisive Battle of Alpha Paternis, the three week holocaust that saw the destruction of 10,000 Dominion warships and about 3,000 Alliance; twice as many lost ships as there had been combatants on both sides at Second Darane. The disaster of losing ten divisions to the Cardassian spoiling attack on New Year's Eve '53 was magnified ten times by the destruction of Convoy P-111953 by the Dominion fleet, which saw two million Alliance troops wiped out in space. The outstanding slaughter of Cardassian forces on Bajor in December '53 by a million man Alliance invasion force, which won despite their five to one disadvantage, pales in comparison to the victory of the eight million Alliance troops that invaded Ju'turi nine years afterward and crushed a Jem'Hadar defending force sixty times their size in a matter of just two weeks.
The Plymouth War saw a far greater number of great decisive naval clashes and is renowned now for the naval genius on both sides; few students of naval history care for the clash of Kevem and Lewis at Second Darane, or Kentworth's great stroke at the Prodigal that destroyed Gul Ivirak and his Cardassian Third Fleet, when compared to the battles between Martyn and Cradock at Second Queensville, Pronai and O'Bannon at New Salem, or Zhang and Cochrane at Ganzhou. The liberation of 14 billion Bajorans and thousands of Federation citizens doesn't compare, numerically, to the liberation of over a trillion people in Devenshire and New Plymouth, of trillions more following the Second War of the Grand Alliance that saw the defeat of the Domain in Universe WR-22, much less the liberation of the entire Gamma Quadrant from the Dominion.
Yet the Winter War has left a long legacy that far outweights it's now miniscule battles. It was the Winter War that first displayed for the entire Alpha Quadrant the hollowness of Cardassian power and stability. It was the first of a new kind of war, a war in which firepower at all levels was proven important, and showed that Alpha Quadrant nations could no longer rely solely upon their fleets to win their wars; they needed infantry, tanks, and anti-starship planetary artillery too.
It also gave the Alliance a moral edge that it has not lost at the same time as it revaled the Federation's horrible duplicity. The Allied Nations proved they could wage war brutally but also proved they could be magnanimous in victory and uninterested in mere territorial aggrandizement. Perhaps the land-grabbing of Hanse Davion and his expansionists provided a contrast that couldn't be ignored. History's verdict is still out on that issue.
What history has ruled is that it was the first nail in the coffin for the Federation, proving it's government's inability to protect it's own people and exciting the tensions between the Core and Colony worlds in the process. It established the Alliance as an alternative for the colonies, which Nova Savona would be the first to take. By revealing the Federation's failures, it set that government on the road to ruin.
The greatest impact was on Bajor. The Bajoran people remember the War of Liberation more strongly than any other people, even those who liberated them. Even their own contribution to the victory over the Dominion - the stalwart defense of the Wormhole with the few hundreds of the fledgling Bajoran Star Navy that cost the Dominion their reinforcement armada from the Gamma Quadrant, or the crack Bajoran Marines that took the Central Command during the invasion of Cardassia Prime in 2161 and prevented the destruction of many important records - has not overcome the memory of the Liberation, which is celebrated yearly in the Liberation Festival from December 2nd to January 7th.
For me, the war is one I grew up hearing of as a 'Child of the Liberation'. My parents met during the war when my father was stationed on Darane, and the memories of the war remain with them to this day. They encouraged me to learn about the war, leading to my present occupation as a historian, so it's true that the Winter War led both to my career and my very life.
A moment now to reflect upon the title. For most historians, the word 'crusade' conjures images of great armored European knights marching through desert, or the brutal sacks of Jerusalem, Acre, and Constantinople. These brutal wars of religion scarred generations of Humans on both sides, and as late as the 21st Century in some timelines, the use of the word 'Crusade' to describe the fight against Islamic extremist-inspired terror was used to justify that very conflict by Wahhabist leaders and figures like Osama bin Laden.
Yet words can outgrow their original meanings. Languages from many races are filled with terms and words that once meant something and now have a completely different meaning, such as the word 'blueprint'. 'Crusade' is one such word, as it has grown beyond it's original meaning related to the holy wars of medieval Christendom versus Islam to a struggle for a good, just cause - my above example of it's use in the 21st Century shows just one example.
Crusades are no longer about vicious wars against infidels. They are, to the common man, about wars of moral purpose, to free the unfree, stop and avenge atrocity, and destroy tyranny. It is with that meaning in mind that I have named this book, a history of the war that brought about my birth. In my heart, I believe that the war to free Bajor from Cardassian rule was a crusade, and I am grateful every day for the sacrifices that led to it's success.
This book is dedicated to my beloved parents; my mother Valys and my father Russell. I am forever grateful for them for teaching me about my common American and Bajoran heritage and introducing me to my love of history." - Introduction to "The First Modern Crusade: The War to Liberate Bajor" by Dr. Kesha Cornheiser, Professor of Modern History at the University of Darane-Umiral
"For all that the Winter War changed the Alpha Quadrant, it today is considered to be overshadowed by the larger wars that have been fought since. From 2160 to early 2163, the wars against the Dominion - allied to a revanchist Cardassia - and New Plymouth Colony in Universe CON-5 occurred over much greater spaces and caused greater damage, death, and dislocation than any historical wars prior. The Second Battle of Darane, at the time considered the greatest naval clash in history, was grossly overshadowed a mere eight years later at the decisive Battle of Alpha Paternis, the three week holocaust that saw the destruction of 10,000 Dominion warships and about 3,000 Alliance; twice as many lost ships as there had been combatants on both sides at Second Darane. The disaster of losing ten divisions to the Cardassian spoiling attack on New Year's Eve '53 was magnified ten times by the destruction of Convoy P-111953 by the Dominion fleet, which saw two million Alliance troops wiped out in space. The outstanding slaughter of Cardassian forces on Bajor in December '53 by a million man Alliance invasion force, which won despite their five to one disadvantage, pales in comparison to the victory of the eight million Alliance troops that invaded Ju'turi nine years afterward and crushed a Jem'Hadar defending force sixty times their size in a matter of just two weeks.
The Plymouth War saw a far greater number of great decisive naval clashes and is renowned now for the naval genius on both sides; few students of naval history care for the clash of Kevem and Lewis at Second Darane, or Kentworth's great stroke at the Prodigal that destroyed Gul Ivirak and his Cardassian Third Fleet, when compared to the battles between Martyn and Cradock at Second Queensville, Pronai and O'Bannon at New Salem, or Zhang and Cochrane at Ganzhou. The liberation of 14 billion Bajorans and thousands of Federation citizens doesn't compare, numerically, to the liberation of over a trillion people in Devenshire and New Plymouth, of trillions more following the Second War of the Grand Alliance that saw the defeat of the Domain in Universe WR-22, much less the liberation of the entire Gamma Quadrant from the Dominion.
Yet the Winter War has left a long legacy that far outweights it's now miniscule battles. It was the Winter War that first displayed for the entire Alpha Quadrant the hollowness of Cardassian power and stability. It was the first of a new kind of war, a war in which firepower at all levels was proven important, and showed that Alpha Quadrant nations could no longer rely solely upon their fleets to win their wars; they needed infantry, tanks, and anti-starship planetary artillery too.
It also gave the Alliance a moral edge that it has not lost at the same time as it revaled the Federation's horrible duplicity. The Allied Nations proved they could wage war brutally but also proved they could be magnanimous in victory and uninterested in mere territorial aggrandizement. Perhaps the land-grabbing of Hanse Davion and his expansionists provided a contrast that couldn't be ignored. History's verdict is still out on that issue.
What history has ruled is that it was the first nail in the coffin for the Federation, proving it's government's inability to protect it's own people and exciting the tensions between the Core and Colony worlds in the process. It established the Alliance as an alternative for the colonies, which Nova Savona would be the first to take. By revealing the Federation's failures, it set that government on the road to ruin.
The greatest impact was on Bajor. The Bajoran people remember the War of Liberation more strongly than any other people, even those who liberated them. Even their own contribution to the victory over the Dominion - the stalwart defense of the Wormhole with the few hundreds of the fledgling Bajoran Star Navy that cost the Dominion their reinforcement armada from the Gamma Quadrant, or the crack Bajoran Marines that took the Central Command during the invasion of Cardassia Prime in 2161 and prevented the destruction of many important records - has not overcome the memory of the Liberation, which is celebrated yearly in the Liberation Festival from December 2nd to January 7th.
For me, the war is one I grew up hearing of as a 'Child of the Liberation'. My parents met during the war when my father was stationed on Darane, and the memories of the war remain with them to this day. They encouraged me to learn about the war, leading to my present occupation as a historian, so it's true that the Winter War led both to my career and my very life.
A moment now to reflect upon the title. For most historians, the word 'crusade' conjures images of great armored European knights marching through desert, or the brutal sacks of Jerusalem, Acre, and Constantinople. These brutal wars of religion scarred generations of Humans on both sides, and as late as the 21st Century in some timelines, the use of the word 'Crusade' to describe the fight against Islamic extremist-inspired terror was used to justify that very conflict by Wahhabist leaders and figures like Osama bin Laden.
Yet words can outgrow their original meanings. Languages from many races are filled with terms and words that once meant something and now have a completely different meaning, such as the word 'blueprint'. 'Crusade' is one such word, as it has grown beyond it's original meaning related to the holy wars of medieval Christendom versus Islam to a struggle for a good, just cause - my above example of it's use in the 21st Century shows just one example.
Crusades are no longer about vicious wars against infidels. They are, to the common man, about wars of moral purpose, to free the unfree, stop and avenge atrocity, and destroy tyranny. It is with that meaning in mind that I have named this book, a history of the war that brought about my birth. In my heart, I believe that the war to free Bajor from Cardassian rule was a crusade, and I am grateful every day for the sacrifices that led to it's success.
This book is dedicated to my beloved parents; my mother Valys and my father Russell. I am forever grateful for them for teaching me about my common American and Bajoran heritage and introducing me to my love of history." - Introduction to "The First Modern Crusade: The War to Liberate Bajor" by Dr. Kesha Cornheiser, Professor of Modern History at the University of Darane-Umiral
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
-
Edward Yee
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 3395
- Joined: 2005-07-31 06:48am
...
*just applause...*
(Oh, and what's the next fic? ^_^ )
*just applause...*
(Oh, and what's the next fic? ^_^ )
"Yee's proposal is exactly the sort of thing I would expect some Washington legal eagle to do. In fact, it could even be argued it would be unrealistic to not have a scene in the next book of, say, a Congressman Yee submit the Yee Act for consideration. 
" - bcoogler on this
"My crystal ball is filled with smoke, and my hovercraft is full of eels." - Bayonet
Stark: "You can't even GET to heaven. You don't even know where it is, or even if it still exists."
SirNitram: "So storm Hell." - From the legendary thread
" - bcoogler on this"My crystal ball is filled with smoke, and my hovercraft is full of eels." - Bayonet
Stark: "You can't even GET to heaven. You don't even know where it is, or even if it still exists."
SirNitram: "So storm Hell." - From the legendary thread
-
Edward Yee
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 3395
- Joined: 2005-07-31 06:48am
*hand up for Completed Fic section status* 
"Yee's proposal is exactly the sort of thing I would expect some Washington legal eagle to do. In fact, it could even be argued it would be unrealistic to not have a scene in the next book of, say, a Congressman Yee submit the Yee Act for consideration. " - bcoogler on this
"My crystal ball is filled with smoke, and my hovercraft is full of eels." - Bayonet
Stark: "You can't even GET to heaven. You don't even know where it is, or even if it still exists."
SirNitram: "So storm Hell." - From the legendary thread
" - bcoogler on this"My crystal ball is filled with smoke, and my hovercraft is full of eels." - Bayonet
Stark: "You can't even GET to heaven. You don't even know where it is, or even if it still exists."
SirNitram: "So storm Hell." - From the legendary thread
Some stats:
At Arial Size 12 font, the story is 473 letter-sized pages.
Word Count is 218,846.
The story was started on March 13th 2005, completed on January 19th 2006.
At Arial Size 12 font, the story is 473 letter-sized pages.
Word Count is 218,846.
The story was started on March 13th 2005, completed on January 19th 2006.
”A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED
"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia
American Conservatism is about the exercise of personal responsibility without state interference in the lives of the citizenry..... unless, of course, it involves using the bludgeon of state power to suppress things Conservatives do not like.
DONALD J. TRUMP IS A SEDITIOUS TRAITOR AND MUST BE IMPEACHED