Chapter 12 - Is Done! (Patreon)

Chapter 12 is done, my friends, all that remains is the final proofing run through!  The snippet below is from the chapter and will be a set up for future story events :-)  Many of you will recognize where this is going.  Can any of you recognize where the quote is from without googling it??

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“In our time together, you have shown you possess a viewpoint different from an individual raised in this culture and time, and have demonstrated the ability to craft unique and innovative solutions that, in hindsight, are imminently logical,” she explained, leaving out that those unique and innovative solutions had aroused her to an extreme degree. “What would you suggest Section 31 do to expedite the end of the Cardassian War?”

“Hmm, now that’s an interesting question,” Gothic answered, before thinking for several long moments. “In my dimension and time, my home country, the United States, had an adversary country in the Soviet Union. That country invaded a neighboring country, Afghanistan. Afghanistan was a country that was weaker than them in every conceivable way and they had no chance of stopping the Soviets directly. What they lacked in military power, though, they made up for in heart and sheer grit. The United States toppled the Soviet Union by supporting the Afghan rebels, supplying them with more and more money and weapons to use against the Soviets, weapons that couldn’t be traced back to us. The Soviets hemorrhaged huge sums of money, men, and material into that hellhole of a country and it led to their downfall.”

“That is a rather intriguing approach,” she admitted. “Rather than work against the Cardassians directly, work with their enemies to weaken them.”

“Exactly. And the Cardassians have no shortage of enemies.”

“Who would you suggest?” T’Maz asked.

“The Bajorans, no doubt in my mind. They remind me of Afghanistan. The Bajorans were an intensely spiritual and peaceful people that had no chance of withstanding the Cardassians when they invaded, and the Cardassians have occupied and raped that planet for decades, killing millions of them. The Bajoran resistance remind me of the Afghan freedom fighters. They might lack the means to fight, but they’ve fucking got the heart,” Gothic explained.

“Why do you believe helping the Bajoran Resistance will help the Federation in their war with the Cardassians?” she asked.

“Bajor is a valuable strategic location and even beyond that, the Cardassians use the planet to keep their war chest filled. Wars cost a lot of money and a totalitarian regime always needs a lot of money to subjugate its people and keep itself propped up. Those regimes always fear their own people the most,” Gothic answered. “Disrupt the money and resource flow from Bajor and they’re going to have a hard time keeping this up. The Bajoran Resistance will bleed them dry in a myriad number of ways. Keep that up long enough and I guarantee you that the Cardassians will eagerly welcome an end of hostilities with the Federation.”

“You think they will be more successful if we supply them with money and arms?”

“I have no doubt of it. There is a saying I heard once that fits rather well, ‘A warrior without a fire in his heart is as helpless as a babe, but a boy with a burning hate and rage in his heart can slay a thousand.’ The Bajorans have all the burning hate and rage in their hearts for the Cardassian that they’ll ever need, they just need the weapons to fight back with.”

“I have never heard of such a saying before, is it from Klingon philosophy?” she asked, wondering how she had never heard such an evocative saying before.

“A Jaffa proverb, told by one of the First Primes of Ares,” Gothic replied.

“Intriguing, I’m not familiar with that race,” she said. “Once our mission is complete I will make a proposal to Agent Sloan and the Cardassian War strategic task group that we aid the Bajoran Resistance.”

“I’m curious to see what will come of that, but let’s get moving.”