Conversation

[Cptn Corizon 0]

Note from the Author: The Following is a telepathic conversation between the leader of the Vorta Council, Taenix and Keevan the former head of the Council.

 

Perhaps it is time we reconsider some directives from the Founders?

 

Reconsider? Vorta only serve. We do not decide policy, only implement. A directive from the Founders is the word of the gods and we are not to question that. Doing other wise is heresy bordering on hubris.

 

I seem to recall that you have, on more than one occasion, decided to defy the will of the gods, a will you now so zealously protect.

 

That was a flawed clone.

 

Perhaps. And perhaps you should listen to my proposal before launching into a tirade about me being a flaming hieratic.

 

Very well.

 

When Odo forbid communication with the Founders while the Great Link is purified, he could not have dreamed of what would befall his children.

 

This conflict is temporal and finite. We will win and the Dominion will preserve. But the health of the Great Link...

 

I suppose unmitigated arrogance was a feature they worked into the later models.

 

What is that supposed to mean?

 

That your overconfidence could cost us this war. Just as Weyoun's cost the Dominion it's last war.

 

How dare you compare me to that...that...

 

At least he is loyal to the Founders.

 

You presume to question my loyalty?

 

Guilty conscience, Keevan?

 

Assuming I had one, no. I have been nothing but a loyal servant of the Founders. I have carried out their will to the best of my abilities.

 

And that has failed us.

 

Failed?

 

If you weren't so concerned with your own status, and would bother to open those eyes that the Founders gave you...weak they may be, you would realize that we are on the brink of defeat.

 

I disagree. We have reclaimed a number of systems. Our efforts to reconstruct our cloning facilties are well underway and we are holding our own against the Scorpiad's forces. And the Hundred are leaving us alone.

 

Holding our own? You yourself brought to me reports that showed we have once again lost ground to them. Not to mention, the only reason we are even still holding our own in this conflict is because the Scorpiads themselves aren't fighting. They're waiting for the perfect moment to decapitate us. They learned a hard lesson in the last war. A lesson they have not forgotten. Attrition is the key to their victory.

 

Win a war of attrition? Against the Jem'Hadar? Are you serious?

 

Yes. Against the Jem'Hadar. They are fighting fire with fire. And when our fire burns out, we have nothing left to defend ourselves with. But they...they have an entire force that was able to cripple us in a matter of weeks.

 

We defeated them before, we will do it once more.

 

They were never defeated. There was no victory. Do you not see?

 

What do you mean, they surrendered. It was a victory for the Dominion.

 

The war never ended. It only went on hold long enough for the Scorpiads to rebuild their forces and strike at us once more. A fact they did not forget. But a fact the Founder apparently have.

 

You are dangerously close to heresy Taenix.

 

Do not presume to question me, Keevan. I am the rightful leader of the Dominion in the absence of the Founders. My authority comes from a Founder, yours does not.

 

Then what do you propose we do? Your outlook seems to offer few choices.

 

We must seek the council of the Founders. This is their war. As you said Vorta were not meant to make policy, only implement it. The Founders must give us direction. The Jem'Hadar require the White, we require the Direction of the Founders.