Lu'kat - An Introduction

[lucasausems]

En route to SB42

The Hideki class patrol ship dropped out of warp as it reached the Shoal. Lu'kat looked out of the small viewport and saw a deadly mix of dust and debris, torn apart and crushed back together by gravitational eddies and subspace tears, everything had a ghastly red and purplish hue to it, undoubtedly due to some sort of inexplicable and deadly chemical reaction.

The Federation called it the Shoal. Lu'kat called it a decent first line of defense. No fleet would try to invade Cardassian space this way anytime soon. A few patrol ships no bigger than runabouts, like the one taking him to to SB42, would suffice to monitor this sector, enabling the Cardassian fleet to concentrate its forces on other more vulnerable areas of its space. But who would want to attack Cardassia now? It had no supply of valuable resources whatsoever. It had no wealth or riches of any kind (the bulk of it having been looted by Romulans, Klingons and even the Federation) directly after their occupation of Cardassian Prime at the end of the Dominion War. One of Lu'kat's main tasks during the past five years at the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau had been locating and recovering what it could. This hadn't been much.

Not that Cardassia would be able to fight off a real attack if it really came to it. The bulk of the once high and mighty Cardassian Fleet had been destroyed or captured in the final moments of the War. What remained was often damaged and there had been little to no funds for repair. To top things off, the sanctions the other major powers in the galaxy had laid on the Cardassian Union kept it from developing its military from anything more than the ability to patrol and police its own borders.

Cardassia was now the black sheep of the quadrant, the object of scorn and ridicule. They hadn't just lost the War, Cardassia had lost its soul and its dignity.

Well..., Lu'kat thought, That will change from now on...

Lu'kat had been a highly respected operative of the CIB (set up after the collapse of the Obsidian Order) until last week, when a bomb exploded in his office, killing several other operatives. Lu'kat was blamed, but obviously it had been a set up. The Head of the Bureau had wasted no time in discrediting Lu'kat, citing incompetence and indolence for failing to detect the bomb being planted. He was kicked out of the Bureau and sent off to this unsavory part of the galaxy. Lu'kat was quite positive that the Head had planted the bomb himself and framed Luke so that he could get rid of him. The Head was a suspicious and paranoid man. He must have seen Lu'kat's popularity within the Bureau as a direct threat.

Lu'kat balled up his fists thinking of his boss, the selfish, irresponsible little vole. Cardassia should be united in its aims to rebuild and reclaim their honour and dignity, not squabble over personal advancement or cronyism. It had been exactly that kind of behaviour which led to its downfall. "l'Histoire se répète" Oh yes, Lu'kat was aware of the expression. A life long interest in other cultures and societies had made him quite knowledgeable on many cultural traits and art by the the main powers in this quadrant, such as one wouldn't expect in a 28 year old Cardassian.

Lu'kat had denied the accusations, ofcourse, but had not challenged the decision to send him here. Instead, he saw this as an opportunity. He'd never been among humans before. Bajorans he was very familiar with, having been born on Bajor during the height of the Cardassian Occupation. But humans were new to him. He'd only seen them from afar on Cardassia Prime, but he'd never spoken to one. It would prove...educational. He was familiar with Garak, former Obsidian Order operative, former outcast on Terok Nor (or Deep Space 9, as it was now called), now Cardassian Ambassador to the Federation. If someone with Garak's history could rise this high in the ranks, surely Lu'kat could overcome this hiccup in his career plans?

"3 hours to the star base", the helmsman stated without emotion. Lu'kat acknowledged it with a curt nod and reread his mission brief. He was to act as the Cardassian Liason Officer to the Federation on SB 42. Once the star base would be up and running it would become a hub for traders and travellers going from Cardassia to Bajor and back. The Union needed someone there to communicate with the Federation, to keep an eye on things, keep a record of who passed through. In short, he was to be a glorified customs officer, a menial and insulting job for someone with Lu'kat's credentials.

But Lu'kat wasn't planning on staying forever. He would be here as long as he felt was neccesary. Learn and observe. In the meantime he would work on taking revenge on his former boss. The time would come. Lu'kat was young. He'd be ready when the time came.