08-28-2026, 05:26 AM
Sebastian had finished up a few experiments in the Lab that Lt. Ra’an asked him to complete and she wanted him to bring her the result as he was finished.
Sebastian enjoyed his work, it was a welcome change after their last mission, he still had mixed feelings about his performance on that mission, But Lt. Ra’an said overall he did well, but he wasn’t completely convinced.
He stepped out onto the Bridge. He spotted Ra’an at the Science Station, the Bridge’s atmosphere was uneasy. One could cut the tension with a knife. He made his way over to Ra’an, He handed her the results of the chemical analysis of unique spores they had discovered on a passing asteroid. “ Did I hear that correctly, a Cardassian invasion fleet? “ He said to Ra’an as he handed her the test results.
Sebastian had never been a huge fan of the Cardassians. In fact, there was something about them that made him deeply uncomfortable. The parallels between what the Cardassians had done to the Bajorans and what his own ancestors, the Spanish Conquistadors, had done to the native peoples of the Americas were difficult for him to ignore.
The details were different, but the pattern was disturbingly familiar. The Conquistadors had arrived in the Americas, conquered indigenous civilizations, enslaved people, seized their lands, and exploited the natural resources of those territories for the benefit of Spain. Wealth, gold, silver, and other resources were extracted from the New World and shipped across the Atlantic to enrich a distant empire.
The Cardassians had followed a remarkably similar pattern on Bajor. They occupied the planet, subjugated its people, stripped its resources, and transported those resources back to Cardassia to benefit the Cardassian state. Bajor itself was treated less like a living world inhabited by people and more like a resource to be exploited.
Sebastian knew there were important differences between the two histories, and he wasn't trying to claim they were identical. History was rarely that simple. But the similarities were impossible to overlook: conquest justified by ideology, an occupied population treated as inferior, forced labor, exploitation of natural resources, and an occupying power convinced that it had the right to take what belonged to someone else.
Perhaps that was what bothered Sebastian most. The Cardassians weren't monsters from some ancient history book. They were people who had made choices. And when Sebastian thought about what the Conquistadors had done centuries earlier, he couldn't help wondering how easily people could convince themselves that conquest, exploitation, and oppression were somehow justified.
Different century. Different planets. Different empires.
Same ugly idea.
== Tag All. ==
Sebastian enjoyed his work, it was a welcome change after their last mission, he still had mixed feelings about his performance on that mission, But Lt. Ra’an said overall he did well, but he wasn’t completely convinced.
He stepped out onto the Bridge. He spotted Ra’an at the Science Station, the Bridge’s atmosphere was uneasy. One could cut the tension with a knife. He made his way over to Ra’an, He handed her the results of the chemical analysis of unique spores they had discovered on a passing asteroid. “ Did I hear that correctly, a Cardassian invasion fleet? “ He said to Ra’an as he handed her the test results.
Sebastian had never been a huge fan of the Cardassians. In fact, there was something about them that made him deeply uncomfortable. The parallels between what the Cardassians had done to the Bajorans and what his own ancestors, the Spanish Conquistadors, had done to the native peoples of the Americas were difficult for him to ignore.
The details were different, but the pattern was disturbingly familiar. The Conquistadors had arrived in the Americas, conquered indigenous civilizations, enslaved people, seized their lands, and exploited the natural resources of those territories for the benefit of Spain. Wealth, gold, silver, and other resources were extracted from the New World and shipped across the Atlantic to enrich a distant empire.
The Cardassians had followed a remarkably similar pattern on Bajor. They occupied the planet, subjugated its people, stripped its resources, and transported those resources back to Cardassia to benefit the Cardassian state. Bajor itself was treated less like a living world inhabited by people and more like a resource to be exploited.
Sebastian knew there were important differences between the two histories, and he wasn't trying to claim they were identical. History was rarely that simple. But the similarities were impossible to overlook: conquest justified by ideology, an occupied population treated as inferior, forced labor, exploitation of natural resources, and an occupying power convinced that it had the right to take what belonged to someone else.
Perhaps that was what bothered Sebastian most. The Cardassians weren't monsters from some ancient history book. They were people who had made choices. And when Sebastian thought about what the Conquistadors had done centuries earlier, he couldn't help wondering how easily people could convince themselves that conquest, exploitation, and oppression were somehow justified.
Different century. Different planets. Different empires.
Same ugly idea.
== Tag All. ==