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Cardassia Prime- We touched down on a rocky beach some 100 kilometers from the capital of the Cardassian Empire last night. It has been over four weeks since the Federation began flooding subspace channels with their version of what they claim to be the end of the Alpha Quadrant War. These images have destroyed the morale of the Dominion people. Most devastating of all, images of the "female shape-shifter" signing a treaty with the Federation Alliance, something we of the Dominion know could never come to pass. When Dateline Dominion asked me to take this assignment, to travel halfway across the galaxy and behind enemy lines, I knew I could not refuse. The Federation has maligned our very gods. How could I refuse to seek out the truth?
.......The first hurtle came when we attempted to pass through the wormhole. We are a small team of reporters and our staff, but several of us are Vorta and we have all heard the Federation's claim that no Dominion ships or personnel are being allowed to pass through the wormhole. There were a few tense moments as we navigated the currents and eddies of the wormhole, never certain if or when we would be caught up by the whims of the prophets. But we broke free, bursting unscathed into the Alpha Quadrant, Deep Space Nine hanging like a gem against the velvet darkness on our viewscreen, swarming with a halo of Starfleet, Klingon, Romulan, and Cardassian ships. We veered away, no doubt observed but unmolested, and tunneled into Cardassian space, where we all believe the true story lies.
.......The journey to Cardassia Prime was so still and uneventful as to set our nerves on edge. Cardassian space has been denuded of Cardassian and Dominion ships and now hangs silent and empty, in great folds that conceal the remains of the Cardassian Empire. The Cardassian home system is utterly still. From a distance, the home world seems abuzz with dark flies come to pick over the remains of the Empire. As we closed on Cardassia Prime, though, this pestilential cloud resolved itself into the broken hulks of orbital weapons platforms, crushed and battered starships of every registry and design, the detritus of a great space battle.
.......Our shuttle made landfall over 100 kilometers from the capital, but even here, the air is choked with soot, and the dark clouds rising from what was once Cardassia's principle metropolis mark a broad swath against the skyline. Even from space it was easy to see that this is a dead world, a world where something terrible happened.
The story spread among the locals is that this devastation was wrought by the Dominion troops at the behest of the Vorta commander, Weyoun, to punish the Cardassian people for betraying the Dominion, so it is necessary for us to travel incognito. Making our way to the capital, though, we quickly find pockets of Dominion supporters, veins of sympathy, lifelines for us, which stretch across the face of Cardassia Prime. These people tell a different story.
.......As told by the Federation, Jem'hadar troops began leveling the cities of Cardassia Prime after the Cardassian people joined forces with Legate Damar in resisting membership in the Dominion. However, here in the outskirts of the capital, there are many who claim to have seen the capital lanced by orbital weapon's fire. It is their belief that the Federation and Klingons, not the Dominion, razed Cardassia Prime.
.......In our first day on this shattered world we have learned only of these rumors. These bring us hope that the Federation has been contaminating subspace with nothing more than lies and propaganda. But good journalism is about fact. And we are dedicated to finding out the truth behind what has happened here. We have also heard it said that Legate Damar was resuscitated by the Dominion's ultra-sophisticated biotechnology and is being held somewhere on the planet. In the coming days and months we hope to be able to bring you the facts behind these rumors.
.......For now, I, Rallanah, will continue on to the Cardassian capital city to learn the truth of the Cardassian insurrection against the Dominion and the subsequent destruction of Cardassia Prime. My associate and friend, Eruth, will attempt to seek out the last Jem'hadar strongholds on Cardassia Prime in an effort to be granted an audience with Legate Damar. And reporter at large, Draymon, will head back into the stars in search of the new Dominion headquarters in the Alpha Quadrant, expected to be located somewhere deep in Breen space. We will bring you more on these stories as they develop.
From Cardassia Prime, Rallanah.
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