Chapter Eight

The Woes of War

Some months passed by, and they were the happiest Kilana ever had in her life. She and Weyoun were happily wed, always working alongside, and sometimes stealing a kiss right in front of Damar, much to the discomfort of the incompetent Cardassian - but not before the Female Founder, as affection was never meant to be in front of higher authority.

The Founder seemed to approve of their marriage, although Kilana sensed that Weyoun was a little more...wary as he was blessed, because he remained ever in higher favor. She frowned sometimes, because what was going to happen?

"Kilana, we both know not to question her or...commit treason by investigating her actions," he'd said carefully, "but I have reason to believe the Founder allowed us to wed so easily because she has something up her sleeve."

Now that he'd said it, Kilana began to believe he was right, but First Dira'tarak could not be trusted enough to investigate if she asked him to. As Omet'iklan told Weyoun 4, "The Jem'Hadar are more loyal to the Founders than the Vorta ever will be." She argued with it, but the stronger part of herself that kept growing and growing over the last few months sided with it because the Vorta would always defect once in a while at every chance that came.

Perhaps Kilana was defective, no matter how much it scared her and that she didn't want to be.

Questioning her own loyalty to the Founder could wait a little longer, because right now was the issue with the guarding of Chin'toka - again, because of the continual transfer of their forces to the Romulan front. Weyoun knew as well as she did that the more ships they pulled from Chin'toka, the more of a target it became for the Federation. "Don't say we worry too much, Damar," Kilana said disgustedly for her husband. "You're becoming too confident in this, much like your predecessor."

He glared between her and Weyoun, whose face twitched while mirroring Damar's. "It's a mistake to underestimate our enemy, Damar," he stated. "We're spreading our forces too thinly."

"Until we have a way to bring in our reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant, we'll have to make do with what we have," Damar said. "Besides, we needed more ships on the Romulan front, and I sent them."

"And in doing so, you left the Chin'toka system vulnerable," Weyoun snapped.

Kilana found herself looking at the charts again, seeing the latest improvement by Damar's own hand, and spotting the source of his confidence. "Not as vulnerable as we think, Weyoun. Damar," she said with a small smirk, "I see your new...orbital weapons platforms, am I right?" Based on the up-close design, it was a halfway resemblance to any other Cardassian space station.

Damar's grin was back. "Indeed. They are protected by regenerative force fields, and their arms consist of a thousand plasma torpedoes."

Her heart felt like it was swelling with so much blood, and the rush was exhilarating. Even Weyoun was sold. "I like them," he said with a soft moan that sent shivers up her spine.

"I knew you would," Damar agreed, pleased. "You both will be pleased to know that I already ordered their deployments."

By sooner letting them loose, they had better backup than reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant - but then Kilana's mind twitched in that a lot could still happen. They were still in a war, after all.

"Legate Damar," one of his men spoke from behind them, getting the Legate's attention, "excuse the interruption, but we have a problem." Weyoun was too busy admiring the new weapons in space, and Kilana wanted to if only Damar wasn't irritated at whatever the situation was that her interest was piqued, too.

"What kind of a problem?" Damar asked infuriatedly, otherwise calm outwardly.

"Me."

Kilana felt like her world had stopped upon the familiar voice and face that barged in with two Jem'Hadar soldiers - including First Dira'tarak - behind him, and Weyoun whirled around with hatred and disbelief in both his face and his eyes; she knew she matched him as she did inwardly.

Dukat.

~o~

He beheld the sight of the man in front of them with absolute loathing; his wife came to stand beside him, and he held her hand in his. She wasn't afraid anymore, just furious as he was. How DARE Dukat return to them after the cost of thousands of their reinforcements and a loss to the war?! And after what he did to HIS Kilana! Weyoun was more than ready to get rid of this slime once and for all.

And did he really think he could march in and get a warm welcome after his failure? "What?" Dukat's face was mocking pain at the disbelief and disgust from his former colleagues. "Isn't anyone going to welcome me home?"

"Heroes get welcomed home, Dukat," Weyoun spat. "Not failures. Or did you forget that, under your leadership, the Dominion nearly LOST this war?"

"And did you forget what you did to me long before that, you arrogant lizard?" Kilana snarled, taking a short step forward, her lips curling. But Dukat wasn't fazed by either of them.

"As I recall, Weyoun," he returned, "you were standing right by my side and agreeing with every decision I made." He turned his attention back to Kilana, unchanging. "And as for you, dear Kilana, I have no interest in you anymore. We had one good time enough as it was." Now his threads were snapped; he wanted to leave his beloved's side and grab a phaser to kill Dukat right here, right now. "I've accepted that you belong with this...jackal -" Weyoun seethed further at the name call but said nothing. "- and are as happy together as can be."

From the corner of his eye, Weyoun saw Damar stiffen. He had been responsible for the death of Tora Ziyal that he must have assumed his former mentor was back to settle a score. "If you're here because of what happened..."

Dukat laughed, waving it off. "Damar, you disappoint me. I would have thought that you, of all people, would be glad to see your old mentor. I don't hold you responsible for Ziyal's death. You may have fired the phaser...but it was Benjamin Sisko who forced your hand. And that is why I am here. It's time for me to take my revenge against the good captain."

The old Dukat they remembered was hungry for conquest, with a full-sized ego, but ever since the death of his daughter and the loss of everything he had, Weyoun had to laugh as he wanted to a long time ago if he saw this Cardassian pig again. He had indeed changed, and certainly not for the better. Kilana was laughing with him. "Dukat," she said haughtily, pulling her hand from Weyoun's and stepping forth until she stopped and struck him in the face, the whiplash sound echoing off the walls, but it only made Dukat smile broader. "You come here at a 'perfect' timing with only one man on your mind instead of the entire quadrant we want more than anything else. You make me laugh more than I did in your old quarters." His smile faded then, and he was about to say something that Weyoun had to interfere on his part.

"My wife is right, Dukat. We are in the middle of a life-and-death struggle for the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all you -" He held up his finger before Dukat's face. "- care about is quenching your thirst for petty revenge. You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"On the contrary, I'm a new man. I no longer have a need for conquest or power; I'm far beyond all of that." He walked past Kilana, no longer acknowledging her, so he was in front of Weyoun and Damar. "I exist in a state of complete clarity - a clarity I intend to share with the universe."

He was wasting their time, coming here with nothing related to the war, only against one man in the enemy ranks. Weyoun's jaw clenched as he saw not one trace of Dukat as he remembered. "You're right, Dukat," he said as he approached the other man. "You have changed. You've gone from a self-important egotist to a self-deluded madman. I would hardly call that improvement." He scoffed and shook his head. "I don't have time for this. Remove him," he ordered the Jem'Hadar, and they would have followed through if Damar hadn't stopped them.

"Wait. Why have you come?" he asked his former commander, who smiled because his old soldier had seen "reason". Weyoun's patience was waning thin with each moment passing.

"Isn't it obvious? To give you what you desire above all else: the Alpha Quadrant."

Weyoun finally blinked, looking over at Kilana as she remained a distance behind Dukat, glaring at him and obviously disbelieving him. He knew what she was thinking. How in the name of the Founders was Dukat of all people going to give them the Alpha Quadrant if fighting a war wasn't working out? Nothing Dukat had done EVER turned out in their favor, so why would they trust him now? "All I need," he said, "is a certain Bajoran artifact. One of many that the Cardassians confiscated during the occupation."

Kilana stood up to him, coming around to stand before him. "And how is this...artifact going to help us?" she sneered.

"Let's just say," he replied smoothly, "that it would make it possible for Dominion reinforcements to come through that wormhole...and destroy Captain Benjamin Sisko and the Federation once and for all."

~o~

Kilana decided to return to her and Weyoun's quarters because she could stand no more of the former Gul Dukat and his nonsense. Religious artifact from the Bajorans? She just about laughed her head off. She wanted only to concentrate on defeating the Federation, not by some supernatural means in the Bajoran religion. Whatever it was that Dukat wanted, she wanted no part of.

But that was not all. Lately in the last two months, she'd been very ill and feeling very bloated. She wanted to confirm it if only she could find Borath, make it between the two of them...

By the time she was alone and bidding First Dira'tarak a good evening, the doors closed behind her, and she turned around only to find herself face-to-face with the Female Founder herself. "Good evening, Kilana."

"Founder." She bowed her head and spread her hands in reverence. "How may I serve you?"

~o~

He still doubted whatever Dukat had in mind, but everything depended on that wormhole and defeating the Federation. Damar's confidence in his former master was at its highest, as ever. But in the meantime, there were combined forces of the Federation, Romulan and Klingon fleets against them now.

"Do you think they'll head for the Chin'toka system?" Damar asked foolishly, though hoping not as much as Weyoun did.

"I would."

"Oh, but the weapons platforms will be operational in time to greet them," Damar said confidently. Very comforting, if only it were accurate. "I'll make sure it is," Damar assured him, in time for the doors to open again, and in strolled Dukat with an elegant, ancient box in both hands.

"Gentlemen, I hope I'm not interrupting." Weyoun rolled his eyes; if only he could say yes to that.

"What is it now, Dukat?" he asked irritably.

"I have found it, lo and behold: the key to victory. You won't be that much skeptical for long," he said as he marched over to the table against the wall, setting the box down. "Over the past few months, I immersed myself in the study of ancient Bajoran texts." He had gotten two candles out and was lighting them, placing them on either side of the box. "I've come to realize that the wormhole is much more than the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant; it's the temple of the Prophets. It's from there that they smile benevolently down on Bajor."

Again, this talk of gods and wraiths. The Founders themselves were true gods to believe in, carrying out their true powers without so much as prayer unlike the Bajorans, who had spent all their times wasted on no divine intervention coming for them. Or even if anything glorious happened, it was by chance, not divinity.

"It's from there that they protect that world and its people," Dukat hissed delightfully. "The sad truth is..." He opened the box and pulled out its contents. "...we wasted all our time fighting the Bajorans when we should have been fighting their gods."

"How do you fight a god?" Damar asked, baffled.

"I'll show you. Here..." The figurine was wooden and malevolent-looking, as far as Weyoun could see of it. "...we have an ally we never knew we had." He picked up the statue and held it in his hands, chanting in ancient Bajoran, which Weyoun narrowed his eyes and sneered at - until Dukat tore the thing in half, and a great ball of fire burst forth and headed straight for Dukat, vanishing into the heart of his armor, sending him back onto the ground, stunned and perhaps in shock.

"DUKAT!" Damar jolted from where he stood and knelt down by the former Gul's side, whilst Weyoun only stood by and watched without a feel of sympathy for the man in his body, a part of him hoping he was dead...

...only for Dukat's eyes to open and show blood-red irises.

And his voice sounded very hollow. Out of the world, perhaps the universe. "Your concern is touching...but unnecessary."

~o~

Borath had been in his personal office within the cloning laboratory on Cardassia Prime, studying the analysis of the newest cloning candidate for their ranks when he was buzzed. "Central Command to Borath."

He put the PADD down and answered wearily, but tried not to sound like it. "Go ahead."

"The Founder wishes to speak with you."

Acknowledging, Borath left his laboratory, accompanied by a Jem'Hadar and journeying for the office of the Founder at Central Command. Three, perhaps four Cardassian men greeted him, two of them sneering as soon as his back was turned - which he knew but would not give the satisfaction - and finally met with the Female Changeling, bowing in reverence. "Founder, I am honored by your -"

"No need for the pleasantries, Borath," she interrupted brusquely, ushering him inside and ordering the Jem'Hadar to remain outside until she was finished with him. "I must discuss a matter of grave importance with you. About Kilana."

He held himself rigidly as his god brought up the name of one of his most cherished subjects. Every time a clone would be activated, he considered them a part of himself, so with Kilana, she was the most beautiful, sincere, passionate and most kind-hearted of his students. However, she tried and failed to hold the interest of the Female Changeling, which Borath had a difficult time blaming her for. He was notorious for questioning the Female Founder from time to time, so he was prepared for whatever it was that had to do with Kilana. "My ears are at the ready, Founder."

"I must demand that it is time her line be terminated."

"Founder!" Something inside him erupted with disbelief, fury and grief. What had Kilana done this time that she was to be - the Founder spoke as if reading his mind.

"She is a skilled agent, but I have tolerated her long enough. Just the mere presence of that failure she is interferes with everything. Her loss of the Changeling on Torga IV remains at the top of the list, allowing Sisko to have the Jem'Hadar fighter and resulting in the loss of the main white facility. Even more now that she is Weyoun's number one priority aside from the fact they both are devout servants of the Dominion, Borath. The time has come for her."

Borath had been provoked that he dared to counter. "Founder, is this drastic measure really necessary? You gave Weyoun and Kilana permission to wed. I have been there..."

"Of course you were," the Founder rounded, eyes blazing. "Are you questioning me, Borath? I could have you executed on charges of treason."

He carried himself and regained his posture, hands behind his back. "Of course not, Founder. My apologies. So, where is Kilana now?"

The Founder stepped aside to reveal her two Jem'Hadar standing before something, until they, too, parted...and Borath gasped in horror at what and who he saw on the floor without a care.

~o~

"The enemy fleet is approaching the Chin'toka system."

As expected in the last hour or so. Any more bad news, and his worst fears would come alive. "And what's the status of our weapons platform?" Weyoun asked; if they would be as operational as Damar promised they would be...

"Still off-line."

Weyoun briefly closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. All of these promises that these allies never intended to keep - "It pains me to say this, but you Cardassians are proving to be quite the disappointment." Now a part of him wondered what the Founder had been thinking, deciding to align with these proud yet brainless reptiles.

"I'll remind you that you said that," Damar told him, making him smile. At least they agreed once in a while on something.

It was not long until the Federation-Klingon-Romulan forces came and opened fire with their now-online weapons. As Weyoun watched the activity, the forces - namely the Klingons - suffered loss by the Jem'Hadar as well as the combination of the weapons platforms. So far, so good. "I believe you owe me an apology," Damar said smugly. Weyoun had to say he was right; he doubted him for nothing, and he was not afraid to admit it.

Until it came to Dukat. "And now Dukat can get our reinforcements through the wormhole."

Weyoun scoffed. "I'm not sure how much faith I have in this...what is it called?"

"Pah-wraiths," Damar answered. "The false gods. The enemies and former Prophets."

"Pah-wraiths and Prophets. All of this talk of gods strikes me as nothing more than superstitious nonsense."

"You believe that the Founders are gods, don't you?"

Weyoun's head whipped around at the insult of a mockery. "That's different," he retorted. "The Founders are gods." Damar only continued to laugh and shake his head, fuming his fires even more.

And his rage was unquenchable by the time he was interrupted from watching the battle with Damar. "Borath to Weyoun."

He growled as he looked up at the ceiling. "Acknowledged!" he almost shouted to his longtime friend and colleague; the scientist sighed in response as he realized he caught the ambassador at a wrong time he didn't realize.

"Weyoun, I apologize for a bad timing, but you really have to come to the laboratory. It can't wait, and the Founder can't know of this."

Whatever it was, and based on his tone of voice, Weyoun realized whatever it was, it couldn't wait until the fighting out there was over. And if he was telling him the Founder couldn't know, he was really risking his neck all for Weyoun. He looked at Damar even though he didn't need his permission. The Legate nodded and promised he would keep in touch for him. With that, Weyoun left the office for Borath's cloning facilities.

The Founder had made the decision to ultimately move the cloning facilities to one of the planets in the Rondac system, but the word had not been finalized yet due to the fact that the facilities had to be guarded with extreme care, and they had Jem'Hadar out there in the frontlines and at the white storages every day that the cloning labs had to be on Cardassia for the time being. Weyoun hadn't realized he'd held his breath until he felt his lungs burn with a final exhale as he stopped in front of a grave-looking Borath.

"I'm so sorry to have informed you of this at a time like this," the scientist was saying as he led him inside, where they were surrounded with sterile tanks and glass chambers, steam hissing and new clones coming out for their new lives. "But the Founder will have my head for this. This was all her doing that you deserved to know."

Weyoun acknowledged every word he'd said, but then he felt like he'd lost all sense of his hearing when Borath brought him to a table holding the body of a newly dead Vorta female who had been brought in less than two hours ago, beginning to turn ashen gray from loss of life, naked and cold, and utterly abandoned.

He felt himself double over the corpse of his beloved mate and felt like he had exploded beyond repair, leaving behind a forest fire of despair, agony, and heartbreak. His heart had stopped beating altogether because the one he loved was laying beneath him and had been waiting for him only to endure what cruel fate had come for her. Not caring that Borath was still in front of him, or that there were other Vorta around and Jem'Hadar - including First Dira'tarak who had looked after this one on the table, now bowing his head in grief - Weyoun threw his head back and howled Kilana's name, a series of monosyllabic wails following and piercing the walls for all of Cardassia to hear.

So, I'm sorry for breaking everyone's hearts in here. :( But we're FAR from over. Nobody's hopes get too high or too low.