Respect earned

Kheren listened to the words of the Bajoran officer from the Alsea and nodded appreciatively.

"Here is a fine strategic mind for you."

Everyone knew that that, following the Dominion War, the invaders from the Gamma Quadrant had been stripped of all their military forces and of any right to muster one up again, beyond what was needed for planetary defense of their home systems in their own space. Types and tonnage of ships were regulated by the Klingon Defense Force, the Romulan Star Empire Navy and Starfleet; so was the size of fighting forces, deployement of personnel and equipement and anything else that could possibly allow them to rebuilt a potentially threatening military force.

Officially, the Dominion had been declawed and defanged with a tight leash held by their three hands. So had been the Breen Confederacy that had allied with them and even the Cardassian Union that had ultimately turned against them.

Yet, the Breen had recently resurfaced with a small but significant military force despite it all; and some Cardassians opposed to the current state of things and beleiving in the "True Way" of their defunct empire had managed to do the same. Thinking the Dominion itself would not be able to do so was dangerous complacency. The same had happened on Earth after their so-called First World War; the small beaten country had been similarly stripped and held under an even tighter military and economic fist. And barely two decades later, it launched and nearly won a Second World War that devastated two-thirds of the planet.

"You think he might be right, Sir?" asked Tyvya.

"When bears fight over a seal's carcass, they forget the wolves lurking in the bushes," answered Aguk Snow.

"And the wounded survivors become a meal themselves," understood the giantess.

"Fortunately for us, dumb bears, one bird is watching," added Kheren to the imagery as he lifted his chin in the typical Andorian sign of respect towards Oseno Jureth. "If we're lucky enough to have but one such officer on each ship, we will prevail."

"And the Owl of Wisdom will guide us, " added Snow looking at Allen Samji.

"If we listen," concluded the captain of the Artemis.