Crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women
What was the purpose of Terok Nor?
- Thread starter at Quark's
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Why have dedicated planes for heads of states when you could just have them fly commercially at much lower costs? And I'm not even talking countries here where there is a significant chunk of the population that wants that person gone or dead, so that you'd want even more security. How many head of states live in an area where there's also a prison or or a work camp not related to serving the immediate needs of the governor residence just to reduce the costs, even in countries with an oppressive regime?
(True, Dukat isn't an independent 'head of state', only a prefect, but we're still talking about a person ruling an entire planet here.)
I'd refer you back to my earlier comment in this thread where I noted that based on what we see in "Civil Defense" it seems entirely likely that Dukat's security was not a concern among the Cardassian leadership.
I agree and that actually occurred to me when I wrote my reply.
But I don't think the functions of the station were designed for Dukat, personally. The occupation lasted 50 years after all, so the odds are good the station was built, and there was a Bajoran Prefect long before Dukat ever was 'in the picture'.
It's possible though that this attitude wasn't peculiar to Dukat, that Cardassian culture generally was more along the lines of 'leaders of occupied territories have to prove their own worth, the weak will get culled out by assassination, no loss there'.
I haven't read them in awhile, but my recollection is that in the Terok Nor trilogy of novels, if Dukat isn't the only prefect of Bajor, he's one of only two, and the first one is the one who ultimately leaves the delightful message for him in "Civil Defense". I'm not saying that's how it must be, or even that that's the most probable chain of events...on the other hand, I've been working for the same company for almost 20 years now with minimal changes in my role, so it's not out of the realm of probability, especially considering that Dukat seemed to relish being prefect.
Well, we do know he was prefect almost 30 years ago, too (Wrongs darker than death or night). We don't know for sure if he has been prefect all that time till the end of the Occupation, but I think that's likely. Still, 30 years is not 50 years, and Gul Dukat doesn't look that old to me. Even though we don't know much about Cardassian 24th century lifespans.
Think like a Cardassian.
They ran the occupation from the station... all of Bajor knowing their betters were literally above them at all times, untouchable by those stuck on the planet. And then on the station itself, the Cardassians got to more directly loom over their slave labor as they toiled away in the ore processor. The Bajorans were constantly reminded of who had conquered them and who was in charge.
The Cardassians don't care about doing it in an efficient way, they care about doing in a way that make the Bajorans suffer to the maximum extent, while making it very clear who is in charge.
They ran the occupation from the station... all of Bajor knowing their betters were literally above them at all times, untouchable by those stuck on the planet. And then on the station itself, the Cardassians got to more directly loom over their slave labor as they toiled away in the ore processor. The Bajorans were constantly reminded of who had conquered them and who was in charge.
The Cardassians don't care about doing it in an efficient way, they care about doing in a way that make the Bajorans suffer to the maximum extent, while making it very clear who is in charge.
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