So here is the mega review...

Firstly I will say that if there were a rating system I would give this story five stars, ten out of ten or A+ or whatever you high ranking you can imagine. While the first part may have had some minor flaws, the second part was so good and so strong any such flaws were either explained away or contributed to the very sombre and powerful ending. Whilst the occasional writing error -- be that a missing word or a slight confusion of a particular sentence -- barely detracted from the whole.

So where to begin... I'm going to start off with the plot and for a story of this scope it could have been so much longer and perhaps convoluted and meandering but nearly every scene had a purpose to it, exposition and dialogue nearly always interwove in a smooth fashion and there were enough twists in the middle, engaging characters from the beginning and powerful drama at the end which propelled the piece forwards. Perhaps the only sections were New Beginnings dragged a bit, and sort of meandered, were between chapters 21 and 24 where you may have extended out the aftermath of the Pearl's attack for a bit longer than was necessary. However I was rewarded with some great insight into the characters and you brought up some psychological aspects of trauma and a desperate situation which were both eye-opening and for the most realistic.

Ironically the bedrock of this plot, the thing which provided the bigger picture to this story, to this universe you have adapted was contained in the middle where you set down the stakes, the cards, the political chips, whatever you want to call it. You tied together a lot of things: the Cardassian bodies being beamed onto New Haven, the sabotage of the Enterprise E, both the Romulans and the Cardassians breaking away from the treaty negotiations, the lingering after-effects of the Dominion war, that weird alien which Riker found in TNG, and the Pearl's situation in two scenes and that was an impressive tying together of separate goings-on which would be worthy of any story arc from DS9. It was near flawless though the bit about Benjamin Maxwell escaping seemed to me like a dead end and a perhaps forgotten plot point, though I have not read your second and third Chronicle books so it is too early to tell. So it was a stellar plot.

Now we come to the characters and the big three were clearly Hank, Nick and Bethany, while the story of Daren (and too my embarrassment his last name escapes my mind but this is a first read through) was also one of the most interesting from the main characters, and perhaps out of all of them Daren developed the most having confronted his disgust of Starfleet, facing the loss of his home and going straight back to the hellish situation he swore to avoid when he resigned from Starfleet. So that was a very clever full circle for this character.

Hank's method of captaincy is probably the biggest factor of them which moulded the characters as the story progressed. What started out as a perhaps unprofessional and rarely inappropriate (take for instance Hank's reaction during the time when the Pearl was first attacked and his somewhat despondent mood afterwards) style of captaincy started to pay off in droves and it felt plausible to, it was not just you -- the author -- pulling the strings and making Hank into something you wanted him to be, it felt like a natural evolution and that paid dividends towards the end when Nick said that no could replace Hank or replicate the loyalty he inspired from his crew. This was something which struck true so that is something I can attribute to either a well thought-out character or good people understand or both.

When I was about halfway through the story I said to you that I thought Bethany was more interesting than Nick, both whom come second to Hank in terms of my interest as their being characters. But after seeing Nick go through hell and keep the crew together, not the Pearl because it was wrecked almost beyond repair, he is command material as he kept his nerve until the very end. Until at last when it was all said and done, when he could afford himself that one private moment, he let it all out and it made such sense and I really felt for the guy.

As for Bethany she didn't really go anywhere which was a mild disappointment as I have heard much about the romance between Bethany and Hank, and how people really like it, so I thought there would be some spark or even some realization from one of the two. But there was not, save for it being vaguely alluded to in that scene where Bethany is rather messed up and she doesn't really know why but we all know it is because of perhaps a secret love or desire for Hank. I don't recall Hank -- either in dialogue or in exposition -- expressing his love or feelings for Bethany. So perhaps the second or third book will commence this romance.

The Walker brothers had their moments as did Tony Parks who matured, which was much needed and much called for, so that did the story well. The CMO, Paul, was a bit hit and miss and if anything he seemed at his best when T'Kel was around whom you sparingly used. A couple of times you had some character scenes which really went nowhere and could have been removed from the story without any loss to its integrity or quality. Take Tony messing around with the holodeck with that Leo fellow (you see I've already half-forgotten his name), Charle's spontaneous breakdown and even T'Kel's divorce did not -- in the greater scheme of things -- add up to anything. Chris Walker's romantic interest did work and it was a moving scene where he went into quite a state after Madison Gate's injury. There was only one scene with her actually speaking but it conveyed enough that when she became severely injured, it greatly added to Chris' consternation and stress as he fought to keep the Pearl running. The point is it was a brief scene but you made something of it.

By last comment on the characters have to be the cameo appearances of Morn, Chief O'Brien and Doctor Beverly Crusher (or should that be admiral Beverly Crusher). They weren't cameos for the sake of cameos but it was a nice little addition to the story!

One thing which constantly bugged me throughout though was why the Pearl was left alone by that Romulan ship. If getting the main Alpha Quadrant powers to war was the goal of this alien race, why did they let the Pearl go when the Pearl had clear evidence of this alien race's existence and evidence of their trying to frame the Federation of murdering hundreds of Cardassians (let's not forget the dead alien, in the form of a Cardassian, who they have lying in Sickbay)? Won't leaving the Pearl derail their plans for the conquest of the Alpha Quadrant? I know you couldn't destroy the Pearl because then you would scuttle your entire series, but this seems like a rather large gaping plot hole if the second and third books do not adequately address this. So I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here even if it is niggling away at me.

So to sum up this was an excellent start to your series and you delivered with the characters, the mysteries, the intrigue, the plot, the dialogue, the exposition and other goodies to (Morn!!!). Not once did New Beginnings ever feel like it was going off course or losing focus, and this story already feels like part of something much more larger and far more epic.

And with that I am most certainly looking forward to your second Chronicles book!

Oooh ... ominious warning with war clouds forming. Good stuff and a way to end the first part of the story.