Date: 15 Jul 2013 22:15 Title: Prologue
Oopsie - well, this is bad. The PADD was not that well secured though - that much should be pretty obvious, yes?
It is an ugly result, to be sure, but it makes one wonder about its cause. Could it, perhaps, have been prevented somehow?
Date: 31 May 2013 23:14 Title: Prologue
That was quite an amazing teaser. I had to read Bashir's first scene twice to understand how Sarina was both in the cargo bay and accompanying the Jack Pack. The usual bickering between Damar and Weyoun was sure spot on, throwing Damar's inner conflict from "Statistical Probalities" that was harbinger to his eventual defection. Makes me wonder about direction of Damar's character in this universe. Knowing that Cardassia's status in the new galactic order be reduced even more, will he try to dissociate Cardassia from the Dominion in this timeline as well?
I came across this story while watching "The Best of Both Worlds" for the umpteenth time, so that last passage gives this prologue the same feel as the end of BoBW, Part 1.
Author's Response: Wow, thanks! Great to get such praise from one of the site's resident DS9-ophiles! I love all of these characters and writing Damar and Weyoun is a joy. I have not yet entirely decided where I want Damar to go in this universe, but watch this space!
Any comparison to BOBW is a fantastic honour, so thanks for that as well! Hope you enjoy the rest.
Date: 31 May 2013 07:43 Title: Prologue
Oh, man. Well played. Very, very well played. This is about the worst possible outcome of the Statistical Probabilities potential universes, and it is all so very believable ... if just one tiny thing had gone differently, everything would indeed be different. Multiply that by a few more differences and we're well established on the highway to hell.
I can't imagine the recriminations and regret that must be going through Julian's mind right now.
On a technical level, this was extremely well written, which is usual for you. The character voices were spot on. I could hear their voices just like I was watching the show ... but the ending was so much darker.
Really very well done. I'm looking forward to this. (And also kind of dreading it because I know it can't end happily!)
Author's Response: Thanks kes. Statistical Probabilities is one of my favourite episodes, the Jack Pack especially I thought were great characters and fantastic foils for Julian. When I was developing Restoration, I watched a lot of DS9 (for obvious reasons) and I got a flash while watching the end of this episode - what if Sarina had not stayed behind? Julian is going to struggle with what happened here for a long time, and by the time we get around to seeing him again... Let's just say he may not be the Julian you all remember anymore. Thank you so much for the comment, glad you thought that the character voices worked - I'm working on a TNG chapter right now, which is much more difficult. I think I know their voices much less than I do the DS9 ones! I should have some more up soon!
Date: 31 May 2013 05:45 Title: Prologue
Man, this is the turning point. This is what sends the AQ and everything else down the drain … all of this, all of this is because of Jack and his friends. Out of all the turning points in the war, I didn’t peg this one as the one that sent everything down the tubes. After all, there were a lot of points that you could have picked to be the big one but this was inspired. I liked this episode and the Jack Pack quite a lot. The characters were flawed, messed up, but each had a redeeming quality.
But here you turn everything on its head and you do so in a nice fashion. You have the DS9 characters down to a T and write them all very well, from Bashir to Damar, these guys looked and sounded like the real deal. Jack and his mannerisms were strongest of all to me, as you nailed him and did it in fine form. I’m eagerly anticipating to seeing what happens to … well, everyone! Picard and Janeway … gracious there has to be so much going on in the future, the possibilities are quite numerous and exciting. How does it all go down? Who live and dies?
More, please.
Author's Response: Hi trekfan. Yeah, as I said above, this one came to me while watching the episode. It just seemed to fit perfectly and to allow me the most freedom to maintain the majority of the characters (many other events meant a massive immediate loss of life especially on DS9). I'm glad you liked the episode and the Jack Pack, it is one of my favourite episodes as well. The DS9 characters were actually really easy to write, although I'm struggling with the TNG characters (which surprised me somewhat). As to seeing everyone, I am hoping to include as many characters as possible over the course of the series, although at the moment I am concentrating on the big ones. The series itself is going to be called Fate of the Fallen, so it is important to see all of those fates play out. More tonight for sure, though it may be a bit longer between updates after that.
Date: 31 May 2013 03:23 Title: Prologue
Man, this is going to be epic. Isn't it?
I just know it will be. I have that tingling sensation.
I am thrilled that you are going to explore such an important and captivating era of your universe. The Fall of the Federation damnably fascinating and we've been given big teases over the course of Redemption. Seems we may now at last get some of the blanks filled in. Yes you're ficlets only served to make those questions all the more evocative and make us itch for more.
All the canon characters were dealt with nicely and I like the point that you use to diverge things in the universes, how the Jack Pack end up bringing about the ruin of the Federation by their actions.
Author's Response: Hi MF! Yes, I think epic is probably the word for what I have planned here. Tragedy works as well :) I have been kicking over the idea of writing this for a while (in fact I had begun it over on trekbbs a few years ago but never continued with it) but the reaction to the Dax ficlets pushed me over the edge. I'm glad that you're so enthusiastic to see how this develops, I hope to surprise you all with the way things play out. Yeah, the Jack Pack are a turning point, and things will play out very differently from this point on.