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Date: 09 May 2021 07:46 Title: Episode 24.6: A Trillian Problem - The Temple at Aiden on Saketh
I've probably said this before, but one of the most impressive hallmarks of STH, are the suprisingly sudden shifts in tone and apparent theme.
This last chapter read more like something out of Dungeons and Dragons rather than Trek. Not to mention was creepy as hell.
Author's Response:
Caught me.. I was a Dungeon Master long ago... Thanks again for the kind words!
Glad you enjoyed this creepy precursor to Episode 25 - I Dream of Shiva
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 06 May 2021 20:54 Title: Episode 24.5: A Trillian Problem - The War of Fog
Great job of making the mundane ... Weather control stations ... Exciting. In a crisis you make use of the tools you've got to hand, I suppose. Grounding enemy forces due to inclement weather conditions is certainly a good use.
Author's Response:
Glad you enjoyed that little twist. Weather control sattelites were mentioned in Trek, but we never got to see one.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 04 May 2021 20:52 Title: Episode 24.4: A Trillian Problem - The Pool of the Symbionts
Couldn't help but be reminded of Deep Blue Sea here. Attack of the killer ... Symbionts? Well, let's hope not, and that Jet's fate is not as grim Sam Jackson's was. In fact, this could end up well for everyone involved.
Author's Response:
Deep Blue Symbiont Pool...
There's far more to Jet than appears... The wild ones have big plans for her. But they're not the only ones..
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 01 May 2021 11:36 Title: Episode 24: A Trillian Problem
Looks as if Dolphin is well versed with the problem with Trills, that now seems to rear its ugly head.
Author's Response:
Lawyers do their homework...
I am tempted to title this episode The Trouble with Trills...
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Date: 29 Apr 2021 19:47 Title: Episode 24.3: A Trillian Problem - Rumor
A great little interlude. Intense and visceral, not to mention messy as all hell.
Also, who would have guessed the Trill are such phenomal jerks? Jeez.
Author's Response:
Glad you enjoyed this little bit of blood and gore... Just for the trill of it...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 27 Apr 2021 20:14 Title: Episode 24.2: A Trillian Problem - The Dream Team
"It is a dream, Kenny,” Johnny replied. “But yes, it’s real..."
That line is an instant classic. Calls to mind Inception.
A lot of deliberations here on serious issues. Thinking man's Trek.
Although if the new president needs to convene advisors via dream tech on tough issues, he probably needs to get better advisors. Or maybe find a way to get the likes of Dolphin and Canada on his staff. Poor Kenny has enough on his plate to write speeches for the president-elect, methinks.
Author's Response:
"Thinking man's Trek" is easily the best compliment this series has received - Thanks for the kind words!
Ivonovic is accomplishing a lot in this scene. He's a great speechwriter - he hardly needs anyone to write speeches for him. But by putting Kenny's name on the most momentous public address in 200 years, he cements Dolphin's reputation as the most influential ethical philosoper in Star Fleet. Which in turn keeps powerful admirals like Riker and Chekov from interfering with Ivonovic's pet troubleshooter.
Canada is also a tremendous find for Ivonvic. As a police intelligence executive for the City of Trantor, Canada is entirely independent from Federaion and Star Fleet intelligence and is in a position to tell Ivonovic what his own agencies aren't telling him.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 26 Apr 2021 19:36 Title: Episode 24.1: A Trillian Problem - The Arduous Work of Heroes
Neat whimsical musings by Dolphin. Quite appropriate and certainly a reminder not just of how much things have changed but also of the unique individuals that made up this crew.
Author's Response:
Glad you got a kick out of that little passage. It very nearly violates my first rule - never let the reader catch you writing. 24.1 and 24.2 were originally one chapter. But the 2nd half got so heavy with exposition that I needed to cut the first part free to let it stand on its own.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 26 Apr 2021 19:31 Title: Episode 23.15 - JAG Wars: Venus First
Uh, nasty and a threat impossible not to take seriously. Still, my assumptions is that Starfleet and the Federation won't bow down to terrorist threats. Let's see how this plays out.
Author's Response:
After all of the morally ambiguous characters in STH, it was quite fun to cut loose and write a few unapologetically scenery-munching villains. Yeah - these guys are not nice people.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 25 Apr 2021 21:17 Title: Episode 23.14 - JAG Wars: Emergency Powers
These two make quite a double act, almost a shame to break it up again.
Also good to see some resolute action from politicians, although we already knew Ivanovic is a man of action. Now, what's the next crisis?
Author's Response:
Glad you enjoyed this one! I don't think it's too much of a spoiler that an important new assignment awaits the soon-to-be Former President Rodriguez. Also glad you're enjoying the Ivonovic character arc.
And there are a few more shoes to drop...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 22 Apr 2021 20:30 Title: Episode 23.13 - JAG Wars: Sanctuary
Man, racism stinks, no matter what planet you're on. This Federation you're painting is a depressing place. Good thing there are a few good men (and women) left to fight the good fight.
Author's Response:
Men, women... and beasts...
There were hints in DS9 about racial problems within the trill population. Civil strife and internecine warfare always accompany the decline of empire...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 20 Apr 2021 20:11 Title: Episode 23.12 - JAG Wars: First Strike at Weythan
Well executed surgical strike with some political trickery strewn in for good measure. Getting suspicious though. This all seems to have gone too well.
Author's Response:
The Federation Strikes Back...
Rebel movements generally don't have the kind of scratch to pay for mercenaries...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 19 Apr 2021 07:37 Title: Episode 23.11 - JAG Wars: The Venus Incident
Somebody call Bowie. That song should be Life on Venus.
Interesting hypothesis about teaming life on that planet and certainly something that would be very cool if true in the real world.
As for its fate, looks like everything is falling apart, including the solar system. Wonder what this place'll look like after everything is said an done. Not pretty, I venture.
Author's Response:
I've not heard a lot of theoretical exobiologists talking about Venusian life, but I think it might be possible. It would have to be silicone-based, which presents far fewer potential chemical combinations than carbon. I have seen a few presentations about the relative potentials for terraforming Venus as opposed to Mars.
The Rebellion is definitely starting with a bang...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 18 Apr 2021 07:31 Title: Episode 23.10 - JAG Wars: Space Superiority
Somebody is shifting priorities and adjusting to new conditions on the ground as if he'd been sitting in the big chair for years, rather than days.
What made me grin a little here was the fact that essentially we're still talking about a JAG ship full of lawyers. A long time since these guys litigated anything without the use of their phasers. Desperate times ...
Author's Response:
There is another courtroom drama left in this story... It turns out if you're in the position of pointing guns at people, knowing the law can be rather useful.
Dolphin's life was a disaster - fired by the D.A., run out of Harvard, reviled by millions for his dissertation about hybrids, nasty divorce, estranged children... Then he set foot on the USS Hunter and within 5 minutes was in the captain's chair running a rescue - ordered to take command by a captain he had never met.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 18 Apr 2021 07:26 Title: Episode 23.9 - JAG Wars: The Trillian Ultimatum
Okay, the Federation is going to hell in a hand basket (I've just realized I don't even know what that means) but the most stunning aspect of this chapter? An orderly, even amicable, transfer of power?! What? I'm clearly far too jaded.
Anyway, Ivanovic in charge. This oughta to be entertaining. At this point I wonder if he'll be the prez to oversee the end of the UFP.
Author's Response:
I'll have to look it up - I don't know either... Yeah - isn't that a cool idea - the president and president-elect working together in a crisis?
Who would have thought a former stooge for organized crime and foreign intelligence operatives would end up president?
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 14 Apr 2021 20:08 Title: Episode 23.8 - JAG Wars: Mercenaries
Starfleet seems to have some serious issues if it can't even rely on its own intelligence service anymore. Good thing Dolphin has reliable sources of his own.
Author's Response:
You are not wrong... Those cardassian ships had to be in Federation space for weekes to get from the cardassian border to Weythan...
I should note that I made a few changes to this story thread and the next episode in response to the way you handle Federation ethics in STEA. I changed some of the tactics, justifications and even some of the outcomes to keep my characters more in character.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 13 Apr 2021 20:20 Title: Episode 23.7 - JAG Wars: The Hudson River Massacre
This read very much like a chapter out of a moody contemporary novel, right down to the overt racism. How sad this is still such a hot button topic in the far future. The floating corpses of children is an especially dark turn. *Shudder*
Author's Response:
According to Bashir, the vulcans insisted on Section 31 primarily to protect the Federation against its greatest threat - humanity. He told Irons he was withdrawing that protection...
Alas, of any of my predictins for the future of our species, I fear this one is the most accurate. If no more than 0.01% of humans are violent racists, and there are about 45 billion humans, that would make about 4.5 million violent racists...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 12 Apr 2021 20:35 Title: Episode 23.6 - JAG Wars: Minerva
Always entertaining to rejoin the Doctor and Old Man Wesley. An now it appears the duo may have become a trio with the addition of the mysterious "Bob". I do think I may be recognizing their form of transportation.
Author's Response:
Glad you're enjoying the Wesley/Doctor beats. Dr. Carrera's team is gradually forming - sort of a 25th Century League of Extraordinary Gentlemen... Alien Bob is Wesley's friend and mentor, the Traveler. He had forgotten his actual name, so Wes started calling him Bob.
And you are not wrong about the Lavardorn, the sort of space whale introduced in the previous episode. The name Lavardorn is one of many easter eggs (along with pretty much all my admirals except Chekov and a number of walk-on captains.)
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 11 Apr 2021 07:23 Title: Episode 23.5 - JAG Wars: The Shadow of Death
I always thought Irons had a dark side to her but this is quite a transformation indeed. She a stone cold killer now.
I think I recall the Romulan and the Cardassian from earlier. Hadn't realized she was Section 31. Wasn't she responsible for busting out Ivanovic and killing an entire ship?
Author's Response:
Irons has been ruthlessly hacking and burning her way through this story, leaving a mountain of bodies. Her son is just as ruthless - the Irons family is part dynasty, part tong. Fiercly loyal to the Federation, but they have a distinctly Chinese way of doing business.
Remma was the top IIC field agent when she attacked the Hunter (Ep 4), destroyed the Challenger and captured Ivonovic (Ep 5, 6). Ivonovic mentions her influence over him to Dolphin, which leads to Dolphin putting Ivonovic out of her reach by getting him onto the Federation Council (Ep 10). Later scenes (Ep 11, 16) show first LeMark, then Remma being telepathically dominated and tortured by Chief Justice Scrivax while Bashir and Vice Admiral Senvol watch. This is a moment in her being conditioned and transformed from Imperial Intelligence Control agent into a tool of Section 31.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 08 Apr 2021 20:32 Title: Episode 23.4 - JAG Wars: Second Officer
I'm glad Gamor laughed this off but Sage's reaction to her was borderline creepy and potentially disrespectful in a professional setting.
I can't exactly claim a moral high ground here, since I pulled this kinda stuff with DeMara Deen as well, I'm sure, but at least in her case there extenuating circumstances.
Captain Hunter needs to learn some tact, methinks.
Author's Response:
Farm boy from West Virginia - a bit rough around the edges. Gamor can handle him easily.
It's that Rhode Island aristocrat who gets her goat.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 07 Apr 2021 20:43 Title: Episode 23.3 - JAG Wars: Coins and Marks
Glad Hopper made it out in one piece, able to tell the story of the surreal trial.
And she hooked up with a governor? Methinks the young lady isn't quiet that innocent.
Author's Response:
And Dolphin is not above using that kind of connection in pretty much the same way that the sea is not above the clouds...
i'm gratified that Hopper comes across as a character you can care about.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 06 Apr 2021 20:38 Title: Episode 23.2 - JAG Wars: The Prowler Class
A ship full of lawyers? I'm sure there a joke there somewhere. As we have seen and Dolphin reminds everyone with his all so subtle humility, Hunter is far more dangerous than slapping somebody with a lawsuit.
Author's Response:
Worse - a whole fleet of lawyers. Fleet street in space...
Dolphin can only pretend to be humble. And now he's coordinating a group of sister ships to Hunter...
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 06 Apr 2021 20:28 Title: Episode 23 - JAG Wars
That's quite insightful commentary on how JAG functions in your Starfleet. Considering the ominous title of this story I'm sure this is going to be valuable background info.
Author's Response:
Glad you enjoyed this intro - I kind of needed to answer the question "Why is JAG doing this stuff?" But we've never seen any reference to Star Fleet MP.
Thanks!! rbs
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Date: 05 Apr 2021 10:40 Title: Episode 23.1 - JAG Wars: The Prodigal Sum Returns
So it was all a show. Ha, didn't expect that. Shiva, it seems though, was quite real. Quite an interesting development. And it looks as if this isn't the end of the road for Irons after all, or maybe it is, except that Shiva will go on. But instead of Death, she may be a savior.
Author's Response:
It was a show trial after all... Just not Sela's show... Glad that one came out of left field for you.
Minerva has given up everything - even her name - to become a dedicated Section 31 field agent.
While STH definitely gets weird, I try to keep it grounded in established astrophysics and ST tech (with the additions of the Dream Weaver and the Recursive Warp/Zip Drive.)
Thanks!! rbs