Zeischt: “Why are you explaining all this as if I’m not already aware of the consequences?”

A’lasha: "Plot exposition..." Points at the 4th wall...

Really interesting stakes and a quandry worthy of Section 31 - sacrificing thousands of innocents to save billions of innocents.

Looks like Raffele's intelligence is starting to pay off. Really superb political analysis and the best argument for taking the high road. 

Thanks!! rbs

Seems a very bolian way of looking at things - dynasty is everything. Very pithy, on-target sketch of Ashok's background. 

Most people fail to live their lives by living in an imaginary glorius past or an imaginary glorius future - the latter being the soul-eating demon for Hakaseus. I don't recall if Ashok ever found peace, but at least the glorius future demon stands revealed to him. Hopefully that will immunize Ashok against that particular road to unhappiness.

Thanks!! rbs

And fantastic critter design on Chen-Oo-Vu. I'm quite envious - you've really come up with a fascinating array of quite alien species and it marks yours as the most diverse Trek-verse I've encountered yet. COV is also a really interesting character in his own right without all the alien attributes. 

I'm glad to see Juneau return even as a quite gruesome ghoul to haunt Rameriz. I'm wondering if she's another feature of this LMC or something attached to Rameriz. Interesting that she chose this late moment to reveal herself. It is quite a ghoulish little galaxy.

I'm very much hoping there's more of this story. Thanks!! rbs

The best plans fall apart in contact with the enemy and Izawa's plan wasn't even a good one. He's going to have to come up with much better to justify remaining in command. And now Rameriz has come full circle - taking the post she was posthumously promoted to in extremis - after having been a renegade. Hers has been one wild ride.

Really nice critter design on the Kan-Uut and especially the Caezieg. Not a huge surprise that they were killing instead of simply enslaving for the benefit of the Amon - but which branch of the Amon?

Either way, Izawa has a whole lot of "I told you so" waiting for him when he wakes up...

Thanks!! rbs

Looks like Valhalla's crew woke something else along with Captain Abrahamson. 

Really enjoying how weird and random the LMC is - the setting lends itself to really odd encounters and experiences far outside of what the franchise has shown within the Milky Way. It's a place short on resources, but long on mysteries.

Very nice to get inside a Deltan's head - of course it's not just the reader that's in there with her..

Thanks!! rbs

Really liking the personal growth in Maddox. I think Brian Brophy would really enjoy bringing this version of Maddox to life. Liking the relationship between Maddox and Raffaelle - an interesting character especially because of his flaws.

So Section 31's a goner? Yeah, I'm with Cybel on that one. Conspiracies that deeply rooted always come back. Except for the Knights Templar - those guys have been toast for centuries...

Izawa's tendency toward confirmtion bias regarding S31 has to be unsettling to Cybel. That's a particularly deadly intellectual disease.

Thanks!! rbs

Well that's a bundle of news... Here's hoping Rameriz doesn't relapse into her baroness alter-ego. Very much liking Izawa's character as you reveal him, one decision at a time. Old characters are fun to write, given the layers of experience and richness of learning over such time.

Really nice job with both Cybal's and Rameriz's grief - well emoted.

Thanks!! rbs

I'm wondering how old those romulans are - could they be native to this galaxy? 

Several things to like here in the setup - particularly scarcity of resources. If our heroes are to get on here, they need to determine what the economic limiter is. And watch out... Desparate people can go through cultural and technological change very quickly. 

Valhalla's precarious political position is interesting too. 

Thanks!! rbs

Really nice detail regarding the holo-Cybel vs. android-Cybel. In this circumstance, having that option becomes very useful, but it's interesting that such an extravagance was considered. Of course, it provides her unique options for remote operations.

The critter design for the cyber-aliens is even more interesting. So now they're going to back off and be cautious... Does that mean the aliens will be?

Quite enjoying the Raffaele character - definitely adds spice to this menagerie.

Thanks!! rbs

"But our mandate was to seek out new life... and there it was, aboard our own ship." Nice echo of Measure of a Man - with the antagonist of that episode just a few meters away in the next room.

“Oh, goody,” enthused Raffaele, clapping his hands. “Fun with the Prime Directive!”

Always up for a PD storyline. There has to be all sorts of blowback from the attack on the Shul'Nazar station. To be diverted away from it so quickly - it's really odd that it doesn't seem to have reqcted to their presence. Quite the mysterious place.

Thanks!! rbs

A cybernetic avitar instead of a holographic one... interesting congruity between Cybel and Hunter. There's got to be a hell of a backstory here...

Liking these shorter installments (thought I suspect that may be primarily for these introductory chapters.)  Also liking the badinage between the bucket of bolts and the carbon meat sacks.

Thanks!! rbs

Really liking the barratry - though at a breathtakingly inconvenient moment. But then, hiding a conspiracy from Section 31 is probably impossible, so giving her minimal time to react is probably best. Particularly liking the crew's assessment of Lar'ragos.

Trust the romulans to throw a monkey-wrench into the works. I knew it had to be exceptionally unwise to leave the Baroness (as she now styles herself) unattended.

However bad things may get, never assume they can't get any worse...

Although it could be that Sandhurst's warning may have forestalled complete disaster. Nice cliffhanger ending for this series.

Thanks!! rbs

An uber-Amon/Skorrah?  "We are the Skorrah-Hai..." Yeah... probably a good idea to get rid of those. Interesting story about genocide - when is it permissible? Humanity could be seen as an existential threat to some species, given our potential. At what point would they consider genocide against us acceptable? Really nice moral conundrum you posed here.

I think I noticed both Sandhurst and Lar'ragos alive in a later story - but quite gutsy to kill off one of your two leads at this point. And leave the other a traitor at the tender mercy of Lucian Ebnal... 

Really great action sequence here - a bit thick, so it's a bit of a slower read just to keep all of the different action threads straight.

And Section 31 comes out on top - not only of Milky Way business but trans-galactic threats. Go S31!

Thanks!! rbs