I think Ln X reviews has cover a lot of what I like to say.

This feels so much like the DS9 aftermath; I had no problem hearing the characters saying those lines, no one to me act out of character.

S31 are suffering from the old problem 'who watches the watchers?' their actions are destroying the Federation as there not been held in check. They actions are speed up the rot in the UFP and the other powers.

The story kept me coming back for more, I enjoy your re-take of past scenes in the flashback, but I do feel the Orion Syndicate & Sisko Angle felt unresolved. I personnel like to have seen more of the Suran and Donotra arc but perhaps that could be a future story.

Ah, there's something big and very secret going on.

The Klingons don't know, but one of them might be ... someone. Stellar Cartography is affected. Other systems are down. But our man Calhoun clearly knows - and this is Top Secret, whatever it is.

Since omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, it begs the question of whether this is a hugely destructive force being unleashed, or at least tested. Stay tuned.

Hee hee, yes Sloan was quite resourceful. This piece provides a tie-in between ST: Nemesis and "Inter Arma...", especially with the explanation of how Sloan got Koval, a man so vehemently against a wartime Federation-Romulan alliance, under his thumb.

Yeah it was a good appraisal and I do explain a bit more about by thoughts on this story. But I thought Section 31's role was greatly expanded concerning their efforts to ensure the Dominion won the war and all of this struggle, strife and intrigue just so the Federation can get back their nadion cannons? I sometimes think Section 31 makes things to complicated and in their elaborate plot to solidify the Klingon/Federation alliance, keep three steps ahead of the Romulans, keep Starfleet secrets under wraps, manufacture an omega particle scare and steal some nadion pulse cannons from Tazwa. How did Section 31 pull it off so well?

It's incredible how all these different goals, parties and agendas come together. Though what was the point of Koval joining the Continuing Committee if he has already retired from it now? I guess that neurological disease he had, I forget the name, must have deteriorate significantly. In fact I think Section 31 could have accelerated Koval's disease, I mean Sloan asked Bashir if he could in Inter Arma... So Section 31, being three steps ahead of everyone else, managed to pull something like this off.

I guess Section 31 considered Koval valuable during the Dominion war, but afterwards. Well Section 31 must have saw an opportunity to get rid of the Tal Shiar chairman didn't they? Flush out one of their own agents perhaps? Though might Koval have suspected something if he noticed his condition degrade? Would he not raise the alarm and give away Section 31 in the process perhaps?

Again you can draw and infer so much from this story it is incredible!

She could not get used to the absence of the baseball. I love this line. Seems most telling of the situation for all concerned. And yet looking in on the Sisko scene he seems willing now to turn his back on Starfleet forever. Despite the words of Cassidy and Jake and their understanding of his duty and job. But he is deciding for himself it seems. Alas events are conspiring to draw him back into the fold.

What is this strange rogue faction that Martok seems to have a lead on and why is Sisko best placed to track it down? Intriguing.

:Shivers:

Yup I get shivers all over again as I read this prologue. The Klingon beginning draws you right in and I think the fact they are dealing with a scientific conundrum only but adds to the mystery, the hook factor and making this story stand out. Then the switch to the Excalibur crew then adds a further level of interest as it registers that we have a Treklit crew here and somehow it begins to make this feel more serious already.

And of course our suspicions (well it was in the title) are confirmed - Omega Directive in operation - the Omega particle has been discovered. Yipes.

And again,  I have to comment that I really liked the Klingon angle on this. Most interesitng.

Alright! In this last review of the whole story there are some loose ends which I'm contemplating about. These are parts of the story which either left some things unfinished, unresolved or gave some ambiguity to the plot as a whole. So this review is more like pondering the more subtle aspects of Omega.

The first thing is whether Sloan had always intended for someone to accompany Bashir when Bashir decided to track down the Section 31 infiltrator, the other one aside from Cole, who still apparently resided in the station.

Sloan must have known that Bashir would start investigating what was going on when Cole arrived, and was then killed -- probably because the Rennek changeling was covertly monitoring Cole and activated Cole's suicide implant when Cole threatened to reveal too much to Bashir...

So was Cole here to throw Bashir off the trail, and thus the senior staff of DS9, or what? That bit I could not quite figure out. At any rate the transmission which activated Cole's implant was tracked down to a part of the station, and Bashir and Sisko were investigating because they suspected that Section 31 was behind Cole's death? But really it was Rennek's ruse to lure Bashir and Sisko to a trap, thus beaming them off to Rennek's ship. The question is Rennek must have been pretty certain that Bashir and Sisko would take the bait and no one else would investigate. I know Rennek wanted to give the Tal Shiar actual evidence from Bashir and Sisko about the part Starfleet played in orchestrating the omega bomb scare in the Tazwan system.

So the point of all this is thus so; why did Sloan help Sisko? I find it a rather strange coincidence that Sloan helps Sisko (in the disguise of Verad), so that Sisko begins the investigation on Torman Five which leads to the station drama with the terrorist attack. So Sloan did all of that to a) get a Starfleet vessel to investigate Nimbus Three (because Sloan gave Ro that lead on Zeyner and Zeyner leads to Nimbus Three because of that contact of his), and b) place blame on the Ku'Vok-leth by saying they were responsible for Chancellor Martok's assassination.

So all the stuff happens on Nimbus Three and the omega particle is found there, and then that chase begins and thus giving the Federation the pretext for saying that Tazwa contains more omega bombs, which gives Section 31 the opportunity to remove those nadion pulse cannons.

So really Verad (Sloan) started this all off, and I wonder if Sloan really wanted Sisko to accompany Bashir when Bashir got around to investigating Section 31 when Cole died. Or am I over-thinking things? The point is Bashir would not have survived if it was just him alone on Rennek's shuttle. So was that all part of some grand plan on Sloan's part to ensure that Bashir would not be alone should be taken by Section 31? Or Rennek?

The fact is how did Rennek know about Cole? Rennek was the true bad guy in all of this, because if he had returned to Romulan space with Sisko and Bashir, Rennek would have all the evidence he needed to show that the Starfleet was behind the omega bomb, and behind the scheme to persuade the Romulans to fight against the Dominion. So was Rennek at the right place at the right time or was he a part of Section 31?


The next loose end was the assassination of Senator Vreenak. First of all Tirak... Tirak was the changeling and I also presume the same changeling who took the form of Rennek. So firstly Tirak wanted the Romulans to be more aggressive with the Klingons, per orders with the Great Link who wanted the Alpha Quadrant to descend into chaos, with Federation vs Klingons, Cardassians vs Klingons, Klingons vs Romulans. That bit I understand. But then Tirak boards Vreenak's shuttle and Suran just knows that Tirak accompanying the Senator, it would mean a 'disastrous outcome'. So why did Tirak just let Garak get away with sabotaging Vreenak's shuttle?

We both the consequences of what happened when Vreenak's shuttle blew up, so as such so does Tirak. So why did participate in an action which went against his people's wishes? Tirak said it himself; "True, the Federation and the Klingon Empire would have a better chance of winning the war with the Romulans on their side."

So I know Tirak wants revenge for what the Tal Shiar did, but he must have had some pretty strong reasons for against his people. So is the Tirak changeling a banished member of the Great Link? Is he working for the Dominion or he is really a rogue agent? That bit I could not figure out.


There is another matter and that is Suran. I had a hard time placing his true motives and which side of the Romulan Senate and the Tal'Shiar he was on. For one thing he wanted the Romulans to take a more active stance fighting against the Dominion, so he accepted some dodgy evidence and glossed over some suspicious actions on Vreenak's part, just so he could have the leverage needed in order for a favourable vote when the Senate made a ruling on whether to declare war on the Dominion or not. That bit I could follow.

However this rivarly between Suran and Donotra was a little strange. Strange as in those two seemed to be working for the same objective. So Donotra was at first following Suran's ship, but Suran was going to Nimbus Three for what reason? And the Romulans had their own operation going on in that planet, so was that the operation to make the Omega particle? Or something else entirely?

I really could not work whether Suran was actually working for Section 31, following his own agenda or trying to frame the Federation. As for Donotra, she kind of disappeared so I could not determine what her part in this tale truly was...


Next was Grelik. Had he been introduced before in the story? I've forgotten but I almost confused Grelik with Grelak... Actually I take that back (I said Grelak in a previous review because I misspelt it!), Grelik was beamed away so he must have been a Section 31 agent, and Grelik was somehow alive in the epilogue. So was Grelik another isomorphic projection or what!?! So Grelik must have been behind the attempted assassination of Martok, which means Grelik -- an infiltrator of the Ku'Vok-leth -- tried to kill Martok. And if he succeeded wouldn't that have weakened the Federation/Klingon alliance? Unless the Ku'Vok-leth were framed, or maybe even Section 31 persuaded the Ku'Vok-leth to assassinate Martok, and thus the chief opposition to the alliance would be neutered as there would be a backwash, or something.

So Grelik was another piece of the puzzle which felt rather incongruous to what Section 31 was trying to do!


Finally there was Runold and his connection with the Orion Syndicate, did he contact them and say that Sisko betrayed him? If he did then the Orion Syndicate will be after Sisko's head, including the heads of his family to, so while Sisko at the end of the story seemed to give the impression that everything was safe and sound. Aren't the Orion Syndicate onto his case and won't they try to attack him later on?


So this was a massive story with a very complicated plot, and those are the five main loose threads I thought blurred the nature of this puzzle. It's almost like you could construct an entirely different reason for what happened with these five loose threads.

And that is the last major review I have of this story!

Author's Response: For the most part, just stayed tuned for future stories. There is a lot of political intrigue from the Romulan end of things, especially with political moderates turning towards an extremists' agenda. Suran's motives were tough gauge in Nemesis, where he and Shinzon had separate agendas, but then saw Donatra's side of things, hence leaving the unanswered question of whether the warbird destroyed in the final battle with Shinzon was Suran's ship. Again, stay tuned. Regarding Sisko and the Orion Syndicate, it's one of those cases for now where it's all resolved at the end of the story unless it isn't. The trail in that intricate web was Ku'Vok'leth hiring rebel Trill to do a job for them, and in turn these anti-government Trill terrorists hired members of the Syndicate who are very low in the pecking order as henchmen. The mob bosses probably had very little vested interest in the outcome, so one possibility is that Runold is as dead to them as one of their regular mob hits. I would imagine they'd be just as PO'd with Trill terrorists for costing them valuable hitmen. Rennek/Tirak's role in everything will certainly be addressed in a future story. For now, Sisko and Garak's efforts to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War parallels the Zimmerman Telegram, which can be looked back at as Great Britain exploiting US-Mexican border tensions to their advantage by fabricating evidence of a proposed alliance between Germany and Mexico. To further this parallel, Germany resumed attacking Atlantic shipping lanes in 1917 once Russia withdrew from the war, figuring that if the US did retaliate and declare war, it would be too late make a difference for the Allies. Considering though, Tirak acknowledged that the Romulans would give the Federation-Klingon alliance a better chance, there's certainly more going on than a grave miscalculation.

Right! Having given you my interpretation and understanding of the main part of the plot I want to give some of my thoughts about the political motivations of the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans which also formed the backbone to this story. I'll start with the Federation because I feel that Omega shows the greatest consequences for the Federation. So this review will be in three parts.


1. Federation

You have clearly examined in even more depth just how noble and pristine the Federation truly is, more so than DS9 or TNG have ever done. DS9 obviously gave you the blueprints for this what with Section 31, Vice Admiral Layton's coup, Sisko and Garak's ploy to coerce the Romulans into fighting the Dominion, Starfleet admirals secretly working with Section 31 or more likely going on along with Section 31's schemes, and of course the cover-up of Section 31.

DS9 already made Starfleet and the Federation look pretty bad, but this story portrays an even worse picture and I would even go as far as to say explore the precursors to a Starfleet that loses its moral integrity and becomes a force of oppression in an increasingly draconian and paranoid Federation. Those forces were pushed back in Omega to a degree, but I think this rot cannot be easily removed and seems to be only spreading. The invasion of Tazwa was indicative of a classic government response to retain power and control: problem, reaction, solution. I have expressed my thoughts on this relating to Omega but I think it was your way of expressing your views on today's politics and in particular with the US government. This is just my opinion but I think you were covertly telling the reader about the 'problem, reaction, solution' method in which many governments use and I would not say you were preaching or spreading an agenda, but it was informative. You're inviting the reader to contrast the decline of the Federation's political standing and morality with that of the US government, but such a contrast could only come about through careful analysis of this story by the reader. So you are informing without forcing the reader's hand; they've got to make up their own minds about what the Federation's actions reminds them in today's world.

For me personally this gradual decline of the Federation is one of the most interesting, underrated and rather ignored topic amongst Trekkies. It is the bigger picture which DS9 created as it asked just how truly clean was Starfleet's and the Federation's image? You have have greatly expanded upon this and that is one reason why I am now so fascinated by Omega. I have always believed (after watching DS9) that the Federation was in moral decline at its very core and it would take a lot to stop this. But another war would undoubtedly be a catalyst as the Federation fought to protect this paradise it has created for many peoples and worlds, and in doing so destroyed many of the ideals which formed the Federation. Outside everything appears as it has always been, but take a closer look and things are beginning to unravel.

At times in Omega it felt like Section 31 was trying to tighten its grasp upon Starfleet and the Federation government, and since this organization is highly paranoid about keeping safe its secrets and more sensitive matters which the Federation has buried away, then to what additional lengths will it go to until it starts to visibly infringe about Federation laws and the accountability of the government to the people? I think that moment came perilously close and now more than ever the ideals of the Federation are under severe attack.

If a war had blown up between the Federation, Klingons and Romulans, I think the Federation would have the most to lose and Starfleet and Section 31 would become ever more paranoid about protecting the Federation from threats both within and outside of the Federation. Omega showed the UFP President authorizing an illegal and illegitimate war, a Starfleet admiral determined to purge (not kill but instead imprison and destroy the careers of) Starfleet officers who knew of Section 31 and if that ain't the behaviour of a totalitarian state, or the behaviour or the Romulans or the Cardassians, then I don't know what is!

So this moral degradation was definitely touched upon and I feel would provide the reader -- the one who has been carefully following the story -- with a great insight to the true state of Starfleet and the Federation. Which both intrigued and fascinated me.


2. Klingons

The Klingons appear to be going through the same moral rot as the Federation but they are in a far more advanced stage. While the Ku'Vok-leth were only somewhat explored in Omega, the role the Federation has played in Klingon politics was greatly examined and it calls into question whether the Klingon Empire has been moulded to a certain degree by Starfleet to ensure the Federation/Klingon alliance endures.

Worf's realization of how he played a part in this is both an eye-opener and a great development to his character. It ties in everything which happened to him in TNG and DS9. The Klingons seem yet again on the verge of another civil war, and while the threat of a civil war from the Ku'Vok-leth has subsided, I think a civil war is brewing as two camps form in the Klingon Empire. One camp is coming to realise the extent to which the Federation has interfered with their politics, and they feel that the alliance is to blame for this. Thus the Khitomer Accords should be the first thing to be scrapped.

While the other camp believe in the alliance feeling that it has made the Empire stronger. Eventually, and in true Klingon style, these two camp's differences will become irreconcilable and a civil war will be the only outcome. It could even explain much later how Worf was killed in the Klingon High Council, when his son witnessed his father's death and held his father during Worf's final moments. Was the argument which escalated out of hand spawned from fears of the Federation interfering with Klingon politics?

So I would say that Omega only reinforces Ezri's viewpoint on the state of the Klingon Empire; it is dying and withering away due to corruption, infighting and feuds between families. But like a wounded animal would the Klingons lash out against the Federation? I think the events in Omega could be a precursor to this.


3. Romulans

While the Romulans motives and political situation had the most flashbacks, I feel it is the simplest of the three major Alpha Quadrant powers and the one which had the most amount of analysis in your story, for a political situation which seems simpler than either the Klingons or the Federation.

I have said before in previous reviews, but the Romulans have the most cosiest position of them all. While there does seem to be some long-standing problems like power struggles in the Senate and a Tal Shiar engaging in ever more dangerous weapons in the hopes of such weapons further bolstering the power of the Romulan Star Empire in the future. I feel such issues will only become a bigger problem many years in the future. Unlike their rivals, since the Federation and Klingons have very immediate problems to deal with which threaten their political stability.

I know it's what the Romulans always do, but you very successfully portrayed them as still covertly egging on the Klingons and the Federation to go to war with each other and I think the Romulans hold nearly all of the cards. Hell! If Rennek had succeeded in his position I think the Romulans would be running rings around the Federation and the Klingons.

In fact if it weren't for Shinzon's coup and the Remans, the Romulans would have the better strategic position for many years to come. I do think there are a few more loose ends but that will be for another review.


So that wraps up my views on the political issues and the political situation which Omega explored. I still have a bit more to analyse and that is the characters, while I think the loose ends I will cover in another review!

So as I said before, there is a lot to think about after reading Omega!

Author's Response: Glad to hear how well the Federation in a state of moral decline was addressed. With Section 31's machinations thrown in the mix, there certainly is growing corruption within Federation and Starfleet going back to Insurrection. This particular situation is certainly an allegory to present day United States foreign policy, and more specifically to the Iraq War--the Omega bomb being the WMD's Saddam Hussein allegedly possessed, and the Ku-Vok-leth representing Hussein's alleged collusion with Al-Qaeda, and the Dominion War being the catalyst towards more reactionary decisions. Similar issues were addressed in perfect Star Trek fashion in Into Darkness, such as Spock addressing the morality of preemptively taking the life of a Federation citizen without due process. And through this all, the Romulans are having a good long laugh at the expense of the Federation and the Klingons.

Isn't Sisko's life still under danger because of the Orion Syndicate?

Finally I'm not sure that the Dominion really did send out the Rennek changeling as their spy to stir up trouble between the major Alpha Quadrant powers. I think the Rennek changeling went rogue all along even before the Dominion war started and he continued pursuing his agenda right until the very end.

And as for that official explanation for what happened, it's the classic 'yes this happened but it surely was not me', it was Zife's attempt to absolve himself of accountability and responsibility for the illegal invasion that was called off at the last minute. Though I think Zife's days in office are well and truly numbered.

And if it really was the Dominion who sent out that spy, how does Kira feel about that? She must be wondering if Odo was responsible for this or knew about the mission, so I guess that is another unfinished thread...

It really is down to Sisko and Bashir now!

And for the first time ever Kira faces an enemy, a foe, who she can't fight back against. She can't resort to violence and she's now down to secrets and words, which are now not good enough to satisfy T'Nera's concerns. She really is powerless and she can't do anything to change events, which is undoubtedly her worse nightmare for such an independently minded woman who won't put up with any ones bull.

The Romulans want the Klingons to go to war but thank God Admiral Ross withdrew otherwise this whole situation could have been even worse! The mystery deepens and for once I'm getting the sense that even Section 31 is losing control here!

And all of this elaborate plan just to remove some very powerful nadion pulse cannons? Given how Kinchawn seems like a rather dubious leader, how long will it be until he uses those nadion pulse cannons and his race reverse engineer the technology? Clearly nadion pulse cannons are a banned weapon within Starfleet otherwise more would have been made and the ones which were built would not have been hidden to such a degree.

From all of this the ultimate winners could be the Romulans as the Federation descends into a political crisis (should the truth be known), the Klingons attack the Federation and the Romulans... They can just sit back, which was the Romulan Senate's, the military's and the Tal Shiar's plan all along. And then once the dust has settled they come swooping in amongst the chaos and the war to annex some easy gains.

Another harebrained scheme on Bashir's part to try and wheedle a secret out of Section 31, but I think Sisko is even crazier here because he has even more to lose than Bashir does.

That scene with Worf was a real eye-opener and made sense a great deal of things. For one the only reason the Federation is in such a plush position is because of the alliance with the Klingon Empire. Thus Section 31, seeking to protect and strengthen the Federation by any means possible, will ensure that this alliance will endure for as long as is humanly possible. Whether -- and is without what Section 31 has done -- intentionally or not, the Federation has always picked the political forces in the Empire which support the Alliance, whether that lead to civil war in the Klingon Empire or the murder of one of its Chancellors (Gowron).

So this makes me ask one important question; just how strong is the Federation/Klingon alliance if Section 31 hast to go to such great lengths to preserve it?

I've got to say this story is actually shedding whole new light into the political machinations of the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans. You're explanations for what really happened are so good they should be added to canon because it adds new depth and meaning to the three empires which TNG and DS9 spent a considerable about of time focusing upon.

What you have put forth is so good and thought-provoking that I am going to have to analyse the political motivations of the Federation, Klingons and Romulans of my own series especially because I'll be using the fact (that the Federation coerced the Romulans into the Dominion war) as a critical juncture of my series, and exploring the dreaded consequence; the Federation was publicly exposed.


The next thing which struck me in this chapter was the extent to which Suran is protecting Donotra, I'm not sure if it is for her benefit but both Romulans respectively arrested their first officers so such a coincidence is a little fishy! It's almost like they've both got spies on each others vessels!

Finally and this is one more thing! I think it is a very smooth move how you've put the omega particle threat under wraps and gone straight to the next part of the puzzle; who were all the parties involved who would initiate such a plan! I think this puzzle is close to being solved but there could be a few twists along the way!

Author's Response: Excellent of appraisal of what has happened thus far. The Federation, Klingon, and Romulans are all in very precarious positions after the Dominion War--the Romulans probably not so much after they entered the war late. But now they are faced with their own internal turmoil, which they lack resources to combat, forcing even the political extremists to be pragmatic.

Wow all hell is breaking lose here! While that scene with Worf and Kurn/Rodek was moving. I'm wondering if Rodek lives, what other memories will come back to him?

Plus it was rather symbolic of Worf finally finding a Romulan who did an honourable act, and recognising it as so! Maybe that will help cure Worf's prejudice of Romulans a little bit.

Author's Response: There's more to come with Kurn/Rodek. And having Donatra come to Worf's aide gave some backstory to his statement in Nemesis that the "Romulans fought with honor", having met their commander once before.