[Report This]Date: 08 Sep 2011 21:45 Title: Extermination
Very chilling. I have often wondered aboutt genocidal types of atrocities during the time of Trek, for virtually any series. ENT certainly covers it with the Xindi arc.
What I mean is, when it's easy, and you virtually never see the face of your enemy, what is there to stop a ruthless commander from decimating a species and slaying all or virtually all of them? What stops this from happening? Is it personal honor, a sense of fair play, a desire to not waste ammo, or what?
And when does it become virtual genocide, even if some people are still kicking? Consider the ENT episode "Twilight" where there are perhaps a few hundred humans who've survived the Xindi onslaught. The Xindi end up attempting to finish them off, too, although it seems pretty clear that there weren't enough humans to effectively repopulate the species for generations, if at all.
Once you're down to 200 of any species, killing the last of them off seems, well, overkill.
I also liked the ending, where the rage that is felt is evident - still touching the fire control button - even more evidence of overkill.
Outstanding.
Date: 06 Sep 2011 01:44 Title: Extermination
Oh, man, if I were Dosan I'd be scared to death. I'd be thinking about what would happen if Cardassia displeased the Dominion. Now, I'm not sure, but the way you wrote that statement about Dosan's grandfather and father spending forty years killing ten million Bajorans--how it acknowledged it as killing and laid out the number so clearly--makes me think (though I could be wrong) that Dosan's not that sort of man. Not the kind of person Cerrein is. If that's the case, I suspect he's going to really be sick at this.
I know you said once you had a story that would show just how cold Cerrein really is--well, this was definitely it. Even more so than the one where the viruses were left at the Vulcan colony. This is total. This is absolute. It reminds me of what my universe's Klingons did to Septimus III.
The one reaction that surprised me...Nalla's apparent shock at what was happening. Nalla is a Vorta, correct? I had thought that all but the defective Vorta were programmed not to have any remorse about anything done for the Founders' sake. Or did Cerrein act on his own initiative to do this, rather than by Founders' orders? And if that's the case, would that allow a "non-defective" Vorta to have misgivings?
Author's Response: With Dosan, I had in mind an officer who was a bit idealistic. The kind who did want to see Cardassia brought back to greatness, but avoid the senseless bloodshed which members of his own family had committed during the Occupation. In writing this, Cerrein was cemented into my mind as an extreme party line Vorta. While Weyoun certainly had no problem ordering the extermination of the Cardassian people (other than how long it would take), Cerrein believes himself that every single action he takes will be beneficial to the Dominion. He is Weyoun but extremely straight-forward with no pretense that he is trying to be helpful. Let me say again that he is NOT someone you should try to be cheering on, unlike Eris and Liska who have some traces of humanity in them. In my writing, I'm trying to show that not all Vorta are entirely evil. As with any serviceman of an armed force, there are shades to them. While a loyal Vorta, she is a bit more stunned at this because they were never ordered to do this. In addition, wiping out an entire race will probably get a few Vorta here and there.