A series of short vignettes featuring characters from Star Trek: Tesseract before their mission to the Delta Quadrant.
Awww, this is just really sad. It always is when somebody loses someone they love but you've done such a great job conveying Adele's feelings and loss here.
What a painful coincidence that she's going to see a lot more Borg in her Starfleet career than she ever wanted. Wonder if this will affect her somehow down the line.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading and reviewing, CeJay! Sorry about the downer of a chapter, but I'm glad you at least think I did a good job conveying the emotions around Adele's loss. It's definitely a good thing she had about eighteen years to heal after this experience before her journey to the Delta Quadrant with a Borg XO ... but I think this has already affected her in-story, and will continue to affect her in small ways. It's part of who she is as a woman and as a captain. Again, thanks for the comments!
Not a lot of new surprises here but I love how you tied in Maren's and Icheb's background into their first awkward meeting on Teseract. Suddenly that short encounter is filled with so much more meaning and tension than I could have ever expected the first time I read it. And for Icheb it becomes the moment in which he comes to realize his perhaps greatest mistake, his fatal error. Nicely done.
Another installment of Star Trek: Tortured Characters ... uhm ... Tesseract.
Very vivid and disturbing nightmare. Seems to me Maren's connection to Icheb is a lot closer than just being a couple in love.
Nicely done. Especially enjoyed the awkwardness of this meeting which does pose the question if Maren truly was ready for this assignment, considering her youth and inexperience.
Maybe if it hadn't been for Icheb... oh well, I suppose that would have been a very different kind of story.
And an infinitely less interesting one.
It's Valentine's Day, and no one is happy. Three young Starfleet officers scattered across half the galaxy ruminate on love, loss and longing in the 24th century.
(Contains minor spoilers for Star Trek: Tesseract.)
A very nice, and very timely, short story which not only helps to further explore and understand three of your most interesting and crucial characters, but also gives us the unique opportunity to see a single situation from three different vantage points. A terrific stylistic method which you have managed to pull off flawlessly.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading and reviewing, CeJay! I really appreciate your kind comments about both the content and style of this piece. I'm very happy you liked it!
Stardate 61554.29: Following the death of her captain and close friend, Caitian executive officer M'ree sallies forth with her grief ever-present, while another officer assumes command of Gallant.
Boy, poor M'ree gets seriously screwed over in this fascinating tale, doesn't she? She's got the experience and the rank to command Gallant and Command decides to pass her over for another officer, holding the same rank. Ouch.
No wonder she comes across rather aloof after the new CO comes aboard. And Rodgers doesn't seem to have the aptitude for command judging by the way she treats her subordinates. Finger snapping at you officers would be bad enough if you are an experienced four-pipped captain, but is pretty much unforgivable for a first-time commanding officer who has done nothing to distinguish herself yet.
Bit surprised to see the Border Service taking out top of the line Defiants but I like that we're seeing low ranking officers in charge for once and you've done a great job of capturing the feel of the less stellar life of a Border Dog.
As to be expected you infuse your stories with a sense of military precision on procedure we don't always get to see in Trek stories.
Very eager to see these story-lines continue and taken to their conclusion. Great job.
Author's Response:
Since Defiant-class ships were introduced in the late 2360s, by the late 2390s/early 2400s (the time of this story), they're 30+ years old. Hardly top-of-the-line when you consider that they've most likely introduced a successor class (or are about to). Further, due to the output of the war, they should've produced a /lot/ of Defiant-class ships, since they're small and therefore much easier to produce.
I liken them to the PT boats of World War II; we had so many of those things running around the Pacific... all commanded by LTJGs, too. I figure, during peacetime, the minimum rank required for command would rise a grade or two, hence a full lieutenant in command of a corvette. As a sidenote, did you know that the literal translation for a lieutenant commander in the Spanish navy is 'Corvette Captain' (Capitán de Corbeta). Same for the French, Italian, and Russian navies.
Rodgers is a first-time CO, so she's learning as she goes. As I replied to Miranda Fave in another review, it's likely she's projecting confidence where she feels none. In doing so, she's emulating a captain she trained under by perpetuating that behavior. And likely, it's having the same effect of her crew as it did to that other captain's crew. Sometimes, we do things like that without thinking, only because it's what we know. I think it takes a truly exceptional leader to consider before acting, instead of always trying to be assertive and guarding power as closely as Rodgers does in this chapter.
Thanks for reading!
-- MDg
Rodgers is not only dangerously incompetent, she also lacks the wisdom to listen to her crew. Thankfully she eventually took M'ress' suggestion but she didn't come out of this one making a particularly good impression. I wonder if she realizes that.
I like the way M'ress is channeling her former CO. So far this has been extremely helpful but one would think that having another voice in your head is also a very disturbing situation.
Author's Response:
I think I would begin to question my own sanity if I had someone else's thoughts in my head and I didn't understand what it was. Then again, maybe Caits handle it differently?
Rodgers is also learning, too. But yes, under the circumstances, there's a lot of danger, here.
Thanks for reading!
-- MDG
Protecting Borders; Saving Lives; Holding the Line
Stories charting the events and characters during the Romulan War. Focusing primarily on the crew of the Falcon class Red Kite.
That's a very plausible history you've put together here not just for the Romulan War but also for the Border Service.
An interesting setting for tanew Trek story and I'm curious to see what you'll do with it.
Author's Response:
Hey thanks CeJay. Glad the details seem to ring true or plausible enough. Obviously, I thought the setting would be interesting enough for a few Trek tales in this era. Here's hoping. Thanks for starting out with it.
Dark, atmospheric and Battlestar Galactica inspired opening.
Battle sequences tend to be a bit slow and boring but I like what you've done here, using very vivid imagery and a sense of dread as Sydney Is forced to watch the destruction of her ship helplessly.
I'm curious to see how this will tie in into your main story. I'd love for this fearless pilot to be your protagonist but considering her final act that seems rather unlikely. However, in space you just never know.
Great stuff and looking forward to more.
Author's Response:
Thank you. Yup action scenes are tricky. There are only so many adjectives you can use without going a little OTT. Glad this particualr segment was vivid and the fact it harkened Battlestar Galactica opening for you is not bad thing.
Given Sydney's final act it does seem rather that her fate is sealed. Though the approach to this story is going to be more flexible and fluid and ficlet almost, so one way or another we will see more Sydney at some point. But as to whether she'll live to tell the tale here I'm keeping my lips sealed. You'll have to read on to find out. That and the fact we have another part of the battle of Cheron coming up! Stay tuned.
I'm starting to detect a theme here. A very sad, depressing theme. Introduce interesting characters and then ... kill them off.
It was especially poignant here because I really didn't see it coming. Which made this a lot more powerful of course.
You continue to paint an intense picture of space combat, from the fighter pilots to the bigger starships. Well done.
Author's Response:
Hee hee. That is a depressing theme. However, as is the fashion, you will have to wait and see who lives and who dies in this latest instalment. But I'm a happy camper that the ending wasn't anticipated. Good to know I can surprise you CeJay. Thank you for the comments in general but I'm particularly chuffed about those pertaining to the space battles. That should motivate me to write a few more battles!
Part Two of Star Trek: Tesseract
In 2378, the crew of the USS Voyager delivered a devastating blow to the Borg Collective when they destroyed a key transwarp hub to the Alpha Quadrant, and the Borg unicomplex. They hoped it would be the end of the Borg threat. They were wrong.
Nearly eight years later, the crew of the USS Tesseract -- the first official Starfleet mission of exploration to the Delta Quadrant – has found a quadrant in ruins, torn apart by the Collective and a new, more terrifying kind of Borg -- the Borg Resistance. They are free of the Collective, free of established protocols, without cohesion or unity, and operating under cloak. Their new superweapon could put an end to warp society as the galaxy has known it – but it’s also the only thing standing between the Borg Collective and its ultimate goal of assimilating or destroying the entire United Federation of Planets.
Now, while the Federation and its tenuous allies prepare for a full-scale Borg invasion, the Tesseract crew -- alone in the Delta Quadrant -- must find a way to finish what Voyager started, and one young ex-Borg Starfleet officer must decide whether to embrace his destiny ... or boldly defy it.
Tough choices all over this chapter and it all boils down to trust. After everything this crew has been thru, that's one commodity that's not in abundance.
Visiting the resistance base seems to be the next logical step if Adele plans to oppose the Borg but I'd be just as hesitant to agree to this plan as she is.
And letting a Borg operate on your wife or possibly watching her die. I don't envy Adrian for being put into this position either.
Great to have this story back even if it starts out (or ends up) being a serious downer.
It's been awhile since I read this but the details where slowly coming back to me. It'll probably help if we get some more chapters soon.
John's the hero here even if I'm sure he won't see it this way. Thanks to him both ships, and more importantly most of its passengers survived. And did he learn something about himself in the process? We'll have to see.
A lot of raw emotion (and swearing) in this latest and long overdue installment.
Some of the stuff here is truly soul crushing. Keller's anger is of course understandable even if it was totally misplaced. Poor Iden didn't deserve that. And it's true what they say. Some things can't be unsaid.
John and Icheb's relation also appears stretched to the breaking point here. And John's anger is not unjustified either.
Tesseract's counselor is going to have to work overtime on this ship before all that indignation, sadness and anger boils over.
Really liked the second segment in this chapter and the sense of loss and desperation at being so decimated. The biggest surprise was T'Pring of course and her unexpected recommendation for Quigley's promotion. But she's right. He has distinguished himself by getting a lot of people through that recent crucible.
The Bashir/Icheb scene wasn't quite as insightful and I thought it dragged on a little bit as the characters did their somewhat predictable dance which could really only end one way. It did however highlight once again, the hopelessness of Icheb and how little he seems to care about his own well being, now that he appears to be living on borrowed time.
Author's Response:
Interesting comment. I had a beta for this chapter. Originally, that first section was much shorter. I was strongly encouraged to expand it. I can definitely see where you are coming from, though.
I'm glad you liked the second bit. It's hard getting into some of these characters' minds again after so much time spent away from this project, but it's coming back to me slowly. :) Thanks for sticking with it.
It's the John Q show.
But that's cool, the dude needs some serious story telling focus after everything he's been through.
Initially I didn't think he was anywhere near ready to step up to the plate and take on the additional responsibilities. But man, the captain really is the one who stepped up here. She's the real hero of this chapter, taking a mostly broken young officer and building him back up to point where he has at least a semblance of self-confidence again.
I forgot but was Adele a counselor once? Doesn't matter, she once again proves why she's the captain here. And she wasn't even all that sure about him herself. No more doubts here.
Splendidly done.
Whew, that was quite a read. Normally I prefer my chapters short and sweet and without too much rehashing of plot points but I have to admit that this was perfect timing to get the reader up to speed on everything that's been going on and reintroduce all the charters that are going to play a key role in this tale.
Icheb playing the victim card was also quite effective as it showed us why they must do what they're doing next. It's going to be hard for some to see the Borg Resistance as allies, and I'm pretty sure even elements within the Resistance aren't going to be crazy about working with Starfleet but that seems to be the only way forward.
Now that the course is set, we can go back to focus on what happens next in this epic tragedy. Oh, and I guess Maren is going to wake up at some point too.
Stories set in the aftermath of the Romulan War that see the formation of the United Federation of Planets and the responses from different quarters to this new world of intergalactic affairs.
I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the long, drawn out style you employ here. I suppose I'm more of a fast pace, dialogue over prose kinda reader.
Having said that, I got into this the more I read. I really like the setting and the period and getting a chance to see the outcome of the Earth-Romulan war from a Romulan perspective. The many Romulan terms tended to be a bit confusing I thought but a lot of other things were really fascinating such as the rationale behind remaining mostly secretive about culture and appearance.
The young apprentices death, or eventual death may be unfortunate but he really brought that on himself. As a Romulan, especially one dealing with keepers of secrets (read 'Bloody Spooks') he really should have known better.
In the end I did appreciate this tale and it does make me curious what else you've got plan for this series.
Author's Response:
First off, thank you for reading and reviewing. Secondly, thank you for an honest and constructive review. I think I will go back and take out some elements of the ROmulan language. In my research I caught up a little in it. Though probably thinking if I dunk a good bit of Romulan flavour into this first section I won't have to do it in any later Romulan sections! LOL! But there really isn't a point in having it if it lends to confusion. Thanks for that perspective.
Yes, I really wanted to show things from a Romulan POV given their part in the Romulan War and the fact they seemingly stay low and hidden until the TOS era. My imaginings are that they didn't in fact stay out of Federation affairs, merely played a hidden game with spies, assassins and saboteurs.
As for what's in store, at present I'm thinking there will be some Romulan trickery to thwart some of the Federation plans, with sleeper agents and what not. Likewise, i enjoyed doing this Romulan POV that I've a Vulcan POV lined up about the propect of joining a Federation as well as a Klingon one that may or may not work. The Vulcan one being maybe, more of a long drawn out style. We'll see if it comes together or not. The Klingon one has a bit more happening in it.
Thanks again for the comments CeJay. Really appreciate the reviews.
For a moment there I was worried Amelia would be made first officer. She's quite the firecracker with a vicious temperament which I'm sure is much better suited to keep the engines running instead of command.
Great to see the forming of the Border Service here. Just like the service it will become, it's origins are less than glamours. But these are people who realize that somebody needs to step up and make sure that Starfleet can go and gallivant around the universe in peace without having to worry about pesky border incursions.
Author's Response:
Ha, ha! Oh my, the thought of Amelia as XO would be just unthinkable! I just don't think she would be cut out for it - though thankfully onboard a border cutter she won't have as mnay diplomatic functions to carry out. Besides, she views the engines as being hers and that would be enough to pawn the ship!
Yup, these are the people stepping up to the mark, drawing the line in the sand and saying 'go on if you think you are hard enough!' And less than glamorous it is.
Figured it best to go this route as opposed to another talky chapter about the formation of the Service or the Federation. Given your feedback, I figured it would be best to mix such chapters in amongst more sparky and dialogue snapping pieces. Thanks for the helpful feedback!
This paragraph reminded me a lot of the Romulan one. Yes, the killing here is done a lot more brutishly, as one would come to expect from Klingons but perhaps those two people, as much as they may hate each other, are not so different after all.
I liked the notion that in the Klingon Empire the intelligence gathering is done by their equivalent of the Border Service. That makes kinda sense.
Also very glad that arrogant Fresac was put down the way he was. Too bad he didn't learn his lesson about the dangers of antagonizing an old warrior. With now being dead and all.
The crew of the starship Bellerophon investigate a distress call from a secretive science outpost on the fringes of Federation territory. When they arrive, only bodies and the wrecked remains of the outpost are found, and they're ordered to performed a standard investigation of the accident... under certain information restrictions imposed by the ship's captain.
But when they discover the result of the outpost's experiment, they realize that a brand new threat has been introduced to the United Federation of Planets, with only Bellerophon and her crew standing in the way...
This is clearly a crossover and I have to (ashamedly) admit that I'm not particularly familiar with the characters making surprise appearances here. Captain Magambo was originally a UNIT captain based in the UK. She showed up in two episodes of the new Doctor Who series, in series four, and in the special, 'Planet of the Dead.' Martha Jones was one of the Doctor's companions, in series three. Ursula Blake and Ethan Pope guested in one episode in series two. Gwen Cooper is actually from the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. She is the second-in-command of Torchwood Three. And some characters mentioned by the Doctor: Donna Noble was the Doctor's companion from series four. Jack Harkness was his part-time companion in series one, three, and four, as well as the leader of Torchwood Three in the spinoff. For more information on the show, head to http://tardis.wikia.com And thanks for the words of praise. :) I hope to have some more written this week or next. I won't post more until I have at least three chapters in the can. Thanks for reading! -- MDg
I do get the general idea of the Doctor however from what you've told us so far and clearly he is not only already known to Starfleet brass, he is also in a position to help. And from the little we've heard about these inter-dimensional aliens so far, Bellerophon's crew can use all the help they can get.
My lack of familiarity notwithstanding, I like this quite a bit so far and looking forward to more.
Author's Response:
The good Doctor is seriously impressed with these Starfleet folks. It may come as a surprise to him but at least in one future dimension human beings have actually turned out to be not so bad after all. Who would have guessed 400 years earlier?
Gibraltar’s mission to bring home the remains of a crew member killed in the line of duty is beset by corporate intrigue and a rash of mysterious vanishings within the company owned by the officer's family for generations. Torn by loyalties both to his deceased comrade and to the uniform, Captain Sandhurst must decide whether the security of the Federation is worth the honor of a single fallen soldier.
I love this story even if it is a bittersweet tale, a reminder of people lost and the rifts created between others.
I hope the fact that it is now showing up here means we'll be getting some new stuff soon!
Author's Response:
Thanks for the comment, CeJay. I'm working on it, promise. :-)
This was a cute story and I quite enjoyed it. I liked how it plays with the Captain mythology which I'm sure is prevalent on many starships. That, and new crew member initiation rituals.
Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed it! :)
It's 2379, and Cadet 3rd-Class John Quigley's Starfleet career is about to end before it begins ... until help arrives from an unexpected source. �Sometimes it's good to have friends -- or friends-of-friends -- in high places.
(Rated T for language.)
Winner:
Friendship ChallengeWhat I like about JQ or as I like to call him now, the Perpetual Third Wheel, is that he actually stands up and fights for the woman he loves. Well at least when her honor is threatened. I do (kinda) like Icheb but I've never seen him do that for his girl. Maybe I'll start a JQ + Maren fan club on Facebook ...
In any case, cute story.
Author's Response:
CeJay, OMG! I laughed so hard at the thought of a JQ/Maren shipper club on FB. That would be so awesome.
I will say this -- you're right, Icheb has never gotten into a fist fight over Maren (Yet ... hehe.). He's stood up for her, but not in the impulsive, instinctive, um, violent kind of way that JQ has. That said, he'd almost certainly kill or die to protect her from real physical harm (i.e. something a little more serious than hurt feelings or threatened honor). He also, in his weird way, sacrificed a lot to try and protect her from the emotional trauma of his condition. It didn't work, but that's beside the point --he did try. But the bottom line is, he's not human, he thinks very differently in many ways, and these are the areas where it shows.
All right, there ends my obligatory defense of Icheb. I like JQ, too, and I'm serious when I say I flip back and forth between shipping the two pairings even though I'm the one writing them.
Anyway, I'm glad you liked the story, or at least found it cute. Thanks for the review.
I like this. A Star Trek fan's dream come true but as the hero is probably soon to find out ... be careful what you wish for.
