What is "The Fall"?

[Sci]

Ben wrote:

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Let the speculation begin!

http://www.thetrekcollective.com/201...s-on-fall.html

I'm going to spoiler-tag this just in case.

Picard and his crew are dispatched to uncover the truth behind a “prominent figure within the Federation” who’s emerged onto the interstellar stage. It’s discovered that said individual may well be perpetrating a hoax as to their true identity, and has been doing so for years. This kind of sucks, since this person is now in a position to wield enormous power within the Federation.

So...

Any thoughts on who this imposter could be? Any chance this is following up on what PAD set up for Admiral Nechayev in the recent New Frontier books?

Intriguing.

The first thing it made me think of are those "Birther" conspiracy theories positing that U.S. President Obama was actually born in Kenya and is falsifying evidence of his United States citizenship. We know from Cold Equations II that the next Federation Presidential election is coming up...

Mind you, I'm not endorsing that conspiracy theory or saying the authors at Pocket are. It just makes me think of that phenomenon.

Markonian wrote:

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Not necessarily. The Federation could fall and be rebuild. What do we know about history from the 26th to the 28th century? Compare the fall and reconstruction of the USA in Postman, Shattered Union and Jericho.

Pedantry alert:

The United States did not fall in Jericho. Rather, it splintered in two, with Western states coming under the hegemony of the self-declared, corporate-dominated "Allied States of America" after the United States's major cities were destroyed. But the U.S. continued to exist, and the federal government moved its capital to Columbus, Ohio.

Though that of course suggests other dark potentialities. Perhaps the Federation doesn't literally fall, but is split in twain?

Or maybe we're all speculating in wild directions that have no basis in reality purely because of a vague title.

[David Mack]

A hint for all of you: "Pride goeth before...."

[ATimson]

David Mack wrote:

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A hint for all of you: "Pride goeth before...."

Ooh. It's another X-men crossover? Cool.

[Kertrats47]

David Mack wrote:

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A hint for all of you: "Pride goeth before...."

Ooh, cryptic! Hmmm...

"Pride goeth before a $10.99 all-you-can-eat rib night at Tony Roma's"?

No, that doesn't sound right. Well, I'm stumped.

[Markonian]

Sci wrote:

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Pedantry alert:

The United States did not fall in Jericho. Rather, it splintered in two, with Western states coming under the hegemony of the self-declared, corporate-dominated "Allied States of America" after the United States's major cities were destroyed. But the U.S. continued to exist, and the federal government moved its capital to Columbus, Ohio.

Oh, but of course it did. The line of succession was effectively broken and surviving authorities banded together to reform the US government. The same as in Shattered Union.

"Pride cometh before the Fall", I presume. That points towards a Typhon Pact member, I'd guess. The Federation is humble and decent.

[Ronald Held]

To some the Federation does not show pride or arrogance?

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

King Daniel wrote:

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My guess is that it's the Typhon Pact.

Although with the Super Bowl ad for the next film promising...

OUR
*boop boop*
WORLD
*boop boop*
WILL
*boop boop*
FALL

I can see the novels going "Bitch, please!" and killing the entire UFP. Especially with David Mack involved.

Still doubt it. But not as ridiculously impossible an idea as it would have been a decade ago.

I think that idea is heading down the same path that this board went down five years ago when speculation was rife that Earth would be destroyed in Destiny!

From David Mack's hint above, I'm going with the idea that

this is the beginning of the end for the Romulan Empire, as pride is a theme closely associated with the Romulans, not least in their Seven Deadly Sins anthology.

Unless I'm reading too much into it.

[Mage]

Ben wrote:

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Let the speculation begin!

http://www.thetrekcollective.com/201...s-on-fall.html

I'm going to spoiler-tag this just in case.

Picard and his crew are dispatched to uncover the truth behind a “prominent figure within the Federation” who’s emerged onto the interstellar stage. It’s discovered that said individual may well be perpetrating a hoax as to their true identity, and has been doing so for years. This kind of sucks, since this person is now in a position to wield enormous power within the Federation.

So...

Any thoughts on who this imposter could be? Any chance this is following up on what PAD set up for Admiral Nechayev in the recent New Frontier books?

I'm just really hoping it's NOT

Bacco. It would be to obvious ofcourse, but we've had so many novels with her internal monologue telling us so much about how much of a great person she is, it would be hard to swallow if she's suddenly a fraud...

[Deranged Nasat]

Kirks_Flying_Wig wrote:

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From David Mack's hint above, I'm going with the idea that

this is the beginning of the end for the Romulan Empire, as pride is a theme closely associated with the Romulans, not least in their Seven Deadly Sins anthology.

Unless I'm reading too much into it.

That's a nice point, Wig. Perhaps this is a Romulan-centric plot after all, even if it isn't about Hobus.

Mage wrote:

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I'm just really hoping it's NOT

Bacco. It would be to obvious ofcourse, but we've had so many novels with her internal monologue telling us so much about how much of a great person she is, it would be hard to swallow if she's suddenly a fraud...

Not that I'm saying I think it is (for one thing, as you say, far too obvious), but I do think are ways in which the writers could pull off

a surprise "she's not quite who she says she is!" without it destroying the Bacco character.

. It would certainly be very difficult, and I don't think it would be a good idea at all, but then these authors have surprised me before by taking ideas I was sure wouldn't work and, well, making them work, so who knows?

I'm sure it won't be, though.

[King Daniel]

Could it be...

Big Bland himself, Admiral Akaar?

[JD]

Kirks_Flying_Wig wrote:

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I think that idea is heading down the same path that this board went down five years ago when speculation was rife that Earth would be destroyed in Destiny!

From David Mack's hint above, I'm going with the idea that

this is the beginning of the end for the Romulan Empire, as pride is a theme closely associated with the Romulans, not least in their Seven Deadly Sins anthology.

Unless I'm reading too much into it.

^

Yeah, as soon as I saw the word Pride my mind went right to SDS, and the Romulan's Pride story.

[Edit_XYZ]

David Mack's most likely talking about the posters here and the upcoming books named 'Fall'.

As for the 'Fall' books - as per the spoilers in this thread:
-they start with ~there was so much blood;
-during the brainstorming sessions, there appeared comments like ~they are getting pretty grim.

The tone of the books - new battlestar galactica-ish - is obvious.
High body count; whether it's the federation, romulans or whatever, you can be sure it will survive to feature in the next book.

[rfmcdpei]

JD wrote:

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^

Yeah, as soon as I saw the word Pride my mind went right to SDS, and the Romulan's Pride story.

I'm not sure that the pride, here, necessarily has to do with the Romulans. The RSE already went through the consequences of excessive pride in George's Typhon Pact trilogy. Going back on this again might be a bit redundant, especially since the prideful factions and individuals involved in the previous escapade are no longer factors.

Other Typhon Pact powers, sure--the Breen, the Tzenkethi, the Tholians all come to mind.

[Ben]

I just realized what "the Fall" might refer to -- Picard and Crusher's kid is probably going to start walking soon...

So it's probably just about their kid falling down and hurting his knee or something.

[JWolf]

I think Troi comes back and pilots the E-E and they all fall down.