UT: Darker Territory: Hearts of Glass

[DarKush]

Thanks for the roller coaster ride, DarKush! A great story that leaves an opening for more storytelling in the future. Could the Romulan Republic in this reality be working with Species 8472, for example. They both have similar interests in that they fear both the Empire and the Alliance. How will the Rebellion shake out? Will it be able to shed its savage roots under Smiley's guidance or will it revert to seeking payback, continuing the cycle of revenge? All sorts of possibilities...

DF,

Thanks a lot for reading, commenting, but also for allowing me to use Nyota Dryer, (Yuki) Murakawa, and the Shelby siblings. Unfortunately David Shelby isn't a member of Species 8472 in this Mirror Universe, but the real Elizabeth potentially is out there somewhere, maybe. As you said there are all sorts of possibilities.

Good point that the Romulan Republic and Species 8472 have similar interests where the Terrans and the Klingons lie, however I envisioned that Species 8472 would be suspicious of the Romulans as well. I hadn't thought of an alliance between them, but I'm open to that. I did leave some openings for another story or two. If I do get around to it, or when, I couldn't say. A few months back I was listening to a Kraftwerk song, "Hall of Mirrors" and I knew I would be using that title for another Mirror Universe story if I did one at some point. And I will change the name of this current story to "Heart of Glass" like the Blondie song since I am using song titles for inspiration.

As for the Terran Rebellion I hadn't had any real plans to follow-up on Smiley, Dax, Bashir, etc. because DS9 told that story with the 'concluding' Season 7 episode "The Emperor's New Cloak". Doesn't mean that I might not include some other rebels in a future story in some kind of way but it's doubtful it will be any that we saw onscreen. As I was writing "Glass" I felt I got in some binds because I did include canon MU characters, Garak really, in the story and so I had to find a way to make sure I didn't kill him off since he has a few more years to go after this story. Originally I hadn't intended for Dax and Bashir to be as involved in the story, but I liked writing for Mirror Bashir. So, increasing their screentime made Chakotay and Justine Haas somewhat redundant, and so off with their heads. Originally I was looking to match up this story to the alternate future Glover saw in "Conspirata" where his Mirror counterpart is part of the rebellion, in love with Shelby, and is friends with Chakotay, Haas, and Solok. Also, Mirror Pell from my story "The Crucible" would have been involved. But as I was writing I decided to move away from that and do something different. I am thinking of finding a way to include Mirror Pell in a future Darker Territory story, if I ever do another one. I did like writing that character.

I loosely consider both TLR's and Brother Benny's MU stories within this one, and to some extent "The Crucible" also fits with "Glass" (the outlier is that alternate future scene from "Conspirata"). I believe Brother Benny's "Fragments of Control", which takes place in 2378, does feature Smiley and that's another incentive for me to move on from those characters. I wanted to make sure I got the multidimensional transporter to him which I was able to do so I'm pretty done with O'Brien and his group of Marauders.

 

[DarKush]

Congrats on completing one hell of a tale.

Like we've come to expect from Dark Territory, the story was jam-packed with twists and turns, a ship-load of characters, each seemingly with their own secret agendas.

I may still not be a huge fan of the mirror universe but this story certainly came close to make me a believer.

It certainly feels like you set this up for a sequel some time down the road with a number of unanswered questions left, including the fate of Glover, Shelby, Garak and the rebellion, and of course the mysterious infiltration of Imperial Command (Parasite Invasion, perhaps?)

Thanks CeJay,

I'm pleased that you did enjoy this story despite your misgivings about the Mirror Universe. I do think it's a good way to look at Prime Universe characters through a different lens. And when it came down to it, for me, both Mirror and Prime Terrence are very similar in that they both want families. Though MU Glover has a more selfish motive for it, but he still willing to go beyond himself for his progeny, just like Prime Glover would do.

As I wrote above, I don't plan to do too much more with the canon DS9/MU characters. However, I might wrap up how Garak deals with Thrax. I enjoyed writing Garak and Kira, but I do think DS9 handled them so well, especially Kira, and that story was mostly told so I don't see what I can add there. I would likely just bring in someone from the Mogh-Duras family or another Intendant (Brother Benny had the cool idea of an Intendant Ro), or something along that line. I left Intendant Lang's position tenuous that does allow for her to in the place that character is in Brother Benny's story.

But there are lingering questions, like you pointed out regarding the fates of Glover, Shelby, and the infiltration of Imperial Command which leave me with some interesting prompts if/when I do a follow-up to this story. Though if DF has plans/ideas for Mirror Shelby I'm okay with that. I was somewhat careful to leave most UT characters from my fellow writers in one piece, except for David. Mirror Sonara and Frobisher are still around. I toyed with the idea of including the ISS Gibraltar at the end, but went with the 'safer' ISS Venture, though still captained by Ebnal, as a shout out to Gibraltar and his series. If you have any ideas for a sequel, or have characters you would like included in it, let me know. I wonder what the ISS Eagle or ISS Agamemenon would be like. I did include the ISS Herakles as an Eagle shout out.

 

[admiralelm11]

This was an awesome ride and one hell of a tale. Thank you for writing it.

 

[DarKush]

This was an awesome ride and one hell of a tale. Thank you for writing it.

Thanks. And thank you for taking the time to read it and share your thoughts.

 

[admiralelm11]

You’re welcome. I enjoy a good story. Especially Star Trek original fan fiction stories.