History Literature / StarTrekPicardFirewall

* MorallyBankruptBanker: Zigzagged with the Ferengi. Their banks are helping to launder General Kohgish's stolen wealth, but this is also in the middle of Rom's tenure as Grand Nagus. So, there's the x-factor of Rom's reforms and that impacting [[spoiler:Kohgish and Arastoo Mardani's attempt to recover the money Seven and the Fenris Rangers stole from them.]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint. Janeway's argument with the FSA Director about Seven's loyalties late in the novel. The Director ''isn't'' wrong about Seven's behavior during VOY Seasons Four and Five and her attempts to return to the Collective (especially prior to turning points of "The Raven" and "Dark Frontier"). Even after Seven chose ''Voyager'', her behavior and actions were still questionable during ''Voyager'''s final years in the Delta Quadrant. But Janeway likewise isn't wrong that Seven was experiencing culture shock and being separated from the only home and family she'd known for most of her life. Seven's more questionable actions were also out of her attempt to protect her surrogate Collective -- context that only the people who were actually aboard ''Voyager'' and saw Seven's struggles and growth firsthand can truly understand and appreciate.

* FixFic: Among other things, Mack fills in the longstanding plot hole from ''Picard'' Season One of why [[spoiler:Bjayzl didn't try to harvest Seven's Borg tech if se was targeting ex-Drones. Seven used the scuffle on Zirat to sell a lie that her nanoprobes and implants had been permanently deactivated. The implication is that Bjayzl believed her -- which then backfired catastrophically as it's implied this is why she chose Icheb as a backup target.]]

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Deconstructed. Janeway ''tries'' to use this trope and her favors and connections (both pre and post-''Voyager'' celebrityhood) to advocate for Seven. But in the end, it's just not enough to overcome the long-ingrained institutional hatred and terror everyone in the Federation government and military have towards anything Borg-related.

* {{Prequel}}: To Season One of ''Picard'', dramatizing how Seven of Nine joins the Fenris Rangers.

* PutOnABus: Aside from Seven and Janeway, none of the other VOY characters appear. This is justified at least with Chakotay (whose chronological status is locked in by the backstory of ''Prodigy'' Season One), the Doctor (due to ''Prodigy'' Season Two), and Tuvok (due to his ''Picard'' Season Three status quo).
* RankUp: According to Janeway's updates on the ''Voyager'' crew, Harry Kim has finally gotten a promotion. From a real-world perspective, it's also possible Mack ''couldn't'' use any other VOY characters to avoid contradicting whatever plans ''Prodigy'' or other projects may have for them.

** [[spoiler:Ellory Kayd's fate between the end of the 2381 narrative and the 2386 framing device. It's implied she and Seven eventually broke up in the interim, but her exact fate is left unrevealed.]]

* FatalFlaw: Janeway's UndyingLoyalty to the ''Voyager'' crew -- and Seven in particular. As noble and heartwarming as her quest to advocate for Seven is, Seven isn't wrong that it's giving Janeway tunnel-vision. She's ignoring the very real dangers of trying to advocate for a former Borg Drone and the damage it's doing to her career (to say nothing of the enemies she's making along the way).

** Mack also loosely tackles the plot hole of why Seven was denied entry into Starfleet for her Borg heritage, but Icheb wasn't. [[spoiler:Seven's embracing her Borg identity is cited as ''the'' reason that crystallized Starfleet and the UFP's reactionary responses. Icheb, by conteast, didn't embrace his Bog heritage (and it's also implied Icheb was far less of a PR and political lightning rod compared to Seven.]]

* RankUp: According to Janway's updates on the ''Voyager'' crew, Harry Kim has finally gotten a promotion. From a real-world perspective, it'salso possible Mack ''couldn't'' use any other VOY characters to avoid contradicting whatever plans ''Prodigy'' or other projects may have for them.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Atfer over 2 years of futilely trying to be accepted by the UFP and Starfleet, Seven finally decides to remove herself from Earth.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:Seven's conversation with Bjayzl in the framing device -- especially once the topic of Borg technology comes up. While she's being circumspect about her own residual Borg technology and implants, the reader knows it won't occur to Seven until it's too late that she's put a target on Icheb.]]

* FantasticRacism: Seven's on the receiving end of this as an ex-Borg Drone both in the Federation and outside its borders. But Mack also explores ''why'' Seven got this particular treatment worse compared to Picard after [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds "The Best of Both Worlds"]] and Wolf 359 (and despite his own share of anti-Borg backlash from Sisko, Norah Satie, Liam Shaw, and others). Mack's take is the underlying difference between them is that Picard's assimilation lasted mere days -- ''and'' even assimilated, he was still ultimately crucial to stopping the 2366-67 incursion (to say nothing of the later [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact 2373 incursion]]). Seven, by contrast, had been a Drone nearly all her life and also had none of Picard's reputation or cache within Starfleet and the Federation; even Janeway's endorsement and lobbying weren't enough to overcome political and public backlash.

** Mack also tackles the plot hole of why Seven was denied entry into Starfleet for her Borg heritage, but Icheb wasn't. [[spoiler:Seven's embracing her Borg identity is cited as ''the'' reason that crystallized Starfleet and the UFP's reactionary responses. It's also implied Icheb was far less of a PR and political lightning rod compared to Seven.]]