I swear by this virtuous oath that I render total allegiance to the Dominion and its leaders. I shall obey the orders of the Supreme Marshal of the Fleet, commander of all soldiers. I shall obey the edicts of the Prime Jeddak, leader of all people. And above all, I shall obey the will of the Founders, gods and guardians of us all. As a soldier, I shall be prepared at all times to give my life for the freedom and security of the Dominion.
Dominion Oath of Allegiance
Tales of the Dominion
is an ongoing fanfiction series on the Star Trek fanfic archive Ad Astra, written by Jean-Luc Picard. Primarily a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fanfic, it focuses on the Dominion, and by extension Vorta, side of things, from prior to, during, and after the Dominion War.
The initial inspiration for the series came from the Dominion War Sourcebook by Steve Long, an internet published supplement to the long-since discontinued Last Unicorn RPG game for Star Trek. The series has also been heavily influenced by Battlestar Galactica (2003).
This is the story of six friends from different social classes who all join the mighty Dominion Fleet. They grow close, serving together through countless battles. However, their friendship is put to the test when the Dominion invades the Alpha Quadrant, and they begin to lose...
Main Characters
- Liska (The Leader): A talented Vorta with a strong grasp for tactics and strategy. Liska comes from a wealthy family, her father being the head of one of the Dominion's foremost MegaCorp. Play by Jennifer Lawrence.
- Eris (The Lancer): Her father died in a shuttle crash when she was very young, killing a Founder, and so she was forced to be cloned as a punishment. Eris is also Liska's lover. Play by Emma Watson.
- Weyoun (The Smart Guy): The son of an influential diplomat, Weyoun serves as Liska's Political Officer. Play by Matt Dallas.
- Gelnon (The Big Guy): A top fighter ace, Gelnon is a well-known lover of his male pilots. His mother was a famed fighter pilot as well. Play by Josh Hutcherson.
- Kilana (The Heart): Kilana has a deserving reputation in the Fleet. It is said that half of the Vorta in the Fleet have slept with her, and she's working her way towards the other half. Play by Karen Gillan.
- Cerrein (The Sixth Ranger): The quiet one. A capable ground forces officer who keeps to himself, but nonetheless enjoys the company of his friends. Play by Jesse Eisenberg.
Secondary Characters
- Captain Ghorral: The CO of Avenger, Liska's flagship. Play by Paul McGann.
- Jathan: Liska's superior officer and mentor.
- Omaros: Liska's younger brother, who tries to impress her but is frequently in over his head.
- Channik: The Prime Jeddak, or supreme ruler, of the Dominion.
Alpha Quadrant Characters
- Arjagul Tarska Hesar: A Cardassian general who maintains a complex, but stable, working relationship with Liska during the Dominion War, the antithesis of the relationship between Damar and Weyoun. Essentially the Cardassian Erwin Rommel. Play by Nathan Fillion.
- Gul Merrik Kellem: Hesar's adjutant who frequently finds himself working with Eris. Play by Ioan Gruffudd.
- Fleet Admiral Richard Monroe: One of Starfleet's best strategists, commanding forces in the Ash-Sham Sector during Hesar's Ramadan Campaign. In his younger days, he was a Special Forces operative during the Cardassian Wars. Play by Timothy Dalton.
- Uthot Mok: The Breen officer who joins Hesar and Liska late in the war. He is a follower of Governor Pran.
Locations
- Kurill Prime: The capital of the Dominion. Liska, Eris, and Weyoun are from it.
- Citadel: Headquarters of the Dominion Fleet.
- Demetria: A major agricultural world. Cerrein was raised here.
- Ash-Sham Sector: A Federation sector near Sector 001 with a predominately Muslim population. Admiral Monroe lead the defense of the sector against a campaign commanded by Arjagul Hesar and Liska, which became known as the "Ramadan Offensive."
Tropes in this series include:
- The Brigadier: Liska's mentor, Admiral Jathan.
- Broad Strokes: Much of the Dominion lore as established on DS9. For instance, Vorta have families and only a tiny number of them are actually clones. In addition, they actually comprise the majority of the crews aboard capital ships, with Jem'Hadar being relatively rare. The actual government is better established, with the Founders being withdrawn on their homeworld and having little say in internal matters. Member worlds of the Dominion are also treated rather fairly, with no ever-present Jem'Hadar jackboots or even a State Sec.
- Also applies to established Trek tech. The Dominion has different terminologies for their shipboard technologies and engine designs. They refer to their FTL drives simply as FTLs. Deuterium and dilithium are not the fuel that sends ships faster than light, but rather Helium-3. In addition, sublight drives are referred to as impellers instead of impulse.
- Canon Immigrant: The Perseids of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda are the Dominion's fair and democratic allies.
- Colonel Kilgore: Cerrein
- The Empire: The Dominion, obviously.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Dominion serves as a counterpart to Ancient Rome. Their ten-thousand year history also mirrors the Romans': for five thousand years, the Dominion was a monarchy, then a revolution lead to a democratic society, before it finally settled into a oligarchical stratocratic theocracy.
- Fantastic Rank System: The Vorta follow the Battlestar Galactica ranking system, taking it a step further with Commander being a flag rank, subordinate to General and then Admiral. In addition, a Captain commands a starship despite being the equivalent of ensign, while Lieutenant is considered a non-commissioned rank (along with Captain-Lieutenant and Commander-Lieutenant). This is due to the Dominion putting greater emphasis on units rather than ships as individuals.
- Four-Star Badass: Liska, Richard Monroe, Tarska Hesar.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Cerrein grew up on Demetria, the Dominion's breadbasket, and during the Alpha Quadrant War, he wiped out the Skrreeans and launched a bioweapon at a Vulcan colony.
- I Am X, Son of Y: How the Vorta relate themselves, such as "Liska, daughter of Selric."
- La Résistance: Pop up from time to time, from resistance fighters on New Xindus to rebel forces in the far reaches of the Dominion.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: The T-Rogoran Empire.
- The Dominion also has some characteristics of it. A nominally democratic Citizen's Parliament has little real power within the Dominion government, with true power resting within the Supreme Council and the Prime Jeddak.
- The Political Officer: Weyoun is this when serving under Liska. However, Dominion political officers are not an extension of civilian control. They serve as military diplomats for the Dominion's allies and enemies.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Prime Jeddak Channik and Admiral Jathan.
- Shout-Out
- Liska's flagship is called the Avenger. In addition, the bridge of Dominion capital ships are based on those of Imperial Star Destroyers.
- Two regions of the Dominion are named Prolmar and Kaiba.
- A vital piece of Dominion engineering is known as the interocitor.
- Space Navy: The Dominion Fleet.
- Standard Sci-Fi Army: The Jem'Hadar, while Artificial Biologicals, serve as infantry with Vorta as their officers. Tanks, artillery, and many other branches of ground forces appear.
- Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Most types listed appear or will appear in the Dominion Fleet. Battlecruisers are among the most common in squadrons. Attack fighters are deployed to combat zones by carriers. Dreadnoughts are symbols of status; no more than twelve are active at any given time (one for each of the Supreme Marshals).
- Straight Gay: Liska, Eris, Gelnon.
