Sparkatale

Mistbrook Falls, Michigan
August 15th, 2530

Wow :O Ok, are you trying to tell me that Jack is secretly Snow’s descendant??? Or maybe a descendant of one of the other girls? xD Are Cassie and Nicole actually magical beings created by the dawnguard??? It all makes sense now!!

Anyway, overall I really enjoyed this story xD It was really cool to see Jack’s past and understand a little bit more about how he got into his position. I especially enjoyed getting a taste of his and Maya’s relationship and how long they’ve been friends. Their relationship was already solid in the main series but this just solidified it even more. We can see right from the start they’d do anything for each other, exemplified by Maya eventually agreeing to follow Jack into the navy. They’ve been through so much with each other and I’m excited to see the second part of this story (which I presume will be about how they and the rest of the Retribution crew ended up betraying the UEG.

After reading this chapter, I’m also curious about some of his family. It was interesting seeing how they, particularly his father, have influenced him and his beliefs. But I can’t help but wondering if his Dad was more than he seems. Was Jack’s dad just a level headed soldier with the ability to see the flaws in his own side of the war and see the opposite (Volgms) as people, or was he secretly involved in some kind of rebellion? Maybe he was even killed for it? I don’t know why my mind goes to that place :P I’m curious about Alyssa, his sister as well. With Jack mentioning that she lived on Luna, I wonder if she somehow got caught up in the Luna incident. I don’t have any evidence to suggest this other than her living on the same planet, but it would be an interesting connection between the two parts of the main story :P

Anyway, overall this was a really interesting side story/character study. It gives us suck a great insight into Jack (and to a lesser extent, Maya). I feel after reading this I have such a clear picture of who Jack is and I admire how he’s stuck to his beliefs all this time even after going through so much war. I’m really excited to see the rebellion in the next chapter and the start of his adventures in the Borderworlds.

Hee xD I mean, maaaaaaybe :P Nah, honestly, that’s a bit of an inside joke for myself. When I was writing Sunflower, the vision of the woman that guides Lucy ended up being unintentionally similar to Rose/Guides so much so that for about a second I seriously considered setting Borderworlds in the same universe as Snowfall, etc. I decided against any such crossover, but when I was thinking about where Jack and Maya grew up, the idea of them haven’t lived in Mistbrook Falls was too fun to ignore. So that’s just a little Easter egg for those familiar with that creepy little town. Which… you probably already knew without my longwinded explanation. Moving on :P

But anyway, as with a few things I’ve written recently, this first chapter wasn’t supposed to be a part of this at all. My intention was just to show the mutiny and how Jack and the crew ended up in the Borderworlds. But then Claire, who is also responsible for 99% of the jokes, puns, and sexual innuendo that Lucy will be irritating Jack with in future chapters, suggested that it might be interesting to do a series of short segments of Jack’s past leading up to the actual mutiny. And I’ve got to say, I’m glad I listened to her. I was able to, as you picked up on, focus much more on Jack and Maya’s friendship. That was missing from my initial draft of just the mutiny and I couldn’t really find a way to believably explore that in the confines of the rapid fire events of the mutiny itself.

As for Jack’s family, I’m sure we’ll get more details about them in the future as we see more of Jack. His dad was definitely a level headed soldier that understood exactly what the UEG is and that the Volgm aren’t evil monsters, but people just like him. He could also have been part of a rebellion as well, so both could technically be true :P The official record is that the heavy cruiser UEG Grace Under Pressure was lost with all hands in battle with the Volgm. Do with that information what you will xD As for Alyssa, she’s alive and well as far as Jack knows. The Luna Incident, while devastating, didn’t destroy every city on the moon. It was largely centered around the Earth facing side of the moon, which is where the majority of the surface facilities are located. There are, however, a number of cities on the far side of the moon as well, which is where Alyssa lives. So while she was on the moon during the Luna Incident, she very likely survived the event. Doesn’t mean she wasn’t involved in some part of it though xD

I feel after reading this I have such a clear picture of who Jack is <--- That. That right there was the entire point of this short story. I felt as though in Borderworlds we get a very clear visual of who Lucy is, but Jack feels a lot less so to me. I want his and Lucy’s viewpoints to both seem at least somewhat valid. I wanted to provide some insight into why he is the way he is and why he holds the views he does, so I’m glad this helps clarify who Jack is and what he’s about. Anyway, as always thanks so much for commenting! Hope you have a great week :)