Profile of Arjagul Tarska Hesar

Nathan Fillion as Tarska Hesar

Hello, again.

It has been close to a year, during which I was able to find employment. However, I am back and am taking this blog in a new direction. I will now be discussing things which I am absolutely certain you wish to know about: my Trek fanfics.

Genesis of the Character

Tarska Hesar is a Cardassian general during the Dominion War. He became famous for his conquest and defense of the Kalandra Sector.

Much of my fanfiction revolves around the Dominion War, and particularly the Dominion itself. As there is very little material out there detailing certain aspects of the 24th Century, I use the Last Unicorn Trek RPG sourcebooks. Sadly, Last Unicorn went under before they could publish a book about the Dominion, and fans who have published their own sourcebooks have yet to write one. The closest I have been able to use is "The Fires of Armageddon: The Dominion War Sourcebook" by Steven S. Long for story ideas and characters.

Of the many characters listed in the DWS, Tarska Hesar and Liska are the ones who rose to prominence in my work. They serve as the opposite of the Damar-Weyoun partnership shown in DS9; these are characters who might not like each other, but are determined to both win the war.

Historical Inspiration

My favorite general of World War II is Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who became famous for his leadership of the German Afrika Korps. As someone who wants to include more militarization in Trek, I looked to history for inspiration and naturally decided upon World War II to draw it in.

For those who do not know, Rommel was rapidly promoted during the first half of the war, going from a division commander, to a corps commander, then commanding the entirety of the Africa front and then the coastal defenses in France. Historians have determined that he was a great commander up to the corp-level, beyond which he came overconfident and hampered his own campaign. Despite this, he is one of the few, if not the only, German generals remembered positively in the West. Churchill himself even offered his praise for the man who routed British forces in North Africa many times.

The history of Hesar reflects this. He starts out as a gul (colonel) commanding a division attacking an Andorian colony. Just as his staff is killed, he decides to go out in a blaze of glory only for the Andorian defenders to surrender to him. He is then promoted by Gul Dukat, the leader of Cardassia, to arjagul (general) and command of the Sixteenth Order. I intend to expand more on his career between the conquest of Kalandra and his Ramadan Offensive in later works.

Personality

Tarska Hesar is unlike the typical Cardassian officer. He is hard-driving, but he is also fair. His word is final, but he listens to his subordinates and carefully takes in their advice. In addition, unlike many other works, he has a good relationship with his Vorta counterpart. Other fanfic authors treat their Vorta as power-greedy jackals who are willing to throw their Cardassian troops into the meat grinder. My Vorta are different, which I'll expand upon later.

Finally, there is a major aspect about Hesar that I draw in from Rommel. Hesar may not believe in what the Dominion stands for, but the Dominion is the governing body of Cardassia. He believes in his country, whether it is right or wrong. It also helps that the Vorta he was paired with are a bit more fair than you would expect.

Well, that's Tarska Hesar. I'll be discussing my other characters at a future point, and I'll talk to you later. This is Lieutenant Fedora, signing off.