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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis's new module will allow ships to penetrate the energy wave protecting the central regions of the Maelstroms.
Deliveries of cobalt, ion distributors and power converters were made to Clement Orbital in the YZ Ceti system. These allowed Aegis to build a manufacturing and distribution centre for Thargoid pulse neutralisers, which can now be purchased from technology brokers on rescue megaships.
Professor Alba Tesreau released a statement regarding Aegis's next steps:
"Combined with our caustic sink launcher, the Thargoid pulse neutraliser will enable explorers to travel through the Maelstroms' corrosive clouds and into their cores. A small number of Aegis researchers will be among the first wave of pioneers. Their mission is to identify the source of these mysterious objects and gather data about its nature."
"I am conscious that, once again, independent pilots

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Aegis has confirmed that the first ships equipped with Thargoid pulse neutralisers have entered the inner regions of the Maelstroms.
The new module provides a temporary shield against the electromagnetic pulse that is generated when ships reach a certain point within the Maelstroms. Until now, this has prevented all attempts to identify what Thargoid constructs may exist within the caustic clouds.
Rear Admiral Daniel Parry, the Federal Navy's liaison to Aegis, reported:
"Armed ships crewed by military and xenology specialists have now been sent into each Maelstrom. These pathfinder missions will attempt to gather as much tactical and environmental data as possible."
"We have also received information from Commanders who returned intact from the Maelstroms' core areas. We are unable to authenticate these accounts at present, but they are being collated and analysed. The Allied, Federal and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a grand revisit to some of John Nelson's recent Lego creations. The first couple images show the combined fleet of human fighters. His faithful interpretations of the Broadsword, Ferret, Lance/Dragon, Rapier, Thunderbolt, Hornet, Arrow, Longbow, Avenger and Scimitar are all there. He's also in the process of reimagining a couple of his Kilrathi designs. His Darket and Strakha have been rebuilt with darker brown and mustard-toned bricks to more closely mimic the color schemes of Wing Commander 3. That's some wonderful dedication to the cause!

I got more brownish colored bricks and swapped out the Darket and nearly rebuilt and beefed up the Strahka. I hope you like them. Look for a new model that I submit to Chris soon.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a stunning pair of wallpapers that Mac recently put together with Klavs' models. These would look fabulous in the center of a pair of monitors and would look even better if you have a vertically oriented display. They would also work perfectly as your phone's background or lock screen image. Each one is beautiful, but as a pair, they are perfect together!

Hey Kids, Jedi Survivor issues got you down? How about you revisit the other scifi universe Mark Hamill played a major part in where he flew down a trench to destroy a planet sized object that resulted in the good guys winning? - Wing Commander .

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Reports from planetary settlements within Thargoid-occupied systems have described alien drone vessels attacking on-foot personnel.
Field correspondent Ernesto Rios summarised this development for Vox Galactica:
"Scores of populated systems in the vicinity of the Maelstroms have been invaded by Thargoid fleets, causing horrific casualties and mass evacuations. But military personnel still risk their lives exploring settlements within those systems, to search for survivors or scavenge remaining materials."
"These troops have come under attack by 'airborne vehicles of Thargoid design', according to one account. Their relatively small size suggests they are the equivalent of combat drones. 'I've seen them patrol the abandoned settlements as if on guard duty,' said one eyewitness, 'and become extremely hostile when they detect any living humans.'"
"It seems that the Thargoids now view these

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here at the CIC, we're super lucky to have quite a few fan artists who are also professional 3D modelers in their day jobs. But everyone has to start somewhere, and we're also big supporters of Wingnuts who are just dabbling in these types of subjects. On that note, here are some early attempts at the TCS Tiger's Claw by Rictheron. He only first started learning to model last month, so I'd say these are a pretty cool first effort! He's shared these early renders in order to get some feedback from the community. And while he might be new to modeling, he's been visiting the CIC for a couple decades, so head over to the CIC Forums to let him know what you think!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today I'm going to pop around on a thread that starts with author Diane Duane. She's a very well known sci-fi author who's written lots of Star Trek novels, various video game books as well as her own series. Of particular interest to WC fans: she also wrote the screenplay to the cinematic story of Privateer 2! And just yesterday, she had this to say on the topic:

I was a busy girl on this one. It remains the single longest screenplay (at 300+ pages) I've ever done. And had the BEST cast. Brian Blessed, Clive Owen, David Warner, so many more...

Now to jump franchises, we're also still gushing about the fantastic final season of Star Trek Picard. The show's production designer, Dave Blass, also recently shared that one of the many ships featured in the show is the USS Inaieu, which is 'a nod to the Defender class ship from Diane Duane's [1984 Star Trek novel] "My Enemy, My Ally"'. Dave also posted

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

A stately conductor stands before an orchestra three rows deep. The planet Venice, the Kilrathi capital of the Vega Sector, looms overhead. He raises his baton…

From the very first visual of the very first game, the deep connection between music and Wing Commander was clear… even to PC speaker users! Over the years, the Wing Commander franchise repeatedly pushed forward the public's expectation for what is now called 'VGM' and considered its own respected genre of music. The series would eventually come to host a rogues gallery of top composers and other musicians: George "The Fat Man" Sanger, Nenad Vugrinec, George Oldziey, Alexander van Bubenheim, Cobalt 60, David Arnold and Kevin Kiner… and a dozen others.

Today, Supercade is trying to bring George Oldziey's Wing Commander Orchestral Music Recording Project out as a deluxe vinyl record. You can learn more and back that project on IndieGoGo. The

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Some fifty Wingnuts have now pledged towards the Deluxe vinyl pressing of the WING COMMANDER score, and that's brought the total up past $5300. There's still a few weeks left to get in on this special collectible, but if you're planning to jump in, there's no time like the present! The album takes advantage of George Oldziey's Wing Commander 3/4/Prophecy music that was rerecorded by a live orchestra several years ago. You can watch a short documentary on the making of this great WC music below. And contribute to the crowdfunding campaign to make this new album happen here!

Supercade Press is offering three new editions of the soundtrack:

• Deluxe Edition Gatefold with 180g Starfield Splatter Vinyl
• Special Edition with 180g Marbled Bi-color Vinyl (new colors may be issued)
• Standard Edition with 180g Classic Black Vinyl

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Exploration of the inner regions of the Maelstroms has revealed the existence of colossal Thargoid constructs.
Alba Tesreau, head of Aegis, published a summary on behalf of the tri-superpower initiative:
"Our pathfinder missions have verified reports by the first manned ships that used the Thargoid pulse neutraliser. We know that the core environments of all eight Maelstroms are consistent in layout and extremely dangerous."
"Once past the energy wave, the initial hazard is an asteroid field that must be navigated. We cannot theorise an obvious reason why the asteroids have been gathered here. Thargoid vessels also patrol this region. Some reports indicate a previously unencountered class of Thargoid combat vessel accompanying interceptors and scouts."
"Beyond these, at the centre of each Maelstrom, is a gargantuan Thargoid structure. They dwarf any singular

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We’re kicking things off this week with a new Lego fighter by John Nelson. The design is most commonly know as the Talon from Privateer. I can see some diversion in the shape of the wings, but overall a solid effort given the pieces at his disposal. And with a new Lego store (third party brick exchange stores are a thing now??), we’re likely to see more designs soon! You can see a recent photo of the rest of his fleet here. As a reminder, there are five “Talons” in the WC universe: 1: Unknown Ship (Privateer 2), 2: Reuse of the model for the Gratha (Super Wing Commander), 3: Church of Man Talon (Privateer), 4: Militia Talon (Privateer), 5: Pirate Talon (Privateer).

Well here’s what was probably my quickest build for a non Kilrathi fighter that can fit a mini figure. I found a new Lego store south of me and made a Militia Talon.

Pliers (would) say, "Just about every two bit hood or cash strapped

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we have a couple of unfinished/test animations by Mac. It's possible that portions of what you see here could wind up in a future lore video, and certain elements might just be for practice. Despite these being just tiny little shorts, there's some amazingly talented animation going on, and I certainly can't wait for more!

This weekend I learned how to animate with MMD.

I titled this one: "My last functioning braincell after a video is finished." pic.twitter.com/uqei7W0msh

— Mac's Lore (@MacsLore) April 24, 2023

This weekend I learned how to animate with MMD. I titled this one: "My last functioning braincell after a video is finished."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A new type of Thargoid vessel, first encountered within the Maelstroms, is interdicting ships in Thargoid controlled systems.
Aegis highlighted the threat as part of its research into the Thargoid capital ships. Commodore Emil Varga, the Allied military liaison, gave this statement:
"The first explorers to breach the Maelstroms' inner regions encountered a previously unseen Thargoid vessel, larger than a scout but smaller than an interceptor. These medium-sized craft have been categorised as hunters, with this specific class designated the 'Glaive' due to its blade-like protrusions."
"The Glaives operated close to the motherships, so it was initially believed they acted as sentries. But in recent days they have appeared within systems under Thargoid control. Pilots lucky enough to survive these encounters report being forced out of supercruise by Glaives and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

What connects the Terran Confederation and the Tri-System? A love of Duck Dodgers, of course!

egr10 on the forums pointed out that ESK stands for Earth Shattering Kaboom and I feel like such an doofus because I hadn't figured that out in 32+ years.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're going to wind down this week with another set of Spanish Pcmania scans from Maxi de Sokar. These compromise their preview, review and advertisement for Wing Commander 4. I like how their blue formatting matches the game's Confed uniform tones, but overall it's a lot less flashy than some of the magazine layouts from earlier in the decade. We've added translations again for folks who are curious about what they say, which is generally pretty positive with a 91% final score. You can also compare these to their WC3 article here.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Digital Antiquarian has completed his long-awaited analysis of Wing Commander 4. He started digging into the series way back in 2017 and covered the first couple of games in a series of articles. His WC3 review dropped in 2021 and now he's dug into WC4. It's a long article that's far more thorough than most overviews in print, although it doubles down quite a bit on the somewhat overplayed criticism than too much money went into the film shoots compared to the spaceflight engine. I would argue that there was little more to iterate gameplay-wise given the very short production time. WC4 was slated to arrive just one year following WC3 - right after Origin had spent a considerable amount of time (starting with Strike Commander and then forking into Armada) making the leap into proper 3D. Until the arrival of 3D accelerator hardware later in the '90s, there just wasn't much more they were going

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Electronic Arts' Origin store may finally be no more, but EA is still selling a select sampling of Wing Commander games directly through their website. There are a few differences between these and the digital copies available from GOG.com, however. For starters, only Wing Commanders 1-4 and Privateer are available, and WC1/2 are split up into two separate packages. Each game is $4.99 rather than $5.99, but they go on sale much less often (and WC1/2 is $10 rather than $6). These are also designed to run via the EA launcher for Windows, whereas WC1-3/P1 for GOG are designed to load on Mac as well. But if you happen to have an EA library on your PC, this new sale can't be beat. It's very rare for the frequent GOG sales to exceed 75% off, and this 90% discount is from the lower $4.99 retail price. That means Wing Commander games for LESS THAN FIFTY CENTS GUYS! It looks like you might have until

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's time for us to swap out front page polls, and the new one is a logical choice. We're asking what your favorite Kilrathi design recreated for the Academy television show was. The were five (or six) fighter/bombers and two capships that made the jump, and they all look pretty sweet, so take a moment to consider which looks best to you. The Strakha is a bit of a questionable once since it's more of a "stealth Sartha" in this case. We did exclude the Carrier/Destroyer/Blockade Runner/Transport, since it's a unique design that simply borrows some design elements from familiar WC3 ships.

The old poll asked about the Confed ships that appeared in WCA. For some reason, the Hellcat was massively popular with double the votes of the second place winner. It's kind of funny because the ship only appears in the simulated combat from the pilot episode. Oh well, people like what they like!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Professor Alba Tesreau has broadcast a formal statement discussing the past, present and future of Aegis.
Independent journalist Allan Mantle reported on the declaration for Vox Galactica:
"The tremendous escalation of the Thargoid war makes Aegis more open to scrutiny than ever. By delivering a personal message to the public, Professor Tesreau exhibits the transparency and accountability that the agency previously lacked. Indeed, it's to her credit that the mistakes of the past are not glossed over."
"Some will also consider it noble that Tesreau avoids mentioning how she opposed the superpowers shutting down Aegis in favour of working with Azimuth Biotech. Others will recognise her moral high ground as mere politics. The Allied, Federal and Imperial coordinators for Aegis are all duly applauded, a tip of the hat to those who helped her resurrect the organisation."
"Recent Thargoid

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Jerome Archer, Felicia Winters and Zachary Rackham are lobbying for public support as the Federation prepares to elect a new president in August.
Political correspondent Sofia Trevino covered the race for The Federal Times:
"With Zachary Hudson's eight-year term approaching its end, citizens must decide who will be the president of the Federation by the year's end. The electoral machines for all three candidates are in full swing, with campaign slogans appearing at all Federal starports."
"The Republican Party has pinned its hopes on current Vice President Jerome Archer, who hopes to reassure Hudson loyalists with his similar leadership style and focus on interstellar security. Shadow President Felicia Winters, head of the Liberal Party, is promising a more humanitarian approach to government policy. And the wild card is independent candidate Zachary Rackham, whose wealth and notoriety afford