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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a little goodie that came in the mail this week. Many years ago we posted about the March 1998 review of Wing Commander Prophecy in PC Gamer. What we didn't show off at the time was that issue's nifty cover disc featuring the WCP demo. As far as WC-themed promotional discs go, it's pretty slick with a prominent Panther fighter and a Tiamat coming through the wormhole on the sleeve. Although it says "Not to be sold without magazine," I'm happy that someone broke the rules so that I could have one of my very own after all these years! And if you weren't aware, this isn't a tiny gauntlet. The full blown Prophecy demo includes four in-plot missions that weren't included in the game! You can download them (and many other awesome WC demos) here!

Sure, you've played Prophecy... but did you ever play the demo? If not, you're missing out on a special little chunk of the game. Unlike most game

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

There's even more Rapier news to report in addition to the massive rundown of LOAF's research. AD pointed out that we have a more recent bead on the whereabouts of an existing Rapier fighter. It seems that one of them - potentially the Planet Hollywood craft - apparently made its way to an automotive junkyard at some point in the last two decades. The owners didn't know what it was, so there it sat until The MIXX Radio came across it. It's missing the wings, rotary neutron gun and a few things, but it could be much worse. We're looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!

This is a reply to a many year old tweet, but I believe I have the whereabouts of the US Rapier that was in Planet Hollywood. It will soon be in my possession. Here is a pic from today. It’s missing some pieces. I hope to get some of it back to a Rapier state. I’m going to try and copy all your info on the background. I

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

New Kuwembaa Labour, which controls five systems, has triggered a second wave of secession by severing ties with the Federation.
Following the victory of the Azaladshu Free, a minority of Federal factions are breaking away from the superpower in protest against its civil surveillance laws.
Governor Sonal Mishra of New Kuwembaa Labour made this statement:
"The Federal government has granted itself draconian powers to spy on its own citizens. Regrettably, the only way to avoid this is to withdraw from the Federal Accord. I urge the president to respect our wishes and accept our sovereign status."
In response, President Zachary Hudson ordered Governor Mishra to abide by constitutional law or face the consequences. He has also redirected the Fortress Liberty megaship to the Kuwembaa system.
Political commentators believe that three other democratic Federal factions are ready to follow the example

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Sad to learn that Paul Alexander passed away last month. Mr. Alexander was a prolific science fiction artist who was responsible for, among many things, the four wonderful cover paintings for Baen’s initial package of Wing Commander novels.

Artist Paul Alexander, 83, died June 14, 2021 at the Brethren Retirement Community in Greenville OH.

Paul R. Alexander was born September 3, 1937, in Richmond IN, the son of the late Fred and Ora Olive Alexander. After graduation from Wittenberg University in 1959, and then the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, he found work in the art field with architectural firms, and then moved into advertising, concentrating mostly on still-life and “men and machines” subject matter.

In 1976 he began working with an art representative in New York who brought his work to the attention of Ace Books. Impressed by his command of hardware and machinery illustration, Ace

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Independent pilots have supported the Far God cult by delivering commodities to the Panjabell system.
The Pleiades Concordat paid for shipments of auto fabricators, emergency power cells and insulating membrane transported to Moore Hub station. These will be used to outfit megaships that will be populated by the Thargoid-worshipping cultists.
Local reporters spoke to one of the sect's newest converts, Leonard Yates from Agassiz Settlement, now known as the Eighty-Ninth Adherent of the Sixtieth Chapter:
"The beneficence of the galactic community is deeply appreciated. Our missionary megaship, the Testament, will help carry news of the oncoming apocalypse to every system."
"The other megaships – the Perdition and the Sacrosanct – will soon embark on a holy pilgrimage. They will carry thousands of us faithful worshippers into the void to commune with the Far God and

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The NMLA has bombed two starports in the HIP 22550 and Hyades Sector RO-P b6-6 systems in the Marlinist Colonies.
Explosive devices were detonated at both Stillman Hub and Tilman Point stations. As is characteristic of weapons used by the NMLA, caustic enzyme payloads caused widespread corrosive damage.
The combined death toll is in the tens of thousands, with many more injured. There are unconfirmed reports that First Minister Jenna Fairfax is among the fatalities.
The following message was broadcast via NMLA propaganda channels:
"Why are they bombing their own homes? Why would Theta Seven kill his own people? Because they are not our homes! Not my people! They are prisons, not colonies, where traitors to the cause beg for scraps from those who exiled them. True Marlinists will never stop fighting until the Republic of Achenar is restored."
The attacks are believed

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

GOG.com is having a special weekly sale this week, and the theme seems to be '90s classics. In addition to series like Warcraft, Myst and System Shock, both the Wing Commander and Ultima franchises have been included. Sometimes it seems like GOG sales come along pretty frequently, but I always hear about Wingnuts (like Zeether!) who finally take the digital plunge whenever there's a big discount like this. The whole DOS/Windows series under $12. If there's a game you're missing, now's your chance to add it to the collection!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac's Lore has an exciting new video in their series on Wing Commander history. Their latest clip covers covers the exploits of the TCS Victory with an emphasis on the events that concluded the Kilrathi War in Wing Commander 3. The clip is broken down into several sections: service history, technical details, the crew and conclusion. In addition to his own narrative, Mac was able to source his high quality visuals from the WC Saga engine and ODVS' high quality video among other fan resources. The result is a tight package that's a fun run through the ship's noteworthy accomplishments!

Backed up against the wall, the Confederation fleet begins hauling out rustbuckets to the front lines to battle the Kilrathi. In one spectacular case, one of those buckets helps to win the war.

On another note, when I was working on this, I initially kept getting bogged down in the details of what happened in 2669,

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The superpowers have partly suspended Aegis and authorised an inquiry into the Alexandria megaship, which disappeared in hyperspace.
Freelance journalist Alexei Keel reported on this development for Vox Galactica:
"Public opinion regarding Aegis has always been chequered, but its founding governments insisted that it played a vital defensive role against the Thargoids. The tragic loss of the Alexandria, carrying thousands of crewmembers and valuable Guardian artefacts, has now raised questions about the organisation's competence."
"The Alliance, Empire and Federation have jointly ordered an independent inquiry to determine the facts about the Alexandria. Many Aegis operations were shut down, and detailed investigations have begun. Professor Alba Tesreau and other senior members have already been forced to resign."
"Part of the reason for such scrutiny is the emergence of the anonymous

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've got some more Krant updates for Howard Day's Wing Leader project today. First up is a short and sweet video of the Kilrathi medium fighter biting the dust in a hail of laser fire. The next clip shows the perspective from the Hornet cockpit with the targeting VDU now fully updated to reflect damage on the ship's frame. Finally, there are full sprite sheets of all the different angles that come together to show the craft in flight!

Quick clip - Hornet blows up a Krant

Got the MFD icon for the Krant in there

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Communications intercepted by the Proactive Detection Bureau are being used to prevent further factions from leaving the Federation.
A report by the civil rights organisation Advocacy proves that the Federal Intelligence Agency is targeting pro-independence individuals via their private messages. In many cases, they are being arrested for planning to commit crimes against the constitution.
Deputy Director Bethany Blake, who runs the PDB, gave a statement to the media:
"I can confirm that gathering such intelligence is within our legal remit. Unilateral declarations of independence are criminal acts that violate the Federal Accord. Therefore we are identifying perpetrators before they cause harm, which is precisely what our surveillance network was established to do."
In Congress, Vice President Jerome Archer defended the PDB for boosting arrest rates and saving lives. However, Congressman Bai

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

ChrisReid: While looking up links associated with the Rapier for a couple of news posts this past week, I notice we'd never taken LOAF's massive research on the ship and turned it into a singular article. It's a huge amount of info, so buckle your seatbelts and hang on! Here's LOAF with everything you ever wanted to know about the Rapier:

LOAF: The Rapier fighters in the Wing Commander movie were constructed from the cockpits of eight F.53 English Electric Lightning jets. I decided to read up on their history and it turns out they're part of a group of 34 ordered by the Saudi Royal Air Force in 1965!

One of these Lightnings crashed during its test flight; to replace it, BAC produced an extra plane using end-of-line parts. It was the last Lightning ever constructed and it became the Rapier flown by Freddie Prinze Jr's Lieutenant Blair!

The Lightnings flew ground attack missions against Yemen in 1970. In

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's a good week for Rapier I art. We posted an uncommon 3D render of a fan model a few days ago, and now we've got a top down line art sketch of the CF-117. The rotary neutron gun is a bit long, but the ship portions are pretty good overall. This type of drawing was really big in the late '90s, so I'm surprised we haven't seen more of this over the years. bagera3005 is certainly a fan of this art style with thousands of Star Trek ships and other similar designs in his gallery. He's also made a Kilrathi-inspired ship, pictured below. It's kind of a funky cross between a Goran and a Sorthak by my eye.

My version of Wing Commander Rapier from the movie

If you'd like to see more cool WC line art, be sure to check out our prior updates.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The iPhone/iPad app iDOS 2 has been in the news this week since it was announced that the program will be coming down soon per Apple's app store guidelines. The company has always been very leery of emulators and programs that can run other code or operating systems (like Windows 3.1!), and it's honestly surprising that the program has been allowed to exist on the platform for this long as it is. While it's still available at the time of this writing, it might not be around much longer. Nevertheless, there's been a surge of downloads, and people have been posting about different games that they've gotten to work. Here's a picture that Steve Makofsky took playing Wing Commander 1 on his iPad, which is pretty darn cool!

Kinda shocked it worked so easily - iDOS2 running vintage Wing Commander.

This is by no means the first app to enable this kind of activity, but most have been relatively short lived.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Onionhead gamma strain is now available in selected industrial anarchy systems.
Following the Kumo Council's initiative, enough product was manufactured to supply approximately 10% of all industrial-based markets controlled by anarchic factions. Unlike previous versions of onionhead, this variant is not listed as a rare commodity.
Adalyn Cross, a journalist for Vox Galactica, reported:
"Onionhead gamma strain is being marketed to the public for medicinal use, but most customers are under no illusions regarding its real benefits. The Coalition for Legalisation claims that it is 'no more harmful or addictive than alcohol or coffee, with potential psychological and palliative benefits'."
"This has not prevented many authorities, especially in the Federation, from demanding that it remain universally outlawed. It is currently illegal in all but anarchy jurisdictions.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Kayode Tau has been elected as prime consul for the Marlinists, following a successful data delivery initiative.
The candidate from the Free Marlinist Movement faction received more public votes than rival nominee Verity Dexter. His campaign was supported by deliveries of anomalous bulk scan data and unusual encrypted files in greater quantities.
Prime Consul Tau will now serve as the lead ambassador for the Marlinist Colonies in all dealings with the superpowers. He gave this statement to the media:
"The Marlinist Consulate will act to preserve our colonies' independence, and improve diplomatic relations with the rest of the galaxy. Let me be clear – we do not represent the extremist views of Neo-Marlinism. Our consuls will assist all efforts to eliminate the NMLA."
In the Marlinist Parliament, Minister Aaron Whyte protested that ignoring the Neo-Marlinist fringe was

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Pleiades Concordat has requested deliveries to support the Far God cult in the Panjabell system.
Members of the secretive Thargoid-worshipping sect have gathered in huge numbers, and are preparing to outfit one or more megaships for religious purposes.
Although the cult has no official spokespeople, local newsfeeds carried a brief message from one of its senior members, known only as the First Herald of the Fifty-Eighth Chapter:
"The faithful have hidden in the shadows for too long. Now is the time to reach out and welcome the Far God, with the support of our friends in the Pleiades Concordat."
"The first megaship, the Testament, will be a missionary vessel to spread the word to all humankind. If we are blessed enough to obtain commodities for more megaships, these will be sent on a pilgrimage into deep space to commune with the Far God."
The Pleiades Concordat

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

For the second time in as many weeks, a private space tour company has launched their first fully crewed vessel (and their billionaire founder) into space. This time they had the audacity to do it on a work day, so we've posted some nifty photos and video below for the people who couldn't watch live. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket reached an altitude of about 66 miles and produced a similar brief period of weightlessness as the Virgin Galactic experience last week. Unlike Richard Branson's specialized type of jet plane, today's craft was a more traditional vertical rocket. It's been almost fifteen years since we first reported on their efforts, which once again highlights how challenging these milestones are to reach. In addition to space tourism, the company is also aiming to compete with SpaceX on moon missions in the future.

Beautiful launch from West Texas this morning. #NSFirstHumanFlight

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Belgian Chess History website runs a remarkable blog where they analyze and dissect chess games in progress across a variety of film and television. They look at the chess board setups and discuss how the characters (often inexplicably) got into their situation. Wing Commander has been featured, and it got a characteristically brutal scrubbing. Not only do they hate the setup, they're not fond of the characters nor even the chess pieces! You can find the full Belgian Chess History article here.

LOAF actually researched and found the actual chess set used in the WC Movie a while back. He also put together a slightly more accurate placement of the pieces, pictured below.

LOAF: It's just not a situation anyone would reasonably get to. Unless Bishop, a man named after a chess piece with said piece painted on his Rapier, is particularly terrible at chess.

Belgian Chess History: The idiot on the table

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

More Federal factions are considering declaring independence following the recent conflict in the Azaladshu system.
Sofia Trevino, political journalist with The Federal Times, published an overview of the situation:
"When Azaladshu Free seceded in reaction to the government's surveillance laws, it inspired three other factions to do the same, making ten systems and a billion people independent. Superpowers routinely gain and lose systems via local politics, but this was a rare instance of member factions abandoning their fealty."
"The newly sovereign nations have severed all links with the Proactive Detection Bureau, so their communications are no longer being monitored. Despite broad public support for the Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act, many citizens still consider personal privacy to be a constitutional right."
"Dozens of other factions are now considering independence. This affects only a