New Fan Fiction Different time

Dahan

Rear Admiral
It seems that alot of people are writting fan fiction during WC1-Prophecy and some in between.
I have started a new one based on the events just after when when the Confederationmade their formal declaration of war against the Kilrathi Empire.
At the moment this is what I have created

Character - 2nd Lieutenant Anthony Cheng
DOB - 2608.033, Adelaide, Australia, Earth, Sol.
Entry to TCSA - Approx. 2625
Graduated from TCSA - Approx. 2629

First Assignment (2629) - TCS Hibernia = Ranger Class Carrier [CVL-79]
Commanding Officer - Captain Justin Lang
Executive Officer - Lieutenatn Commander Jessica O'Hara
* The Hibernia retains the original 85 fighters complement when it was commission, but the numbers are slowly reduced due to the improvements and upgrades of the fighers. In the meantime the Hibernia has a full complement of 85 fighers*

Wing Commander - Lieutenant Colonel David Parker
Executive - Major Joseph Lector

Squadron Assignment - Flying Tiger's Squadron (28th Flight Group - Fighter Interceptor Squdron)
Squadron Leader - Major Amanda 'Silky' Mallamo
Executive - Captain Gregory 'Balls' Border
Pilots - Captain Samantha 'Jewel' Ibanez
- 1st Lieutenant Samuel 'Torps' Thorpe
- 1st Lieutenant Dark 'Drool' Simpson
- 1st Lieutenant Allison 'Shorts' Goodman
- 1st Lieutenant Carl 'Brains' Wallace
- 1st Lieutenant Jean-Luc 'Pasty' Rico
- 2nd Lieuenant Anthony 'Datangia' Cheng
- 2nd Lieutenant Tyson 'Skinny' Edwards
- 2nd Lieutenant Kathryn 'Arrows' Ross
- 2nd Lieutenant Michelle 'Peck' Lee

- So far what I have done is that the year is approximately 2629-2670, where the TCS Hibernia is part of the 7th Fleet which is in the Vega Sector.
- The Hibernia was patrolling the newly formed borders between Confed and the Border Worlds Territories and surverying the nearby Kilrathi territory within their quadrant.
- The Hibernia was ordered to full alert status as from 2634.186 when the Confederation had officially declare War on the Kilrathi Empire.
- The Hibernia ws enruote to the Hellespoint System when they intercepted a garbled transmission located somewhere in the Hyperion System. the Hibernia went to investigate only to ambush by two Kilrathi carriers.
- Three squadrons from the Hibernia were launched including the 28th to help defend the Hibernia. Two squadrons were assigned as a rear guard defence while one squadron was sent ahead of the Hibernia to clear any hostile presences.
- The Hibernia had jumped into the Cairo System and forced to make repairs from the damage they sustained from the Kilrathi attack.
- Since then, the Hibernia has been patrolling heavily near the borders oConfed, Union and Kilrathi territories and encounter many Kilrathi forces in skirmishes and raids.
- Around 2634, Anthony Cheng has been made Captain and excutive officer of the 28th, where his previous executive has been promoted and command a squadron of his own.
- Approximately 2634.128, The Hibernia Battle Group (Task Force 42) was formed as the Hibneria as the capital ship with the following
2 Cruisers = TCS Bismark and the TCS Yamato
4 Destroyers = TCS Troy, TCS Trojan, TCS Warrior and the TCS Shogun
2 Scout Corvettes = TCS Silent Scope and the TCS Mohicians
2 E-Warfare Corvettes = TCS Indiana Jones and the TCS Scout's Honor
1 Minesweeper = TCS Frequency

- The Hibernia Battle Group was assigned to defend the Roberts Quadrant of the Vega Sector until further notice.
- On 2634.228 the Hibernia Battle Group was rushed back to McAuliffe System when Ches M. Penney intercepted the Kilrathi transmission regarding an upcoming attack at McAuliffe.
- The entire 7th Fleet arrived to form a defensive position around the planet. But the Kilrathi arrived with four times the size of the 7th Fleet.
- The Battle of McAullife was a major disaster for the 7th Fleet where 70% of the Confed Fleet was destroyed including 75% of the Hibernia Battle Group destroyed.
All that remain from the Battle Group was the Hibernia, Bismark, Troy and the Scout's Honor.
- After the battle, the Hibernia Remnants were sent back to the Robert's Quadrant to asses and eliminate an Kilrathi presence.
- Around 2635, the Hibernia and the Troy were sent to the Brimston system to escort a 10-ship transport convoy to the Vega System for much need supplies and repairs.
- Enroute to Vega, the convoy was attacked by a Kilrathi raiding fleet. The convoy was able to reach to the Vega but 60% of the transports were so badly damaged from the Kilrathi forces that they were forced to scuttle the transports and salvage what parts they could obtain.
- During this mission Hibernia was severly damaged and lost several pilots and fighters. One quarter from the 28th died during the escort mission, including the squadron leader. Anthony was promoted to Squadron Leader.
- 2639.030 Reports were coming in about another Kilrathi attack in the Enyo system and Confed Command has order a contingent of ships led by the Hibernia to head to Enyo and establish a defensive position until reinforcmens arrived to support the fleet.
- The Hibernia and its contingent were fighting a losing battle against the Kilrathi when they arrived in the Enyo system, forcing them to retreat allowing he Kilrathi to land on Enoy and holding 250,000 Terrans, hostages.
Because of the losses at Enyo and McAuliffe the Kilrathi have held the two systems hostage against the Confederation.
- 2639.033 The confederation regroups under the leadership of then Captain Geoffrey Tolwyn and brings in an attack force of new Raptor-Class fighters which aided greatly in the counterattack. The 28th was one of the squadrons that was assigned to the new Raptor Fighters.
The Counterattack on both Enyo and McAuliffe by the Confederation was a costly one where the total amount of losses on by both sides were nearly identical.


This is what I have currently done with the synopsis so far, and would like to hear some feedback and/or suggestions to add to this.
 
The first thing I want to say is that this is a really big project - spanning several years, with several dozen people involved, historical dependencies on the canonized timeline - so you've cut out a pretty good piece of work if you want to cover all that.

For the timeline stuff - I need to say that I absolutely have no clue about the historical background you're basing your story on. I have enough to do to remember my own appointments, so although I like WC a great deal, someone else needs to do the checks against the history line and the feasibility of events you want to describe.

Concerning technicalities, there are some things that I'm sure you'll notice once you have written a part and begin the editing process - but maybe we can get some of them right from the start: While your crew description seems very professional and the battlegroup you have put together is well balanced, I have some issues with the names you use: The old German chancellor's name was Otto von Bismarck, not Bismark. The Troy and the Trojan in one group seem awkward too - what are members of the crews calling themselves, Trojans and Troyans? I can live with the Silent Scope (althoug I don't know what that should be), but it's definitely Mohicans, not Mohicians. And to be quite frank, a TCS Indiana Jones is really too close to home. And come to think of references, a Yamato automatically reminds me of that ugly hunk in Starlancer... There are also some typos in sector names that will annoy you later, but I'm not sure of all of them, so I'll stop nagging here.

Concerning your story, the fitting word is: Epic. Only that I'm not sure what you want to make of it. The battles and political developments you describe are dramatic enough for more than a handful of exciting flying scenes, with fighters, capships, and all trimmings on the menu. But while this makes exhilarating material for a short story, it won't be enough to carry your reader through the full arc. What you don't describe in your summary is the people's motivations, the counteracting interests that have their influence on the greater political drama.
From your character listing I can only guess that you'll want to follow Cpt. Cheng through his career in the somewhat usual Wing Commander style - like the pilot changing from mere tool of the war machine to a position of authority and responsibility, learing through loss, and overcoming personal limitations by growing into a character he never had imagined for himself. But this is all guesswork - maybe you have something completely different in mind: Cheng as a brutal career soldier, loathed by everyone. Or Cheng as the jester, lighting up even the darkest hour with his optimism. Or Cheng as the schemer, cleverly playing with his comrades and superiors to pull invisible strings. And on and on.

Fact is: I don't know yet - and that is the decision you need to make now. I think you already have accomplished much - you've defined the frame of reference for your story in a universe full of closely defined facts. That's the reason why I never get very far when I think about a Wing Commander story - all these tedious dates and places and names and facts to consider to avoid a howl of protest from the fans. You have boldly taken that step - and even if there are inaccuracies, the people here will help to correct them. But it won't change much what you had in mind.

The much easier - but in my eyes the much more critical - part comes now: Letting your mind wander, and plotting the story. Thinking about motives, crimes, conspiracies, honor, treachery, love interests, family histories, afflictions and desires will create the "real" story which carries all the events, and which explains to the reader why a battle was lost or a brilliant tactical move was derived. That's where your story will make it or break it in the long run.
Give the reader some launch-fight-land stuff and you'll lose them after the second installment. Give them a great, unfolding story full of surprises, cliffhangers and unexpected turns, and they'll follow you to the last page.
 
Interesting pointers

Thanks for that mate
Everything that I have written is only a synopsis and it was all thought off within a week. The spelling and the names of the ships are just thrown in so I have not thought of the proper names, except for the 28th Flight Group and the TCS Hibernia. Those two are the original groups I am intend to keep. Now for the timeline question, I obtain the dates from the manuals and the online references so there are pretty much accurate except a few others which I added, because there were no actually references to the dates I used.

In times of what kind of fiction I am writing, it is based on Anthony Cheng's personal struggle dealing with being the military and being the a member of an old Chinese family which is about as long as the Tolwyn Family but not a military sense.
Tolwyn's family extends to over 50 generations and all achieved greatness in the military.
The Cheng Family extends to quite a few generations and every generation have achieved some greatness or accomplisment for example Research and Development, Exploration, Politics, Science and the Military.
At the moment I am trying to get the character in shape and the time started out so I know what to add on.
Thanks again for the input, apart the technical errors here and there I have tried to put together a whole different fiction which I hope that people might enjoy reading.
Cheers!!!

"The way I see it, you can hide from or learn from it".......
 
The wcnews encyclopedia is one really good source for particulars like that--dates and other information. I really don't have a whole lot of these facts in my head, but I do know some of the bigger things.

At this time, the BWs don't exist, but you may just be calling those sectors such for sake of reverence.

Another thing, though, you will need to down size the number of fighters because a Ranger class carrier cannot hold 85 fighters--85 pilots maybe but not fighters. The Ranger class can hold about 40 regular sized craft. I also suggest you check out the date of first use of the Ranger class.

I don't know that four years of training is enough. There is education--academy--and flight school. I don't know how many years that would actually amount to, though.

Oh yeah, Loaf is the WC expert and is a walking, talking encyclopedia of WC data.
 
ship details

Thanks for the info/suggestion mate
I did some background search on the Ranger Class carrier. The carrier was built in the early 2580s, which is a good 50 years before the Kilrathi, so it is a strong possibility that the TCS Hibernia (Character ship for my fiction) may be around, because if you take a look at the TCS Victory that ship is also Ranger Class light carrier which was upgraded and all Ranger's carriers that remain during the Kilrathi war were refitted with current generation shield generators (WC2-3 eras)

The Ranger was designed to carry 85 fighters and this was the case before the Kilrathi War. The fighters that were used during the early years of the Kilrathi War were the Raptors and the Wildcat fighters
In this case I was used this template carrier for my fication

Over the years later during the Kilrathi War, the Rangers were upgrade with newer and better offensive/defensive capabilities and weapon magazines this also included fighter complements. By the time of pre-the Battle of Earth-WC3, the Rangers had a complement of 40 fighters and bombers and 10 utlity crafts.

So what I have in mind with TCS Hibernia is that is holds complement of about 70-85 fighters which is still a possibility, however given the fact the technologies would have chnage over the last 50 years I am inclined to drop the number to about 60-72 (5-6 squadrons) but like I said in the first note, I have only started a darft/synopsis
In regards of the timeline, I have download the most recent information I found and used all the proper dates mention except some dates which are maybe one or two days before of the actual events.
Although I would like to know if anyone has any information of when the Union of the Border Worlds was formed. Because the Union did exist during the Kilrathi War and I am guessing that it may have been 10 years into the Kilrathi War did the Union was formed, however the Union was a collection of system colonised by Confed citizens far from any Confed governing council/body hence the Union of the Border Worlds may have been form some time prior the Kilrathi War or just after when the Declaration of War was made against the Kilrathi.

Anyone with more details would be great as it would help.
After reading the Holding the Line series I was impressed and made me try something similiar but of an earlier time period hence the beginning of the Kilrathi War.
Thanks again!! :) :D
 
I got moved by your momentum and was searching around for some timeline summary to help me find a spot for my own story; so I remembered that Loaf is currently working on a detailed timeline. I guess this will answer some of your questions, and since he has published links to the work in progress, I guess it's okay if I paste them in here:

Word doc version:
https://www.wcnews.com/loaf/wc4mixed.doc

Online version:
https://www.wcnews.com/enc/part3-2673.shtml

Both are not really complete, but make a much more concise reading than struggling through the encyclopedia.

Concerning your character plot: Good idea to work in some family background and tradition - it reflects better on the story at hand, makes it easy for the reader to imagine the personality and to identify with the character. Go for it, I'm looking forward to it.
 
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The Ranger was designed to carry 85 fighters and this was the case before the Kilrathi War. The fighters that were used during the early years of the Kilrathi War were the Raptors and the Wildcat fighters
In this case I was used this template carrier for my fication

This isn't in-continuity -- it's probably derived from Aces fanfic ("fanon"). 40 is the only fighter complement that's ever known for the Ranger-class. Fighter complements for other carriers (like the similar Concordia-class) stay pretty similar between the pre-war and post-war eras... so I don't see any reason why the Ranger-class would change so radically.

Although I would like to know if anyone has any information of when the Union of the Border Worlds was formed. Because the Union did exist during the Kilrathi War and I am guessing that it may have been 10 years into the Kilrathi War did the Union was formed, however the Union was a collection of system colonised by Confed citizens far from any Confed governing council/body hence the Union of the Border Worlds may have been form some time prior the Kilrathi War or just after when the Declaration of War was made against the Kilrathi.

The union as a political entity was created in 2672. On more general terms it was created by the war itself -- it's the systems on the border (border worlds) that take the brunt of the Kilrathi assault... earlier in the timeline they'd simply consider themselves to be ordinary Confederation colonies -- by the end they've gone through a significantly different war experience.

And to be quite frank, a TCS Indiana Jones is really too close to home.

Yeah, you have to cloak the reference jokes -- the TCS Henry I. Jones or somesuch. :)
 
"The union as a political entity was created in 2672. On more general terms it was created by the war itself -- it's the systems on the border (border worlds) that take the brunt of the Kilrathi assault... earlier in the timeline they'd simply consider themselves to be ordinary Confederation colonies -- by the end they've gone through a significantly different war experience."

This is somewhat confusing. The Border Worlds had existed during the Kilrathi War and in WC4 Tolwyn stated the Border Worlds were an ally to their war effort.
So it someways the Border Worlds must have been formed some time before WC4, and may have occured in the early years of the Kilrathi War.
That is my theory and it is more likely to be.

"This isn't in-continuity -- it's probably derived from Aces fanfic ("fanon"). 40 is the only fighter complement that's ever known for the Ranger-class. Fighter complements for other carriers (like the similar Concordia-class) stay pretty similar between the pre-war and post-war eras... so I don't see any reason why the Ranger-class would change so radically"

As for this, I cannot remember if was the Ace reference but the information which I read about the Ranger Class was pretty detail and I remember in WC3 that Eisen was first assigned to the Victory in communuications. Im guessing that Eisen would be in his 60s during that era so it is a possibilty that Ranger Class may have changed over time. I could be wrong but I would believe that it might be.
 
This is somewhat confusing. The Border Worlds had existed during the Kilrathi War and in WC4 Tolwyn stated the Border Worlds were an ally to their war effort.
So it someways the Border Worlds must have been formed some time before WC4, and may have occured in the early years of the Kilrathi War.
That is my theory and it is more likely to be.

The Border Worlds were a geographic location during the war - they were the worlds on the border with the Kilrathi. Referring to the 'border worlds' in 2669 means that you're talking about a large group of things, including Confederation colonies on the border with the Kilrathi, the independant Free Republic of the Landreich, the Grovsner Colonies, etc.

The "Union of Border Worlds" as we know it - the nation that appears in Wing Commander IV - was created in 2673. There was no UBW government, UBW military, etc. before that year.


As for this, I cannot remember if was the Ace reference but the information which I read about the Ranger Class was pretty detail and I remember in WC3 that Eisen was first assigned to the Victory in communuications. Im guessing that Eisen would be in his 60s during that era so it is a possibilty that Ranger Class may have changed over time. I could be wrong but I would believe that it might be.

The Ranger-class first entered service in 2584... and the Victory herself entered service in 2634. Eisen was probably born around 2610, which would make him just about sixty in Wing Commander III.

That part is all in the continuity - the eighty fighters thing is not. It's more than likely something that a fanfic writer created to explain the fact that he'd given the Victory eighty fighters in some early work... but it's just a confusing and non-sensical explanation for something that isn't a real problem. The ship was certainly upgraded over the years, but the fighter complement should stay pretty standard.
 
Okely Dokey, thanks for the info there LOAF, well I am going to still use the Ranger Class carrier for my fan-fic and see how I go from there
 
Oh, yeah, we know for certain that the Ranger-class was around then -- it's just all that weirdness about 80-something fighters that isn't right.
 
That maybe true that the Ranger holds 40 fighters. But after reading from what I downloaded and looking over the history I sometimes wonder if it was possible that it held 85 fighters on board. But then we look at the other carriers and the dreadnaught that were release the most I recall was the Concordia (WC2 era) to the Midway which can definitely hold more than 3 squadrons (WCP).
The Tiger Claw must have held more than 4 squadrons. (104 fighters if my references are correct) so I still debating with myself about the Ranger because the Bengal was about 700m whereas the Ranger was 720m in length.
We can go all year round arguing the technicial details about the difference between the strike and light carrier capabilities but I would like to hear about peoples thoughts about this.
Should the carrier be capable of holding more fighters than the 40 ship complement which we saw in WC3/4 or remain to what we know from the actual references I know that there are the Canon Law/Text which states the specifics but I think there should be some minor differences to what we know, what we see and what we can do about it.
In the meantime LOAF I will try with the 40 ship complement with my fiction and see what happens.
 
Length is a notoriously poor way to compare ships - given a sufficient number of steel tubes, I can build you the longest ship in the world... but all I can guarantee is that it won't be very easy to turn around. It's the reason modern warships are compared in terms of *tonnagE*.

This works well in Wing Commander as well: you have a 28,000 tonne Ranger compared to an 80,000 tonne Bengal. Even more than that, though, it's a matter of ships having certan roles that they're designed to do - if every carrier could carry a zillion fighters, why would they ever even have more than one type of carrier? It seems wholy appropriate that a *light* carrier carries less than a medium carrier and a medium carrier less than a heavy carrier.

(Per the other ships you mentioned - the Confederation-class dreadnought carried 120 fighters and the Midway-class heavy carrier carried 252 fighters. Prophecy is unusual in that it swaps the term 'wing' and 'squadron'. What Prophecy calls a 'squadron' is what every other game would call a *wing*.)
 
I suppose with the Midway there was a slight error to that.
Would you call it a squadron or a wing. I would say that the Midway has a Flight Wing of x amount of fighters which is an x amount of squadrons.
 
Okelt Dokely folks
I want to check something before I post an Epilogue/Intro to my fan fic here. But just prior to the Battle of McAuliffe what fighters were in exsistance at that time??
So far from my reference lists I could find the Hurricane space to space fighters, the Wildcat space superiority fighter, Falcon fighter-bomber, Gladiator bomber (reminds me of the Gladius of the WC Armada), Trident heavy bombers, Hummer light recon fighers, Raptors and the Minotaurs.

- Anyone know when were the Minotaur suppose to be obselete and "not suppose" to be in use?
- The dates when the Tridents, Falcon and the Gladiator were release into service??
 
Okelt Dokely folks
I want to check something before I post an Epilogue/Intro to my fan fic here. But just prior to the Battle of McAuliffe what fighters were in exsistance at that time??
So far from my reference lists I could find the Hurricane space to space fighters, the Wildcat space superiority fighter, Falcon fighter-bomber, Gladiator bomber (reminds me of the Gladius of the WC Armada), Trident heavy bombers, Hummer light recon fighers, Raptors and the Minotaurs.

- Anyone know when were the Minotaur suppose to be obselete and "not suppose" to be in use?
- The dates when the Tridents, Falcon and the Gladiator were release into service??

Here's the list of known active "2634" fighters and their classes:

CF-131 Broadsword class bomber
Falcon class fighter-bomber
Gladiator class bomber
Hummer class light reconaissance/strike craft
Hurricane class fighter
Merlin class fighter
Minotaur class fighter
CF-117 Rapier class medium fighter
CF-105 Scimitar class medium fighter
Trident class heavy bomber
Wildcat class fighter

Only the Wildcat, Rapier, Broadsword and Scimitar are seriously developed... there's probably one or fewer historical notes about each other fighter.

In terms of service dates, we know that these solid dates:

CF-131 Broadsword class bomber - 2632
CF-117 Rapier class medium fighter - 2536
Wildcat class fighter - 2604

And these 'before' dates:

Gladiator class bomber - before 2592
Hurricane class fighter - before 2592
CF-105 Scimitar class medium fighter - before 2527

(The Hurricane was originally designed as an escort for the Gladiator)
 
Thanks for the info LOAF
My prologue is almost ready and I would like to see peoples thoughts about this
 
I touching up on some bits and pieces for my prologue but I need some suggestions for some names. In my first thread, I created the Hibernia Battle Group and what was in that Battle Group. After the suggestions of criticalmass I need some names to fit with the cruisers and other capital ships I have in the battle group.
So far I have the following names in mind

2 Cruisers = TCS Melbourne and the TCS Yamato
4 Destroyers = TCS Australis, TCS Nelson Mandela, TCS George W Bush and
the TCS Churchhill
2 Scout Corvettes = TCS Silent Scope and the TCS Trailbreaker
2 E-Warfare Corvettes = TCS Jonesy and the TCS Scout's Honor
1 Minesweeper = TCS Frequency

I have not checked if these names clash with any other ships names, but I would like to hear if there are any.
 
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