The Academy Bible, and variant storylines.

NinjaLA

Alex Von T.
The year is 2655. For a generation, the Terran Confederation has been engaged in a relentless war against the forces of the Kilrathi Empire, an enemy who asks no quarter and gives none. At stake is the very existence of humanity in the galaxy, along with countless other sentient lifeforms who have sought protection by the Terran Confederation. Now the 201st Plebe class of the Confederation's Space Naval Academy is preparing to take its place in the fight. The cadets will learn more about themselves and their Kilrathi enemy than they bargained for....

so begins the bible on wing commander Academy. The most interesting part is that it was originally going to take place in 2655. This is not a typo as one might assume. The history in the bible is quite specific about the 2654 exploits of the claw, of which Blair was not a part. In fact, according to the bible, its because of the attack on the sivar dreadnought that the claw is low enough on manpower and resources to be desperate enough to need the 201st plebe crew to replace its depleted pilot ranks.

Now, I know as well as anybody that none of this is canon, but it is an interesting tidbit of wing commander mythology that certainly would have made for a neat twist.

The bible also includes many of the WCIII veterans as members of the plebe corp. Notably Flint and Rachel. It almost seems like it was being developed as a precursor to Wing Commander III instead of WCI.

I encourage everyone to read through the bible. it can be found here: http://www.originmuseum.net/stories/story7.htm
 
I've read this... its pretty warped in terms of the storyline. Though I agree it is a decent read. It might however explain how the movie, book, game, and TV show come together.
 
Pilgrims, Pilgrims, Pilgrims... wait, wrong thread.

The Academy bible is a result of something that I respect (but which ultimately never became 'canon') - an attempt to redefine who Colonel Blair was in order to remove confusion from material like the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide. Remember - it wasn't until Kilrathi Saga that we were *absolutely* sure that the Wing Commander I/II character was Colonel Blair.

In all honesty, it's a very elegant solution... but it's one that died early in the series' development. Instead of following the story of Secret Missions 2 and ending by saving the Firekkans, we get a 'story-alike' with Dolosians instead. There are a lot of references to this concept in the show - like the mention of the Tiger's Claw's refit in the pilot episode.

The idea when the show was being developed was that the Wing Commander III characters would be 'staples' of Wing Commander lore... but it eventually became clear that they were (mostly) one-offs, and all the ones listed in the bible got 'character-alikes.' The interesting one to me is that Hyena is Vagabond's brother, which seems to have quietly remained through the finished product.

Finally, be sure to note that an unpublished bible is not canon... but the 2655 date *is* - it shows up in a lot of press releases about the show. As a result, Star*Soldier (for example) lists the events of the show as '2653-2655' (IIRC).

Space Point
 
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