What makes a JumpScout?

WCX

Rear Admiral
I’m a sucker for details. Little things. That’s why I love the Wing Commander franchise so very much. But there is one thing that has often tugged at the back of my mind:

Luna Jones: JumpScout.


From Claw Marks:

"Vidstar Saranya Carr, exotic heroine of the popular Luna Jones, JumpScout serial, is accompanying the TCSO troupe to the Tiger's Claw. Carr, 25, stated, "You bet your life I'm happy to be working with the TCSO. I mean, you see Luna Jones blowing Kilrathi fuzzies out of space every week, but Saranya Carr doesn't know a nav computer from a dialogue transceiver. Since I can't help our fighting forces directly, I'm proud to be able to entertain and build morale. Besides," she adds, "I'm not completely unselfish. Perhaps I can persuade someone to give me a ride in one of those new Rapiers..."

Now I fully realize that this show is supposed to be an entertainment/propaganda piece similar to the war films made by Hollywood during World War 2. But though it may have been Luna Jones fighting Kilrathi every week in a Nazi-stomping Indiana Jones-esque manner, something about the show’s name conjures images of Space Channel 5 or some Flash Gordon-like space cheese.


What about you, ya big ol’ Universe? What are your thoughts? What came to your collective minds the first time you heard this show’s name?
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure jumpscouts are the first pilots to jump through newly-discovered jump point, like you do in Privateer.

Greyson Burrows: JumpScout.
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure jumpscouts are the first pilots to jump through newly-discovered jump point, like you do in Privateer.

Greyson Burrows: JumpScout.

That's possible, but it doesn't quite fit the little context we have about Luna Jones (blasting Kilrathi fuzzies). I'm thinking it might be more like 'Ranger' - a pilot who scouts *enemy* jump points in advance of the regular force (like Blair and Payback in 'Expendable').
 
It could possibly also mean someone who jumps through any point (enemy or not) immediately before something like a capital ship to ensure it's clear on the other side. This is a random guess and I know nothing about Luna Jones ;)
 
I'm pretty sure Luna Jones only has mention in the Claw Marks excerpt above. In that case, really any idea goes.
 
Hmm, the only thing that really matters is that 'JumpScouts' get incredibly intimidating scare-badges for their uniforms.
 
Luna Jones shows up in the Secret Ops fiction, too.

And didn't she get a mention in the Official Guide to Wing Commander 1 & 2? And there was a note from her on the cover page of the WC1 manual in Kilrathi Saga, IIRC.

Yup - resurrecting two-week old threads, that's me.
 
Back
Top