Baby You Can Drive My Carr (in a Rapier)

Before Wing Commander was ever an 'interactive movie' it already had a lead actress: Saranya Carr (2629-2688). Though she is barely ever seen, the story of Carr and her daughter Morgana is a constant in the background of Wing Commander's lore. Let's take a closer look…

Saranya Carr was created by Aaron Allston for the original Wing Commander's Claw Marks manual in 1990. She is a young actress who is the lead in what is implied to be a show-within-a-show series of film serials called Luna Jones, Jumpscout. Carr was introduced in the magazine's Comm Relay news section in a story about how the Terran Confederation Service Organization is sending her to the Tiger's Claw as part of a morale-building tour. We suspect her name, an Indian given name and a British surname, is intended to hint at a more blended human culture in the 27th century.

TCSO Show Scheduled

(Tiger's Claw, TCAFCN) - There’s good news for servicemen aboard the TCS Tiger's Claw: The TCSO (Terran Confederation Service Organization) will send an entertainment unit to the much-decorated carrier as early as next month.

The TCSO troupe includes dancers (normal and zero-g), singers, comedians, and the Confederation's best cyberlink illusionists.

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..."

The TCSO show is also advertised on the back of the manual. The TCSO is a reference to the real world United Service Organizations. The USO is a charity which has been providing entertainment for members of the United States armed forces since the start of World War II. As does the TCSO in Wing Commander, the real world USO sends entertainers to perform for troops deployed around the world, including during active conflicts. Think the 'Playboy Playmates' scene in Apocalypse Now. Here in a wonderful example of the 'sci-fi list' we are promised dancers (normal and zero-g), singers, comedians, "cyberlink illusionists" and "the lovely SARANYA CARR star of Luna Jones, Jumpscout! (Down, boys!)" (Let's take a brief nod to the present-day sexism here and in the all-female dance revue as well as the reference to Luna Jones being 'exotic'.) The show will be held on May 20 (2654.140), which is a very helpful fact for anyone working on a day-to-day timeline of the original Wing Commander! The advertisement is sadly left out of later updates to Claw Marks.

This could've been the end of it but the TCSO show actually happens during the course of the game! That is, if you happen to play through the losing Port Hedland series. In the first mission, Colonel Halcyon orders you and Knight to escort home a Drayman carrying supplies and the TCSO show to the carrier. Maniac, eager to meet some "babes", interrupts the briefing twice.

Mission Briefing. Port Hedland, $T hours, $D.

COLONEL HALCYON
I know you're all excited about tomorrow's TCSO show, but...

MANIAC
Yeah -- bring on the babes!

COLONEL HALCYON
That'll be enough, Maniac.
We've got work to do. Alpha Wing's up first.

You wait for the commander to come to Eta Wing and your mission. Then...

(if Knight is alive) $C, Knight, you're on escort duty today.
(if Knight is dead) $C, you'll be flying solo today. Escort duty.
There's a Drayman coming, carrying vital supplies...

MANIAC
And some vital babes!

COLONEL HALCYON
Bring it home safely. This is your flight plan...
You'll head straight for Nav 1 -- the Drayman's jump point.
Wait for her there, but be careful...
... we've had reports of heavy enemy activity in the area.
The 'sport has orders to make a beeline for the Tiger's Claw.
Stay with her. Simple as that. Questions?

MAVERICK:
Yes, sir. You said there's heavy enemy activity. Any details?

COLONEL HALCYON
The Kilrathi have been moving heavy fighters into this sector, $C.
I expect you'll be running into Gratha, maybe Jalthi...
The pilots all seem to be rookies, but there are lots of them.
Anything else?...Good. That's all then.
Be careful and remember -- I want everyone back for the TCSO show!
Squadron dismissed.

Since the TCSO show is tomorrow, we know that $D should be 2654.139 (Wing Commander's in-game dates are dynamic and do not automatically match the lore). As an aside, the Super Nintendo version replaces both of Maniac's lines. "Yeah -- bring on the babes!" becomes "Yeah -- let the good times roll!" and "And some vital babes!" becomes "And some vital entertainment!".

If you talk to Shotglass before the mission he also mentions the TCSO show and tells us that it includes a hologram Bob Hope. Comedian Bob Hope was nearly synonymous with the USO for decades, performing for American troops abroad starting in World War II. The organization continues to maintain a website about him today. The joke about his retirement in Wing Commander was on his famous longevity; when it was written he was 87 years old and still touring (and would be through the Gulf War the next year). Of course, the math doesn't quite add up: if he retired 'almost five centuries' before Wing Commander I then he'd have still been working into the 22nd century. Which perhaps seemed likely at the time! In our timeline, Hope passed away in 2003. But, odd that he wasn't mentioned in the advertisement; maybe a Bob Hope holo is what a cyberlink illusionist performs!

Welcome back, $C. Heard about the TCSO show?
I hear the Bob Hope holo's a riot. I love ol' Ski-nose...
Retired almost five centuries ago, but you can't keep a good comic down.
But seriously, I hear the show may not make it. Too many kitties nearby.
Young punks mostly, but in Grathas - top-of-the-line bad news.
The furballs must think their kittens're better than our vets.
And they might be right, if you're talking about a kitten in a Gratha.
Even an amateur's dangerous in one of them...

If you successfully escort the Drayman to the Tiger's Claw then Halcyon will mention that "the TCSO show will go on as scheduled". If you fail the mission, the show simply isn't mentioned. A rare choice not to turn the screw!

The Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide also mentions the TCSO show in the Port Hedland 1 writeup. But there's a catch: Carl LaFong writes that he wasn't able to attend! He was busy flying a Drayman to another system when the show took place. Instead, Spirit flies the mission... but we do get a tantalizing description of the show itself! And mention that Sarayna Carr is one of his favorite actresses.

From all accounts, the TCSO show was a rousing success. The zero-gee dancers apparently turned weightlessness into a tool and wowed the crowed [sic] with their precision moves. One pilot described it as like watching a group of playful dolphins glide through the water.

I remember how miffed I was about missing the show. Saranya Carr, star of Luna Jones, Jumpscout and one of my favorite actresses, had really made an impression on everyone aboard the carrier. Oh, the sacrifices we make.

… but while Carl LaFong might have missed out on meeting Saranya, Christopher Blair did not! The Kilrathi Saga manual's Class of 2653 scrapbook is signed by (among other deep cut characters) Luna Jones herself! She wishes Blair "love and luck" and we are improbably going to learn why that is.

… the story continues in 1997's Secret Ops. Specifically, Saranya Carr herself makes an appearance in the ISDN article about Commodore Blair's memorial (Episode 3). Here the story takes some fascinating turns. First of all, we confirm the story implied by the Kilrathi Saga manual: Blair not only met Saranya Carr at the TCSO show but he was the pilot willing to give her a ride in his fighter! She claims that meeting Blair had a profound impact which changed the tone of later Luna Jones, Jumpscout serials. We also learn that she has become a reclusive subject of tabloid rumors having not appeared in public since 2676. And finally there's the introduction of her daughter in some self promotion straight out of Hollywood (holowood?): she's making a sequel to the Luna Jones series called Riva Jones, Daughter of Destiny. We've come a long way from Claw Marks! (Note that the timeline isn't quite right here. If she was 25 in 2654–which is even repeated here–she would be 52 here and not 50. Actresses, always lying about their ages!)

The major surprise of the night was the appearance of the reclusive Saranya Carr, famed star of the popular movie series, "Luna Jones, Jumpscout". Although scheduled to appear, the Actor has not made a public appearance in nearly five years. Greeted by a warm round of applause, the lovely Saranya was resplendent in a full length gown made of rare nanoptic fibers, which swirled in colors shifting upon the complimentary lighting that bounced off of its surface. Although tabloid rumors had placed her in a disheveled state of self-induced depression, there was no indication of that at the memorial. She acted as MC for the rest of the affair, but not before saying a few words.

Carr, now 50, made the following comments, "When I was twenty-five I was given the opportunity by the TCSO to visit a particular carrier. I leapt at the chance. I didn't care which it was, or where it was. I did not know it was to be the Tiger's Claw, and that the Lieutenant who would give me a ride in my first fighter would be a young Christopher Blair. He was a noble quiet soul, with a sense of duty that inspired the change in direction we took with "Luna Jones". Although our relationship was brief, he filled me with a respect for the pilots who protect our interests every time they put their hand on the stick. I knew this man was special, and that he would go onto great things. Little did I know that he would be regarded as a hero of such greatness, and that he would deserve every word of praise offered tonight. Now with my daughter's up and coming debut in "Riva Jones, Daughter of Destiny" I only hope we can recapture the verve and patriotic spirit of the previous films without being crushed by the shadow of our species most important hero. He will be missed, but not forgotten. Goodbye, Chris, may the world live up to the example you have set."

She then went on to introduce a long line of speakers, each of whose words were as memorable as the ones before. A complete transcript of the event is available in ISDN archives.

Finally, in the 1999 Wing Commander movie we actually get to see Sarayna Carr! On a blurry postcard in the background of Blair's quarters. The poster, infamously incorrectly claimed to be of Prinze's later wife Sarah Michelle Gellar, is intended to be a photo of Carr of the sort that might've been signed at the TCSO show. The inscription seems to read "do it for me boys" which fits with the tone of the event!

Who is the model 'really'? She's taken from a catalog of stock photos and shows up in a number of different places.

The movie novelization also includes an exchange about Carr and Luna Jones. Peter Telep uses her pop culture status for a run of the classic World War II 'who won the world series?' conversation to try and suss out infiltrators. The questioning pilot here is named Chris McCubbin after his fellow Wing Commander author but is played by Chris Roberts in a cameo appearance in the film!

"What the hell ..." A powerful spotlight shone on the cockpit. The light panned away, and behind it floated a Broadsword bomber that literally brought tears to Blair's eyes. The pilot snapped off a salute, and Blair managed a shaky reply.

A tube extended from the bomber's belly and locked onto the Rapier's primary external coupling. Blair threw back a row of toggles, and systems blinked on. One screen showed his Rapier firmly locked in the Broadsword's tractor beam.

"Good afternoon," the pilot said, his masked face now on Blair's VDU. "I'm Lieutenant C. W. McCubbin of the TCS Concordia. Who's Saranya Carr?"

"She's the star of Luna Jones, Jumpscout."

"That's good. But even the cats know that."

"C'mon, buddy. Do I look like a Kilrathi to you?"

"Well, Lieutenant, you're pretty damned ugly." The pilot chuckled, then fired thrusters, towing Blair off.

Somehow, the Wing Commander movie wasn't the end of Saranya Carr! For the aborted 2003 attempt at Privateer Online, Origin Systems' Hal Milton crafted a lengthy timeline of the Wing Commander universe from the end of Wing Commander Prophecy in 2681 to the intended start of Privateer Online in 2710. Here, surprisingly, we get regular updates about Saranya Carr and her daughter, now named Morgana. We learn that Riva Jones was not a success and that Morgana eventually falls on hard times. Her mother is killed in an asteroid collision in 2688! There's lots of exciting world building here that is absolutely worth a read. This background all leads up to the construction of a memorial site which likely would've been explorable in the final game world.

2683

Saranya Carr’s daughter stars in the holo-vid sequel to her popular “Luna Jones: Jumpscout”. Entitled “Riva Jones Daughter of Destiny”, Morgana Carr fails to capture the same success her mother achieved twenty-five years earlier.

2684

A holo-vid event entitled “Plague” is cancelled by Confederation order in light of the epidemic facing many Confederation and Kilrathi sectors.

Although the TCBN (Terran Confederation Broadcasting Network) protests that it is purely fiction, they agree to pull the feature co-starring Morgana Carr.

2688

Saranya Carr dies in a passenger craft asteroid collision. Millions mourn.

Morgana Carr gives eulogy at a funeral ceremony with over 500,000 attendees.

2695

Morgana Carr puts her eggs on the market in a last ditch effort to recoup money needed for outstanding debts incurred during the making of the aborted sequel to Riva Jones “Daughter of Destiny”.

2698

Galaxy First! Protests bioweapons by placing their ship in the test area. Although the Confederation craft present had no intention of harming the vessel, the protestors moved directly into the path of a Plunkett class destroyer.

The two vessels collided and the resultant damage was responsible for a critical hull breach on the Galaxy First! Vessel. All hands were lost, including Morgana Carr who had been on board with several other celebrities.

2700

Orbital memorial for Galaxy First! Bioweapon protest victims established. Funded by varied charitable organizations, including the recently founded Carr Institute for Galactic Preservation, the memorial is comprised of salvaged metals from the wreckage as well as natural rock mined from the varied heavenly bodies in the system.

Whether or not any of this actually happened is brought slightly into question by Wing Commander Arena's manual, Star Soldier. While Star Soldier does reference the unpublished Privateer Online material several times, it also features an advertisement for a holovid based on the Crusader games which stars… Morgana Carr! Star Soldier is dated January 2701 and the movie is said to release in the fall so perhaps it was her final role.