Air -7-

20140119, 12:56 – New reader? Let me save you a trip into the cosmology isle: “Reality” in ATC is a little more porous than the Standard Model presently allows for – while a multiverse is theorized to exist, here it’s For Realsies and isolated pockets that branched off a ways back can be travelled to via a quirk of the …

Air -13-

20140302, 14:16 – This is totally what Greg was talking about in details -16-. Nine years ago. Also some details of the CUNNING PLOT MECHANICS that keep the crew on the Daedalus and allow for the re-use of existing sets in the back half of the chapter. Pell probably could let the Daedalus dock and let the crew come aboard …

Air -17-

It’s just a flesh wound. GORE HUMOR IS BEST HUMOR! Greymalkin is referring to Russian Roulette. Given Beef’s record one can safely assume that he’s already tried both temples and has moved on from The Deer Hunter to try out other brain-scrambling entry and exit wounds. The man does have a chronic life allergy, and this page indicates that being …

Air -44-

The last page of the chapter, and the debut of two new vehicles – the Peregrine surveillance and patrol vehicle (lower middle, above the word balloon), similar to a VTOL E-2 Hawkeye and currently serving as an executive transport, and the Bodkin (the pointy ship, bottom left), an optionally-manned fighter equivalent to the F-16 or Starfury. The original script was …

Fire -1-

An executive summary of The Dualist from a Heirotus perspective. A refresher if you’ve read it and the cliff’s notes if you haven’t. Also the only planned appearances of the Bodkin, the Peregrine, and the Sabrosa in this chapter and a fitting start to the final installment of a story arc that entered production in the spring of 2003. Today …

Fire -4-

The Heirotus observation booth is a lot more hands-on than the Templar equivalent depicted in The Dualist. While James has taken a more cautious approach in the past, he is personally invested. If this wasn’t already obvious, it will be made clear on the next page. The sick bay design is an intentional comparison/contrast to the Psionic Observation Ward at …

Fire -10-

Cross-fade from the last panel of the previous page to closed eyes as the audio fades out (James and entourage audibly walking away; hiss of door closing). Eyes open. Not particularly obvious, in panel five or panel one of Fire -7-, is the fact that the hatch to West’s compartment – B4 – is standing open. It’s super obvious on …

Fire -12-

20160828, 09:19 – Visual continuity edit. I replaced Whitehouse’s placeholder background in panel five with the background I’d intended for him to have when I wrote the script. The weather icon in panel two has been changed from “sunny” to “raining” to reflect this change. More details in the metadata of the next page. The screenshots below have been updated …

Fire -13-

20160828, 09:21 – Visual continuity edit. This scene was a ton of work the first time around, and at the time the fact that Jason’s scripted background required an additional 3d asset was too much to deal with so I did the scene with a placeholder. That gritty industrial backdrop is still in there, persisting as barely visible gritty-shitty window …

Fire -19-

The call Greymalkin’s been waiting for finally came in. Panel two is a callback to Jason Whitehouse’s mention of Templar Assistance Commands a few pages ago – TACT being the acronym of Templar Assistance Command, Terra. Think MACV only with better technology and far fewer personnel. Greymalkin filled in “Terra” on the requisite paperwork for obvious reasons – “TACT” sounds …

Fire -40-

This page hit “as done as I can get it for now” on August 21st. I rendered and did effects processing for the entire scene before I got started on the line art – as the sole page of the scene without drawings the last page of the final scene of Transitional Voices was the first page to be completed. …