OBT Forum

And here's the next part.

------------------------------

Ultimate Movie Database Summary Bio for Camus Ching, archived 3080

Arguably one of the most influential film personalities of the thirty-first century, Camus Ching has fewer credits than most to his name, but an impressive list of wins and acclamations make him, film-for-film, the most awarded director and producer since the fall of the first Star League.

Born in 3030 on Indicass in the then-independent St Ives Compact, Ching’s family migrated to Kestrel in 3040. He dropped out of Gordon Cunningham College on Kestrel in 3049 in order to pursue filmmaking (he had been studying Aerospace Engineering).

After a series of stints as assistant editor, technician, first assistant director and gaffer on a variety of shows and movies, he came to the notice of legendary Holoscope Studios Chair Wynowa Kelpt, who gave him his first directorial gig, on an episode of the anthology series Prismatic, in 3051. Over the next two years, he worked mostly as a small-screen director, helming over 30 episodes of such shows as Mimic, Terry Fund’s Horrible Workplace and Investigations: The Series.

Ching’s big break came when he teamed up with future Rennie-winning writer Yelena Ortega to make Icabod’s Song in 3053. The soulful romantic drama broke box office records throughout the Federated Commonwealth. Dubbed into German and Italian, it was an even bigger hit in the Lyran half of that superstate. It also earned him his first Best Director Rennie nomination, as well as winning four lesser awards.

Ching followed up with Outpost 5 Does Not Answer in 3054. The Clan-invasion thriller made almost as much money as Icabod’s Song, won three awards (including the 3055 Stellar for Best Drama) and Ching’s success in two widely different genres made the entertainment industry sit up and take notice.

He made three more films in the ‘50s - The Road from Bex in 3055 (Rennie-nominated for Best Film), Purple in 3057, which was noted for the breakthrough performance of Melnick Gupta (3058 Rennie Best Supporting Actor), and the lauded and controversial Mandarin’s Report in 3059, which was widely thought to be a thinly-veiled critique of Duchess Candace Allard-Liao’s rule of the St Ives Compact. Ching’s withdrawal from public view is usually reckoned to have started with the release of this movie. Apparently frustrated that his explanations and denials were not believed, he stopped giving interviews in early 3060.

Regardless of the condemnation from his former homeland (including organised boycotts and demonstrations outside theatres showing the film), Mandarin’s Report was another hit for Ching, crowned by being nominated for all of the top Rennies in 3060 and winning four of them (Best Film, Best Director - Ching’s first, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor). It was further nominated for another sixty-one categories on the Awards Circuit and won thirty-eight of them, making Mandarin’s Report the mega-hit of the year.

Ching did not make another movie until 3063 (although he dabbled in producing for others), when he brought out Follow the Sun. With a cast full of unknowns and amateurs (the lead role was played by seven year old Phillip Bak), the film was a successful gamble. Ching managed to coax a gripping performance from his inexperienced troupe that elevated the simple plot and enthralled critics across the Inner Sphere. Follow the Sun garnered yet more critical acclaim (2 Rennies from 4 nominations and 5 Stellars from 7 nominations), but was comparatively less successful at the box office, although it still turned a profit.

Ching’s only real stumble came next, in the form of 3066’s Von Rohrs, an account of the short-lived rule of the Von Rohrs dynasty in the Draconis Combine. Despite the presence of an all-star cast and crew, a budget somewhere north of 400 million C-bills and breathtaking cinematography, the film was widely panned by critics and the public alike. Especially criticized were plot developments that hinged on aspects of Japanese culture largely unknown to viewers outside the Combine, causing confusion for audiences. The film is number 17 on Lassiter’s List of All Time Biggest Movie Bombs.

After the Von Rohrs debacle, Ching spent most of the next decade in seclusion, emerging only briefly to lend a hand to various up-and-coming filmmakers who had caught his eye. It is not known how many have been recipients of his mentorship, and the practice only came to light when Fortis Belfort thanked Ching in her acceptance speech for her 3070 Best Director Stellar (A Second Try at October). Others known to have been helped by Ching include Shinji Tanaka (Ultimate) and Maxima del Piero (The Last Branth).

Ching finally returned to the director’s chair in 3072 to helm Gentle is the Storm, in some ways a return to his beginnings. Another romantic drama that invites comparison to his debut feature, Storm is sometimes referred to as “Icabod’s Next Song” by wags.

Gentle is the Storm was a tour de force for Ching, sweeping the 3073 awards circuit. It was the unanimous choice of the Rennies, Stellars and Vox Pops for Best Film, Best Director (Ching’s second), Best Actor (Lionel Gabasa), Best Actress (Gabrielle Nadal) and Best Screenplay (Helga & Minche Ogden). The Rennies further awarded the film Best Editing, while the Stellars added Best Cinematography, and the Vox Pops gave it Best Original Song.

Famously, Ching did not show up to collect his awards, instead pre-recording an acceptance speech from his home on Kestrel.

Influence on the Industry
Ching’s signature style is the use of specific camera framing and angles to suggest and reinforce emotion. Such “Ching Angles”, as they are wrongly, but commonly known, have crept into the work of other directors over the past couple of decades. Fortis Belfort is perhaps the best-known other user of Ching Angles, while many other directors have been known to occasionally throw one into their films.

In addition, Ching’s films tend toward realism, sometimes at the expense of audience comprehension. Most clearly evident in Von Rohrs, Ching films are known for obsessive attention to detail in set dressing and historical fact. This has led to a boom in sales of the UHD versions of his films amongst a fanatical subset of his fans who search the backgrounds of each scene on freeze-frame for trivia and easter eggs that would normally pass unnoticed.

Personal Life
Ching has been married three times. His first union, in 3052 was to a former classmate at Gordon Cunningham College and ended in 3055.

In 3058, Ching married Alice Taum, who had been editor on Purple. The couple had a daughter in 3058 and a son in 3061. Ching and Taum divorced in 3075.

Ching is currently married to actor Tanitha Sumich, whom he met on the set of Gentle is the Storm. They wed in 3078 and have no children together.

-------------------------------
UNOTP://BackLotAccessCard.ENT
Archived 6 September 3089

We have a new anonymous source today who’s bringing in a juicy scoop, if true. Apparently Camus Ching (yes, that Camus Ching, who else?) is involved with a new project. Yes,I know, I know, every six months there’s another “Camus Ching’s next movie” rumour, but this source has more details than most, some of which we can’t reveal just yet. It just smells a bit more plausible than most of them. Here’s what the source, who asked to be called “FX01” has to say:

Hey gals & guys, I work in the biz, and Camus Ching has been spotted in the same resort as some FallegtVida Entertainment high-ups. Why’s this a big deal? FVE produced Ching’s Mandarin’s Report, and they’ve opened up multiple spots on their production slate for the next five years. Ching’s known for doing lots of research before going into production - since he’s been out of the biz for ten years, maybe he’s got a bunch of movies ready to go?

Make of that what you will - possibly multiple Ching projects coming up?

BACKCHAT
1,433 comments

AX010TL: First! And first to say - the obvious flaw in this one is multiple projects - Ching’s so obsessive and focused - he wouldn’t be doing several stories at once. It would only be the only project at a time. I think he’s done for good.

WindyCert: While part of me really, really, really, wants this to be true, I’ve been disappointed too many times. I’ll just have to curl up with my 20th Anniversary Edition of Icabod’s Song.

1000RedBlue: Just so long as it isn’t Icabod’s 3rd song….

       GTurkSway: @1000RedBlue - what you got against IS and GitS?

              1000RedBlue: Not my style, and reckon CC’s talent is wasted on sappy RomDrams. If he’s making anything, wanna see a sequel to Outpost 5…

                      ZapFas66: This!

    102WsHrs: [Comment Deleted by Moderator]

------------------------------

Keyboards & Cameras ‘NetCast #122
November 13, 3094

[Screen shows the interior of a messy office. Lots of hardcopy scattered or piled on desks, shelves full of binders filled with reference material. Noticeboard at the rear is covered with flowcharts, calendars - mix of multimedia and hardcopy. A pair of portable computers sit on another desk under the noticeboard, both sporting expensive ergonomic keyboards.

In the foreground, on the right is Aisling Windemere, citizen journalist and host of the self-produced ‘Net show Keyboards & Cameras. Her interview subject for today sits to the left - Livingston Anderson. He’s forty-ish, thinning dark brown hair and sporting a full but neatly cropped beard]

Aisling Windemere: Hello, fellow Writers and ‘Netizens. Welcome to episode one-two-two of Keyboards and Cameras - where we talk to the craftspeople behind our favourite shows, and ask them some of your questions. Joining us today is Livingston Anderson. He’s been in the business for over twenty-five years. He’s written for shows like Hypothetical Risks, A Thin Black Line, Cleghorn Lives and Nobody’s the Wiser. He was a producer on Nobody’s the Wiser, Ducal Duties and Fires of Porto Augusta. Won a Hugo for Hypothetical Risks, a Vox Pop for Nobody’s the Wiser and was Rennie-nominated for his only feature credit to date - A Measure of Poison. And now, he’s the Head Writer for Sphere Saga, the format-smashing hit of 3094! Livingston, welcome to Keyboards and Cameras!

Livingston Anderson: Thank you, Aisling - when you list it all out like that, I suddenly feel very, very old and tired. Can we do this after I have a nap? [Laughs]

AW: [Laughs] Sure! If I can stay here and get a scoop on the next episode!

LA: That might upset Camus a little! Let’s go - let’s do this now.

AW: Okay - actually, that’s as good a place to start as any. The word is that you were personally recruited for this gig by Camus Ching. Is that true?

LA: Well - Yes - ah, well, understand that with Camus, all the key positions are filled with people he’s personally selected. It’s a privilege that goes with the room-full of awards he has.

AW: So can you tell us a bit about that process?

LA: Sure. This actually started way back in ‘84? No, ‘83 - it was ‘83 for me. I was between shows, and got asked to take a meeting with a studio bigshot. That turned out to be a cover for a meeting with Camus Ching -

AW: This was the first time you’d met?

LA: Yes - big fan for years, of course, so I was quite the fan-boy at that first encounter. You know - why is it so hard for writers to find the words when you need them? Know what I mean?

AW: Oh, yes!

LA: Anyway, so after having done the “It’s an honour to meet you, I’m a big fan,” cliche, I get floored when Camus tells me he’s a fan of Nobody’s the Wiser and that he’d watched almost everything I’d written.

AW: High praise! You lucky man.

LA: Thank you - yes it is.

AW: So - wait a minute - if this meeting took place in ‘83 - you’ve been working on Sphere Saga for thirteen years?

LA: On and off, yes. Camus, of course, has been living with this one over twenty years now.

AW: Maybe we should back-track a little. So what came out of the that first meeting?

LA: A second meeting. The first one is just a ‘grip-and-grin’ you, know? Make sure the other guy or gal isn’t a complete loon.

AW: Like a first date?

LA: I’ve heard that analogy used often, and it’s pretty accurate! So, anyway, at the second meeting - which was brunch at Camus’s place, by the way - we actually get down to talk about what he wants me for. He takes me into the biggest home office you’ve ever seen, and the place is just filled with twenty years of research on the Star League, the Clans, the Succession Wars - I’m talking maps, biographies, documents, pics, vids, fabric samples, the lot. He even had an original SLDF Neuro-tester - those toy-sized ‘Mechs that they would hook you up to to see if you had the potential to be a MechWarrior.

AW: Wow!

LA: Yeah. So we sit down, and he tells me, “Livingston, I want to tell the story of the SLDF - from the Star League to the end of the Clan Wars. And I want you to help me tell it.” And I was glad I was sitting down at the point, I tell you.

AW: I can imagine! So what happened next?

LA: You mean after I said “[BLEEP] yes, I’m in!”?

AW: After that part, yes.

LA: Well, we started talking about what I could bring to the table, and the first thing he asked me to do was to think about how to break down the story into something manageable. I said okay, I can do that, and what sort of parameters or restrictions do we have to work with? And he looked me in the eye - this still sends chills up my spine - and he says “None”.

AW: Wow! That’s certainly a writer’s dream assignment.

LA: I know, right? But that was only the start of a very long journey, and as you can see, it’s nowhere near done yet!

AW: So who’s idea was it to do the story as three maxi-series?

LA: Ah, that evolved a bit. After that meeting, I started by reading over Camus’s notes and his research. I gathered all the plot points and character moments we wanted in the story and started ordering them into films.

After a few months, I gave him outlines for a trilogy of feature films. We broke each one down to Act level and then Scene level. That took another six months or so, and by this time I’d been hired to do Fires of Porto Augusta, so my output dropped off a bit.

When Fires went to season break, Camus and I reconnected, and we both realized that three movies, even if each was four hours long, meant that we would leave too much of the story out. Camus had done his own tinkering with my points, and came back with a six-movie version - each one would have been three hours long, but even eighteen hours of screen time wasn’t enough to do the story justice.

AW: I can understand that - there’s literally centuries of happenings you had to cover.

LA: Right. So one evening, as we’re rearranging scenes for the umpteenth time, trying to squeeze in something else we thought was crucial to the story, I made a quip that at least on an ongoing series I had as much time as I wanted to let a story play out, and Camus suddenly stops, looks up at me, and I’m - “What? What is it?” And he says - “This is a series, not a multi-part feature.”

AW: Awesome!

LA: It was - but it had been a long day, so I didn’t get what he was saying at first. I mean - Fires is my day job at this point, and I‘m taking normal series thinking and applying it to what Camus was saying. So my mind is thinking - “There’s no way we can make this on a series budget and not have it look crappy, we’d have to cut even more,” all of that stuff.

So I’m arguing against the idea, telling him all this, and he says, “No, no, no, Livingston. Let’s do it like this,” and he grabs my stylus and starts sketching it out on the ‘board. He divides the board into 3 parts, labels them, uh, “Fall of the SL”, “Clans & Succession Wars” and “Invasion”, then starts tossing our Act Outlines into each column and says “Each act is now an episode - a feature-length episode”. At that time we were looking at six to ten episodes a season, I believe.

Then he says “And we get them financed like a block of features.”

AW: Just like that?

LA: Yeah. Well, I figured if anyone could get that kind of money, it would be Camus Ching.

AW: While we’re on the topic, can you confirm that Sphere Saga has a 160 million C-Bill budget per season?

LA: Ah - I’ll pass on that one. Let’s just say it’s obviously not cheap to make.

AW: I had to try!

LA: I know, I know.

AW: Okay - moving along then. You’ve worked out how to tell the story, Camus obviously got the financing -

LA: Which is a story in itself!

AW: I’m sure it is. Take us through the crafting of the screenplays.

LA: Uh, sure. The first thing - no, lemme start with the background. Fires was a good show - it was good to me, but I couldn’t work on on both projects at the same time. Wouldn’t be fair to either. However, I was in year two of a three year contract with options, so I wouldn’t be available to work on Saga for most of ‘84 and ‘85.

Camus understood, but we both agreed that no one could write this much story alone. On the other hand, we’d both been living too close to this story, and a break would be useful, but also a chance to get some fresh eyes on the project. So we both opened our black books and arranged for some more writers to come in -

AW: The same crew that’s now on the show?

LA: Mostly - it was Deenah Muskovoy and Yelena Ortega first I think - yes, it was. Deenah and Yelena came aboard first, in late 3084. Hassan Fasil came in a bit later to help us out, but he had to drop out in ‘87 to start treatment for his cancer.

AW: So that’s why Yelena’s got a story credit?

LA: Yes. She came in as a favour to Camus - we knew there was no way we could tie her up for a decade on the one gig, but she did a lot to get us pointed in the right direction.

AW: It’s still quite the dream team of writers! There’s quite a few award winners there.

LA: Thank you - I think we’re very fortunate to have this crew. Let’s see - Yelena actually found Caleb Molina for us - I believe he’d been one of her students once upon a time. Olivia Tsu I first met on Thin Black Line and was blown away by her talent at such a young age, so when I got the chance, I brought her aboard. And Alexey Velyanovski was actually suggested by Horace Stetson, our studio liaison. We’d actually been told - wrongly - that he wasn’t available, but Horace found out he was and we grabbed him before anyone else found out!

AW: Okay, you’ve got the concept, you’ve assembled the team, now what?

LA: Lots more writing and debates! As I mentioned earlier, I was pretty much out of the picture until late ‘85, although Yelena and Camus kept me informed, and I was able to make the odd meeting here and there, as well as exchange messages of course.

So I wasn’t totally out of the loop by the time I came back on board in about November ‘85, which was about the same time that Yelena left. In effect, she’d been the Acting Head Writer, for which I’ll be forever grateful because she set up a lot of the… structure and infrastructure, I guess, and I didn’t have to do a lot of that.

AW: So she left, and you came in as Head Writer?

LA: Yes - there was a transition period of about a month, but after that I got to run the department.

AW: Can you take us through the typical life of the screenplays?

LA: Well, one of the things Yelena and Camus settled in those eighteen months was that each season would be eight, ninety-minute episodes. With four writers in the pool -

AW: Them being Deenah, Caleb Molina, Olivia and Alexey?

LA: Right - well except that you can swap out Hassan for Alexey for the first season. I parcelled out two episodes a season to them. They’d go away, write the episode, come back, we do a meeting where we all critique it, then they go away and make any changes necessary, rinse and repeat. Sometimes one or more of us would have a go at some of the changes as well. Camus and I would look out for the overall arc and flow of the story. I got to do the final re-writes, subject to Camus’s approval, of course.

AW: Let’s go back for a moment to the structure - ninety minute episodes are almost unheard of, and eight episodes a season suggests a mini-series rather than an ongoing. Can you speak to why that format and structure?

LA: Ah, it was a number of interlocking reasons actually. The story reason of course, is a big one. Ninety minutes also seemed to work out better for the amount of material we wanted to cover. We found that some parts had too much to do in an hour, but not enough for two. We really didn’t want to pad out the story with over-extended filler like another fifteen minutes of battle scenes -

AW: There seems to have been plenty of battle scenes in the episodes screened so far.

LA: Yes, because we’re doing the Amaris Coup. But there’s a difference between advancing the story with a battle scene and doing battle scenes just for the sake of it. And we didn’t want to do that. So ninety minutes just seemed to work out as the right length for each episode.

For pretty much the same reasons, the story naturally broke down into three parts, or seasons if you will. And the amount of story in each part seemed to fill out eight episodes each. So you could say that for reasons of artistic integrity, this was the structure that seemed right.

As it turned out, for financing reasons, it was easier to get some partners aboard if it was a mini-series rather than an on-going, especially our foreign partners -

AW: I want to talk more about that in a second.

LA: I bet you do! So, anyway, tax breaks was another reason, and finally, believe it or not, there are planets in the ‘Sphere and Periphery where personal screens are not widely available, so doing ninety-minute episodes allows us to take Sphere Saga to these places as feature movies in their own right. Wider distribution equals more profits, which makes the investors happy.

AW: Fair enough. Now, Sphere Saga has attracted attention for being released simultaneously in most of the Inner Sphere and Periphery, which is a major logistical feat in itself.

LA: We believe we’re telling a story of the events that have shaped the whole human sphere for centuries, so it felt right to make the effort.

AW: As you know, there’s been a bit of controversy over the different versions of the show being shown in each state -

LA: I’m not sure it’s that much of a controversy…

AW: As of this morning, it was trending in the top ten on the UniNet -

LA: That may be so, but I still think it’s inflated.

AW: So what's your take on it?

LA: Look, localization has been around for literally centuries. In our case, we have easily enough material to make fifty episodes of Sphere Saga, okay? There’s going to be bits of the story that happened in say, the Combine, or the CapCon, that are important to them, but have nothing to do with the FedSuns portion of the story, and vice versa. The core of the story is the same in every version we put out - the differences are for the bits of the story that are interesting or relevant to one particular audience but not the others. So, as I said, this is making a mountain out of molehill.

AW: Depending on what those differences are, couldn’t that lead to a different interpretation of what the core story is about?

LA: You’d have to give me a specific example -

AW: Well, in episode two - Coupe de Main - you show the reactions of the various House Lords to the Amaris Coup. In the FedSuns version of the episode, all the House Lords refuse to recognise Amaris but also refuse to openly aid the SLDF. In the Combine version of the episode, there’s an extended scene where Minoru Kurita justifies his decisions to his wife -

LA: That’s textbook localisation - exactly what I was talking about before.

AW: But don’t you think it puts a different slant on the Coup by suggesting that the other House Lords were too selfish to think beyond their own desires?

LA: I’m not sure how you got that interpretation from the scene - that’s Minoru’s point of view about the Coup, which, by the way, we have documentary support for from the Combine Archives. It’s his opinion, which affects some of his later decisions. Look - some of the events we’re covering still divide experts, over three hundred years later. We believe we’ve come up with the most accurate presentation we can hope for, under the circumstances. Did we change some things? Yes. We had to in order for the larger picture to make sense to the audience - and we can’t assume they’ve put in as much research as we have into the subject.

But - and I stress this - we’re confident that this is the most accurate account of the story ever put on the big screen. In fact, if you think about it, having investors from all over the ‘Sphere pretty much guarantees that we have to be unbiased. You can bet they’re scrutinising each script closely.

AW: Okay. So I guess we can expect to see a lot more of these localisations?

LA: Oh yes, but again, as I said, the core of the story remains the same for all versions.

AW: Okay. Now we move on to Viewer Questions. Livingston, are you ready?

LA: Sure, fire away.

AW: Okay. Today’s first question is from ZelkysGirl74, she writes - “Hi Livingston, I’ve been a big fan of yours since Thin Black Line, but my question is actually about Ducal Duties.”

LA: Oh, god…

March 11th, 3091
FallegtVida Entertainment Press Release
<For Immediate Distribution>

FallegtVida Entertainment is pleased to announce that two-time Rennie winner Camus Ching (Mandarin’s Report, Gentle is the Storm) will be partnering with us to make a series of movies about the most significant events in the past three centuries - the fall of the First Star League, the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion.

FVE Chair Tulisa Swilalae said “It’s a great honour to work again with perhaps the greatest director of the past half-century. We all look forward to the extraordinary spectacle to come”.

This project is now in pre-production, with filming expected to begin in the new year.

For further information or media access requests, please click here.

-------------------------------------------------
UNOTP://BackLotAccessCard.ENT
Archived 16 July 3091

And the Camus Ching HotEHS project news keeps leaking out. Last week we exclusively told you that Marcus Ettard would be playing Richard Cameron in the first film of the trilogy. Now we have another scoop for you.

The part of Stefan Ukris Amaris will be played by…

    Harrison Kuek

This is an interesting choice, to say the least. But it just might work. Although he’s made a career for himself in comedy, remember that he actually got his break with the Avalon Shakespeare Company.

In the less confirmed box, there’s also reports that the total budget for the trilogy is somewhere around 500-600 million CBills.

BACKCHAT
2,288 Comments

HyaxDinner: No. NoNoNONONONONONO! And NO!! Seriously?? Uncle Han is going to be playing a mad dictator? No one is going to be able to take the villain seriously. And he’s one of the few actors around who would actually have to *lose* weight to play Amaris. No!

           Balkan7to1: Why do the haters always get on first? Jeez, give the guy a chance before you shoot him down.

AX010TL: This is more than interesting. Kuek would need to shave his head and grow the infamous facial set, but he already does look kinda like Amaris, and he can act.

             Formerly1kRB: I grew up with Uncle Han’s Diner, so I know Kuek can do comedy, but this is a serious, serious role. I wish him the best, but this may be the biggest mis-casting of all time.

IncaOlmec: What’s “HotEHS”?

            Be114T5: “History of the Entire Human Sphere”. Search function is your friend.

---------------------------------
Extract from Reliving it, Almost: Behind the Scenes of Sphere Saga by Livingston Anderson. Pub. Avalon Press, 3105

Of course, nothing lasts. As 3086 turned into 3087, the production team was hit by twin body blows that looked like they would seriously derail us.

The first shock came in the form of Hassan Fasil’s cancer diagnosis. I remember it clearly because I was there when he realised something was seriously wrong.

We had just moved into our permanent production offices on the Event Horizon lot. We writers had commandeered a former boardroom as our meeting room (eventually we took to calling it the “Council Chamber” and Deenah stuck a huge decal of the Star League emblem in the centre of the conference table). I called a writer’s meeting a few days later to talk about Season 2 in detail. Writing Season 1 had been challenging (and would remain so as we revised and tweaked for the next five years), but Season 2 involved a whole other level of complexity as we were carrying two separate storylines (Succession Wars and Clan Founding) that would not intersect until late in the season.

Present in the room that day were Deenah, Caleb (whom we called “Capo Cal” because when he sat in his enormous wingback chair he looked like the stereotypical Bertolli Family Don), Hassan, Olivia (we called each other “Livy” because we enjoyed the confusion it caused) and myself. Camus still made most of the writers meetings at this stage, but missed this particular one.

We’d actually already postponed the meeting once because Hassan had been down sick with what we thought was a persistent cold. Since he’d also worked long hours to revise Season 1’s finale “Road to Exodus” over the New Year’s break, we just thought that he’d temporarily pushed himself too hard, something we all knew about from personal experience. He still looked a bit under the weather when he came in that morning, but we expected that, so it didn’t trigger any alarms for us.

I started the meeting, and we were off to the races. The first debate was spearheaded by Livy and Deenah - the former wanted to dedicate episodes 201 and 202 to the Clans exclusively, 203 and 204 to the Succession Wars and start blending settings from 205 onward, while Deenah wanted both storylines to play in all episodes. I was mostly listening, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hassan slump in his seat and then fall sideways out of his chair.

As you can imagine, this  brought the meeting to an abrupt halt. We all rushed to his side, except Cal, who as usual was thinking a step ahead and chose to page security before joining us. Hassan was having minor convulsions, which were still quite frightening to anyone who didn’t have medical training (which was all of us).

By the time security got there, he’d stopped thrashing about and was able to sit against the wall. He even sipped some water. Camus arrived just before security did, and together we watched Hassan get packed off to the hospital.

A few days later, our worst fears were confirmed. Brain tumor, malignant and had started to metastasize. His only hope was immediate surgery, followed by bouts of radiotherapy.

Things went well at first, and Hassan was able to come into the office once a week just two months after surgery. Writing is one of the few jobs you can do anywhere, so we were foolishly optimistic that the team would remain intact.

Cold hard reality set in soon after. Although he tried his best, it was quickly clear that the radiation was playing havoc with Hassan’s ability to concentrate. There was no way that I could assign him an episode in good conscience. Deadlines were starting to press in on us, partially as a consequence of what Camus was doing with the financing (on which, more later).

In late March, Camus and I reluctantly decided that we had to move on without Hassan. He took the news quite well, considering. Camus then told Hassan that he was paying, out of his own pocket, the entire fee that Hassan would have received had he remained on staff.

I think that was one of the kindest things that Camus could have done under the circumstances. Hassan’s battles with narcotic addiction were well documented, not least by himself - he’d spoken (and written) about it often, and although those dark days were long behind him, they’d cost him a lot, including a marriage and his life savings. He was not quite out of the hole when we hired him for Sphere Saga, and I know he was relieved that his financial burdens were going to be substantially relieved while he fought his disease. In fact, he fought so well that he was alive to see Season One released, and to cash his first bonus cheques from his work on thereon. He passed away shortly after Season Two debuted, yet another stellar talent taken from us too soon. Peace, brother.

Worried as we were for Hassan, we had to move on. Camus and I dug back into our black books, and the rest of the writing crew chipped in too. We rapidly assembled a short list, which included many extremely talented wordsmiths, but the name on top, but common consent, was Alexey Velyanovski. He was not well known to the public at that time, pre-Wanderers, but he was already making waves in the entertainment industry, not just for his considerable skill at characterisation (something he shared with Hassan, and one of the reasons we wanted him badly), but also because of his script doctoring abilities.

As the saying goes, our people called his people, and to our disappointment we were told he’d just signed a five-year deal to write/produce a new series. Well, that was that, we thought, and we turned to the next name on our list.

However, that afternoon, Camus and I were in a meeting with Horace Stetson, our newly assigned Studio Liaison. He wanted to know how the search for a new writer was going, and we regaled him with an account of our misadventure.

When we finished, we noticed that Horace was looking rather confused. Now, I know that not every story I ever tell will make sense (thank you, Showtime magazine), but I’d thought this plot line was simple enough. He said, “My wife spoke to his wife last night and she told me Aleksey had turned down the deal.”

Well, that triggered an exchange of misunderstandings worthy of an Undertaker’s Union sketch (why I didn’t write it down for posterity I will never know), but when Understanding consented to sit down at the same table once more, it was determined that Aleksey had first taken the offer, then changed his mind. He’d told his wife (who’d then told Florence Stetson), but hadn’t gotten round to telling his agent, hence the message we got.

We then left Understanding sitting alone at the table as we raced off to re-contact Aleksey and sign him up before anyone else found out.

With one fire extinguished, we prepared to charge back into writing Season Two. Which, of course, is when Whammy Number Two descended upon us….

-----------------------------
Excerpt from the Avalon MediaCon 86 Program for July 17, 3093

Auditorium C
1000-1130 The Bounty Hunter: The Next Generation Panel
1200-1330 Emmanual Hulbertson Q & A - Cross Media Art
1430-1630 Sphere Saga Feature Panel (Platinum Passholders only)

-------------------------
Transcript and Description of Preview Reel shown at AMC86 Sphere Saga Panel

Open on INTERIOR Shot of the Security Command Post (codename CITADEL) in Unity City. A large room, tiered consoles facing banks of holotanks and flat screens. We sweep the room from front to back, over the heads of the dozens of techs to the raised platform at the back of the room where the Watch Officer and her assistants work. A small Christmas tree sits on the Watch Officer's console, the only concession to the season.

As we push in, we see the RELIEF WATCH OFFICERS enter the Command Platform. The FIRST WATCH OFFICER stands to face her replacement.

Second Watch Officer: Second Watch reporting for duty. You are relieved.

First Watch Officer: I stand relieved.

And, formalities over, the Second Watch Officer slides into the recently vacated seat as his assistants do the same on the rest of the platform, putting on their headsets as they do so.

Second Watch Officer: Anything I need to know about, Kelly?

First Watch Officer: BLACKSHARK just entered EMERALD. He and STARLORD are still in there. Situation GREEN elsewhere. Oh - the 4th Amaris Dragoons were just cleared for a FIELDEX at STONEHAMMER this morning - it’s in the log.

Second Watch Officer: Thanks, Kelly. Have a good -

An alarm goes off, under which -

Control Room Tech #1: Detonation Alert! Spaceport grounds. First Responders on the way!

Control Room Tech #2: SECCON FOUR is triggered! QRF to standby.

Second Watch Officer: Acknowledged. All posts report and authenticate!

The room flies into action. Flying Ching Angle sweeps the room. Screens and holotanks shift their displays, some tracking on the fireball, others showing the status of the various security forces. The First Watch Officer puts her headset back on and leans over the shoulder of her relief.

Control Room Tech #1: Another Detonation Alert! Randolph Park!

Second Watch Officer: Step up to SECCON THREE. Roll the QRF!

INT. Star League Court Corridor.

Pairs of armed and armoured soldiers jog down the long, polished marble hallways, taking up post at major intersections.

Cut to INT. a smaller control room [Subtitle: Royal Black Watch Operations Centre]. Watching the feed from the Unity City Security Command Post is Captain TRACE COBURN, the RBW’s Duty Watch Officer this morning. As we watch, the door bursts open and in strides Colonel HANNI SCHMITT, the RBW’s CO. She’s already in her MechWarrior’s suit, neurohelmet tucked under her arm.

Col. Schmitt: Talk to me, Trace.

Capt. Coburn: Two detonations, Ma’am - Spaceport and Randolph Park. First Responders on the way. Citadel just set SECCON THREE. Captain Dzering’s Lance is on Post at EMERALD. Major McFadden’s Lance is on Post at GATEWAY. Lieutenant Suarez’s Lance is on READY status.

Col. Schmitt: Bring Suarez’s Lance to ONLINE. We are at SECCON TWO, my authority. Put First Battalion on READY.

And with that, she’s out the door again, even as:

Capt. Coburn: Aye, Ma’am. (Into headset) Attention Black Call Signs, set SECCON TWO. TARGE Group, the Word is HOTSEAT.

Quick cuts:
- Barracks room, where 1st Battalion MechWarriors drop whatever they’re doing, zip up their suits and begin filing out the door.
- MechBay, where Techs and AsTechs swarm over the gleaming BattleMechs of the Royal Black Watch, all of which carry the crossed revolver symbol of the Gunslingers.
- Exterior of the Hangars, as a Guillotine, Crockett and two Flashmans (Lieutenant Suarez’s Lance) trot out the doors and head for a forming up point.

[Obvious cut in the footage]

And we’re at the personnel door to the Hangar, where Colonel Schmitt is making for her personal ride, a Royal Atlas II. As she marches along, her XO, Major BRYN CAMPBELL comes alongside, pulling on his gloves. The atmosphere is alert, but calm. The Royal Black Watch stands to many times a year, and it’s almost always a false alarm.

Maj. Campbell: Colonel.

Col. Schmitt: Major.

Maj. Campbell: Are we at SECCON TWO ‘cause of the Rimmers?

Col. Schmitt: Yep. Better safe than sorry.

Maj. Campbell: CITADEL will raise hell.

Col. Schmitt: Let them. We have our responsibilities.

They split off on reaching the Regimental Command Lance’s Bays. Schmitt boards the small personnel lift that will take her to her cockpit, while across the bay, Campbell does the same on reaching his ride, a HGN-732b Royal Highlander.

Capt. Coburn: (Over Mech Bay Speakers) Weapons Discharge in Audience Chamber! STARFALL - I say again, STARFALL!

It’s not a false alarm. Now things kick into overdrive.

Col. Schmitt: Scheiße!

And she rams the lift throttle to maximum, practically catapulting herself through the hatch of her Atlas.

RBW Operations Centre - where Captain Coburn is talking to the Second Watch Officer on one of the screens.

Second Watch Officer: - and we’ve been overriden from the Audience Chamber controls! Maybe the First Lord’s still alive, but there’s plenty of Rimmers between us and him.

Capt. Coburn: Understood. Black Watch is scrambling. STARFALL is in effect. (Switches channels). Did you get that, Colonel?

INT. Colonel Schmitt’s Atlas II, which is just finishing it’s power-up sequence.

Col. Schmitt: Got it, Trace. (switches channels) BLACK QUEEN to all Black Call Signs. Report as you come online.

Colonel Schmitt’s Atlas leaves it’s Bay and smoothly marches through the hangar toward the exit doors, closely followed by Major Campbell’s Highlander. At their feet Techs and MechWarriors run to their ‘Mechs. All around them in Mech Bays are ‘Mechs being brought to life.

INT. Audience Chamber - where Stefan Amaris sits in one of the ornate chairs (not the throne) while his half dozen bodyguards watch the doors and operate the security console.

Bodyguard #1: (at security console) They’ve moved faster than we thought sire! The guards are fully mobilised!

Amaris: Then be faster! Stage Three should have been executed now, so there will be no back up from the Black Watch.

EXT. Star League Court. The Thugs and Black Knights of Captain Dzering’s Lance stand guard on the boulevard leading to the central building.

With no warning, the automated turrets swing in line with the backs of the ‘Mechs, and open fire. They don’t have a chance, and go down hard.

EXT. RBW barracks - as pre-planted explosives shatter the building.

INT. RBW Operations Centre.

Capt. Coburn: (Reacting to the explosion) What -

Screen whites as the Operations Centre is blown up.

INT. RBW Hangars - it’s crowded as ‘Mechs scramble from the Bays. A rolling series of explosions from back to front brings everything down.

EXT. RBW Hangars - as a few ‘Mechs that have just exited the doors get caught in the expanding fireball. Close to frame, a Flashman is literally ripped limb-from-limb. A Guillotine tries to jump clear, but is smashed to the ground by the shockwave. It does not get up again.

EXT Canyon. A bridge sized to allow four BattleMechs to cross simultaneously spans a river - on the far side is a dedicated road that terminates behind the Court of the Star League. The near side is the RBW compound. This route is GATEWAY - the RBW’s exclusive emergency highway to their charge. With the STARFALL contingency enacted, Major Colleen McFadden’s Lance is thundering over the bridge. They are about halfway across.

INT Major McFadden’s cockpit.

Maj. McFadden: Move it, people! (Switches Channel) BLACK QUEEN, TARGE 1-1 is on GATEWAY. ETA to EMERALD six minutes.

EXT. RBW Compound - which is a smoking wreck. Colonel Schmitt’s Atlas II is playing traffic cop, rallying the survivors, about a Company’s worth.

INT. Colonel Schmitt’s Cockpit

Col. Schmitt: Roger, TARGE 1-1. WHEELHOUSE is OMEGA! Go independent, we are right behind you!

INT. Major McFadden’s cockpit.

Maj. McFadden: Roger BLACK QUEEN. Pro-

EXT. GATEWAY - as more charges take down the bridge. Two Thugs and a Black Knight tumble into the river. Major McFadden’s manages to light her Jump Jets just in time to rise clear of the carnage. The shock wave causes the 90-tonne machine to tumble in mid-air, but in a demonstration of piloting skill worthy of a Gunslinger, she checks the rotation and comes down on the near bank in a hard, but survivable landing, the big ‘Mech going to it’s knees from the impact, armour dented, but unbreached.

INT. Major McFadden’s cockpit - where there’s several blinking red lights and alarm tones. She’s bitten her lip in the landing, but ignores the blood on her face as wrestles the controls to right her machine.

Maj. McFadden: 1-1 Call Signs, squawk status.

Then she looks out her viewport to see -

EXT. GATEWAY - the twisted wreckage of her lancemates amongst the rubble of the bridge, the decapitated Black Knight impaled on the remains of a bridge support, while only bits of the two Thugs stick up above the debris.

INT. Major McFadden’s cockpit as she reacts to the sight, then pulls herself together.

Maj. McFadden: TARGE 1-1 to all BLACK Call Signs - GATEWAY is OMEGA! Fuck!

EXT. GATEWAY, a crane shot starting on Major McFadden’s Highlander and moving up the bank to show the remains of the RBW arriving - just nine other ‘Mechs, and one of them is a limping and smoking Black Knight pathetically bringing up the rear, but still determined to get in the fight.

INT. Colonel Schmitt’s Cockpit - as she surveys the scene. Makes a snap decision.

Col. Schmitt: Got to assume they know our contingencies. Black Watch - we take the I-33 through Gorst Flats. Move! (Switches Channels). CITADEL, this is BLACK QUEEN, SitRep - WHEELHOUSE OMEGA, GATEWAY OMEGA, assuming LOCKBREAK. Going BUSTER to your location via improvised route. ETA seven Mikes. Request your SitRep, over.

EXT. GATEWAY as the ten survivors of the RBW wheel about and run off. Make that nine as the trailing Black Knight’s abused hip joint fails, shearing the entire leg off and dumping the ‘Mech on its face. There’s a flash of light as the MechWarrior ejects.

INT. CITADEL - It’s Chaos. Techs are frantically working their consoles, cross-talk flooding the channels. We pan across a row of Techs:

Tech #1: Team Five, reinforce Post Seven-Delta, Team Eight…

Tech #2: Negative, negative! We do not have…

Tech #3: Sever the power supply manually if you have to! If…

Camera angle tilts up to the Command Platform where the First Watch Officer is handing out sidearms to everyone. PUSH IN on the Second Watch Officer, who’s out of his chair, leaning forward, one hand on the top of his console. He’s knocked over the Christmas tree there.

Second Watch Officer: BLACK QUEEN, CITADEL. SitRep - we have lost control of automated defence systems. SecTeams are fighting Rimmers from Sublevel 3 to Level 4 inclusive. GRYPHON TEAM is preparing to attempt Aerial Extraction. We could sure use you guys.

INT. Colonel Schmitt’s Cockpit

Col. Schmitt: Hold on, CITADEL, we’re coming.

INT. Audience Chamber.

Bodyguard #1: Sire! One of our scouts reports that a company of the Royal Black Watch has survived and is making its way here through civilian highways!

Amaris: Which of our units is closest to them?

Bodyguard #2: First Battalion of the 4th Amaris Dragoons, milord!

Amaris: Tell them to destroy the Black Watch!

Bodyguard #2: At once, sire!

And he turns back to his comms suite. Amaris reacts - two surprises already, are there more?

EXT: Gorst Flats - Street Level. Stores and cafes are open. Traffic is light. Cheerful holiday decorations festoon storefronts, apartment windows and light standards.

A seismic rumble begins to rattle windows and coffee cups. Pedestrians pause, look around for the source of the rumble, which is growing louder by the second.

NEW ANGLE - down the main street as Lieutenant Suarez’s Guillotine skids around the corner, PPC at the ready, and broadcasting over her external speakers

Lt. Suarez: Clear the road! All civilians get under cover!

NEW ANGLE - the view from a cafe as people scatter. Behind them, the massive feet of the Guillotine crash into the ferrocrete and keep going, shortly followed by the rest of the Black Watch.

INT. Level 22, Tower 15, Star League Court.

This room is fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows to take advantage of the spectacular views of Unity City and the Court. Right now, it’s a staging area for Gryphon Team, the Star League Security Service’s elite Jump-capable Special Force. They look completely out of place amongst the elegant Chivalrist-style furniture and fittings.

The view outside the windows is somewhat surreal. Flashes of light in the other buildings and tendrils of smoke speak of running battles between League and Rim forces. Occasionally, a weapons turret barks against an outside threat. Looming large in the centre of the view is the central building that contains the Audience Chamber.

AGENT PARK is pressing something into place on the windows. Team Commander SENIOR AGENT REED is finishing his briefing.

Senior Agent Reed: Remember! They control the turrets - fly low, use cover and keep moving! Everyone ready?

There’s a single reply

Gryphon Team: Ready!

Special Agent Reed: Alright. (Into Comm Set). CITADEL, GRYPHON is green. Executing now, now, now!

And with that the entire team hunkers down as one, turning their backs on the windows.

Agent Park: Fire in the hole!

She mashes her thumb down on a switch. The windows disintegrate in a flash of light. Expensive furniture is shredded by flying glass. A second later, with the wind whistling into the room, Senior Agent Reed takes three running steps and leaps out the window, activating his jump pack to manoeuvre closer to the central building. His team follows without hesitation, some of whom are moving in pairs in order to carry the heavier tools of their trade between them.

REVERSE ANGLE - tracking with Reed and his team as they hop between buildings, stray shots all around. One unlucky agent is clipped by a burst of machine gun fire in the Jump Pack and spirals down out of control.

NEW ANGLE - on Reed as he watches the anti-aircraft emplacements on the Central building occupied with trying to shoot down a pair of VTOLS. This is their chance. He triggers his Jump Pack for one long burst, skidding under a stream of autocannon shells and drops onto the roof of the Audience Chamber. Moments later, several other Gryphons thump down around him. Another member just misses the edge of the roof and falls before his Pack can recharge. Once again, no time to mourn.

Senior Agent Reed: Drills!

Three pairs of Agents run forward, carrying large drills between them. Behind them, other agents establish a perimeter, and prepare charges.

EXT. Gorst Flats. OVERHEAD SHOT of nine Heavy and Assault ‘mechs of the Royal Black Watch moving as fast as they can through the streets, heedless of vehicles, sidewalk furniture and plants.

INT. Colonel Schmitt’s cockpit.

Col. Schmitt: CITADEL, BLACK QUEEN. We are 5 Mikes out. Say your SitRep.

Second Watch Officer: (filtered) BLACK QUEEN, CITADEL. We’ve lost contact with all teams below SubLevel 1. Level 3 is also non-responsive. GRYPHON is executing TRAPEZE. Recommend you come in from the West if possible - we’ve managed to disable most of the heavy turrets there.

Lt. Suarez: (filtered) All BLACK Call Signs - BOGEYS bearing Oh-Two-Seven! Range one point three Klicks, estimate Company Strength.

Col Schmitt: Stand by CITADEL, we have BOGEYS. (Switches Channel) BLACK Call Signs, run and gun. Nothing keeps us from STARLORD.

RBW: Roger/Aye, Ma’am!

EXT. Gorst Flats. The RBW swivel almost as one to point their weapons down the threat axis.

INSERT. Major Campbell’s Tac Display, showing three groups of four red THREAT icons moving in on the nine blue FRIENDLY icons. Tags start to attach themselves to the THREAT icons (all the FRIENDLY icons already have tags).

INT. Major Campbell’s Cockpit.

Maj. Campbell: (reading the tags) It’s the 4th Amaris Dragoons!

Maj. McFadden: (filtered) Another company behind them.

Col. Schmitt: (filtered) Take them!

EXT. Gorst Flats

First into the fray is the Recon Lance, 1st Company, 4th Amaris Dragoons (4AD). Led by Lieutenant Jorge Beebe in his Clint, the two Commandos and a Firestarter get out ahead of the rest of their company and come in guns blazing, trying to hit as many of the RBW as they can.

It’s a distraction tactic to allow the heavier members of their company to close. The RBW don’t fall for it. They move their Heavy and Assault machines around this urban battlefield almost as quickly and gracefully as the Lights and Mediums of the 4AD. Although they don’t escape unscathed, the hurried snapshots of the 4AD Lance score few hits, and none of them do more than minimal damage.

The RBW’s reply, however, is devastating.

One of the Commandos has its gyro destroyed by a gauss slug from Major McFadden’s Highlander. It crashes gracelessly to the ground.

The second Commando is skewered by twin ERPPC bolts from Nathan Carlson’s Royal Thug and it takes out bits of two apartment blocks as its breached reactor goes critical.

The Firestarter is bathed in a laser barrage from MechWarrior Jewels Ferrel’s Crockett. Somehow the pilot manages to eject before his ‘Mech goes down for the count.

Obviously the ride of the Lance Commander, the Clint attracts the attention of Lieutenant Suarez, whose rare Royal Guillotine peppers the enemy ‘Mech with lasers and SRMs. While the Clint staggers under the barrage, Major Campbell settles the matter by performing a textbook “Highlander Burial” on the 4AD ‘Mech.

The other members of the RBW are not idle. The view swings around to show the balance of 1st Company, 4AD coming around the corner (and through buildings in some cases).

They don’t try to communicate with the RBW, who aren’t interested in what they have to say, anyway.

A Thunderbolt uses its jumpjets to pop up from behind an office block in the right flank of the RBW position. Lieutenant Frank Yanez pivots his Black Knight hard to the right and unleashes his ERPPC and Large Pulse Lasers. He blows enough armour off his opponent to destabilise the flight path of the enemy ‘Mech, which goes down hard into another apartment block.

The Thunderbolt’s Lance mates walk into a Laser and gauss-slug volley from Charles Southorn and Jefferson Hinks’s Flashman and Crockett respectively. Hink’s gauss-slug scores big-time, crushing the cockpit of the 4AD Stalker belonging to the Lance Commander before she can loose more than a couple of her weapons at the RBW. Southorn splits his fire between the Warhammer and Ostroc. The latter flinches from the pummeling and sends its shots wide, the former stands its ground and although hurt, manages to tag Southorn with one of its PPCs.

Colonel Schmitt strides forward in her Atlas II to confront the enemy Command Lance. A tightly grouped LRM-20 shot paired with ER Large Lasers drives back an enemy Cyclops. A solid shell from her LB-10X autocannon takes down an Orion for good. In return, a Griffin and Marauder throw a total of three PPCs, an AC-5 and an LRM-10 at her, connecting with two PPCs and a handful of LRMs. It doesn’t even slow her down, and now her comrades are regrouping with her to lend their considerable firepower to the mix.

INT Major Dollard’s Cockpit

The Commander of 1st Battalion, 4AD is wondering what in all the hells he’s walked into. He was told this was the shattered remains of a regiment, but they’re fighting like they are whole. His Recon Lance has been annihilated, and the balance of his company is going to follow shortly.

Maj. Dollard: McDonald! Get your company into the fight right now!

The cockpit jerks sharply as his Marauder absorbs another barrage. He fires back, but it’s pretty clear who got the better of that exchange.

Capt. McDonald: (filtered) We’re supposed to be securing -

Maj. Dollard: Fuck that! Vector on me, now! Kinsey can handle it!

Capt. McDonald: (filtered) Roger. On the way, sir.

EXT Gorst Flats
Just in time to see Colonel Schmitt rupture Dollard’s cockpit with a tight SRM salvo. As the Marauder slumps to the ground, we pull back to show nine RBW ‘Mechs still standing, while craters and piles of broken ‘Mechs mark the fate of their opponents. Blackened and dented armour panels show that the RBW didn't get off unscathed, but they're all there still.

The RBW move on, and we hear:

Col. Schmitt: CITADEL, BLACK QUEEN - we’ve disposed of some interference, still inbound to you.

INT. CITADEL
Things are definitely worse. Techs are splitting their time between their screens and the doors to the room. Those that have them are brandishing their sidearms, including:

Second Watch Officer: BLACK QUEEN, CITADEL! The Rimmers have taken most of the Admin complex! CITADEL is in danger of being overrun. We may go off air! GRYPHON is still -

And at the side of the frame, the heavy security doors are caved in by explosives, quickly followed by black-armoured troops, who start methodically cutting down everyone. The Techs try to fight back, but it's a lost cause.

INT. Colonel Schimtt's Cockpit

Col. Schmitt: CITADEL! Come back, Citadel!

Maj. Campbell: (filtered) All comms are down, BLACK QUEEN

MW Southorn: (filtered) BOGEYS bearing three-four-niner, company, point nine klicks!

Col. Schmitt: Volley Drill, people, one salvo then resume run and gun.

EXT. Gorst Flats - the RBW is reaching the outskirts of town and the area is becoming more open. They spread out on either side of their Colonel's Atlas II, forming two makeshift lances. They come to a stop and level their weapons.

REVERSE ANGLE - the 4AD's point of view.

MW Green: (filtered) What the devil are they doing?

INT. Captain McDonald's Cockpit.

Capt. McDonald: Don't give them a chance to do it! Weapons free! Fire at will!

EXT. Gorst Flats.

And the 2nd Company, 4AD do exactly that. We track across their lines as they start firing on the RBW, beginning with LRMs from the Archers, Dervishes, Shadow Hawk and Rampage.

NEW ANGLE, following the flight of the LRMs from the 4AD to the RBW.

INSERT on an AMS auto-tracking the incoming flights of missiles, and firing.

It's a heavy barrage, but the advanced AMSs of the RBW whittle it down some. Those missiles that strike home rock their targets a little, but the RBW remain right where they stopped.

INT. Colonel Schmitt's Cockpit

Col. Schmitt: Now.

EXT: Gorst Flats

As the RBW reply with their own LRMs, Gauss shells and PPCs.

NEW ANGLE on the 4AD line as the RBW volley arrives. Each RBW MechWarrior has targeted a different 'Mech. The Archers and Dervishes of the Fire Lance fall - two to head shots, and the other two to gyro-destroying volleys. The Command Lance's Rampage and Rifleman are also recipients of headshots, while three of the remaining 'Mechs take damage but do not go down.

INT. Captain McDonald's cockpit - as she watches half her command disappear in one salvo.

Capt. McDonald: Pull back! Pull back, dammit! (Switches channel) EBON SHARK, GOBLIN 2-7! Request immediate reinforcements my location!

She looks back up as an alarm chirps.

NEW ANGLE - looking over Captain McDonald's shoulder to see the RBW charging her position. In slow motion, we see a Highlander raise it's arm to point directly at Captain McDonald's Victor, and the flash of a gauss rifle firing. The slug comes fast, even in slow motion, straight into the camera.

White out.

INT. Audience Chamber.

Amaris is still sitting calmly in the chair, but twitches in his leg give away the tension inside.

Amaris: We took Security Control five minutes ago! Why are they still fighting?

Bodyguard #2: Sire! the 4th Amaris Dragoons are asking for reinforcements to destroy the Black Watch survivors. They’ve lost two companies so far.

Amaris: Two companies destroyed and the Black Watch still lives?! Unacceptable! Settle this once and for all! Tell Colonel Dague to nuke them!

Bodyguard #1: Sire, we only have a limited -

Amaris: Do it!

Bodyguards #1 & 2: Aye, Sire!

EXT. Gorst Flats. MechWarrior Carlson's Thug is finishing off a Hunchback in the background as the balance of the RBW regroups to move on. A few more dents in the armour, but they're still operational.

Up ahead, we can just see the gleaming spires of Unity City. They’re almost there. A pair of dots streak in hard and fast across the sky headed for the RBW

Lt Yanez: (filtered) Air Threat!

As the RBW crank their weapons to bear, the far away dots release a pair of missiles, way outside the RBW's effective range. The launching fighters pull away sharply.

INSERT shots of the various members of the RBW in their cockpits as they react to:
- threat display tagging the missiles with the radiation hazard symbol
- Colonel Schimtt yelling orders (we don't hear them)
- Exterior shot of her Atlas II raising a massive fist to point
- Close up on the incoming missiles

EXT. Gorst Flats - overhead shot pulling back rapidly from the RBW surrounded by the remains of their foes, to the surrounding area until the RBW are no longer visible. As they disappear, two streaks appear from the top of the screen, which suddenly double-flash a brilliant white short of the RBW's location. Not that it matters with nukes, even small tactical ones like these. Hold on the developing fireball, then-

NEW ANGLE - down to ground level, the earth scorched by the nuclear firestorm, a few skeletal building frames somehow still standing, though twisted and half melted. We PAN across the place we last saw the RBW, seeing nothing, until at last we come across a giant armoured fist, cracked and melted at the extremities - the only physical remains of Colonel Schimtt's 'Mech. Hold on this moment a long beat.

And fade out.

--------------------
Rostock Examiner-Herald
21 July 3093

An Audio-Visual Technician employed by the Albion Convention Center has been fired for recording and leaking footage from Camus Ching's Sphere Saga shown at the recent Avalon Media Con and meant to remain exclusive to a select audience of prioity pass holders.

Fabian Garneau, 26, of Avalon City used his position to bypass unprecedented security and record the twelve minute sequence from the upcoming first season of Sphere Saga. He subsequently uploaded it to the UniNet, where it has been viewed approximately sixty million times in the past three days.

FallegtVida Entertainment, who are producing the show, lodged a strong complaint with Sterling Events, the organizers of Avalon Media Con, over the incident, reportedly threatening to boycott future Sterling Events conventions unless action was taken.

Avalon City PD is investigating and charges are expected.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting alkemita!

This is great, makes me wish that it could really be done these days instead of waiting almost 1100 years for it to happen.

--------------------------
November 13, 3093
Thursday Night with Laurel Lee - SBC24

[The classic talk show setup - chair for the host, a sofa for the guests, coffee table in front of the sofa, some plants and flowers for highlights. Laurel Lee’s set is dressed in the post-neo-Gaelic style that has become popular in the Reconstruction period, including plenty of real, rather than projected elements, so three large screens make up a good portion of the rear wall.]

Laurel Lee: You’ve been trapped in a mis-jump for the past year if you haven’t yet clued in to the hype around Camus Ching’s Sphere Saga, which premieres on SBC24 in just over a month, Sunday, January seventh, 3094 -

[Cheers and scattered applause from the audience - someone lets out a loud “Whoop!”]

LL: Someone got the hype.

[Audience laughter]

LL: Our first guest this evening has played a teenage slacktivist who starts a revolution, a thief with a conscience who’s betrayed by his heart, a Special Needs Teacher who needs some love in his life, twin brothers who turn their tramp freighter business into a cargo hauling empire and a police negotiator who can’t win an argument with his family. He was on the FedSuns Top 100 Sexiest Men list ten years in a row. He has won a Vox Pop for Best Supporting Actor, and has been a dual-Stellar nominee for Best Actor.

He is going to be seen next in Sphere Saga as General Aaron Dechavilier. Ladies and gents, please welcome Tony Shand!

[Laurel stands and turns to face upstage right as Tony Shand walks out from behind the side screens to the accompaniment of dramatic music from the Sphere Saga trailers. He’s a trim, handsome guy in his early fifties, aging gracefully so you might take him for a decade younger. He eats up the distance between himself and Laurel in big steps, takes her hand and plants a very elegant Skye-style kiss on the back of her hand, drawing more applause. Laurel waves him to his place on the sofa, and sits back down in her own chair]

Tony Shand: [re: the hand kiss] Did I get that right? Or do I need to get a refund on the etiquette book?

[More audience applause]

LL: I think you have your answer, Tony.

TS: Oh, good!

LL: Welcome to the show!

TS: Thank you, it’s good to be here.

LL: It’s your first visit to Skye, correct?

TS: Yep, and I love it here.

[Cheers from the audience]

LL: Glad to hear it! I was actually going to say - it’s your first trip to Skye, but you’re not the first member of your family to visit, are you?

TS: You have done your research! No, you’re right. My dad was stationed on Skye for a year in the fifties with the - gosh, it doesn’t even exist anymore, right? The AFFC. He was a quartermaster.

LL: Did you call him for help with the role?

TS: Uh, no, actually. Ah - he’s gonna kill me for saying this, but he wasn’t a very good soldier. He said he spent more time in the stockade for goofing off than actual soldiering!

[Laughter]

TS: Sorry, Dad!

LL: Well, let’s change the subject fast, and maybe he won’t notice

TS: Yep, let’s do that!

LL: You’re playing General Aaron Dechavilier. Now, until recently, he’s been kind of lost to history because of the Kerensky name - first Aleksandr, and then in the form of the Clans that his descendants created. Can you give us the Graff’s Notes version of who Aaron Dechavilier was?

TS: Sure. Well, he’s General Kerensky’s right hand man, Deputy Commander of the SLDF. Kerensky decided what was going to happen, and Dechavilier made it happen. He was actually not a Hegemonist - he was from Kestrel in the FedSuns. He was a family man, with five kids - I guess we’ll talk about that later right?

LL: Yes - you’re going to steal my thunder a bit there!

TS: Maybe mine as well! Okay - what else? Interesting guy, Kerensky handled the politics while he concentrated on the troops. He basically reorganised the SLDF for the campaign to take back the Terran Hegemony from Amaris. And he was the guy who talked Kerensky into the Exodus.

LL: So given that he’s been a bit overshadowed, how do you go about preparing for a role like this?

TS: Actually, it was surprisingly easy. For a start, the production had it’s own research department - I’m going to get their name wrong here - the History Research Department? Something like that. Anyway, the day after I got the part, a security courier company shows up at my door with, I kid you not, a box the size of a small desk. And - and inside were folders of research this team had done on Aaron. Including some sources from the Clans. I had nearly fifteen hours of vid showing Aaron walking, talking, driving his ‘Mech. It took me weeks to go through all this stuff - by the end I could tell you his boot size. All this, and a script - actually, eight of them.

LL: So just reading and watching?

TS: Well, there’s a bit more to it than that, of course, but having so much information at your fingertips - that’s what made it easy. We look sort of alike - he was two centimetres taller than me, but the scripts were good, so I knew his background, his history, and the scripts filled in the rest.

LL: What was working with Camus Ching like?

TS: Oh, god - how to answer that without sounding like a fanboy? He knows what he wants to achieve, and he’s good at talking you round to his point of view. But he’s also very happy to take your input. It was great to work with him, and I wish I could again - oh, wait, I am, on Season two!

[Audience cheering]

LL: Okay - the studio’s kindly provided us with not one, but two clips of you as General Dechavilier. Do you want to talk about this one before we roll it?

TS: Sure. Uh, is it-? Oh, it is. Sorry, I forgot for a moment which one was first. Right.

[Laughter]

TS: I swear, I haven’t had a drink today! Okay - this - this first clip. This is from episode four. General Dechavilier is giving a pep talk to the COs - the commanders - of five RCTs for something the history buffs will recognise - called Operation INTRUDER.

LL: Let’s have a look.

[Screen fades to black, and-]

FADE IN on INT. SLS McKenna’s Pride - General Dechavilier’s cabin. Located on one of the Flagship’s Grav Decks, this is one of the larger cabins aboard, but it’s crowded with six people in it. There’s a desk, two work chairs, a sofa that converts into a bed (currently serving as a sofa), a couple of shelves and a locker. A couple of framed family photos sit on the desk, one with a strip of black tape attached to a corner.

General Dechavilier is seated in one of the chairs. Five Colonels, three male and two female, wearing the patches of the 1st through 5th RCTs on their uniforms, cram themselves into the remaining seating space. All have small tumblers of whiskey in their hands. General Dechavilier replaces the whiskey bottle on his desk, and then swivels in his chair to face the group.

Gen. Dechavilier: Colonels, you have had time to review your orders for INTRUDER. Are there any questions?

Colonels: No, General/No, Sir.

Gen. Dechavilier: Very well. I asked for this meeting because I wanted to make sure we all understood a something.

Your twenty regiments are all that the Army can spare for this operation. Everyone else is repositioning or refitting. You have no back up. What’s the most important thing you can do on INTRUDER?

The colonels exchange a glance. Not sure how to answer that. General Dechavilier notes that then:

Gen. Dechavilier: Check your emotions at the door.

A pause, while he locks eyes with each RCT commander in turn

Gen. Dechavilier: Your RCTs are the best in the business - that’s why you’ve got the job. But at the end of the day, you’re also just twenty regiments.

You are going to see some terrible things on this operation. You will be tempted to dig in on those worlds and do “just a bit more” to help. You’ll see worlds so thinly held by the Rimmers that you know you could kick them off and liberate their suffering populations. You cannot give in to that impulse, and you can’t let your subordinates do so either.

You each have dozens of worlds to cover. Get sucked in on one, and the resistance dies on the rest.

We’ve all lost a lot to this point. Maybe more than we thought we ever would. And that loss means we feel the need to do something - hurt the bastards back for the friends, the comrades, the fam… the families they’ve taken from us. Yeah, we’re the professionals, but we’re human too, and we do feel it.

The Rimmers aren’t dumb. They’re hoping we give in to the rage and despair. We’re not going to do that. Instead, we’re going to play the long game - piling on the hurt and pressure until they’re the ones who give in to their hurt and despair. And then - and then, we’ll have them right where we want them.

It starts with you, Colonels. I salute you.

He raises his glass, and five others are lifted in reply.

[Fade Out, and the crowd goes wild]

LL: So that’s Dechavilier as a motivational speaker, huh?

TS: Yeah. You have to feel for the guy though - he’s long left the tip of the spear, and he’s got to send all these soldiers - his second family - out to battle and possibly death. I think he really wished he could personally go on every operation to protect his people.

LL: I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours that Sphere Saga is a set-up for the Republic of the Sphere to restore the Star League.

TS: Yes.

LL: What do you think of that?

TS: Ah, I’m not a politician or a statesman or anything like that. I’m just a guy who gets to do some amazing things for work, and people actually pay me for having fun. From my little place on the set, all I can say is that the only agenda I saw going on was for us to get the history right as far as possible.

LL: From interstellar politics to the personal. We have the next clip up. Do you want to introduce this one?

TS: Right - this is from episode two - I’ve just been promoted to deputy Commanding General, and after all the ceremonies are done, we’re back in the Dechavilier home with the family.

FADE IN on NIGHT, EXT. QUARTERS ELEVEN, the house allocated to the Deputy Commanding General on the grounds of Fort Noruff, the Headquarters of the SLDF in UNITY CITY. Quarters Eleven is a large two-story house built in tasteful twentieth-century Pacific-Northwest style. It has been the residence of many stars of the SLDF. Now it’s home to General Dechavilier, his wife and their three youngest children

CUT TO INT. QUARTERS ELEVEN. The family room - a private area toward the back of the house. Big glass sliding door leading to a large patio, open. Comfortable loungers and sofas scattered around the room.

GENERAL DECHAVILIER sits in a recliner, dress uniform casually open at the throat, gloves off and his School Rag untied and draped over the back of the chair. Beside him in another recliner sits his wife, CYNTHIA, holding their youngest child, KRISTINA (4), who’s close to dozing off. Two more children, JULIA (15) and BENJAMIN (14) are sprawled on one of the sofas, personal comms in hand, lost in their own worlds the way teenagers often are.

On another sofa sit LIEUTENANT ANGELA DECHAVILIER-BANACEK (26) and her husband MILOS BANACEK, the former also in dress uniform, the latter in civilian suit and tie, both of which have been loosened. The last member of the family is LIEUTENANT ROGER DECHAVILIER (25), who sits on a final recliner. Unlike every other uniformed member of the family, his dress uniform is still in order.

Angela: So, Dad, how about some inside info?

Gen. Dechavilier: Hmmm?

Angela: Scuttlebutt is that you got the Deputy CG post ‘cause the General is looking to retire soon.

Roger: What Angela’s not saying is that there’s a pool running on Kerensky’s retirement date and she’s got a month’s pay riding on it. And a double jackpot if you pick his successor.

Angela: (with a smile) I do not have a month’s pay in the pool.

[Milos and Roger laugh]

Gen. Dechavilier: Nothin’ wrong with a little wager -

Cynthia: Oh, please! I remember when you put a month’s pay on that Crowley Lizard-Cow race!

Gen. Dechavilier: I won, didn’t I?

[This is an old war story for them. The teenaged kids do the “here we go again” eye-roll and hunker down with their comms, the adult kids sit back for the show]

Cynthia: And got three days confinement to quarters for illegal gambling!

Gen. Dechavilier: Hey, I bought you a nice bunch of flowers for missing our date.

Cynthia: You’re lucky you still had a date after that one, mister!

Benjamin: Dad, how long do you think we get to stay in this house?

Gen. Dechavilier: Dunno, Benj - maybe three or four years. Why?

Benjamin: It’s nice here. But I guess we gotta move on when you get your next post, huh?

Milos: Maybe down the street? I hear Quarters One is even nicer.

Angela: Not that General Kerensky’s ever here to use it. You could move in now.

Gen. Dechavilier: Guys, guys - before everyone gets carried away…

[He leans over and takes Cynthia’s hand]

Gen. Dechavilier: Your mom and I spoke about this last night. When my tour as Deputy CG is up, I’m retiring.

Julia: Really, Dad?

Gen. Dechavilier: Really, Jools.

Benjamin: Why? I mean - I hope you’ll be around more, and -

Gen. Dechavilier: That’s why Benj. I’ve spent a lot of time away from home over the years, and I think I’ve done my bit. So this is the last tour, and then I’ll get to hang around with those I love a bit more. Hey, I never expected to make General - I thought that if I was good and lucky, I’d retire a Colonel.

Roger: Well, Dad, you’ve been both good and lucky over the years. I think -

[Someone’s SLDF comms unit chimes - it’s the urgent tone. The uniformed members of the family reach for their units instinctively - two are blank, General Dechavilier’s is not. He reads the message, then looks up, somber]

Cynthia: Aaron?

Gen. Dechavilier: Looks like the tour starts now. I have to go in. Something’s come up.

[FADE OUT]

[Audience applauds]

LL: No rest for the wicked, huh?

TS: ‘Fraid not.

LL: So my personal spy tells me there’s some connections between the actors in that scene…

TS: Yes - the middle kids there were played by my twins, Ashleigh and Rick.

LL: Didn’t they do a good job?

TS: I thought so - they had lots of lines that didn’t make it into the final cut, but I told them - it happens. Some of my best stuff over the years has ended up in the delete folder!

LL: How did they get the job?

TS: Well, they were casting the family, and Camus requested that I read opposite the finalists. If you know anything about Camus, you know how obsessive he is about details. So even though these were small parts, he insisted that I have chemistry with the actors.

I went down and read, and most of the family were quite easy, but we were having trouble with the middle kids. So I kind of made the suggestion that Ashleigh and Rick might work - after all, all they had to do was play my kids! And luckily, it worked.

LL: That’s cute! Are they going to follow in your footsteps?

TS: Not if I can help it!

[Laughter]

TS: That’s not true - that’s not true. Well, not totally true. We’ve talked a little about this - and I told them that they should follow their passion. If that’s acting, go for it, if not, don’t.

LL: Nice answer. Now, turning back to the show. Why should we tune in?

TS: Well, on the - the macro scale, I guess, a lot of our history is a result of the events we’re showing here. It’s good to know where we came from to give context to where we’re going, and hopefully, make better choices. On the personal scale, I’ve never seen a cast and crew works so hard to get things right, historically, dramatically, technically.

LL: Sphere Saga premieres on SBC24 on Sunday, January 7th, 3094. Stay with us - after the break, Tony Shand will take your questions, and play our Celebrity-Hilarity game! See you on the flip side!

-------------------------------------
November 14, 3093
Starlight Magazine Site
Vol. 44 Issue 47

Celebrity Sightings and Single-shots

She’s Out: Agri-Heiress and sometime actor Vesper Valikos successfully completes 3rd attempt at rehab. Left facility without speaking. Reportedly holed up at her father’s estate. No sign of Bradley Tsung.

Ruck-Off: Rugby Batavia’s Captain Nick de Groot calls off wedding to model Beatrice Swift, denies photo scandal was cause. Swift laying low, friends fear for her.

Tranh Tells All: Legendary Styler to the Stars Phuoc Tranh pens tell-all autobio. Finally published after clearing two court cases. Due out in February.

And slowly, slowly, the story continues

--------------------------
January 03, 3094
The Avalon Gazette - Notice of Royal Public Engagements

The Princess Regent & Consort will tour the Ranford Children’s Hospital this morning. Princess Yvonne and Duke Tancred will then attend a luncheon at Ranford City Hall.

His Highness, Prince Harrison Davion & Lady Isabella Hasek have returned from vacation. They will join Princess Yvonne and Duke Tancred at the New Globe Theatre this evening for the charity premiere of the new production Sphere Saga in aid of the Interstellar Red Cross.

---------------------------
January 03, 3094
FNS Live Event - Sphere Saga Charity Premiere Red Carpet Show

EXT. NEW GLOBE THEATRE, AVALON CITY - DUSK

FNS’s “Special Event” theme music plays as the show returns from an ad break.

An anchor desk built on an elevated platform overlooking the red carpet, which passes a cordoned-off public and media gallery to the grand entrance of the New Globe Theatre - fully five times larger than its original Terran namesake, and recently renovated and upgraded, post-jihad. The gallery is packed, and minor nobles are already processing up the carpet to take their places in the 3,000 seat holo-theatre within.

Sitting at the desk are OLIVER LaCOMBE, the tall, dark and handsome chief entertainment reporter for Federated News Services, and host for the red carpet show. Flanking him are the middle-aged SUSAN SEELEE, writer for Fashionista e-zine and the considerably more senior MARGOT CARDINAL, Royal Affairs correspondent for FNS.  All are dressed as if expecting to walk the carpet themselves.

A crawl across the bottom of the screen updates periodically with QuiComs from the audience.

Oliver LaCombe: Welcome back to the Red Carpet Show for the Charity premiere of Sphere Saga, the long-awaited maxi-series from Camus Ching. Just a reminder that Sphere Saga’s first two episodes will broadcast, back-to-back Sunday night - so keep watching!

Behind them, the public gallery erupts in cheers and shrieks, while camera flashes go off with increasing frequency.

QuiCom: Too many nobles, not enough stars so far #HeartTonyShand

OL: Looks like we have some more action on the red carpet - let’s go back to Lucille and Andreas.

Cut to:

EXT. RED CARPET - Where the petite Lucille Chandler and the tall Andreas Vlahos, themselves dressed to the nines, thin wand-microphones in their hands, prepped to conduct on-carpet interviews. Both are half-turned away from the camera, occasionally glancing down the length of the carpet to track their next subject, who’s doing the walk-and-wave.

Lucille Chandler: [raising her voice to be heard over the cheering] Thanks, Oliver! Marcus Ettard has just arrived with Tanya Pollux, and you can hear the reaction from the fans! I think Andreas has them now - yes he has. Andreas?

QC: Marielle’s dress was #fashionfail looked like dead avian

NEW ANGLE - On Andreas, who has corralled Marcus Ettard and his latest flame, singer Tanya Pollux. Ettard is dressed far more formally than usual, though with a touch of flair. The typical formal white, high collared shirt and black pants (tight in his case) are covered by a blue knee-length coat with black and gold trim. The black coat cuffs are slightly oversized, and shot through with intricate patterns in gold thread. Ettard has grown out his hair enough to secure in a ponytail, and added a neat goatee to match.

Tanya Pollux, rising star in the pop world, is wearing a strapless, blue, floor length dress that matches the shade of her date’s jacket - and her eyes, incidentally (thanks to contacts). The gold thread accents are more prominent here, and for a reason - beads of soft gold light travel along the threads in seemingly random fashion, making it look like tiny shooting stars are flashing across her dress.

Andreas Vlahos: Hello Marcus! Hello Tanya!

Marcus Etttard: Hi!

Tanya Pollux: Hi!

AV: How does it feel to be here tonight?

ME: This is amazing - just unbelievable!

AV: [pressing a hand to his earpiece] Our fashion commentator wants to know if you were both dressed by Rani Chandrasekar?

ME: Yeah - she did an amazing job didn’t she?

TP: [does a twirl on the carpet] We love you, Rani!

AV: Any truth to the rumours that Maxima del Piero has cast you in her next movie?

ME: If she has, I’m the last to know! But I’d love to work with her!

AV: And are you looking forward to meeting the Princess Regent?

ME: Oh, man - I’m freaking out a bit about that! Hey, I’m just a longboarding beachbum who got real lucky you know? I couldn’t even tell you the name of my local baron, and now I’m gonna come face to face with the ruler of the nation - It’s just wild

QC: Marcus & Tanya in matching outfits #tacky #codependent

AV: Okay - thanks for your time - congratulations again, and enjoy yourselves

ME & TP: Thank you!

AV: [turning back to camera] And that was Marcus Ettard and Tanya Pollux. I believe Lucille has someone else now - Lucille?

NEW ANGLE on Lucille Chandler who has Diana Rossiter. Diana is wearing a stunning figure-hugging floor-length red dress that nicely compliments her mocha-hued skin. Silver frosting-like sequins swirl around her shoulders and waist. Her hair is down, but contained by a matching silver-toned hairnet.

Beside her is her teenaged daughter, almost as tall as her mother, dressed in a white knee-length dress with a bolero jacket and matching heels and purse.

QC: Marcus and Tanya look like a #cutecouple

LC: Thanks Andreas - look who’s here - Diana Rossiter, how are you?

Diana Rossiter: Wonderful, Lucille. This is quite the crowd, isn’t it?

LC: I couldn’t agree more. Tell me, who designed your dress?

DR: This is a PhanRic creation.

LC: Wow! How many dresses did you try on before this one?

DR: I think this was the tenth one - so it didn’t take too long.

QC: #TanyaPollux will be gone tomorrow and #MarcusEttard will have someone else, so all you #MarcEfans can chill

LC: Well, it’s stunning. What did you enjoy most about making Sphere Saga?

DR: Oh, just the chance to work with some wonderful people, in front of and behind the camera.

LC: And how do you feel about being meeting the Princess Regent?

DR: It’s a great honour. I think it’s wonderful that she’s coming out to see our show, and help us raise money for the Interstellar Red Cross.

LC: Well, I hope you have a wonderful evening - thank you for your time, Diana. [turns back to camera] Back to you, Oliver.

CUT TO: Anchor Desk. You can actually see Diana Rossiter moving on down the red carpet in the background, trailed by camera flashes.

OL: Thanks Lucille, and Andreas. So that’s pretty much the whole cast, and now we’re just standing by for the arrival of the Royal Party.

AV: [voiceover] Oliver, if I can just break in here for a second -

NEW ANGLE - split screen - anchor desk on left, Andreas and Lucille on right - they are actually walking off the red carpet.

OL: Yes, go ahead, Andreas.

QC: Got my fashion fix for the month. Roll on the #Rennies LOL

AV: As you can see, we’re being moved into the media area now by the Guardsmen, so the arrival of the Princess Regent and Heir are now imminent.

OL: Thank you, Andreas. [screen returns to anchor desk only]. Susan, before the royals get here, can I quickly ask you what you thought of the fashions on display here this evening?

Susan Seelee: I think we witnessed an interesting trend here tonight, Oliver, a generational change, if you will. There’s a growing number of interstellar designers represented on the red carpet. Now, I’m as much a “FedSuns First” gal as anyone, but it’s wonderful to see the work of these geniuses from outside the realm - Chaim Manuel, Wei Sung, PhanRic, and the others. Wei Sung, in particular, I’ve missed, and I think he was too harshly penalized for something that wasn't even his fault.

OL: You're referring to his designs being a favourite of the former So-called Archon Princess?

SS: Yes. It's unfortunate that he became tarred by association - if I can mix metaphors there -

Margot Cardinal: I think it works, actually.

SS: - when he had no control over his customer base, as it were. So it's nice to see three of his gowns on show, here, two of them being worn by nobles.

OL: Thank you, Susan. Margot, any thoughts on the turnout of nobles for this event?

MG: It’s pretty much the usual flock that shows up whenever the Princess Regent is around. Surprisingly few have come from off-world, but then again it’s too close to New Years - they’re probably staying close to their estates. But it is a measure of how prestigious this event is that virtually every Duke, Duchess, Earl, Marquessa, Baron and Baroness on-planet is here tonight. I believe the Interstellar Red Cross will be very pleased with the turnout.

OL: Yes, the latest figures we have are a total of two and a half million Pounds pledged to the cause, and of course we await the tally from the silent auction - and I’m hearing that the royal motorcade is approaching -

NEW ANGLE: same split screen arrangement as before, the right hand window showing a High-angle shot of four hoverlimos coming down a cleared boulevard, flanked by motorcycles with security cars front and back - the whole procession nearly thirty vehicles in all, including an ambulance, pursuit lights flashing on the security vehicles. This view expands to fill the whole screen. Faint cheering from the crowd can be heard in the background.

OL: [VO, continuing] - and here they come.

NEW ANGLE: Medium-high angle on the start of the red carpet as the second hoverlimo pulls up and settles, its rear door precisely flanked by two privates of the First Royal Davion Infantry Regiment. A corporal of the same regiment opens the limo door smartly as his colleagues throw parade-ground-perfect salutes.

Princess Regent Yvonne Davion climbs out of the limo, clad in a dark cream gown and shrug. A minimalist tiara sits atop her hair, which although still distinctly red, has noticeably lightened in shade over the years. The roar from the crowd goes up a gear as she emerges, and ratchets up again as she throws a wave to the assembled throng.

OL: And there she is, Princess Regent Yvonne Davion.

SS: Her gown is from the studio of her favourite designer, Nicola Suleyman.

MC: And she is wearing the Stuart Tiara, which was created for Paul Davion’s wife, Elise Stuart in 2831 - an interesting choice since she usually wears the Melissa Tiara created for her mother by Amberley & Sons.

OL: Here comes Duke Sandoval.

Coming out next is her consort, Duke Tancred Sandoval. Still a formidable figure despite his 74 years, he has chosen to wear his military uniform befitting his status as the titular commander of the Robinson Rangers. Twenty years older than his wife, he gives almost no sign of the difference in age. If you’re sharp, you may notice that although he carries his cane when walking, in the fashion of nobles of his generation, he immediately leans upon it when stopped.

MC: Ah yes, making quite the statement with the uniform. He rarely wears it outside of military functions anymore, so I wonder if there’s a message here.

SS: It might be about how striking he looks! He’s got the breastplate on and everything. And are those spurs?

MC: Indeed - reminding everyone he’s a MechWarrior. Oh - there they go.

The First Couple of the Federated Suns process arm-in-arm up the centre of the red carpet, between lines of First Royal Davion Infantry Regiment troopers (facing in), alternating with business-suited security agents (facing out).

Meanwhile, the fourth hoverlimo has pulled up to the carpet, and the saluting drill is repeated as Prince Harrison Davion, alights, then turns to offer his arm to Lady Isabella Hasek. Both younger nobles receive their own round of cheers, noticeably higher in pitch. They are popular with the younger generation.

SS: Well - look at that. Prince Harrison is actually in Court Dress!

OL: You have to admit - he doesn’t look very comfortable!

MC: He’s not noted for his love of formality, that’s for sure! Hopefully this is sign of growing maturity - which I might add, seems to have started when he started seeing Lady Isabelle.

Lady Isabelle takes Prince Harrison’s arm as they follow his parents up the carpet. She is dressed in a flowing ice-blue gown cut along classical lines.

OL: Speaking of whom, do you have any information on Lady Isabelle’s dress, Susan?

SS: Yes, Oliver, I do. She’s been dressed by Yasmine Krueger, an up-and-coming designer who’s selling out all over the Capellan March - remember that name, folks. The dress is meant to be a tribute to the styles of the Terran Hegemony during Simon Cameron’s reign.

OL: Thanks Susan - you might just have sent the UniNet into meltdown as fashionistas everywhere start Scrying “Yasmine Krueger”.

At the top of the red carpet, Princess Yvonne and Duke Tancred enter the Globe.

OL: And the royal couple have just entered the theatre. We take you now inside to the Atrium -

CUT TO: INT Globe Atrium - a grand foyer lit by a combination of natural and artificial light. A long line of cast and crew are assembled at one side. The air overhead is filled with a holo-poster for Sphere Saga - overlaid on a cracked Cameron Star are a slowly changing procession of character portraits and images from the series.

OL: (VO, cont’d) - and here we see - my goodness, is that Camus Ching at the front of the line?

AV: (VO) I do believe it is, Oliver! We can see him from the media corral here! He just stepped out from a side door just before the Princess-Regent entered the building!

OL: Well, this is a remarkable day - there was speculation that Ching wouldn’t even show up for this, and here he is...

On screen, Ching steps out of line to approach the royal couple, makes a formal bow, and engages in conversation with Princess Yvonne and Duke Tancred for a minute or so, then leads them to the receiving line, where Deenah Muskovoy is the first in line.

-------------------------
Extract from Reliving it, Almost: Behind the Scenes of Sphere Saga by Livingston Anderson. Pub. Avalon Press, 3105

The night of the Charity Premiere was a bittersweet one for me.

On the professional front, it was a triumph. We raised over five million pounds for the Interstellar Red Cross. The audience cheered, gasped and applauded at all the right places. And since Hassan Fasil, in one of his last public outings,  had the seat next to mine, I had the satisfaction of watching him receive his deserved recognition for the fine work he did to help us flesh out even those characters who would only briefly grace the screen.

On the personal front, the fact that Hassan had the seat next to mine clearly underlined who wasn’t there - Luther. It had all become too much for him in October. I had staggered home at 3AM from yet another marathon editing session to find his things gone, and a long letter on the dining room table. It’s still painful to recall the contents, mostly because they were true.

I wasn’t around anymore. Everything was about Sphere Saga. I talked, ate, slept the show. There had been too many broken commitments, too many weekends at the office. Luther didn’t know the new Livingston. He didn’t like the new Livingston. This new Livingston was completely fulfilled by the new dreamboat in town - Sphere Saga, and Luther was tired of competing against it, and losing.

It was a damning indictment. Anyone who’s involved with a writer of any form has my sincere respect and sympathies. They’re always sharing our attention with some other world or milieu that only exists in our imaginations, listening to people who don’t exist, and always, always insecure because it’s so damned difficult to know if you’ve done good work. I’ve written scripts that I thought were irredeemable rubbish, only to watch actors and directors elevate the material to unexpected heights. I’ve also had scripts that I thought were solid turn to guano on the screen. It’s enough to give you a complex, and our partners have to live with it. Once again, I salute you.

Believe me, I did try to get Luther back. My first attempt was at 3:30AM when I found him at his sister’s place. That conversation (I use the term loosely) did not go well. By year’s end, though, we’d reached an agreement to divorce amicably at the first available opportunity. In fact, I’d received the first draft of the agreement from his attorney just before getting on the ship for New Avalon.

So I was not exactly in the best frame of mind when I boarded. Livy and her husband, Nikolai noticed, and they made sure I did more than just lock myself in my cabin to revise scripts on the trip. They made sure I mingled, got me drunk so I could talk and cry, and made sure I got back to my cabin in one piece. I owe them for that.

As for the Charity Premiere itself - well, what a circus. It actually began almost as soon as we landed on New Year’s Day. Briefings from the studio about press commitments (us writers got off lightly - just one collective panel interview and three solos each. Piotr, Tony, Harrison and Diana did upwards of two hundred interviews between them that day). Fittings for our suits and dresses. Briefings from the Interstellar Red Cross about their work and how we’d be helping them (which led to Harrison’s infamous quip about the Star league Reconstruction Project). Very serious Security Briefing from a Very Serious AFFS Leftenant-Colonel. Unintentionally hilarious protocol briefing from a (also very serious) senior Lady-in-waiting to the Princess Regent. Despite her best efforts, out of the Writers’ High Council, only Cal correctly executed the bow-shake-greet routine correctly on the night, not that it seemed to bother the Princess Regent and the Duke when they got to us in the line.

I know I talked briefly with all the royals on the line, but don’t remember what I said. It’s an intimidating thing to come face-to-face with your sovereign, and I will admit to being amused to see even Camus and Tony stumble a bit as they interacted with the royal party.

By some sort of luck, I was assigned to a box in the Circle from where I only had to turn my head slightly to observe the Royal Box. Now, for all I knew, the Princess Regent’s taste in entertainment might have run to adolescent comedies instead of historical epics, and, yes, in the final analysis, her singular opinion of Saga would not be that important, but it was still gratifying to see that she enjoyed the two episodes screened that night. I noticed her paying particular attention to the scenes where Amaris and Kerensky vie for the ear and heart of Richard Cameron - echoes of her own past perhaps? I can only speculate. Duke Tancred found the battle scenes most convincing. I know because he told Colonel Snord at the reception, and she passed it on to me. Only Prince Harrison seemed distracted during the screening, but I figured that three out of four wasn’t bad, and chose to let the glass be half full.

I’d be lying if I told you how wonderful the post-screening reception and after parties were. My main goal was to get drunk quickly. Most of us were taking the opportunity to blow off steam and celebrate together. Intellectually, we knew we were only a third of the way through - at least four more hard years lay ahead. But what we’d achieved to this point deserved recognition.

Never mind my marriage breakup - every member of the cast and crew had been having an affair with this Siren of a production for at least two years now - most longer. It had had first call on our time, talents and minds. For the first time, we could let those of us who had partners join in, a little. Toasts were made to Camus, to each other, to the show, to partners. Hassan let us use his wheelchair as a drinks trolley to more efficiently reload our alcohol of choice. Deenah and Livy somehow convinced everyone to jump into the hotel pool, fully clothed. Someone took a unique group photo that still has a place of pride in my home.

The next afternoon, when my hangover allowed it, I read the first of the reviews, and my insecurity vanished for the moment.

Roll on Season 2.