Star Traders: Shadow of Shalun: Chapter One

Last Post before the Full Launch

Production isn't as fast as I've been wanting, mainly real life baloney that is distracting and very taxing on my abilities. I suppose if I were a professional artist working on a deadline I'd just cowboy up. But as I'm ever aware- I'm firmly rooted to an amateur status.

Anyway. The Cover Page to the Webcomic prologue is complete. I'm not going to release it until the launch, but I made two promotional images based on the cover. Speaking of launch, How I would like to do it here is each chapter will have its own thread, and every subsequent page in the chapter will post to that thread every week or two- hopefully. Unfortunately I cant post it at a size that will be legible because the sidebar text gets in the way, and clicking on the images displays a slideshow of the images at the same smaller size only. So I might not be able to even post it here. Comments at any rate, will be as per a typical fanfiction on the Captain's Log forum.

I joined the SmackJeeves webhosting site which is geared to webcomics. Its bittersweet because its very plain without a custom website code structure. Which I haven't a clue how to do. I had wanted to include the Star Traders logo, and website imagery like I donated to this site as well as adverts that take readers right to the games themselves. But I'm just a content man. So anyone who's interested, I welcome any help.

Meet the Crews

Now that I'm done with the pre-production work- most of which is developing costumes, character likenesses and personality/backgrounds and all the equipment, I can finally get down to the production to chapter one. Its completely written out, and though I have a rough idea of where I want to go with the plot, I'm keeping chapters two onward nice and loose. I don't really have any examples yet of how the comic will look, having just started cobbling together the cover page, but that brings up another problem: I have only an 8.5x11 scanbed.

Anyone that draws knows that its best to draw as large as you can to minimize errors and preserve details on smaller pages. What I'm having to do is come up with a virtual page and each piece of 8.5x11 paper represents one panel on the page- less if its a large piece with lots of different images inside it.

Alright, without further ado, lets meet the main ships and more importantly- their crews:

Other characters:

Work Study: Templar Spear Cutter

I thought pre-production was done- then I remembered that I needed to work up a conveyance for the Templar squad. Knowing a bit of Shalun Law and some of its tenets, I don't think they're big fans of automation, necessitating a crew. The Cutter has three decks, a twin shuttle bay, cargo and vehicle ramps and retractable docking collars. Weapons come in the form of quad torpedo tubes along the forward centerline and retractable dorsal and ventral guns in the wedge-shaped section forward of the bridge.

Work Study: Leviathan Powered Armor

At the risk of revealing part of the plot, I needed to put together a technical model of the Leviathan suit, so here it is. Eventually I will need to add a view of it open for Egress the way I did with the Samson suit. The Leviathan will open similarly from the front,: the difference being the helmet must be removed first before the torso glacis plate raises up over the head. I may also add a detachable Manned Maneuver Unit pack that mounts over the standard power and atmo pack. I think I read that the Leviathans use miniaturized void reactors as a power source so I thought to include them, the reactor shielding, coolant and 12 hour air supply to the service pack- with perhaps a 30 minute backup supply of atmo in the suit itself.

This is the standard suit: the scout suit looking functionally identical but less bulky. Andrew's helmet's for the scout and Neptune are detailed enough that I didn't really need to work them out.

Cephalic Courier 4

Cephalic Courier

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG
Written by shards

Trese Brothers Forums

Here goes nothing.

My name is Calico Hotomatsu. I work for Cyberdyne Medical Tech. This is my job. I am supposed to be here.
Walk through front door. Say hi to security guard. Ignore the gun don't pay attention to the gun. Place clipboard on the conveyer belt, followed by a pack of gum, four paper clips and a pile of lint. Turn out my pockets in front of the guard. I unhook my ExecuTazer from the complementary leg harness it came with and add it to the pile, flash the cam my permit. Calico's permit.
I had to leave my DX4 at home. I feel naked. How I'm going to hack into anything from anywhere I have no idea.

Cephalic Courier 3

Cephalic Courier

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG
Written by shards

Trese Brothers Forums

"I don't like it."
"That's fine, Clive. I don't pay you to like it."
Scorpion solemnly cleaned his rifle.
We were camped out at Kate's in the shadow of the I-93 in the one place the corps couldn't touch: The anarchic and iconic Free Streets of the NBZ. Amidst the turbulence and oppression of gang violence and corp wars, one stretch of New Boston had managed to carve out a little segment of autonomy and free rule; but not without bullets, and not without blood.

Cephalic Courier 2

Cephalic Courier

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG
Written by shards

Trese Brothers Forums

"Bacto," I say, slipping into a booth in the back of the Killing Naga club. A raise of the eyebrows tells him I've uncovered some dirt on Yakashima. I'm still a little sore from the ambush a few days ago. It seems unlikely to me that it was a setup- but somebody wasn't guarding their information well enough, and it nearly got my runner killed. That deserved retribution.

Cephalic Courier 1

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG
Written by shards

Trese Brothers Forum

2:30am and I'm wired on cramshot. There's a quantum cryptochip fused to my spine that is in turn wetwired to an internal circuit complex containing a metric slagtonne of Yakashima paydata. And there's three guys following me.

Custom Star Traders forum avatars

A mix of Game officers, web comic characters and equipment models for the comic.

Work Study: Weapons, Support and Ground Vehicles

The Multi-purpose Armored All-terrain Vehicle- model Five is a House Thulun light military armored rover with a wide range of features and highly imported in both military and commercial/civilian markets throughout the quadrant. Armored access panels for the engine, sensors, and environmental control systems protect vital components. An air-tight door separates the two-person cab from the rear compartment, which can seat five (or two in powered armor) and allows either to function as an airlock. Emergency gear and provisions are stored under each seat or in floor compartments. Tools for field repairs can be found in armored wheel hubs and in lockers under the front doors. Emergency hatches are installed in the roof above either front seat. An 'open' turret can be installed above the front 'shotgun' side emergency hatch with a pintle mount for a light support weapon. A rear hatch allows access to the rear compartment, and an optional main turret can carry light support cannon, missiles, and so on.

The Outlander Haegan

This is one of the short stories that I wrote for the Heroes of Steel KickStarter.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tresebrothers/heroes-of-steel-fantasy-rpg

Andrew

===

Hagaen’s loping pace was irregular compared to the orderly unit of soldiers moving along the road. He trotted to his own tune, moving ahead a little and then lagging behind. Sometimes he was ahead to look over the next rise in the cavern floor and other times falling back to watch for danger. Always he kept at a distance, maybe eighty paces, shadowing their progress through the rough and uneven territory. It was not proper scouting, Haegen knew. However, they had not hired him for scouting, nor sneaking nor for hiding. They had hired the Outlander for muscle, for the two short blades he kept drawn as he trotted along, but more importantly for the warhammer he kept slung across his back.

Work Study: Cadar Cruiser, Shuttle, and Goblin

The Cadar Standard is a military-grade utility shuttle for Cadar's navy. Usually armed with a turret or fixed weapons and features a pair of oversized engines, allowing easy boost to orbit. However its lack of wings makes for poor low altitude and low speed performance outside its hover mode provided by six vertical thrusters. The shuttle's normal crew is two with folding seating for an additional ten. The payload bay is modular, allowing for a wide variety of additional roles, from cargo and personnel ferry to electronic warfare jammer to ELINT.

The Goblin is a sublight extra-atmospheric light shuttle with a crew of two, fold-out seating for an additional 8, and can carry up to five tons of cargo into orbit. A pair of retractable wings provides stability and maneuverability in atmosphere. The cargo compartment is separate from the small cabin, and can be depressurized as an airlock. Usually carries a single fuel cell-driven 4-wheel ATV and 2 weeks worth of emergency air, survival rations and water for the crew as well as survival E-suits under the seats. Sanda's Slay carries one Goblin-class shuttle which is armed with a pair of 20mm Gauss rifles.

Other Fan Art: BattleTech

Work on the big webcomic is coming along nice but slowly. To tide people over- and to keep traffic going here I thought I would show some work I've done before that some of you might recognize.

BattleTech

Leopard class dropships

Star Traders Teeshirts and Promo Work

Thank goodness for the NSSDC Photo Library for their space photographs. Always high rez, and public domain. Combining a few elements offers a detailed but just plain enough image to make the Officers from Star Traders stand out. Apologies to Andrew for taking a few liberties- particularly with the pilot, but I don't think it turned out too bad.

Turns on a Dime: 3

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Star Traders RPG
Written by Travail

Trese Brothers Forum

11.

We swung around P9 X245 in a smartly executed orbital insertion that had us lose almost none of our momentum, and allowed us to break around the star and reach orbit at Cadar Prime in mere minutes. Before we finished the slingshot maneuver, I met with my officers at the escape shuttle.

Turns on a Dime: 2

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Star Traders RPG
Written by Travail

Trese Brothers Forum

6.

Took a while, but I got back to Javat Prime, finally. And in a Tiberia Dark, too. Got back to the green, gave the crew leave, and put her in dry dock. I had more credits than some Princes by now. Hell, I had it all: credits, crew, officers, ships, respect. But I kept seeing all those pinched faces I'd left in pillaged ships in the dark of my cabin, and when I closed my eyes. I'd gotten so far from home, and even farther from that kid who'd inherited Da's Vark and couldn't wait to space in it... Felt like I'd lost him somewhere across the countless time between stars, leaving only me.

Turns on a Dime: 1

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Star Traders RPG
Written by Travail

Trese Brothers Forum

1.

I remember the day Da told me he'd never be spacing again. "Too many rads in the big empty, Trav. Not only does it eat away at ya, it don't stop. But you don't need no dying pap to tell you what to do and what not to, and you don't got enough smarts to stay on a dirtball and marry. What you need is a ship..."

Work Study: Sanda's Slay

The 'Manta done, I'm now working on the other main ship; a Danti Cautela class ship called Sanda's Slay. Being about twice the size of the 'Manta, the Slay has about 40 officers and crew, five gun turrets using quad gauss rifle arrays, three torpedo tubes, two decks, a hangar bay with a Goblin class shuttle, and a garage with four MAATVs (Multi-Axle All Terrain Vehicles). I will be designing the Shuttle and MAATVs the same way I have the ships. The flash on the dorsal section is a personal flair. Its the skull of a reindeer with the antlers forming a human skull.

Work Study: Verge Manta

I've decided to go ahead with pre-production for a Star Traders webcomic. This is pretty involved, with LOTS of drawings of different pieces of equipment, characters, etc to show me how things are supposed to look. So don't look for it anytime soon. Also writing an outline and script since its going to be done more or less like a real comic (hopefully). I won't be doing full model sheets for EVERY ship or vehicle but the main or "hero" elements have views from every angle it could be viewed from.

The first model sheet is for a noncanon ship I'm introducing to the Shalunverse. If Andrew would like to eventually include it to the ship compliment,by all  means. But It's not really necessary. The Verge Manta is a small ship outfitted to be one sneaky sumbitch. Its main drawback is that its unique. No one that encounters it will have seen anything like it before. There are reasons for this that will be revealed later on.

The 'Manta has two torpedo tubes and a pair of forward firing weapons. The leading edges of the wings fold upwards on landing, which it accomplishes via hovering with the nozzles of its sublight engines pivoted downward and opening a pair of ventral ducts in the forward port and starboard side. The class has a nominal compliment and berthing for ten.

Old Photoshop Work- Definitely Star Traders-esque

Was going through my old Photobucket and IMVU profile today and found some work I did for a roll playing game a few years back. If I go with Fallen's musings for a web comic I could definitely use some of this, especially the first two.

First is a Deck diagram for a starship. Its a bridge forward design. Actually its a tad small for a bridge, it has a cockpit. There are a number of Traders ships I can use this layout for. 

Acid

Acid, a short story inspired by the world of Star Traders, written by Jr8825. Spido will return soon!
----
The starport bustled with activity, throngs of ships lifting up into the crimson sky, their sails drowning the scene in a flood of billowing white. Crates overflowing with spices, plants and vudka sat unattended as sailors in their immaculate uniforms chatted idly on the quayside. In the corner officials stood, inspecting the goods before waving the merchants on towards the crowded trading districts. And at the heart of the scene the Pride of Thulun sat proudly, perched at her berth – poised for lift-off; her massive quad-engines and menacing gun emplacements gleaming threateningly for all to see. Beneath that the…
Plop.

ART DUMP: Big Stuff

Before I get into the weekly or bi-weekly updates on the works of the Great Shalun, I'm going to fill in some related work in themes until I feel I have enough complete work for the Trese games to start doing weekly submissions or taking requests for illustrations by the writers. If by some miracle we hit it off and become really popular or  find the time, I may try my luck at single panel comics. What humor I have I'm probably not articulate enough to mesh with artwork so it will most likely be serious drama or focused on marketing. like the Atari Force back in the early 80s. (By Grabthar's Hammer did I just date myself)

That out of the way, This week I'm being an attention whore gathering interest to the site so I'm dropping big splash page type work for different things:

Here is a sub-orbital shot of a pair of gryhon strike fighters in full burn. Gryphons are a multi-role heavy fighter that can pound surface targets, haul anti-ship missiles (space or otherwise), perform combat aerospace patrols, and other roles.

 

Data Kill: 4. Hearts in the Darkness

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG 
Written by Paxdad

Trese Brothers Forum
Discussion Thread


Data Kill: 4. Hearts in the Darkness
The Matrix
02:48:42.42, 03/02/2217

Dat’s bloodhound program returned a hit in just under one minute. He smiled and thought, “You may have some moves, but your stealth is for shit!”

His mind slipped across the current to the IP address at the speed of thought and caught sight of the whisp of smoke that was Sl1p’s avatar. Dat was uneasy about how simple it had been to locate the offending deck. No cyberknight should have been picked up that fast. He was wary, he had no intention of getting caught unawares again. He was fully cloaked, his sys scan was running a constant battery of system checks, and his most lethal programs were primed. Amature night was over and DAT was ready to burn this chummer down.

Data Kill: 3. Blood Sweat and Tears

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG 
Written by Paxdad

Trese Brothers Forum
Discussion Thread


Data Kill: 3. Blood Sweat and Tears
Bay Street Mission
Roxbury Crossing
03:03:13.05, 03/02/2217

Dixon maneuvered through darkness, smoke, and screams. Static discharges over his command net implant echoed the staccato bursts from Blazer’s auto pistol, his primary weapon long since exhausted. He was pinned down at a T junction in the halls on the 120th floor of the Oetker-Deutschland building with what was left of his team. “Say again Whiskey Base, over!”

Data Kill: 2. By a Thread

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games
Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG 
Written by Paxdad

Trese Brothers Forum
Discussion Thread 


Data Kill: 2. By a Thread
Commonwealth Projects
09:12:42.98, 03/01/2217
The previous day...

“I thought I told you to never show your face in this part of town again you fracking maricón!” Every other word that Trituradora spoke was punctuated with his fist. “You’re lucky I left my chrome knuckles at home cabron!” Trituradora, was typical of the Los Val wanna be’s that this neighborhood bred by the dozen. Khaki shorts worn low, wife beater tank, and a big 85 tatted on his neck. Ever since the Los Valentinos gang took over, the Commonwealth Zone had become one of it’s gladiator academies. The weaker local gangs swore allegiance to LV, but still kicked eachothers asses whenever the opportunity presented itself. Sl1p’s head rocked back, he was vaguely aware of a ringing sound, then heard some muffled voices speaking spanish in the lowrider on the street. 

Data Kill: 1. D@ily Gr1nd

An ongoing story serially posted at the forum for Trese Brother's Games Set in the world of Cyber Knights RPG 
Written by Paxdad Trese Brothers Forum Discussion Thread Data Kill: 1. D@ily Gr1nd Liberty Square D@ily Gr1nd Espresso Bar Public Data Hub 12.2.423.5 02:46:34.10, 03/02/2217 The smell of espresso, the hiss of steam and the bustle of the cafe surrounded DAT. This was his idea of hiding in plain sight. Blend in with the Domers, constantly on the move, prowling the streets for action, what was one more sack of meat in the crowd, right? This same philosophy dominated his hacking as well. Blend in with the countless harmless terabytes of data, ghost off of public hubs and portals, run down the encrypted pathways of Darknet, out of sight out of mind his parents used to tell him. It may not have been scientific but it tended to keep the heat off, and had kept him alive this long. Tonight he had been busy, he’d ripped several B class Corps, with C class security before they’d even known he was there, then turned around and sold the paydata to the highest bidder almost as fast. Now he was just monitoring traffic killing time on a Friday night.

The Braeys Warder

This is one of the short stories that I wrote for the Heroes of Steel KickStarter.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tresebrothers/heroes-of-steel-fantasy-rpg

Andrew

===

The Braeys Warder

Graith woke again to the screaming. For the third night in a row, he lay still in the warmth of his bed and strained to listen. It was just the wind howling off the glacier. Was it not? No, that was a human voice. He sat up right and the icy air swept around his old body. It was only the wind in the rocks. “Just the wind,” he grumbled, but he dragged himself out of bed and into the cold expanse of stone that was his room. Stiffly, he pulled on clothes, a jacket, and a heavy cloak. By the time he had finished dressing in the dark, the wind had calmed and the screaming had stopped.

Fan Fiction Coming Soon

Look forward to fan fiction and fan art coming from the Trese Brothers RPG community!

Join the community forum:
http://startradersrpg.proboards.com/

Try out our games on your Android, iPhone or iPad:

Age of Pirates
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tresebrothers.games.ageofpiratesrpg

Star Traders
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.corytrese.games.startraders
App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-traders-rpg/id528949262?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Templar Assault
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tresebrothers.games.templars&hl=en

Cyber Knights
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tresebrothers.games.cyberknights