| APAGear II Archives | Volume 1, Number 1 | December, 1998 |
Howdy!
Here we are at last. Welcome to the first issue of APAGear II! Remarkably, we seem to have pulled it off, despite the fact that we started it about a week into December and had our first deadline right smack at the tail end of a common Western winter holiday season. Swell! I'm pretty happy about that, personally.
The real test will be to see if we can have as successful an issue next month as well, huh? (*^_^*)
So what do we have this month?
As you no doubt know by now, either from reading the front page where I declare it at the top or by being a member of the APA and having heard me mention it over and over, this issue is a special "theme" issue. We'll be having such special theme issues periodically, every 3 months. The motivation behind these "theme" issues is to drag us out of potential mire, to start a fire under our butts, to give us a potentially new pool of ideas for writing when we reach that inevitable wall: "What the hell am I going to write about this month?!?"
The theme for this month is the pre-history of Terra Nova. We explore here in these pages the events that took place in the Heavy Gear universe prior to the start of the War of Alliance. Scott Blow, aka Trapper, takes a look at the theft of the Hunter prototype by the South. Candy Man takes us to Caprice after the Human Concordat pulled away from the colonies (but before the CEF reclaimed Caprice). Damen DeLeenheer introduces us to a Sous-Sergent in charge of a bunch of green cadets just as the first CEF hovertanks arrive on Terra Nova. Jason English throws the overall theme to the wind and introduces us to the Badlands community of Coronado, home of his Hong Kong Cavaliers regiment and which was at least founded prior to the War of Alliance. Alistair Gillies presents us with the introduction to a scholorly historical document about the Judas Syndrome. John Guilfoyle takes a look at a family torn apart by the Concordat's withdrawl from Terra Nova and the rest of the Colonies. Rick Horton and a small team of scientists explore early Terra Nova. Lloyd Jessee, aka Jesster, introduces us to a family that missed the last transports off of Terra Nova just after the Concordat withdrew. Janne Kemppi gives us a short vignette set during the Judas Syndrome. Buji Kern provides us with a glimpse of the moments right before Umberto Harris pulls the very first "Harris." Olethros looks at Markus Tannhauser's graduate school days. Finally, Christian Schaller (hey, that's me!) takes us all the way from Earth to Portal with Elido Carlomagnes and the crew of the HCS Keldysh on the first piloted Gatedrive flight.
Juicy, is it not?
Incidently, to give credit where it's definitely due, I picked up the idea of having theme issues from Lucien Soulban's "On The Ball" column that appeared on Dream Pod 9's Website. It's his November 27, 1998 article. The same article, of course, was partially the motivation for firing up APAGear a second time. Thanks, Lucien!
One final word: Many of this month's stories involve official Heavy Gear characters (Umberto Harris, Markus Tannhauser, and Elido Carlomagnes, for instance) and/or official major events. Nevertheless, it's important to remember that this work is completely unofficial and not endorsed by DP9 in any way. It's likely that the creators of these characters and events had entirely different ideas about how they would develop.
That's enough blabbering for this month. I remain, as always,
Your Vaguely Humble Servant,
Christian Schaller
APAGear II Distribution Manager
This month's Keener Award goes to Damen DeLeenheer, who sent his story in on December 16, 1998. Yow! The runner-up is Scott Blow, from December 17. To what does the receipt of the Keener Award entitle you? Fame and bragging rights. The runner-up only gets fame.
Who or what exactly is a "keener"? It's a bit of Canadian English slang. A "keener" is "someone who is keen or eager," according to Guilfoyle's Concise E-Mail Dictionary of Canadian Slang, the 1999 edition.
Ooh! A cheap-ass lame contest!
That's right, ladies and gentlemen! Be the very first person to send the less-than-humble APAGear II distribution manager the answers to the following questions, and you'll win...practically nothing! All you'll really get is dubious fame and a mention in next issue's House Organ.
The questions:
| APAGear II Archives | Volume 1, Number 1 | December, 1998 |
Heavy Gear is © 1998, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. APAGear is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.