What Was"The Two Decades War"?
Circa 2940, right after the Alliance's final epic struggle against the Chotan Empire, a new threat emerged: The Crysallis. What sparked the conflict may be chalked up to a lack of understanding of Crysallian politics. More to the point, the Crysallis were a threat mainly because they had no home to call their own, and no central seat of government. As a result, treaties formed with one regional commander were disregarded or not even passed along to others. Most of the time, you never knew which version of the Crysallis you were getting. To humans, this was no new thing as the Crysallis more and more resembled the old "Yankee Traders" who were little more than pirates and thugs whoring their services out to whomever would give them supplies, shelter and the means to keep their ragtag space fleet operational as it was their only true home. The Crysallis observed no Interstellar laws, regarded nobody's authority except that of their own commanders, and actually seemed baffled by the concept of a "homeworld" as their own world of origin was destroyed countless generations ago. A common epitath of the Crysallis is "Great Statues of Old!", which is ironic because nobody alive has ever seen the ancient statues since they were distroyed along with their planet of origin.

After a few years of this going on, the United States Alliance sent in the Navy to attempt to "regulate" Crysallis behavior. For political reasons, an arbitrary "border" was created to seperate "us" from "them" in a further attempt to curb their acts of mercenary and piracy. After numerous failures in the struggle to curtail their illicit activities, Congress declared war on "All Crysallis Everywhere, Regardless of Allegiance", and thus began one of the most costly conflicts in Alliance history. At this point it may be relevant to note that the Alliance was completely unaware that the Crysallis had no homeworld. They were completely unprepared for the guerrilla war tactics the Crysallis employed, and they defended their ships with such vehemence and violence that the Alliance lost several battles early in the war due to the ferociousness of the attacks. Of course, the Alliance's fatal mistake was that they did not know their enemy going in: had they known that the Crysallis' ships WERE their homes, they would have made Capital Ships their primary targets.

The War came to an Armistice when the Crysallis, nearing advantage and pressing the Alliance against the wall, suddenly declared peace. Nobody is sure why, but one thing is for certain: if the Crysallis were a ragtag bunch of space vagabonds before the war, they most certainly are not, now. The war actually caused the disperate factions of the Crysallis to unite under one banner for the first time in countless generations. Their confederation is now referred to by the entity "The Crysallian Collective" and their ships-of-the-line are graceful and elegant starcruisers that look like intricately grown crystals. The Alliance, although currently at armistice with the newly recognized government of the Crysallis, maintains a Threat Level 3 against the Crysallis on a scale of 5.
Who Are The Crysallis?
The enigmatic Crysallis are a graceful and simultaneously deadly race. While outwardly humanoid, they have some rather significant biological differences. Most notably the crystaline growths emerging from the joints of their bodies. This gives even a nude Crysallis the appearance of being adorned like an ancient Pharaoh of Egypt. Their skin is primarily earthen tones and because of their peculiar evolutionary path, are extremely resistent to heat. They are also highly resistant to brute force attacks and frequently use their own bodies as a weapon. The emotional state of a typical Crysallis is difficult to ascertain by human standards as they do not wear their emotions openly to outsiders. Instead, one can observe the emotions of the Crysallis by noting the color of the crest of crystals on their foreheads, which normally a serene and almost melancholy state of purple, turn a bright fuscha and even stray into the pink side of the spectrum if they are agitated or otherwise emotionally stressed. Excited emotions such as joy, passion and so on, also have this effect on them as it raises their mean body temperature, thus causing the "crystalline flush" that many Alliance diplomats have come to know so well when they catch the Crysallis in a fib.

It is interesting to note that during the "Two Decades War", a considerable number of Crysallis remained affable towards the Alliance and even helped the Alliance against the other clans. This resulted in a lot of unions between Crysallis and the various allies of the Alliance. A lot of Alliance citizens harbor ill feelings towards these hybrids following the logic that one should not trust a people willing to kill their own kind. Of course, to the rational mind, this ideology is absurd, considering humans have been slaughtering each other since the proverbial Dawn of Time.

Crysallis do mate for life as many humans do. However, their marital unions tend to be considerably more open than humans. This is a common trait they share with the highly mysterious Zendosians, and as a result, Crysallis/Zendosian pairings are almost inseperable.
What's the Deal With Mercadian Clothes? (or Lack Therof...)

The Mercadians (or "Mrr'Kkaedians" in their native tongue) are a felinoid race and as such have fur coats covering most of their bodies including their genetalia (which is not really exposed in the sense of humanoid reproductive parts) and as such have little to no need for any kind of clothing or body coverings except in the most inclement weather. This is not to say that the Mercadians have absolutely no sense of modesty, but that pertains to what they are doing at the moment in question. Simply nudity does not phase them at all. The only thing that phases a Mercadian while nude is being caught in the middle of a sexual act. To Mercadians, sex requires the lowering of all barriers and placing complete trust in their partner. This is due to their status as a predator. The old instincts are still there and Mercadian history is replete with examples of cats being assasinated while in the throes of passion. So many have asked me why I keep drawing them ["them" being the major characters] with various articles of clothing covering their "goodies" in certain instances. Well, the answer is simple: these articles of clothing are worn as a status symbol or badge of office. For example: Nitria's apron. It serves a functional purpose of helping to keep her clean. She is a healer and as a member of an intelligent species, she knows that the healer's job exposes her to a lot of germs and disease. So the traditional method of "licking herself clean" would be inappropriate. Also, Mercadians do not rely on a tongue bath to get truly clean. That is a throwback to their ancestral origins, and something of a "bad habbit" (much like Humans picking their noses). Mercadians are exceedingly clean people and unlike animal felines of Earth, treat bathing almost like a religious experience, frequently making it a community event. (and in a sense, it is, per the teachings of their forest diety Khestalla.) As any adornment is a sign of some kind of attainment, most Mercadian youths wear nothing at all except the arm and/or ankle bracer of their clan. (as seen in the early pages of Act I) Kraz wore body armor and a "loincloth" because that is the uniform of the Mercadian Militia. Many species throughout the galaxy were put off by the lack of physical inhibition the Mercadians showed, and Zendosian High Command decreed that all officials and military personnel working offworld were required to "cover up potentially embarassing genital areas." Most Mercadians would tilt their heads and flick their ears at such a notion (a sign of puzzlement), but they obeyed the letter of the mandate and Zendosian officials seemed to accept the Militia's choices, given the physical parameters of the Mercadian species.
What Happened Prior to the Webcomic? It feels like I am jumping into the middle of something here...

Hoo boy... someone finally asked this one. It just happened to be my series artist. (sweatdrop) But, she's right. So... here we go...

  • Starship Moonhawk as we know it today is year SIX of the series continuum. There were five novels prior to the creation of "The Mercadian Affair" chronicling the adventures of Gilliad Cobalt and crew as they battled the enemies of the United Star Alliance and defended the frontier all the while exploring The Outer Rim Region of the Orion Arm of our Galaxy. (not to be confused with the Outer Rim worlds in Star Wars.) Each book in the series took place one year after or in the successive year after the previous book. The original books in the series were titled as follows:
    1. Inside Outsider - Prior to year six, I had originally cast the Outsiders (mysterious psychics with incredible superhuman powers) as villains. In light of the X-Men movies and their portrayal of meta-humans (mutants. It ain't a Stan Lee word. Check your E.E. "Doc" Smith, folks.), I decided to retcon this interpretation. The title was a play on the idea that there was an Outsider traitor stalking the crew of the Moonhawk preventing them from accomplishing their mission to uncover a Crysallis plot to destroy a planet in Earth's solar system. They succeeded in destroying Jupiter and collapsing the gas giant into a star. There was a ton of stupid fanboyish crap in this novel, including a blatant ripoff of the Congressional hearings scene from X-Men, and a lot of faux perilous situations created to put the crew to "the test". Oh well... at least it was my first PUBLISHED novel. (ISBN 0-9765426-0-9, thanks to SGP.Net Publishing and was downloaded almost 100,000 as a free eBook over the course of 4 years.) About the best part of this book is my Star Trek/Pocket Books-esque back cover copy. It was inspired, and I wrote it myself. About 50 actual copies of the print book were sold, 15 to my mom. *cries* In the end, Vice Admiral Torrance Colson is disgraced for blatantly "missing" the reports from Cobalt regarding the new Crysallis weapon. When querried by President Lilliendra Williams, he refused comment and she fires him.
    2. The Death of Perseus - A mini-novella showing the friendship between Sorthac and Rachael Harrison blossom as Sorthac tests Harrison's mettle against an Outsider insurrectionist plot. There's a cool battle where the Moonhawk uses her Tachyon Cannon for the first time in the series.
    3. How To Steal a Starship - My first actual eBook through SGP.Net. This story was a "family reuinion" book for Admiral Gilliad Cobalt and his children, Melissa and Jason. Jason took it upon himself to defy Star Alliance orders and steal the Moonhawk to use her tachyon cannon to save a doomed world from destruction at the mercy of a rogue planet. Much insanity ensues as Cobalt tries to usurp his daughter's command passive-aggressively and is taken to task by his exec, Neraih Solis. If you look at the "Old Comics" archive, the scene where Cobalt is slapping the brunette woman across the face is Cobalt taking his eldest daughter to task (disciplining her for saying some crap about him and his relationship with the late Sarah Cobalt, Gil's dead wife). In a completely implausible adventure where Harrison nearly single-handedly saves the skeleton crew left aboard the ship during the refit, we also manage to squeeze in how Cobalt abuses his authority as an admiral to save his son from prosecution, and in the process convinces Commander Sorthac to "overlook" the fact that Jason SHOT HIM IN THE KNEE, temporarily crippling him, and causing him to utter the most horrid James Bondian line in the entirety of the Starship Moonhawk series. I won't repeat it. Go read it on the "recap" pages from 2005. Yeah... you can find your own link, thanks. ;P
    4. The Admiral's Daughter - By far, the best book in the series, and the basis for the upcoming Space Destroyer Hunter series, starring Captain Skye Cobalt and her enignatic Ferconian Exec, Commander Feltera, as well as an ecclectic ensemble cast. Definitely one of my better mixes, and the dynamic if this cast is electric. ALMOST better than the main Starship Moonhawk cast! Also, we are introduced to a quirk of dimensional physics that allows for the instantaneous transfer of personnel, thus FINALLY bringing the series up to the level of Star Trek in technological accoutraments.
        • Skye Cobalt is informed that her ship, the USS Hunter, is being assigned to the discretionary service of scientist Francois Hoss of the Hyperspace Development Institute. Allegedly, he has a revolutionary breakthrough that will change transportation forever... and the Hunter is to be the test ship for the new technology. Skye and her crew are excited until they are suddenly denied access to critical areas of the ship absconded with by Dr. Hoss and his teams. When finally confronted and thrown in the brig, Hoss reveals what he is doing to the Hunter crew in showy fashion.
        • During the first test of the device, a Hyperspace Transportal (an extrapolation of Dimensional Doorway technology on a individual scale), disaster strikes aboard ship as the portal goes out of control, spewing dangerous hyperspace radiation into the cargo bay. Ensign Feria, the ship's pilot officer, appears on scene with a blaster. She appears to be taking aim at the mechanism, and Lt. Hassrith, the security chief, clubs her with a fire extinguisher (being the only handy weapon) and causes her shot to go wild, further damaging the machine. During the chaos, Captain Cobalt is injured and in a valiant attempt to save her from apparent doom, Hoss throws himself at the belching Hyperspace radiation wave, but he is too late. He and Captain Cobalt disappear in a flash of light before the portal subsides.
        • Following the model set forth in Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country, the crew of the Hunter is recalled to starbase, but they know if they leave the area, the disaster that befell them would likely happen again as it had five times previous. Also, leaving would doom Captain Cobalt and Dr. Hoss to being lost in space-time forever. The crew elects to "stall" and try to figure out what has happened, and if there is indeed foul play, the perpetrator will be allowed to escape. The delay and disaster naturally comes to the attention of Admiral Gilliad Cobalt, and he "modifies" his own patrol orders to take a "circuitous route" to the Hunter's position and takes control of the mission himself, with the aid of Commander Rachael Harrison, sending the Moonhawk on it's way to continue their patrol. Obviously, his involvement in the investigation into his daughter's disappearance is both a conflict of interests and a distraction. Commander Feltera reasserts command of the Hunter and uses her authority as Exec to keep Admiral Cobalt at bay, given he himself is violating orders, he has no authority.
        • Meanwhile, Skye and Francois find themselves on a distant alien and seemingly primitive world: Ebarra. Technologically, they seem to be roughly 20th Century Earth. Maybe 21st Century. But there are oddities here and there that suggest another power at work. However, since they are isloated from the main Ebarran society in the agrarian village of Shay, investigation into the matter will have to wait as survival is the primary concern. During their stay in the village, they face many adversities and continue trying to find out exactly WHERE Ebarra is in relation to home. In the interim, Hoss is keeping secrets from Skye again as he suspects something is more out of alignment than appears on the surface.
        • Back on the Hunter, Cobalt and Harrison are steamrollering the investigation since Feltera retook command of the ship. It turns out that Ensign Feria is really Lt. COMMANDER Feria and works for Intel Division: Covert Ops, reporting directly to Rear Admiral Macia Paladin and Vice Admiral Carla Stocker. She was here to stop a sabotuer who was responsible for all of the disasters in the project before Hassrith interrupted her and actually CAUSED the disaster she was sent to prevent. All of Hoss' associates are rounded up and interrogated by Feria, Cobalt and Harrison, until Cobalt loses his cool and starts threatening the scientists. Harrison pulls him aside and rebukes her commander for being a loon and suggests that he cool it before she offers to testify againt the admiral in his court marital for assaulting civilian scientists. Cobalt relents rather easily, given the blatant insubordination for reasons unknown. Simple blackmail wouldn't be enough... or would it? Cobalt regains his senses, and using his own engineering skills, works with the remaining scientists and Lt. J.G. Ben Certain, the Hunter's chief engineer, to recreate the experiment, only this time, Cobalt and Certain would be throwing the switch.
        • Back on Ebarra, much time has passed: months. Skye and Hoss end up spending more and more time living together, trying to get by and have seemingly given up on going home. Especially since Hoss discovered that not only were they hurled across 17,000 light years to the other side of Crysallis space, they were also hurled 2 years back in TIME as well! The sexual tension finally comes to a head, and they consumate their relationship after having been on Ebarra for just over a year. Shortly after this, they are married in a village wedding, and then all hell breaks loose: Skye and her new friends discover that the Crysallis occupation forces on Ebarra are looking for her and Hoss!
        • Then, Cobalt and Certain hit paydirt: they discover that the project was in fact SABOTAGED, and it was not an accident! Certain determines that by simply running the device through the Hunter's main fold drive, they could recreate the portal with little fuss, and even control its space-time coordinates. Using this, they discovered that in the two weeks they have been looking for Skye and Hoss' fate, they have been locked in the past and across space and time! Unfortunately, they cannot use the corrected Dimensional Threshold to cross the time barrier safely and rescue the lost personnel. Also, due to the location of Ebarra, they can't simply charge in and rescue them in the present. They are on their own!
        • By this time, Skye and Hoss have celebrated their first wedding anneversary with the birth of their daughter. But the Crysallis are bound and determined to make their day anything but happy. In the final climactic moments of the book, the Crysallis general in charge of Ebarra and the surrounding systems is plagued by insurrection. He believes that this rebellion was fomented by the arrival of two human spies on Ebarra and, in a last ditch effort for vindication, he orders that the villages of Ebarra be "torn apart" looking for Skye and Hoss. The villagers resist, and the General's aide, a foul and fat colonel, sets fire to the mayor's home, with him and his family inside. Hoss attempts to rescue them, and while he IS successful, the attempt costs him his own life. The Colonel and his attachment of troops is driven from the village, literally with pitchforks, and Ebarra is eventually lost to the revolution. The revolutionaries contact the Zendosian Council to ask for "protection" in exchange for trade, which the Zendosians are ALL too happy to provide, and even offer Skye and her baby a ride home to the Star Alliance.
        • During the investigation, it is revealed that the one person NOT answering to his whereabouts was Dr. Yorgi Rapinski, Hoss' longtime assistant and the ONLY survivor of all of the disasters with Dr. Hoss. Rachael and Lt. Hassrith go to confront the scientist in his quarters only to find out he is actually a Crysallis SPY! In the ensuing firefight, Rachael is near-fatally wounded, and Hassrith goes on a murderous charge through the ship to stop Rapinski from leaving. As it looks like Rapinski is about to escape on his shuttle (he erects a forcefield around the shuttle and has sabotaged the Hunter's defensive systems), Commander Feria appears from inside the shuttle, anticipating his move, and kills him, completing her mission. Rachael is saved by only the barest of margins. Skye is returned to her crew, two years older and with a newborn baby, much to the absolute shock of her family and crew, but she opts to resume her command and leave her daughter in the care of close family friends, vowing to be an influence in her life, even if she chooses NOT to sacrifice her career. Lt. Commander Feria, with nowhere to go due to her cover being blown, accepts the position of Operations Officer aboard the Hunter. Now, with a complete crew, the Hunter blasts off for new adventures, and her father returns to his own command across the galaxy.
    5. Square Peg in a Round Hole - The Moonhawk is called upon to host a mediation betwen two warring races by Ambassador Kylee of Xeosia. The Xeosian race excretes a oil that is acidic and fatally toxic to almost all humanoid races in the known galaxy. But, they are formidable warriors and the most shrewd negotiators in the Alliance. During the mission, an odd situation is dicovered: Kylee is married to a human scientist who is an old flame of Dr. Heather Lopez! The negotiations start to break down, and Cobalt, being a soldier and not a diplomat, is forced into the awkward situation of trying to help these warrirors see eye-to-eye. During this episode, Rachael is field-promoted to Captain, and Sorthac makes a MASSIVE stink about this given she is the youngest senior officer on the ship. This promotion would also place her ahead of him in the chain of command and give her the opportunity to take over as Executive Officer ahead of him. He chooses to go over Cobalt's head to Regional Command, and they agree with him that the move is too soon, thus revoking her promotion. This puts a huge strain on the friendship between the two. During the course of the mission, Sorthac realizes that what he has lost as a result of his betrayal is too great a price and moves Heaven and Earth to reconcile with Rachael, going so far as to publicly admit, before are review board of Regional Command via hyperspace, that his judgement was in error. While not reversing their decision to rescind Rachael's promition, they did agree to put it "under review" and put an informal reprimand on Sorthac (one that would not necessarily affect his own status, but did hurt his reputation on ship) for "wasting Command's time." Ambassador Kylee is revealed to somehow be pregnant with a half-human baby. It turns out that somehow, Doc Lopez's old flame figured out how to impregnate her, lovingly, without killing himself in the process. The warring parties being so impressed with this display of wanton bravery and gallantry on the part of the human and exotic alien woman, decide that if these two could overcome death to be together, they too could somehow find common ground and make peace work.
    6. Dirty Laundry - In the final book of the novel series, Cobalt's past comes back to haunt him one last time as his son Jason, a Navy SEAL, is called in to rescue hostages on a resort world. In the process of the rescue, he encounters a strikingly beautiful 19-year old alien girl who claims to be his half-sister as one of the hostages. At first, he disbelieves her, but a DNA scan reveals that she is, in fact, Admiral Cobalt's daughter! In the aftermath of the attack, the Moonhawk is disaptched to the area to evacuate the victims to the nearest Star Hospital, and pick up the SEALs and Space Marines. Ma'Chele, the alien girl claiming to be Cobalt's daughter, immediately throws her adoration on Admiral Cobalt, a man she has spent the last 5 years of her life looking for. As it turns out, Cobalt knows who she is, and is deeply saddened to know that Ma'Chele's mother has died. But, knowing of Ma'Chele's existance and not sharing with the family enrages the elder Cobalt son, causing a new familial divide. Upon further investigation, it is determined that disgraced Admiral Torrance Colson was responsible for the terrorist attack on the Resort, and Cobalt recruits his son and the Marine troops to try and catch Colson before he escapes back into the nether regions of Crysallis space. A dangerous game of cat and mosue begins, and to make matters worse, Jason is causing difficulty for his father because he is so incensed. Because of his anger, he botches his mission and Colson ultimately escapes. This causes the divide between father and son to widen and Cobalt is forced to place a formal reprimand in his own son's file for disobeying orders and jeopardising the mission and the ship. Ma'Chele stays on the Moonhawk and joins Dr. Parsimmon's survey teams in the civilian sector, as it turns out she is already and accomplished scientist, using all of her skills and knowledge to find her father.

      * Notes: The Death of Perseus and How to Steal a Starship are sister stories and take place int he same year. The last three novels remain virtually unchanged in final form, and will be re-released when the first two are completed. "Admiral's Daughter" has been renamed to "Across the Threshold". A new first book casting the Outsiders as more like Jedi and revered is forthcoming. It is called "The Fire and the Forge" and tells of how Colson usurps command of the Moonhawk from Cobalt in order to cover his crime of selling secrets to the Crysallis by murdering his contact in the most blatant display of overkill in the history of military drama. Cobalt is forced to mutiny against Colson to prevent the deaths of millions of Crysallis at the hand of his former commander. A position he does not relish as the Crysallis are responsible for his wife's death 30 years ago.

      Whew! That's a huge entry, eh? :D
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