DEFENDING THE FUTURE!
SO IT BEGINS

Breach the Hull, Book 2 (BTHII)

Now under development for release in
late 2008 - early 2009,
currently from Marietta Publishing.

"For the record, this project was to be announced at the Philcon launch party in November 2007, but for circumstances beyond my control (Bob), this proposed sequel to Breach the Hull, is already underway and approved by Marietta Publishing."

Mike McPhail

Thanks Bob!

Update as of 08May08:
 

Currently we are hoping to release "So It Begins (SIB)" by Christmas of 2008, with a proposed launch party at Aristia 2009 ( 2009.arisia.org ), January 16-19th in Boston, MA.

   At this moment, we have many of the authors from "Breach the Hull" coming back for a second round with "SIB"; along with a few well know new ones to the squad.

Here is the first layout test for the cover. The green box represents the area which will physically makes up the cover. The area outside the box is known as the bleed (the part with is not seen, but gets either cut-off, or folded under to make the cover).
  Next I'll start laying in the invasion fleet in the background, and create a "rearview" shot of the rest of the fleet, which will be reflected in the pilot's visor.

During the early days of the Breach the Hull (or BTH for short) project, we played with both alternative names for the work, as well as possible sequels. Among these was a Biblical reference from the Book of Revelations (Armageddon); "...and so it begins"--since I like three-word titles--this became, So It Begins (or SIB).

  BTH's cover was assigned as part of the project, they told me what they wanted--"a space battle reflecting in a spacesuit's mirrored visor,"--and it was up to me to make it happen. A book series should have some level of continuity among its covers, but I don't want to just do another battle-in-a-visor shot. We will see.

   I was watching Dreamworks', "Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima", when the idea hit me, stage an invasion from space--so it (the final battle) begins--have an armada of ships ring the planet, with a battleship in the foreground pounding away at the surface. Sounded hot at the time. As the movie went on, it wasn't the sight of the big-guns that told me that the "U.S. Marines was here to stay," no it was the landing craft coming onto the beach. So I changed the primary ship to a troop carrier launching its orbital Landers toward the planet. I also put the planetary horizon on its side for a more dramatic effect.

The AeroCom Destroyer Gettysburg (named after the American Civil War battle of 1863), represents the next generation in warship design; she carries twice the conventional fire-power of the frigates, and supports a core-mounted LASER (see below for additional information). Her drive-section is the more powerful 6x2 (6-tanks with 2-plasma impulse engines) Longhaul configuration used for cargo carries.

The Normandy's escort, AeroCom Frigate Ackley (named for Charles Ackley, USN). She is basically a re-decaled Chamberlin, with the addition of sloped ablative-armor plates over her fuel tanks. This improvement was carried over to all the new designs, and became a place for additional decals, such as the ship's hull number and AeroCom Starine Blue-Eagle.

The AeroCom LST-44 (Lander Shuttle Transport) Normandy (named after the location of the Allied landings in Europe during World War II--June 6th 1944). The LST carries up to four Landers, each capable of landing (and boosting) 200 fully equipped troopers (or in this case, AeroCom Starines, signified by the "Blue Eagle" on the top of the ship).

A re-decaled Lander in formation with the Frigate Chamberlin (for scale). Every fleet Lander is assigned to a specific transport, this one belongs to LST-44 (Normandy); it is craft number "1" of that ships squad of Landers; its designation would be 44-1.

Lander 44-1 with its atmospheric aerodynamic faring opened, to reveal its main axile docking port, and approach floodlights. From this angle you can see the flight-deck's docking windows (which is a misnomer, since you can't see anything that is directly in front of the Lander from the flight-deck. Docking is handled by a combination of sensors, and the hatch mounted docking camera).

Image from the Internet,
source unknown.

The landing ship, tank (LST) was developed during World War II to support amphibious operations. They were capable of driving their bows up onto the shore in order to land vehicles, troops and cargo, without the need for separate landing craft. The sight of these ships off your coast meant that the Allies were here to stay.

   These were the inspiration for the Normandy. In order to capture the feel of these ships, I used three main aspects of their design. First was the rounded bow with its large doors (I couldn't work the main doors into AeroCom design; they just weren't needed); second was the circular gun-station (armored bathtub) on the bow; third were the mid-ship cranes.

Here we get a better look at the Lander Docking Stations (still in the early design phase). Each crane houses two adjustable clamps (and a pusher) which run in tracks within the crane's arm. These in turn reach out and clamp onto the Landers' hard-points, in order to maneuver, then fix the craft in place at its dock. Note the "bumpers" running alone the side of the ship at each dock. I was using the Chamberlin's CM for scale (and parts) at this point.

One of the "crane function test," as you can see the clamps grab onto the Lander's hard-points (the housings for the landing struts), while the "pusher" in the center creates a counter-force to help hold the Lander against the clamps.

   Here we also get a good view of the Lander's black ceramic heat-shield; engine ports (the four red circles), and its reaction/control thrusters (housed in the gray ring, above the heat-shields.)

In this early rear-view, we get a good look at the Normandy's drive-section and engine cluster. This is the same 6 x 2 used by the Gettysburg (although it was first designed for Normandy). As you can see, there are two groups of engines; the plasma impulse engines are the ones in the middle of each cluster; they are surrounded by four conventional chemical engines (like those used on the space shuttle).

A stand-off shot. Note the red docking port numbers (portside 3 and 4)--just like an airport--an approaching Lander would be directed to its dock by a combination of radio signals, flashing lights and finally seeing the dock's number.

One of the "lighting test". In the computer, light can be whatever you wish. In the real world, light comes from a combination of sources: direct lighting (from the sun), reflected (surface of the planet, or nearby objects), or spot/formation lighting from the ship itself. Since we're in space, atmospheric haze is not a factor.

The Gettysburg's core-mounted LASER is based mechanically on the US Air Forces' Airborne Laser (ABL) which is currently carried aboard a modified Boeing 747-400. The business end of the LASER is a directional ball-turret containing the focusing mirror. In turn this assembly is mounted on a rotating platform, and is protected by a two part, retractable armored shell.

MilSciFi.com wanted a header banner shot of a starship with their Icon on its side in place of a fleet marking. Below are a few of the test shots using the AeroCom Destroyer Gettysburg and the Frigate Ackley.