FIRST CONTACT: The Iron Horse

[Gibraltar]

Wow, and the rescue op was going along so well, too.

This pretty much fits the definition of from bad to worse… I hope Kroh & Company can come up with something on the fly, or the situation’s going to get a lot messier than anyone anticipated.

Your writing is just as crisp and sharp as I remember, and you’re creating indelible images with your prose. I find myself having to keep reminding myself that this is fanfic, and Trek fanfic to boot. The characters, the settings, and the well-paced action sequences are conspiring to make this one hell of an adventure.

Glad to have you back with us! :thumbsup:

 

[CeJay]

Oh I've missed the Iron Horse, about time for it to make a comeback.

I loved the way you show us the events from different perspective. Not only was the action seamless it was fascinating to experience it from different angles.

I said this before but I'll say it again you have crafted a marvelous world here with a rich and intricate history. Green, the Caretaker and Optimal look like a formidable enemy for Kroh and his Iron Horse.

Now you left us with another nail-biting cliffhanger. Can't wait to see how those CATS get out of this one.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I apologize for the thread bump, but I heard this through the grapevine. I have it on excellent authority...get ready for this, you're gonna like it...

IRON HORSE WILL RETURN

 

[Mistral]

Yeah! Woohoo!

 

[Gibraltar]

Looking forward to it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This would make a totally kick ass twelfth Trek film.

Starring Vaughn Armstrong as the Iron Horse's commander, of course.

 

[Praetor]

This was pretty awesome. Any updates?

 

[Michael_Kroh]

Hello, a quick note for everyone:

FIRST CONTACT: The Iron Horse...ep001 "Turn The Page" is in progress, rewritten as a full-length novella. The post-atomic world and the people who live in it have more layers than before, more applied sciences, sharper product placement and brand name integration, more WWIII & Recovery + New Economy, More Optimal characters and backstory, etc etc...I apologize for the long wait. But FC:TIH is coming, rest assured.

Thank you for reading!

 

[Praetor]

Good news! It will be well worth the wait.

 

[CeJay]

Excellent. Looking forward to it.

 

[Mistral]

So where is it?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I am very much looking forward to this, but I say give them time. Don't rush these guys. It'll be worth it in the end, I'm sure of it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm just doing my part to bump this thread so more people will notice this excellent work.

 

[Michael_Kroh]

Hang in there! The Iron Horse is moving forward, but very slowly. I won't patronize the details of life challenges that are slowing this project down, but I hack and chip away at it when I can.

Also, this story has become a full-blown novel. Many readers have become excited about the franchise potential, so when this book is (finally) done it will be submitted to Pocket Books for review.

After Pocket / Paramount rejects it, I will publish it here on the BBS in a new thread. I really don't know how long the wait will be...the book itself is incomplete, and the submission process will take time.

Thank you everyone for reading! Stay tuned!

 

[Mistral]

He lives! If you could pop in with updates like this from time to time it would be great!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

At this time I feel the need to keep this excellent work in our minds by bumping the thread.

 

[Michael_Kroh]

Hello everyone

It’s been a very long time since I visited the boards or posted anything here. Almost ten years! It went by a little too quickly. I apologize for my long absence in the community, and for abandoning the story.

After becoming a single parent in 2007, I began setting personal hobbies to the margins of priority. Movies, video games, etc. Putting away the Iron Horse was tough. I wanted to finish the story that I started, and keep the promise made to those who enjoyed it. I didn’t want to bury it in a box and stack it in the garage, but that’s what eventually happened.

And time passed. The world turned, and so on.

And suddenly the future of 2008 is here. Just like that. My daughter is 10 years old! She’s the good kid I hoped for and suddenly I have more time on my hands now that she’s going on age eleven-teen and having discovered Minecraft.

Also, in 2017 I started my own business, Touch The Sky Images LLC. Along with learning the aerial drone-photo biz, I learned how to cut digital video. In doing so I realized there is no limit to audiovisual expression when the tools are understood. Why, I thought, I can create and cut any kind of video I can imagine, this technology is amazing! Wait...I could even...

Ping!

In 2008, I was typing up this story on a beater 486 and researching with a dial-up internet connection. But now, we have fancy movie making software and hardware I couldn't dream of having in 2008. And Youtube too!

After a short parallax animation test, I was convinced that I could produce FIRST CONTACT: The Iron Horse as an animated short. (motion comic?) This brought a creative jolt and led to weeks of feverish work. As of today the short is looking to clock in around ten minutes. There is still a lot to do, and I’m poring over every frame and pushing for the best work I can create. It will be rough, and will be a smaller story, but will feature all the main characters and the Iron Horse APC in action.

A two-minute teaser should be ready by the end of March 2018, and the short itself should be ready by summer 2018. Thanks to the TrekBBS for giving this story a home. Thank you everyone for reading, and for being patient Stay tuned!

 

[CeJay]

Man, I remember this story. It's been a long time but this piece really made an impact at the time for its altogether unique take on Trek and your splendid story-telling.

Glad to hear that you're still around and working on brining us more Iron Horse after your lengthy hiatus which from the sounds of it was well spent.

Certainly looking forward to what you've got cooked up.

 

[Michael_Kroh]

Thank you Cejay! It's good to be back, I'm glad the community is still here too. The last decade went by fast. I feel like I've been hurled forward in time 10 years and looking into things from the other side. Surreal.

Anyway I'm glad to see so many of you still here! A big thank you to everyone reading this.

The 2:23 Iron Horse teaser is finished, the web page is ready and it should be up today, 3/27/18. I'll open a new thread in Fan Productions and drop a notice here when it goes live! Stay tuned

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I can't wait to see the trailer! Until we get the live-action series we all want, this is the next best thing.

One question though: Just how big is the Iron Horse itself supposed to be? Bigger than, say, the Landmaster from Damnation Alley? From the description in the story it seems like this thing would have to be pretty massive, to have room for things like a regular AND a battle bridge, a promenade, crew quarters, a brig, storage facilities, etc.