So it's Issue #2, and yes, we're still here ... if you're a regular reader (doesn't take much so far), the first thing you may be asking is, "Something's changed, hasn't it?"

Yes, it has. Some of the fonts are different. Excuse? My dog ate the old font, sir. Actually, that's not true. I lost it due to my own stupidity, and unable to relocate it, resorted to re-designing the magazine. By the time somebody managed to get me a copy of the font (thanks all the same Tally), it was too late. Argh, the stress of being an Editor ...

So we're here again, and back with a rather funky new side font. And some staff ... so a big hand, if you please, for my Deputy Editor, Commander Matthew D'Varak, Competition Coordinator Vice Admiral Sauron, and Staff Writer Lieutenant Colonel Theodore. Their duties are variously involved in handling the more specialised aspects of the magazine (the Battlecry competition, debate board, and cleaning up all my messy HTML). Ahhh, the benefits of being an Editor ...

Anyhow, on with the magazine, and it's another good month, with a nice round-out of submissions: all the usual ... fiction, interviews, comedy, debates, etc. The participation in the TIE Fighter phase of the Battlecry Competition was also very good ... unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance sections. The latter of which, Vice-Admiral Sauron received NO submissions for whatsoever. If even one person had sent in even the worst of pilot files for it, they'd have just earned themselves a free Bronze Star. As it stands, that BS will instead be held back by the Operations Office, smelted down for kitchenware, and used as a wine goblet on my Editor's desk. Your loss, people ... your next opportunity for medals comes in Issue #3, when missions for Battlecry Competition #2 will be included (yes, that's right, the comp's gone bi-monthly to help give people more time for submissions).

Now we arrive at my favourite part of the proceedings ... you can always rest safe in the knowledge that every submission to Battlecry gets read or analysed, even if it doesn't make it into the final magazine. Of course, out of all these, three will be declared the "best" submissions. And so they are, in ascending order:

3. Graphics - FL/CM Ixion Deathbringer/Nun 2-1/Wing V/SSSD Sovereign - yes, I'm doling out an Imperial Security Medal for uniforms. Why? Because these aren't just any uniforms: they're some of the best put-together uniforms I've had the pleasure of seeing. Infact, they even border upon actually being almost works of art. That's not hyperbole either, check them out for yourself, and realise just why Commander Deathbringer is Wing V's Official Tailor ...

2. Features - Interview with Fleet Admiral Manesh by FL/CM Matt Patrick/Teth 2-1/Wing IV/SSSD Sovereign - I've actually been surprised by the number of people not only finding the time to interview high-ranking EH officers (and being able to obtain such interviews in the first place), but also by the high quality of these. Commander Patrick's is one such example: observant, sometimes amusing questioning, met capably by Fleet Admiral Manesh. Congratulations Matt, a Palpatine Crescent is on its way to you ...

1. Features - Treachery by FL/LCM Feran Daemas/Kaph 3-1/Wing IV/SSSD Sovereign - easily one of the most original submissions to Battlecry so far, what impressed me most about Lieutenant Commander Daemas' piece of propaganda was his uncanny ability to actually make the reader truly believe the point contained, without actually breaching into over-the-top comedy and shattering the illusion of a true point-of-view. This piece should be read if only for the really quite convoluted, but at the same time quite believable contortion of events given explaining the war after Endor.

And so, with Treachery receiving the Editor's Recommended Read award, and Lieutenant Commander Daemas bestowed with a Bronze Star of the Empire, I will now leave you in peace to enjoy the rather fabulous Battlecry, Magazine of the TIE Corps ...

Regards,
Admiral Val Ricaud
Editor, Battlecry Magazine

BATTLECRY STAFF
Editor ....................................... Admiral Ricaud
Deputy Editor .......................... Commander Matthew D'Varak
Competition Co-ordinator ....... Vice Admiral Sauron
Staff Writer ............................ Lieutenant Colonel Theodore