Always in Motion Coming in March
(source: starwarsfanworks.com, 01-28-05)

Back on Jan. 17, a ChronoRadio news byte hinted at a new project coming from Nathan P. Butler's Rayzur's Edge Audio. At the time, we could only report that a new project was coming, and the names of those involved.

Now, with the "secret project" around 50% completed and a target release date set at March 1 (rather than the original target of April 1), the project can officially be announced.

In March, expect the premiere of the new Rayzur's Edge Audio production Always in Motion: Ambush on An'Kerra. The project is an audio drama, as we'd reported, but it is not the standard style of fan-made audio drama that we have come to expect. Always in Motion is a "multi-path audio drama," similar to a Which Way, Find Your Fate, or Choose Your Own Adventure book, or the CDs in TSR's TerrorTRAX series. Listeners will download one ZIP file that contains 39 audio drama tracks. Those tracks can then be opened in an MP3 player program, or burned to a CD. The listener will then be able to begin listening with Track 01, and at the end of every track, instructions will be given. Sometimes, those instructions will simply say to move forward to a certain track. More often, though, the listener will be given two or more options as to what the main character in the story, a Jedi Padawan, should do next. The decision of the listener will determine which track to move to next, allowing the listener to direct the course of the story. It is a first in Star Wars fan audio dramas.

The story, set in the Clone Wars, centers around a mission to survey the jungle of the moon An'Kerra, where the Separatists may be setting up a base. A Republic survey team of two dropships, Jedi Master Krastor Veda, Zallaron Kell (Veda's Padawan), and a group of clonetroopers set down on the moon for what should be an easy mission, but things soon go awry, forcing them, particularly Zallaron, into a confrontation with one of Count Dooku's Dark Jedi henchmen, Danad Balas, and a group of bounty hunters, led by the alien heavy Mortacorr. As events unfold, the listener will direct the choices of Zallaron as he attempts to get to safety and warn the Republic of what they have discovered.

Always in Motion stars audio drama newcomer Bryan Patrick Stoyle as Zallaron, along with Christopher Walker (To Overcome) as Krastor Veda, Ian Bowie (Second Strike) as Danad Balas and the sniper, Rich Sigfrit (Requiem of the Outcast) as Mortacorr, Gary Mongar (No Way Out and the fan film Jango) as the clonetroopers, and Nathan P. Butler as the listener's Guide and his traditional REA role as Narrator. All production (from writing to final mixing) is being handled by Butler (his first audio drama mixing since 2003's Responsibility).

At present, Always in Motion: Ambush on An'Kerra is simply this project's title and subtitle, but it is hoped that if the idea catches on, others will come aboard to create new multi-path audio dramas, allowing Always in Motion to be a series title, much like the case with Anthology, which would leave Ambush on An'Kerra as simply this episode's title. Time will tell, though, whether the idea actually catches on.

Look out for this new kind of fan audio drama production on March 1!