Latest blog post: End of the chapter 5, and a short hiatus (2024-02-19)

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JoB (transfer from Disqus)

Hmmm, so we have (so far) Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, China(?), and the USA. Looks more like the Security Council (15 member nations) to me, rather than the General Assembly (almost 200) ...

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Lord Eric (transfer from Disqus)

I do believe you're right, and it makes sense. At this point, Protagonistan is still keeping the alien contact secret from the general public, and only sharing it with useful experts or policy-makers who have a need to know. Informing the UN but keeping it within the Security Council is the same logic writ large.

Edit: it will require a certain finesse to get through this scene without revealing whether or not Protagonistan is Russia.

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JoB (transfer from Disqus)

Sure, but the problem with that is that per current procedures, there are only five WEOG seats and three are filled with the permanent members France, UK, and USA, so there's no way that Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal could be on the SC simultaneously ...

... short of one of them having had an alignment change and qualifying as "Eastern European" in the storyverse ... :-3

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Lord Eric (transfer from Disqus)

Or the apportionment procedure changed. Or somebody conquered France.

Edit: and I'm not sure where you got Portugal in the first place. The only ones I was able to make out were Japan, USA, Germany, Netherlands, and maaaybe the UK.

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Shadowkey392 (transfer from Disqus)

I would have guessed Russia, based on the names of some of the human characters, but two of them don’t have names that could be of Russian origin. Maybe it’s Canada?

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Kris Lighthawk (transfer from Disqus)

I just found this comic last night, and I could not stop reading when I got started, so I stayed up until way too late reading all the way through. It is a very good take on humanity's first meeting with aliens, very close to what I would have done myself, if I was talented enough to make something similar.
I am looking very much forward to seeing where this goes…
I also like the art style and the design of the main aliens, being quite different from humans, but not so different that the reader is “alienated” too much to relate to them.
It is also good to see that some of the aliens in the fleet are non-humanoid, and vary different from the main ones, as I think it would be stupid to expect all intiligent aliens to be humanoid.

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Darth_Biomech

Thanks! Even the main cast of the alien side isn't humanoid though, they just share the upright posture. =D

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Kris Lighthawk (transfer from Disqus)

Well, that depends how you define humanoid. An extra set of arms and tail is not enough to make you a non-humanoid IMO. Not then you otherwise have an overall human body structure.
But maybe we can agree on calling them simi-humanoids?
Also, I was wondering, do they have some kind of amphibian origin? Their tails seems like they would be very good for swimming.

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Lord Eric (transfer from Disqus)

Great minds think alike, I asked that myself earlier. The answer I got is that Raharrs evolved as wide-ranging persistence hunters/foragers (like us, and unlike any other Alliance species) that had to cross a lot of rivers while on patrol.

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Darth_Biomech

The correct term is semiaquatic :). Though that's just because their home planet has A LOT of rivers and lakes, not because water has important role in their lifestyle.

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Darth_Biomech

And for me, humanoids are those that can be mistaken for a human at least by silhouette. Like vulcans or even turians.

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glenn (transfer from Disqus)

They might almost have enough information to act. But they don't know about the 2 survivors of the crash who are not hostile. (And I suspect the scene is about to change to the one who's been living with those people for a nice perspective...)

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Lord Eric (transfer from Disqus)

well, one survivor and one missing-presumed-alive, as far as Bahin knows.

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glenn (transfer from Disqus)

It would be difficult to not be seen (for the one MPA) but He might just be "the other one we just aren't sure of or know much about" for the officials. His friends might work to help him in a greater way than all those others combined.

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Ratatosk (transfer from Disqus)

When put in a situation no one has experienced before, it is impossible to say whether you have enough information or not. What Bahnin says in the two last frames is very much speculation based on very shallow observations. A very big problem here is that a military person are talking to politicians and not to other military. These two categories will react very different on the same information, due to their different background and experience.
Just look at the phrase: "Our experts unanimously agree". If you do not want a politician to take a hasty position of how to meet this potential threat, this is not the way to explain things. Bahnin's goal here should be to get the politicians to slowly contemplate the issues at hand and thereafter make a responsible deliberation before they make any decision. And also lead them to make decisions that are not irreversible if the situation changes (maybe even drastically).
The way Bahnin handles the outbreak of questions is bad. He should ask them to hear his whole report before they ask any question. To start answer questions here will most probably derail the report and mix knowledge and assumptions to an degree that will make it impossible for the politicians to understand what is what , thereby have them make the wrong decisions.

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glenn (transfer from Disqus)

Yes. All of that and more. They've never done this before so mistakes will be made BUT if they can learn quickly enough from their mistakes it might turn out well (or better than expected...)

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Mark Linimon (transfer from Disqus)

But it's much more dramatic this way :-) (plus it would take lots of extra pages)

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glenn (transfer from Disqus)

Another way is to see Bahnin's actions as correctly done according to his job description. As a career Military Man he must be decisive and sure of his actions... He really can't do it any other way, although it might not be too difficult to change his mind with the right information.

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Murphy (transfer from Disqus)

"What are the intentions"

"a provocational attack"

"Our experts unanimously agree"

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Lord Eric (transfer from Disqus)

even if their technology [was] [roughly] similar

attack [by] an enemy force

alternate phrasing:
all the signs of a [first-strike] attack

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just one guy51 (transfer from Disqus)

'Hello, Commander. In light of the recent extraterrestrial incursion, this Council of Nations has convened to approve the activation of the XCOM Project.
You have been chosen to lead this initiative. To oversee our first—and last—line of defense.
Your efforts will have considerable influence on this planet's future. We urge you to keep that in mind as you proceed.
Good luck, Commander.'






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TRIVIA
So far there hasn't been a single instance of a massive interstellar war. Due to the vastness of space, there's no territorial or economic gain from it. The presence of armed spaceships is still warranted for keeping space travel safe and for peacekeeping or policing missions since unexpected events or rogue states can still happen and might require force as a solution.