Latest blog post: Redraw of chapter 1 is happening (2024-05-11)

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Regular
ANTIcarrot

"You've done enough."

Not as much as you have Zane. This whole mess is still 90% your fault, and 9% the fault of the shuttle pilots. And I can see Iskra and her government agreeing with that 100%.

"Just give us the coordinates."

"How about you give us a formal flight plan, and we will look it over to make sure no other errors have been made."

A precaution Iskra and her government would probably also agree with 100%.

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Senior
Wouter215

Iskra is more of an U.N. goon rather than a government representative. This sould be General Alexey Bahin.

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Senior
glenn

If they had some kind of cloaking technology they forgot to turn it on... !

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Regular
ANTIcarrot

More like they forgot to turn their eyes on.

It would have been very hard to avoid noticing the planet did not match the briefings they wree given. The presense of satellites, and particulkarly satallites in particular orbits (GSO springs to mind) woudl have been a red flag that should have made them execute an orbital go around. (TLDR; if they have rockets that can accurately and reliably park satellites in GSO, then they have have rockets that can hit their shuttle.)

Equally it should have been pretty damn obvious the planet was covered in controlled airspace, and it deosn't take special training to know entering controlled airspace without permission is a terrible idea.

It's possible that Gharr told them different lies that accounted for GSO et all... But that just makes their conduct even worse. Since they knew what they were flying into and did it anyway, without not once checking back with the mothership over the month (?) long trip to get there.

Given the time paassed, and UN investigation, it's quite possible the ICAO / NKAO will be conducting an initial investigation; via their local member organisation. Presumably the Расследование авиационных происшествий в Протагистане.

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Senior
JoB

Now that we hear that Zane's willing to send down another shuttle without truly talking things through with the locals beforehand ...

... the cruiser brought just the one shuttle we see sitting on its hull, yes ... ?

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Senior
tully

Yes...but also 16 twin barrel (laser ?) cannons.

Sooo....."Speak softly and carry a big stick" in Raharr version.

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Senior

According to the Wiki, the cruiser should have 16 turrets with laser cannons, 16 with particle beam guns (which I'd guess to be rather useless against an inhabited planet unless you take the time to boil off most of the atmosphere first), and 50 missiles with nuclear warheads (the use of which would be ill-advised if you'd like to remain on speaking terms with the other nations down there).

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Senior
glenn

Did they perform autopsies on the bodies? Is it a disgrace to the aliens?

-I don't envy the General. Obeying orders places him between a rock and a hard place.

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Senior
Wouter215

They made x-ray images before the autopsy in 90, and took tissue & blood samples.

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Senior
Wouter215

Zane: "Also, don't shoot this shuttle down. We're already tangling with the insurance on the first one."

-

Not informing Zane about the missing crew member seems ill-advised.

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New
Someone

If Zane is good at reading between the lines, he'll have interpreted this "the members of the crew we found at the crash site" correctly for its hidden implication that there were, or at least might be, members of the crew not at the crash site.

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Senior
tully

Zane realized these quadruped pinkish aliens is going to be trouble at panel 2.

Also Bahin neatly evades the issue with 1 missing alien , unknown to him , living the life of "Terran all-inclusive hostel" including actual real natives (one slightly mental) on a couch out somewhere in the scenic part of the countryside.

On a more serious note : Bahin and the Major are unaware of the existence of the Alliance (a fleet consisting of serveral alien races working together is unthinkable to him, he has only so far seen Raharr´s) . Since Nea has not told anything more than she needed to until now, then Bahin are maybe connecting dots that are not there. Dangerous decisions can result from this.

Right here and now only Agent Iskra can get information from Nea (voluntary since Nea now knows Zane has skipped non-interference) and relay it on to Bahin before something turns.....regrettable...

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Regular
Wilson

The word you want is "tetrapod" rather than "quadruped." English is weird! 🤪

And yes, General Bahin is about to have to go make a super speedy call to the Protagistani government, because when Zane sends a shuttle from his orbit down to the crash site, the whole world will notice. Bahin has no cards left in his hand.

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Senior

FWIW, both "tetrapod" and "quadruped" literally translate to "four-footed"; the former is of Greek origin, the latter from Latin. It's only because of the modern usage - genotype's body shape vs. actual locomotion - that humans are considered to be tetrapods but bipedal.

So, English sure has a criminal record, but that one's not on them.

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Regular
Wilson

Yes, "tetrapod" and "quadruped" both mean "four-footed" in the original languages. What's weird about English is that it assimilated both words and gave them different meanings, "tetrapod" indicating how many limbs a creature has, and "quadruped" indicating how many feet a creature walks on. So in English, Raharr are bipedal hexapods, humans are bipedal tetrapods, and some of the other species in the setting are quadrupedal hexapods, hexapedal octopods, etc. All this makes me envy those implants the Raharr have, but in real life, I'd never trust an implant enough to get one.

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Senior

I repeat (if somewhat more clearly), what makes you think that terms that international biological research appropriated from Greek and Latin would magically wind up only in English, but not, say, German or French?

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Regular
Wilson

Zane would know from Nea's words in the first message that her entire squad died in the crash, but Gharr was missing. What General Bahin says here just confirms what she said. I'll be surprised if Zane isn't about to request she join this current conference call. And of course Iskra will be there and want to join too!

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Senior
glenn

"Missing" means that nobody really knows if Gharr is alive or not.

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Senior
glenn

(Except for those who do but aren't telling.)

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Senior
tully

Eh dont worry. They are going to do something totally unpredictable like showing up with

Gharr on the doorstep of the local TV network with no further plan at all.

Nobody will expect that and hence it will work. Military can only think in set patterns, break the patterns and you have free run...for a short while.

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Senior
glenn

That seems to be how he could get the most attention in the safest possible way. But waiting until the exactly right time, when the whole world has found out that an alien race has come to visit makes the most sense. The press and TV will keep him and the kids safer than trying to meet with "government officials."






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TRIVIA
Many homeworlds of the respective species are still divided into countries, but freshly established colonies on other planets are almost always monolithic and basically independent, since they sprawled from a single initial outpost, and time lag involved due to interstellar distances making remote management of the colony from a homeworld to be ineffective and frustrating at best.