I actually do have a "group photo" of all the main characters. This one was done years ago (I'm pretty sure I was a first year in college when I did this). You can see that a lot has changed since then, still, it gives you the size comparison you were looking for.
a LOT has changed in 5 years...
Also, I think my prologue does a good job of illustrating just how snarky my main character can get. Might still be a few revisions left in this writing but I'll post it anyway. Just remember, I'm an Art major not a writer and all of this is basically supposed to be excerpts from my main characters journal.
Journal Entry 1 - 8-21-73
Holy crap, first contact. The phrase still has trouble finding it's way off of my tongue and out of my mouth. This doesn't feel real.
This IS real though. I didn't think it would happen in my life time if it would ever happen at all. We've found alien life, or rather, it found us.
A giant vessel appeared on long range scans a few days ago. At first, they thought it was just a sensor glitch or a meteor, but as it got closer it started
sending out radio transmitions and I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure meteors don't do that.
At first, I think everyone was equally confused. The aliens spoke to us in our own language. They sent out transmitions simultaneously in English,
Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Latin, Spanish and at least a dozen other languages. The messages were the same across them all. They wished to land on planet
and negotiate peaceful treaties between our two species.
Oh good, they come in peace. I think I've seen this movie.
Journal Entry 2 - 8-24-73
As children, we all have an idea in our head about aliens. Most of them propagated by movies, television, and fake alien autopsies. I was very much in the
"gray skinned, large multi-faceted eye" camp, but what we saw really freaked me out. Since it was the Americans that made initial contact, they negotiated the
time and place of landing. Placing them on the most desolate piece of sand and rock we could find and fencing the whole area in as quickly as possible.
After the announcement, every camera within a thousand miles was trained on the site. Only a few media and news companies were allowed access to the site,
but that didn't stop people from trying to catch a glimpse from several miles out, or recklessly try to jump a fence to get a better look. Those of us with
some sanity left watched everything live with baited breath.
At first, I thought it was a hoax, as the aliens stepped out of the vessel, they appeared fully human, similar builds, height, 5 fingers, 2 eyes, the works.
Disappointment washed over me until the cameras attempted to get a closer look at them. The first thing I noticed was the eyes, vertical slits like cats
where the pupil should have been. Two of them even had a pair that glowed, and I don't mean that they were just bright or anything like that. They had a
visible, discernible glow. Whats more, I got the sensation that one of them had seen me.
I think I jumped visibly in my seat. Something about those eyes made me anxious as hell. I think everyone else was too busy trying to
decide if it was a hoax or not to notice my startled response, but I already knew. This is it. This is real.
Journal Entry 3 - 11-8-73
Over the last several months, news has been slowly leaked to the general public about our alien visitors. The first bit of information was that their people
are known as the Daegen and they are originally from the planet Aeonus in a star system about 400 light years away from Sol. This brought up a lot of
controversy because, to quote our one of our dually elected redneck officials, "That's a long way to go on one tank of gas."
While the statement was made in a truly asinine way, he had a point. Our scientists salivated at the mere prospect of faster than light travel and
our new Daegen allies grudgingly agreed to trade their scientific expertise for what natural resources we could spare. Simultaneously, they began erecting
a satellite near the edge of our star system they simply called a Network Beacon. They told us that the initial navigation to this particular star system
took several years of slow steady 'jumps' to avoid colliding with a planet, star or other similarly nasty object whilst traveling. In every sytem they
discovered, a Networked Beacon was laid, which paved the way for future visits, so that what took years the first time would take only months from then on.
Journal Entry 4 - 5-1-75
The beacon was fully erected just three months ago. At first, there was only a trickle of small time traders and prospectors looking to see what they
could find on the outlying regions of our solar system. Deposits of various rare minerals and gasses were found on Mars, Jupiter, and their satellite planets,
all completely untouched and unspoken for. Of course, it being our solar system, our planetary governments were offered large stipends to allow harvesting of
these natural resources to commence and they gladly accepted. In only a few short months, we've already seen a huge economic upswing.
Of course, this massive rush to claim rights to our untapped resources also brought with it a huge increase in alien presence on our planet. They still aren't exactly
a common sight now, but most people are getting used to them being here. Of course, religion does it's best to create animosity, even in the simplest of things. Settlers
from another galaxy were not exactly made to feel 'welcome' by any stretch of the imagination. Our government did it's best to put an end to any hostilities but were
only marginally successful. Islamic extremists were the most notably hostile group. They've had their panties in a twist ever since that whole 'war on
terrorism' in the early 2000's. Some people can really hold a grudge.
Fortunately, the majority of them spend their time on ships or building orbiting space stations around the planets that are richest in raw resources. After the
completion of 'Horizon', the largest deep-space space station in our solar system, even normal human beings will be allowed to take their first steps off planet
and work beside their new comrades in glorious harmony. It almost brings a tear to the eye. Maybe they'll hold hands and sing Kumbayah, or maybe I'm just cynical.
Jounrnal Entry 5 - 10-12-76
"Tensions reached the boiling point yesterday at a Daegen Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. An attack by a surprisingly well armed terrorist cell ended abruptly upon
Daegen retaliation". That was the official headline anyway. The attack started with a rigged car bomb breaching the outer wall of the compound and several dozen
Terrorist operatives flooding the premises. Automated defense systems accounted for at least 2 dozen dead and even more wounded, the six security guards on duty were responsible for at least a dozen more. The survivors quickly threw down their arms. The whole attack lasted a mere 10 minutes.
What shocked people most wasn't the completely unprovoked attack so much as the aggressiveness of the alien defense. There was little restraint, even in the face of a
numerically superior foe, and besides the damage to the outer wall the Daegen suffered no additional damage either to it's facilities or it's personnel. That kind of
brutal efficiency sent a very clear message. The Daegen came peacefully, but were more than capable of defending themselves if need be.
As a show of good faith, the survivors were handed over to local authorities to be dealt with. After a short trial, they were sentenced to death by hanging, which the
Daegen saw as a 'merciful' death. It does make me wonder, though, how they would have been dealt with had the Daegen simply detained them themselves. On second thought, I'd rather not know.
Journal Entry 6 - 9-20-77
Four years after the discovery of the Daegen, or their discovery of us at it were, they've become an almost integral part of our society. Most people are fairly
comfortable around them, especially younger people. They've had less time to be set in their ways, I guess. For the very young, it's all they've ever known. For
the old though, it's an entirely different story. They don't trust them. They think that they have alterior motives, but people just call them paranoid. I never
thought I'd say it, but I agree with the old geezers.
The Daegen as a whole don't seem so bad, but their officials are pretty handy at avoiding or diverting topics, especially important ones. Like why they knew our
languages and were both fluent and even eloquent in them when they arrived. Some people say they taught themselves using intercepted radio transmitions and the like. Total bullamphetamine parrot science fiction, I have trouble getting reception to my car stereo from a station in the same town, let alone across a whole damn galaxy. They
also won't comment on other races. They won't even tell us if they've ever met any others or if they even exist. It seems entirely reasonable to me that if
there's one there could be more, but their refusal to discuss it has some people curious, if not out right suspicious.
We've also seen an increase in military presence as of late. Warships the size of small moons have been popping up here and there as well as some of the armored
bipedal tanks they call 'Battle Frames' have been making their presence felt inside their embassies, on our moon, and as far away as mars and it's satellites.
They said it's a new security protocol being passed down to them from the higher-ups, but there are no reckless independent companies or pirate operations that could
even hold a candle to what we've seen thus far. Heavy cruisers and Dreadnoughts against freight haulers and small shuttles seems like overkill to me.
I've also noticed an increase in the glowy eye'd ones as of late. I've seen at least 4 different ones in the last 2 weeks and they give me the shakes every
time I see them. I try not to let them see it, but every time I make eye contact I nearly loose it. There's so much pressure in my head I feel like it's going
to burst. I don't want them to see me go to pieces, maybe I'm just paranoid but I don't want to see what they'd do to me. A couple years back, I saw one of them
get hit by a truck, not just a pickup truck either, an eighteen wheeler carrying nearly a ton of freight and doing about 45 mph down a city block. That Daegen
just walked away from it, he almost looked amused. The truck looked like it had wrapped itself around a tree trunk and the driver was lucky as hell to survive
at all. Everyone knows the Daegen are naturally strong and tough, something about their muscle tissue being naturally more dense than ours due to their higher
gravity world, but no one is that tough. Even a Daegen should be lying in a hospital bed, or a morgue, after a hit like that.
Bottom line, I don't ever want to find out what it is they are looking for.
Journal Entry 7 - 8-21-78
I've been getting a weird sensation lately, like I'm being followed. I keep seeing this red headed Daegen woman, at least I think it's the same one. Seems like I
see her twice a week or more. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or terrified. At least she's cute, it's been a long time since a woman has noticed of me at all,
even if it is potentially malicious. Although, I guess the later could be fun too.
Man, I need to get laid.
Anyway, I'm off to the biggest gaming convention in the northern hemi-sphere. My buddy says I look like hell and I could use a break. He's probably right, he
usually is. Nothing takes your mind off things like the stench of a thousand sweaty nerds in a tightly packed convention hall breathing heavily through their
mouths. I yearn to take on the role of Haulin, the Halfling thief, and ransack someones goods or command a mighty army to combat the vicious hordes of chaos.
I wouldn't mind seeing a few of last years booth girls either, especially that one in the chain-mail th-...
Man, I really need to get laid.
