Last week we decided to extend the Indiegogo for Land&Sea Paradise. Honestly, we want the opportunity to deliver on some of the larger stretch goals. Not a lot of novel lines out there have a fully integrated graphic novel series that ties into them, so this is awesome. If you’ve never read the books, the graphic novel is an awesome entry point. If you have read the novels, you need to read this story!
We’ve already hit a key goal, making the graphic novel bigger. I have started on the short story that we hope we will get to include in the issue. The story is called Public Affairs, and covers an enlisted PA in Pearl Harbor when the aliens attack. I thought I’d share this little bit from the unedited story, just to entice you to take part in the campaign:
Petty Officer Second Class Chandra Kirks possessed what she thought was the best job in the Navy; public affairs. Being at Pearl Harbor and being posted to the command staff, her days were relatively easy. She took photos and wrote articles for the base newsletter and social media. In many respects, she controlled her own job pace. The pressures were light, and she was in Hawaii. Better yet, she had saved up enough money to have her mother fly out for a visit in two months. As a noncom, she was able to delegate the really crappy assignments to someone else.
Life couldn’t be better in paradise.
She had been assigned to cover a base project to clean up Manuwai Canal on Hickam Field. It was dull, but airmen and sailors loved to see their photos in the newsletter. The best part for her was that she didn’t have to do the actual work itself. She simply had to write two paragraphs about it and take a lot of photographs.
Another few years in the Navy and she would be out. That was what she looked forward to. Securing a gig at a magazine or a public relations firm; that was where the real money was. For Chandra, the Navy was a stepping stone in her career.
As she finished tapping in her notes on her digipad, she heard sirens starting to blare from the distance, from the base. The new commander must be running a drill. It struck her as odd. Usually the PA’s knew about such activities, hell, they managed the local media when the locals complained. She glanced towards the base, half expecting the alert sirens to stop. They didn’t. In fact, Hickam’s sirens joined the cacophony, blaring loudly.
There were a few seconds were everyone froze. Then, in unison, everyone started to run around her as she stood stunned. This is real! Shit!
Chandra knew that she was supposed to be on-post in the event of an alert, and she was almost two miles away. Vehicles sped onto the roadway, and it was already getting clogged as military personnel scrambled to their battle stations. Where do I go? Back to the office!
She started to run back to the heart of Pearl. Who is attacking us? It’s got to be the Russians or the Chinese. There was a distant rumble from an explosion, echoing out of Pearl Harbor in her direction. Where are our fighters? Where’s the enemy? She tore past automobiles and heard another thunder-like boom that rippled through her body. It’s got to be the Russians or the Chinese!
Chandra saw something in the harbor, something that didn’t seem right. The converted Littoral Class ship, the USS Independence was in view in the harbor. Oily black smoke rolled from it. There was something else, something moving, crawling along the hull. They looked like massive insects, ten feet long at least, clamoring up the sleek lines of the vessel. Flashes of gunfire followed by the sounds of small arms rang out from topside where the creatures were attacking the Marines on the deck.
Stopping dead in her tracks, she stared in awe at them. There were dozens of them, tearing into the Marines. What are those? Some sort of undersea ASHUR suit? No, it didn’t make sense. They didn’t have a human form. They were like a swarm of locusts, crawling out of the water on the ship.
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Want to see more? Take part in the Indiegogo.
Want more, here’s the concept art for the Sea Wolf. It’s a US Navy SEALS rig, designed for shallow water operations. Easily it is one of my favorite ASHURs, mostly because of its cockpit configuration. Doug knocked it out of the park with this rig.
Just so you know, we are 3D modeling the rigs so we can produce the miniatures and assist in the graphic novel artist with poses. Here’s some samples of some of the neat poses:
I know you all want to know, “When can we get these?” or “Can we get the STL files?” You will need to wait until the game Kickstarter. Want to see the Sea Wolf in action? For that, you need to be part of our graphic novel journey.
So now you have gotten a peak behind the scenes on this fantastic graphic novel and where we are going with it. Take some time to check out Land&Sea Paradise and feel free to spread this to your friends.
Notes From The Bunker 