This was fun, seeing the same event from quite a different angle. Glad you didn't make the reader wait for it to happen.

I know Korra knows Belldandy, but I wonder how long (if ever) it took for Korra to find out it was Belldandy she was communing with that day? (and given the description, was Yangchen communing with Urd?)

Nice job making things fit within the timeline. Although I hadn't realized Maki and Corwin were that close in age - I'd thought it was more like a 2-3 year age difference. Maki must also be the youngest commander of the Kiyoshi Warriors in history too. (unless that's her rank and not her job title, but it could still apply even then)

I did not realize things about Diqiu and Zipang were that open. I'd gotten the impression Diqiu's existance was secret (codes and signals needed to buy train tickets to cross the Veil, trains with changeable signage, diversionary turn-around loops, etc). Yet here are all these government and military people (with various staff) going back and forth across the Veil for meetings and the like. Wouldn't someone notice that they were gone for that long during each visit? (2 days each way by train?) People do talk. And everyone on the Zipang side seemed to know who and what Korra was, even console operators in space control.

Speaking of which, I did like how they were able to figure out (almost) what was going on. But for people who were intentionally lower tech, how did the Zipangi end up with scan systems that were more than the outsiders were counting on them to have (badly worded, I'm referring to the Queen's report and how they knew it was a lie because the crew of the Queen wasn't counting on them to have been able to scan the area)

I like this story.

Jeanne

	Jeanne Hedge http://www.jhedge.com 1st Courier of the Heavenly Prophets for Tianxia "Never give up, never surrender!"

>(and given the description, was Yangchen communing with Urd?)

By the time Korra got around to asking, the Hell Yeah, We Didn't Die Again party was in full swing in Valhalla. Yangchen was communing with mead. :)

>Nice job making things fit within the timeline. Although I hadn't
>realized Maki and Corwin were that close in age - I'd thought it was
>more like a 2-3 year age difference.

Nope - a little bit less than a year, so Maki is in between Corwin and Kaitlyn in age.

>Maki must also be the youngest
>commander of the Kiyoshi Warriors in history too. (unless that's her
>rank and not her job title, but it could still apply even then)

Oh, heck, nah. I think Suki was 14 in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and she was in charge of the whole operation. (And Maki wasn't a commander when we saw her at around that same age in Three Views, but a rookie KW leaving the island for the first time.)

We don't have a firm chain-of-command structure for the "modern" KW, but I think it works a bit like a ninja clan - you've got the one person in charge of the whole thing, the mid-level people who each command a squad, and the squaddies themselves. (It's a somewhat larger organization "now" than it was in Avatar Aang's day, when there was evidently only the one squad.) Maki was on the lowest rung in Three Views and is a squad commander in the Dìqiú Suite - though the squad she commands is one of the most prestigious, being the one most commonly called upon to do things for the Avatar. (Also up there: the Caldera City detachment, which has functioned as the Fire Lord's equivalent of the Swiss Guard since Zuko's reign.)

>for people who were intentionally
>lower tech, how did the Zipangi end up with scan systems that were
>more than the outsiders were counting on them to have (badly worded,
>I'm referring to the Queen's report and how they knew it was a lie
>because the crew of the Queen wasn't counting on them to have been
>able to scan the area)

That has more to do with an underslept Veronica drawing the graveyard watch on the flight home and then making up a crappy cover story on the fly than any general expectations about Zipang's aerospace traffic control facilities. The planet itself is pretty rustic, but Dejima Station is a pretty well-known and respected facility, and most spacers wouldn't be surprised to find that they have pretty good regional scan capabilities.

(To draw a parallel with real-world air traffic control, bigger airports have both primary radar, which is actual radar like in war movies, and so-called "secondary radar", which mainly relies on interrogating aircraft transponders for their position and identity. Smaller airports often only have secondary. Dejima has the outer space equivalent of fairly powerful primary search radar, capable of "seeing" as far as neighboring star systems. It's not actually radar, of course, it's some kind of handwavey faster-than-light thing, but the principle is the same for fictional purposes.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Yeah, I figured it was about time to have another perspective on the whole deal, where before it had mostly been seen in Twilight proper from the responding Task Force, and the parts of Correspondence where G tells Tali'Shukra the aftermath.

>I know Korra knows Belldandy, but I wonder how long (if ever) it took
>for Korra to find out it was Belldandy she was communing with that
>day?

Oh, I'm sure she'll (have) figure(d) it out eventually. Just undecided as to when.

>I did not realize things about Diqiu and Zipang were that open. I'd
>gotten the impression Diqiu's existance was secret (codes and signals
>needed to buy train tickets to cross the Veil, trains with changeable
>signage, diversionary turn-around loops, etc). Yet here are all these
>government and military people (with various staff) going back and
>forth across the Veil for meetings and the like. Wouldn't someone
>notice that they were gone for that long during each visit? (2 days
>each way by train?) People do talk. And everyone on the Zipang side
>seemed to know who and what Korra was, even console operators in space
>control.

Well, a good portion of this is intended to be covered in Book 5: Veil (whenever we actually get around to it), but the short form is that Zipang was in a period of self-imposed isolation during the Exile, not wanting to draw attention to themselves from GENOM or other hostile powers. It was during this period of isolation that Diqiu finally contacted them, and they welcomed it since the Diqiu natives were willing to trade and immigrate with them when they'd cut things off with the rest of the galaxy. The fact that Diqiu's population size was starting to match early 20th century Earth's, and their own colony's population was significantly smaller (a small-to-midsize country on our world) in comparison, they ended up dealing with Diqiu as if it was a foreign nation on their own world (instead of parallel). So for the rest of the Exile, contact and awareness was increased, especially at the government level. The average Zipangi may not be aware of the nitty gritty details of Diqiu, but they know it exists and/or somebody who's dealt with them.

This openness, of course, came back to bite them on the ass once they realized that they'd be re-connecting with the rest of the galaxy once the WDF returned, and the Earth Alliance started being more dubious (plus things like Big Fire and Psi Corps, etc) -- hence the protective secret being put into place for any Zipangi leaving the planet and overall information secrecy about the existence of Diqiu. It's something of a collective delusion for the entire colony that it's 100% foolproof, but hey, you do what you can... :)

>I like this story.

Yay! I'm glad. ^_^

---- Philip

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here" Fandoms -- Fanart -- Fan Meta Discussions

I think I remember Corwin and Korra reflecting on what would likely happen to the Psi Corps, but even a Zipangi/Diqui victory could be an awful mess. I fear the Psi Corps and others could cause an awful lot of trouble in more subtle ways than a direct military assault.

Polychrome