Erma Felna: EDF

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"Erma Felna: EDF" is a furry comic book story series created by Steve Gallacci for his own title, Albedo Anthropomorphics.

The settings in a futuristic period in a sector of civilized outer space populated by sapient and predominantly humanoid versions of over 150 various mammalian and avian species. Although the civilization has advanced technical skills and political structure, the residents of this region have realized that they have no knowledge of their origins or past, nor any culture or arts to speak of beyond the structures necessary to maintain operational systems.

The title character is Erma Felna, a young cat who is an officer of the Extraplanetary Defense Force (EDF), which is the main military of the Interstellar Confederacy or ConFed for short. The series follows her adventures in part as she fulfills a career that would make her a revered name as the "The Protector of the Rim," in the region's history despite sexist opposition.

The ConFed is challenged by a rival and ruthless enemy called the Independent Lapine Republic (ILR) which is populated by species supremacist rabbits who favor taking colonies and settled areas by force. To defeat their militarily stronger enemy, the ILR is engaging in socio-political warfare which is intended to undermine the ConFed citizenry's confidence in their own government's stability and ability to protect them.

For instance, the opening battle of the series is the ILR's invasion of the ConFed planet of Derzon. Once the Republic seizes the planet, they deliberately deploy their troops in such a manner that defeating them requires the EDF inflict the maximum unavoidable amount of collateral damage and civilian casualties. That, in turn would hopefully increase ConFed civilian resentment of their own governments actions.

In addition, there is internal and growing ConFed corruption and attacks by nihilistic terrorists who commit acts of violence for their own sake to shake societal complacency. Furthermore, a derelict ship that contains a body of a human is eventually discovered which reveal vital clues about the civilization.

This series drew considerable attention for its unique use of funny animals which featured this kind of characters engaged in sophisticated stories that have a highly political nature, very much like novels like A Very British Coup. For instance, after an action scene, the characters would often discuss the socio-political ramifications of the events in question and struggle to decide what to do in response.

In addition, the content contained an unprecedented amount of realistic violence and sexuality that was intended not to be exploitive.

Steve Gallacci was a technical illustrator for the US Air Force and one feature of Albedo is well thought out and illustrated vehicles. His military experience also shows in the more realistic treatment of military life and operations.

[edit] List of Characters

• Erma Felna: The main character of Albedo. Female officer in the EDF, born SD 171-01-22 (30 years old), Annianport, Annah (Dornthant II). Fur color is a light gold-brown, slightly paler in the front, scalp hair is dark red-brown, and eyes green gold. She shares her family's rare female genetic trait of vaguely human-like head hair. Erma joined the EDF mainly because her father, Kanoc, was seriously tortured by the ILR.

• Toki: a Danetti (from the planet Danet) mouse femme is a friend and confidant to Erma Felna. She is a staff officer for the Extra-Planetary Defense forces (EDF). Toki has large soft ears, very expressive eyes, a well rounded figure, and is very outgoing and free with her attentions.