i must admit, I thought people would be still be "reeee"-ing about the early alien reveal but you gave it a wide time frame before they come to the fore that people are quite haply with, myself included. Definitely risky, but I think it paid off.
So when it took an alien turn. I started to worry that maybe they were finally going to jump the shark. Nope it turns out it's a lead in to playing Risk with loaded dice.
World conquest through force won't go well for anyone. Expose all the corruption and take out the corrupt judges and politicians. It will correct itself.