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Martian Menace
For as long as we have gazed up at the stars, silent alien observers have looked back. Unbeknownst to humankind, Earth has proven to be a particularly intriguing subject of study over the past several centuries for the indigenous inhabitants of our planetary neighbor Mars. Long since depleted of resources and reduced to a barren desert of red dirt, Mars can no longer provide the necessary sustenance for the Martian species. Finally seeing the error of their ways, the Martians have looked beyond their home for new resources and, conveniently, found Earth right around the cosmic corner. The Martians possess technology and methods of space travel that humanity will not discover for generations, but when their own environmental apocalypse fell upon them they still lacked the capacity for a full-scale invasion of a neighboring planet. Starvation had taken its toll on the Martian population by slowing industry and depleting their military. The relocation of their species required patience and planning. Their plan required the vast majority of surviving Martians to enter suspended animation while scientists and engineers constructed a fleet of ships and vehicles capable of conquering Earth. Meanwhile, scout teams observed Earth, and harvesters mined the planet for any remaining resources to fuel the military effort back on Mars. Unfortunately, time was not on their side, and human technology developed far quicker than anticipated. Decades flew by between advances in the Martian military machine, and every year humans gained greater knowledge and power. The Martians could no longer hide after the Roswell crash in 1947. In an effort to control the progress of humans and gain inside intelligence, the Martians came forward to the governments of the world’s leading nations and traded technology for resources, all the while steering humanity’s progress in just the right directions to ensure its eventual vulnerability. This more open relationship sent additional resources back to Mars, and their productivity vastly accelerated. Shortly after the turn of century, the Martians removed their soldiers from stasis, said goodbye to Mars once and for all, and mobilized their fleet. The invasion of Earth had begun.