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 Post subject: War of the Worlds: A Modernised fan-fic
PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:24 pm 
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So...ya...like the title say...I was bored one day and I just went with it...

Enjoy...maybe...

===

Prologue

In the early years of the 21st century, when man had begun his expansion into the depths of space. Did they begin to wonder about life beyond this world? They believed in primitive life on some distance planet revolving some distance star. They never believed that there would be life in their own solar system. For they were blinded by the fact that Mars was, on it's surface, a dead and exhausted planet. But underground, it was teeming with life, like a dead tree, infested by insects and fungus, eating away at the dead husk. For the Martians, unlike us, were not blind. They knew their time was ending, that Mars would soon be lifeless, they looked towards our planet. Rich with water, air and life. So they were agreed that they would take our planet from us. There was nothing that could stop them, for they were all great thinkers, engineers, scientists and warriors. Martians are comprised of nothing less than 75% brain matter, the rest is a tangle of tentacles and organs, much like how an Octopus is. So they conceived a plan, perfected it, and slowly, and surely, begun the war of the worlds.

===

Part 1: The Coming of the Martians

===

Chapter 1

For it was the 10th of August 2005, that they started firing their pods at us. A massive flame licked out from Olympus Mons, every three minutes, firing a bullet towards Earth. But this was no normal bullet; this was a capsule, holding the Grunts of the Martian army, bent on our destruction.

It was quite unlike anything the Astronomers around the world had seen before. They've seen eruptions on Europa, but they formed an umbrella shape, the eruptions on Mars however, defied explanation. They performed much like human rifle muzzle flare, only these were bright green and smokeless.

There were few that supposed that flares might be a communication from mars, the rhythmic and timed explosions did draw some curious conclusions, but they were all dismissed. NASA had a few rovers on Mars at the time and curiously soon after the flares began, they lost all contact with them. The last transmission from both of the rovers showed some very odd happenings. Winds blowing dust around, and in one point, a shaft of some sort, swinging and striking the rover, blanking out the transmission. NASA never told the civilian populace, but they did tell the government, they knew before us that there was trouble heading our way. They had the crew of the ISS and the Hubble Space Telescope tracking numerous cylindrical objects heading away from Mars towards Earth. It wasn’t until the first of these “Cylinders” landed did they reveal what was coming, but it was far too late.

I remember the falling of the first cylinder. I was there. I witnessed what happened on that 3rd of September Sunday.

A mass of flames came roaring over the Columbia Mountain Range and landed with a thunderous explosion in the middle of a forest near Kamloops British Columbia.

I was there on holiday. Enjoying the weather and the various ski resorts that dotted the various mountain ranges of BC, but with the coming of this meteor, everything changed. A few hours after it had fallen, people had ventured out to find it. When they did, they were astounded by what they found.

In the middle of an area of downed trees spanning about one kilometer in radius, sticking out of the ground on a 45’ angle was the thing, and what a thing it was. In the sunlight it gleamed like a new copper penny. It looked very much like a rifle bullet, except it was, what we could see, 30 to 40 yards long and 20 yards wide. A massive bullet fired from the heavens.

Word of the projectile spread like wild fire, and soon a great number of people from Kamloops and the surrounding cities had come to see the thing. It was scarcely 3 o’clock in the afternoon when people nearest the thing began hearing a scraping sound coming from it. And for a few minutes, no one knew what the sound was. Only when a line of silver appeared a foot from the end of the thing did people realize that the thing was opening up, unscrewing.

A man rushed forward and started shouting at the thing, “Are you alright in there!” It dawned on the others that the people who had been inside the thing were probably suffering from heat burns and radiation poisoning from entering our atmosphere. There was no answer from inside the thing. It just continued unscrewing.

The crowd started moving back away from the end of the thing as more and more of the silver screw appeared, and just when it looked like it was going to fall off, the lid ground to a halt. For several baited seconds the crowd of onlookers became transfixed on the silent unmoving end, when. Bang! Something from inside the thing began hitting the end. A dull ringing shot out, and again. A rhythmic bang shot out from the cylinder, and slowly the end was giving way. When a streamer of green vapor began pouring out the top of the cylinder did the banging stop.

A hissing sound, mixed with a chirping murmur came from the small opening at the top of the cylinder. With a final, deafening crash, the lid flew off came crashing down and slid a good twenty meters in the dirt before finally coming to a resting. The green vapor gusted out of the opening and a bulk, larger than a bear peered over the brim of the opening.

Large, black, and cold were these eyes. Some people screamed and others fled. It rose up slowly, wheezing like a snoring man and tentacles gripped the edge of the cylinder, to keep it from going over the side.

It stayed there, swaying and convulsing slowly. When an ear-piercing shriek rang out from its beaked mouth. It snorted like a wild beast would, and sank back into the depths of the cylinder. People turned who had had enough, turned and fled the scene. I and about a hundred more stayed, but slowly moved away from the cylinder and the pit it lay in.

A clattering of metal, forced my eyes back to the cylinder, I saw in the failing light a massive metallic snake like arm wriggle in the light. It had on its end a sort of dish. It pulsated slowly, giving off a bright light. It produced a beam, like that from a warships searchlight and began weaving it back and forth, search the area.

I became transfixed on this object. Was it merely a device for spotting things or was it like a laser sight for a weapon? The beam wove back and forth until it stopped; it illuminated a crawling man who had stumbled on a branch from one of the fallen trees. The light from the dish began to intensify and a whine began to emit from the dish. Suddenly there was a terrible explosion; a mass of flames erupted from where the man lay. In an instant the people turned and fled, panic-stricken and in fear of this bright death. The light swung towards the crowd of people and began whining again; fire sprang from man to man, instantly catching fire. The downed trees burst into flames at the touch of this heat ray.

I got away from the rushing people hid among a small hill, hiding me from the lights view. I could see the light eagerly searching for more victims but it found only the fallen trees. I breathed hard, I had never seen death before, nor had I been so close to it. I stayed among the fallen trees and the hill until I was sure it was safe. Then quietly I made myself back to the road and followed it back to the house I was staying at. I was exhausted and hungry, but I made no move to eat or sleep I crept up the stairs to my bedroom window, and in the darkness I could see the still burning fires over the tree laden hills. I sat down in an armchair and gazed at the scene and slowly I fell asleep.

===


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:25 pm 
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===

Chapter 2

I awoke suddenly the next morning, my stomach growling in hunger. I walked downstairs and helped myself to some eggs. It took my a few minutes to realize a new sound, over the spiting of the eggs I heard a dull booming sound. I turned off the stove element and went to the kitchen window. My jaw dropped open as I saw a vast quantity of green smoke rising in the north, and on the road people were honking their horns, trying to get the long line of cars moving away from Kamloops and the green smoke from the pit.

I hurriedly ate the eggs and turned on the news. There was nothing about the deaths, or anything like that, except a small report on the downed meteor, saying to stay away from crater and that the armed forces from both Canada and the States were being brought in to “keep the fires at bay and to help the civilians.”

I continued to listen to the news, trying to see if anything else was coming in, but it was all the same. I was yanked away from the television by a violent flash that came from the East. I saw a trail of smoke in the sky, showing where the second cylinder had landed. I stood and watched, the events going over in my mind. The cylinders, the aliens, the heat ray, the booming banging sound and the green smoke. I dawned on me what the banging would be. The construction of something, the aliens were constructing something. What that something was, I wouldn’t know until noon of that day.

A storm had moved in and blanketed the town in a dreary grey sky. I was watching the news, listening to for updates when the thunder started. I continued listening but was drawn towards the window, there wasn’t any lightning, but there was thunder. A deep, growling thunder.

My view from the window looked over the cityscape of Kamloops. It was a calm sight, but the thunder continued. I was puzzled by this sound. But I gasped in horror as I saw, creeping across the various buildings was a search light.

The source for the thunderous noise was that of a gigantic machine, it appeared in my view coming out of a tree that was in my backyard. It moved it’s three segmented legs one at a time, in a fluid, graceful way. A round and curved body stood on top of these legs and weaving back and forth perched between two of the articulated snakes was the source of the light. But it was different, then the dish I had seen on near the pit. It was an egg shaped device with a small opening on the end. This machine filled me with a sense of dread, and also a sense of awe, that these beasts could create something as deadly and as awe-inspiring as this tripod.

I made my way upstairs and peered out of the East facing window to watch the Tripod. It was standing there, motionless, except for the snake like arms that wove back and forth. Flocks of birds were flying overhead, and I could hear more boom thunder, much closer this time. I panicked and began shutting off all the lights, making it seem as if no one was home and finally locked the door. Before turning around I saw in the warped glass of the door a massive three legged machine marching towards my house. I shouted in fright and made my way to the cellar door but I could see out of the windows the massive feet of the tripod coming down only yards away from the house. I sighed in relief and made my way back upstairs. This second machine I saw, was vastly different from the first one. It was bulkier, and had several more metallic snakes dangling below the ovoid body. There was also only one arm holding onto a heat ray, and it was the same as the arm from the cylinder. This Tripod also moved more clumsily, I guessed that it might have been a prototype, or made from the leftovers of the first one. Looking at the Tripod more I noticed netting covering the edge of the ovoid body, like eaves on a house for catching water.

The second Tripod stopped and I heard a deafening cry coming from the other Tripod. A thunderous blood-curdling scream emitted from it. A battle cry. And with that, the two Tripods began flashing their heat rays over the city. As they moved, the heat ray carved a path of fire through the city, blasting buildings apart and trudging through others. At this time there was another sound, a whistling sound and something very fast flew over my house and struck the back of the second Tripod. It gave a pained cry and turned the whole body around in one swift movement. For more than a second the Tripod and I stared at each other, I could see a small hood on top of the body and a glass covered hole on it. Another missile flew overhead and struck the tripods leg, which shattered. The Tripod stumbled and fell a short ways before bracing the fall with it’s broken leg. It directed its heat ray in the direction of my house. So I ducked and prayed.

I heard the whine from the heat ray and several explosions. I got up and as I did I saw the flaming hulks of two jet planes crash into the city. I saw a third missile fly from the west and strike the side of the tripod hood. A mix of metal and gore flew everywhere as the Tripod slumped to the ground, it’s driver dead. A victorious jet flew over the wreckage and turned to attack the other Tripod.

The other Tripod stood motionless, staring at the remains of its companion. The Jet let loose a missile and it streaked towards the Tripod. But when it got to within ten yards of it, the missile exploded against an invisible barrier. The Tripod turned its Heat ray onto the jet, and I saw it burst into flames, scream past the Tripod and impacted into a factory, making a huge fireball.

The Tripod moved over to it’s fallen companion and I saw a number of small metallic ropes shoot out towards the hulk and attach to the tripods frame. It then slowly began dragging it back towards the pit. As it went it gave off a number of haunting, pained cries. I stood there, and I couldn’t help myself but feel a bit of sorrow. But I soon forgot about it as I watched the fires in Kamloops spread. Hundreds of people were dead already, hundreds of thousands more would die, and this was the first alien to be killed, the first of only a few.

===


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:26 pm 
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===

Chapter 3

At five in the afternoon a convoy of military vehicles moved through the streets pass my house, I looked northward towards the pit and saw flashes of light on the horizon. The Military was bombarding the aliens. A knock at the door forced me away from the window I peered out of the warped glass and saw a man in a military uniform peering northward anxiously. I unlocked the door and before I could get it open, the man had forced it open, scrambled inside, pushed me aside and bolted the door again.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ I yelled as I picked myself up off the ground, the man ignored me and went over to look out the north-facing window. I approached the man and he fell to his knees, shaking and breathing hard. ‘Water…water…’ He said with a dry, exhausted voice. I paused for a second, looking at his mud and blood streaked face before getting him a drink.

‘Thanks.’ He said and downed the water. I raised my eyebrows at him. ‘You’ve been there?’ I said pointing to the still flashing skies in the north. The man shuddered pushed the glass towards me; I got up and refilled the glass. ‘Yes, I was up there, on the front lines. I was attached to the 5th mechanized unit. We were bombarding them with long range and medium ranged weapons, thank you.’ He said as I handed the glass back. ‘What happened?’ I asked, eager to know what the army was doing. ‘They…uh…I don’t really know. There were a lot of lights; I looked like we’d brought down one of those machines, but there were two others.’ He said as he shook his head.

‘Two? Standing and using their search light?’ I said. This bit of news was disconcerting. ‘Ya, the fallen one looked like they were repairing it, or something like that. It had five legs instead of three. It looked…like a harvester of some sort…’ He took another drink from the glass, made a face and spit the contents back into it. I looked at him as if he was crazy, then I looked at the water in the glass. Floating in the contents of the water, were little red shards, like iron filings. ‘What the hell is that…’ I asked him, but he just shook his head. ‘I don’t know, but we saw some sort of plant growing around the crash site, looked like a weed of sorts.’

A distant roar broke our conversation. We both ran to the window to see what was happening. Out in the north, there were no longer any flashes of white, just a dull orange tinge and in the East. A column of green smoke was rising steadily. ‘The Martians are setting up camp in their second pit.’ The military man said. ‘Martians? They’re Martians?’ I said in disbelief, he looked at me and nodded. ‘How did you know?’

The man took a deep breath and dove into the story of NASA tracking the cylinders and keeping the populace unaware of the pending invasion. ‘We didn’t know what to expect, and we sure as hell didn’t expect…’ A deafening roar and explosion cut him off as the glass in the window shattered and gusts of smoke and dust billowed into the house. I was thrown to the ground but the military man still stood his arms over his face, he coughed as the dust began to settle. I got up and made my way upstairs to look out at Kamloops to see what had happened. Once I got to the upstairs east facing window and I saw what lay there in the middle of the wrecked town houses and buildings did it dawn on me. The 3rd cylinder lay in what remained of downtown Kamloops.

The military man followed me upstairs and as he saw the scene before us, fell to his knees again. ‘They’re shelling us.’ A groaning cry rang out from the North as the two Tripods strode over the trees and settled in formation, scanning the wreckage of the buildings for any movement. They were guarding their newly arrived comrades. In the East fires could be seen and striding figures moved to and fro, wiping us out. It was now that a whirring clatter machine moved into our view, a metallic spider; numerous tentacles covered the front of this machine. It moved into a dense part of the wreckage and unleashed the appendages on the debris. At once the tendrils began overturning cars, pieces of walls, steel girders searching for something among the wreckage. I was curious about this new machines job as it tended to the debris field. When a distant shout came from the machine did I realize what it was doing. It was hunting survivors, and sure enough clutched in one of the tentacles being observed by the face of the machine was a man. The Harvesting Machine regarded the man for a few seconds then gently placed it in a wire basket making up most of the machines back.

The Military man and I continued watching the machine pick through the wreckage until night had fallen. The Military man drew out from its holster a pistol and cocked it. ‘You get some sleep. I’ll watch. I’ll wake you in a few hours and we’ll take turns standing guard, alright?’ I nodded to him and with difficulty closed my eyes. It was an odd sort of thing, now that I think back to that night. The Military man and myself watching over one another was mimicking the two Tripods watching over their comrades still in their cylinder, awaiting to join the growing Martian presence.

===


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:27 pm 
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===

Chapter 4

I awoke after a few hours rest, and peered into the darkened room. The Military man handed me his pistol and I took over being the new look out. It was about midnight the various fires and alien searchlights giving the view out of the window a most chilling sight.

The distance grinding sound from the cylinder meant that the Martians were getting ready to join the attacking force. A ringing concussion sounded in the night, the lid had come off and a chirping, hooting noise had started coming from both the cylinder and the two Tripods. The Harvesting Machine stopped and looked back towards the cylinder for a few seconds then continued with it’s duties.

In the dim light I could see the Martians moving about in the pit, a massive plume of green smoke was issuing from the open cylinder. I stared at the smoke, curious as to it’s purpose. Was it like the visible and toxic fumes that came off from welding metal, or was it a gas that they breathed? The Martians were busy constructing a new Tripod, like the two sentries. It was an odd spectacle, watching them create a machine. Once it was completed, a Martian slithered into the hood of the Tripod and like a car starting, hummed into existence. It’s three legs rose into the air and planted themselves equal distances apart and began to slowly drew it’s self up, like a tent being erected.

The Tripod trio formed a line on the untouched side of Kamloops, and with a deafening howl that roared like thunder, unleashed the heat ray on the city. Streamers of fire rose up into the sky, screams could be heard over the constant whining of the heatrays. The Tripods continued on with their march, making a slow and arc around the city. It was then that I realized that they were heading towards the house. In a rush of panic and fear I shook the military man awake. ‘What the hell…’ He muttered as he slowly awoke, but I half shouted, half whispered at him that we had to get out of the house. In a rush of panic, he shot up, grabbed the pistol out of my hand, hurried to look out the window, saw the approaching Tripods and made a mad dash to the door. I heard a shot go off and splintering sound of wood. I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw that the Military man had shot the lock off then bashed his way through the door. I sprinted out of the door into the night.

A thundering of footfalls told me that the Tripods weren’t too far away, I dashed across the deserted road and climbed over a fur tree laden hill. As I reached the other side of the hill I looked over my shoulder and saw over the trees, one of the monsterous Tripods, striding from left to right, I turned slowly, watching this machine. Its Heatray weaving back and forth.

With a deafening roar, which made me clap my hands to my ears, the Martians exulted in victory. A chorus of sickly painful chords that spoke of nothing but sadistic glory.

ALLALLOO!

I collapsed from the chorus, and felt a trickle of blood from my left ear. I was dazed and alone on the outskirts of this city of the dead. In the distance I could see other distant fires and massive green clouds being formed by a steady plume of green smoke, other places that the Martians had landed. It was hopeless. The Martians were changing Earth into a place more suitable for them, a new home. With that last thought I fell unconscious, hidden under the grove of fur trees. I had, like the Earth’s finest, given up. The Earth belonged to the Martians.

===

I'll post more if people want me to.

Feedback? Comments? Etc?


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:29 pm 
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Martian War Lord

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Great fanfic! Keep going! I've got my version of the WOTW story posted on the site AND this forum. The story is called 'The Struggle' and the story is told by two students. You'll find that story in the I ALONE - War of the Worlds book thread.


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:05 pm 
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Ive read the first two chapters and it's pretty good so far.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:24 pm 
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Of his or mine fanfic? (No pun intended, I just need to know which one you're reading.


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:27 pm 
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The fic in this thread.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:28 pm 
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It's great, isn't it? :D


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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Its well written, a bit rushed though.


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I say it's similar to the original, just adapted with modern day stuff.


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:41 pm 
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Yes which is why I think its too quick...hes trying to get everything from a chapter in the book into a post...


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That's true, but it looks good to me, anyway.


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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Never disbuted that, just said it seemed rush. It is well written!


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A bit rushed...Yes, I'd say I rushed a bit...I just wanted to get the Martians onto Earth before the end of the first part.

It's a 5 part story, with 4-6 chapters each. So far I'm done up to the beginning of Part 4.

I'll post more in a few moments, btw, thanks for the feedback!


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===

Part 2: The Spirit of Man

===

Chapter 1

How long I was out for, I do not know, but when I came to I found myself in a cot in a camp of sorts. Tents and trailers were setup up in a jumbled pattern and people ran to and fro in between numerous beds laden with the injured, dying and the dead.

I propped myself up on my arm and looked around some more, I couldn’t tell where I was, what day it was or what time. ‘Ah, You’re awake!’ I turned my head and saw a nurse walking towards me; at least I think she was a nurse. She took my pulse and nodded to herself. ‘You’re a bit better than a week ago, that’s all I can say.’

‘A week?’ I said incrediously, ‘What’s happened since then? All I remember is the Tripods wiping out Kamloops and seeing the smoke from other cylinders farther away.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re the Kamloops survivor! I never would’ve imagined…’ I waved a dismissing arm, ‘What’s happened?!’ I said desperately.

She cleared her throat and went on to tell of the fall of numerous other cities, Toronto, Chicago, New York, London, Hong Kong, Moscow, to just name a few. In the past week however, the Martians seemed to be slowing their advance, they weren’t being spotted as much. But where ever they were presumed to be a greenish glow could be seen around their camps. So, in the lull between the attacks, a Resistance had been created, and like the Martians, were improvising and creating (stealing from downed army troops would be the more correct term) weapons of war to fight against the Martians when they reared their heads again.

She also told me about the appearance of a new machine. She showed me a video of the Tripod that had been sighted only a few miles away from the camp. The thing was huge! It carried on its back a massive barrel, much like a Howitzer looks, it moved slowly and lumbered along in the video. When I thought that that was all was on the tape I looked at the nurse with a puzzled look, but she nodded towards the video, urging me to watch. What happened next was made the hairs on my neck stand up. The massive Tripod sat much like how a dog sits. The barrel extended out, and was approximately a hundred meters long when it was fully extended. It then began to fire. A deafening concussion rang from the gun and the video shook and then followed something through the air. The camera zoomed in on a tumbling projectile, like a football going end over end, only this was pure black and left a trail of black mist or smoke.

The camera zoomed out and followed the projectile till it impacted in a small town. Instantly, what appeared to be a black hill shot outwards from impact site. It surrounded the town; people could be seen staggering out of the black smoke. They walked drunkenly then fell down. The camera ducked down behind a hill, a partial view of the massive Tripod walked into the frame; jets of steam spurted out of nozzles around the lower part of the body. After the Tripod had cleared the frame, the camera cleared the hill and looked down onto a pitch-black town. The houses and buildings had been covered in what looked like black snow. It was awe-inspiring and sent a chill down my spine.

Someone rushed into the tent and in a whispered something into the nurse’s ear. The Nurse looked like she was going to panic. She stood up and dragged me out of the bed and into the growing night. ‘Tripods spotted!’ Someone shouted on top of a make shift observation post. ‘Two Assaults, Five Fighters and Three Harvesters!’

‘Assaults?’ I said in a panic, ‘Are those the black smoke launchers?’ I said as the nurse lead me away from the camp, down a wide street, laden with wrecked cars and buildings. ‘Yes, they’re called Assaulting Machines, the smaller ones with the heat rays are called Fighting Machines and the little spider ones are Harvesting Machines.’ She said hurriedly.

The ground heaved, an explosion shattered a few remaining windows in the nearby windows and a fire erupted behind us where the camp had been.

ALLALLOO!

A tripod roared as another explosion erupted. I turned around to see the outline of the crying tripod against the raging fire. I looked down at the road and saw a partially covered manhole. ‘Come on! It’s the only way!’ I said the nurse who was staring up at the Tripod in fearful shock. I wrenched the manhole cover off and started climbing down into the sewers. A scurrying sound reached my ears. ‘Come on!’ I yelled at the nurse who looked at me, halfway in the sewers. She started towards me as a building a few yards away exploded, and a Harvesting Machine forced it’s way through the buildings structure. It kicked a wall apart and looked at the Nurse, and the nurse looked at it. In a swift movement I grabbed the manhole cover and began sliding it over the hole. I looked up as a tentacle shot out and wrapped itself around the nurse who screamed as she was wrenched away and placed into a wire basket on the machines back. I slid the cover over the hole, let go of the ladder and fell with a slight splash into the washed out sewers.

===


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===

Chapter 2

I stayed down in the sewers for the night, not daring to go out into the darkness. I huddled under the manhole looking up into the darkness. Amazingly enough, the sewers were clean. It must have rained lately, washing the stench away. It was then that I heard a cry pierce the silence, a plea for help.

I made my way down the dark sewers, being led by the beam of light from a flashlight that I had found at the foot of the ladder. I reached a water grate, turned off the flashlight and peered out through the tiny slit in the top of the sewers.

A woman was standing in the doorway of a still standing building. She seemed perfectly fine, but there was something different about the way she moved and looked. She swayed slightly back and forth and kept repeatedly calling out for help. My eyes became more focused in the dark and I saw that she was pale as a ghost, and something else was odd, she was repeating the same cry for help, in the exact same way. Like a recording.

I heard footsteps approaching and saw a group of Marines move slowly towards the woman, flashlights on their weapons pointed at the woman. ‘Are you hurt ma’am?’ one of the Marines said. The woman swayed back and forth and looked straight at the group for a few seconds. Then she reared her head back and let out an alien war cry.

Instantly the house she was standing near splintered into debris as a Harvesting machine sprang to life. Articulate arms of metal shot out and seized 3 men in seconds. The remaining two brought their rifles to bear, they poured fire into the beasts armored hulk and slowly head backwards. Another tentacle shot out and seized another marine, it bashed his head against a corner of the ruined building and put him in the basket. The last Marine centred his rifle and shot at the Martians hood. It let out a wounded shriek and grabbed the marine. Shouting in rage and pain the Harvesting machine repeated bashed his body against the road, then bashed his head against a lamp post. His head exploded against the metal his limp body was cast away by the Martian. Unusable.

The woman I know saw was connected to the Martian by a small tentacle that was in the back of her head. As the Harvesting machine lifted up of the ground, it flung the used decoy away into darkness and headed back to the Martian camp.

I stood there, dazed and shocked by what I had seen. I had witnessed what few had ever witnessed. The Martians had used decoys in the war, but only a few had ever seen them used. They were usually young women, and very rarely men. But what they did was, after they had sucked the blood out of them, they had chosen a few to be used as decoys. To lure more victims to be made into food.

In my dazed state it took a while to realize that the Harvesting machine had only traveled a few hundred yards. It had stopped dead in its tracks, then slowly it turned around to face me. I looked at the Martian, and the Martian looked at me. I looked down at my hand and saw that in the confusion that I had somehow turned the flashlight back on, casting a beam of light through the grate.

===


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===

Chapter 3

I froze, not knowing what to do. Leave the light on, turn it off, or just run for it. The Harvesting Machine gave a snarling cry and lunged towards the light at blistering speed, tentacles springing forward. I panicked and dropped to the ground and flattened myself against the bottem of the sewers, the flashlight fell from my hand, hit the bottom and broke the bulb, casting the sewers into semi darkness.

The tentacles began scrapping at the grating, trying to break through it, but in vain. The tentacles were just too big. The scrapping and bloodthirsty snarls from the Martian in the Machine were driving me crazy. I was breathing fast and hard, a stitch springing up in my side. And as soon as it had begun, it had stopped. The machine gave up and stopped trying to get through the small opening. I closed my eyes and began to breathe normally, but soon after a humming was coming from above my head. I opened my eyes slightly and saw the same smaller tentacle that was connected to the lady in the doorway. It had fitted through the grate and was waving back and forth looking down the sewer tunnels. Ever once and a while a green flash would go off followed by a high pitched whine, like a camera.

I watched the probe move lower and lower. Its articulated segments gave off little spurts of green mist whenever it moved a great deal, it smelled a lot like a mix of gasoline and rotten meat. The probe had passed over my head and was lowering itself towards my stomach. Amazingly enough, the probe couldn’t see me. It was busy searching left and right, but never directly beneath it. I heard a squeak to the left of me. I moved my eyes to see a rat slinking down the sewers towards the probe.

The probe stopped moving and followed the movement of the rat. The Probe split in two and a thin needle shot out. It looked to be about 20 inches long and made of a silver material. The rat looked at the needle sniffled the air squeaked again then turned to flee. But the needle moved with lightning speed. It pierced the body of the rat and began to hum again. The Rat began squeaking fiercely and thrashed its body around. I could see in the silver needle, which was partially transparent, a line of blood being drawn up the inside of the needle. It was sucking the blood out of the rat. I watched in mortified curiosity. Had the Martians ran low of human blood that they were looking for alternative food sources?

I pondered this for a few moments longer, but a disgusted, choked squeal from outside the grate drew me back to reality. The needle had removed itself from the rat and was shaking back and forth. I raised my eyebrows at this behavior and wondered what was happening. With a gurgling, retching sound the contents of the needle shot out from the tip and splattered on the sewer wall. The needle moved back into the tentacle and it slid back out through the grate. I could hear the Harvesting Machine moving away, the Martian inside still giving off a choked, coughing noise.

I stood back up and peered out at the Departing Harvesting machine, it was at the far end of the street when I heard the sound of gunfire. The Harvesting Machine froze. Over the buildings and ruins I could see an orange glow over where the Martians camp was, and I thought, for a moment that I saw a Tripod silhouette stumble and saw a bright flash where the “head” of the machine would be, erupt into a fireball. I turned my head in time to see the Harvesting Machine turn-tail and scurry away from the raging battle.

I heard a satisfied snort of laughter behind me. I turned to see a group of 10 black, armor clad Marines. “Harvester, doesn’t have the protection like the Tripods do, so they run for the closest camp.” The Marine behind me said, “You able to walk, run, hide and fight?” He demanded. I nodded in a frightened way. He turned to a Marine to his left, who gave him a spare rifle and hefted it at me, which I caught and bumped into the side of the sewers. A few of the Marines sniggered slightly. “Welcome to Alpha Bravo Tango Squad, more importantly,” The lead Marine said as he hefted his own rifle and cocked it. “Welcome to the Resistance.”

===


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===

Chapter 4

I had never held a weapon in my life, and I never would’ve imagined myself being recruited by the outfit known as “Alpha Bravo Tango Squad”. A rag-tag civilian and marines outfit with the duty to watch and learn from the more trained more combat ready squads. I was told by the Lead Marine as we headed out of the sewers through a broken section of sewers, open to the city and sky above. The horrific cry of a Martian Tripod broke the sudden calm.

The Marines went down on a knee and leveled their sights on the hulk. I raised mine too and looked up at the Tripod. It was then that I noticed that it was different. Its heatray was different, bulkier and had a nozzle on the end like a funnel. I lowered my rifle and motioned for the rest of them to do the same. They looked at me like I was crazy. “It’s got a different heatray. This isn’t what you’ve been fighting is it?” I asked the Lead Marine. He gazed at the Tripod, then motioned to the squad to move up and hide in the ruins of a building. I rushed into the ruins just in time to hear a roaring whooshing noise followed a heavy explosion. The ground heaved windows shattered and the men were thrown to the floor. I clawed my way to a crack in the side of the building to see the Tripod moving on an angle away from us. The Lead Marine came up beside me and watched the Tripod too.

The Tripod ambled on but stopped as an RPG rocket impacted on its shields. It turned its body and brought the new heatray to bear. A geyser of fire erupted from the nozzle, a streak of liquid fire jetted out towards the origin of the rocket. The fire moved like liquid. It struck the side of a building and coursed up the side like water hitting a dam. “Holy god…” I whispered in shock, the Marine scowled at the fire. Explosions ripped through where the heatray had been aimed. The stream of fire eased and dripped from the tip of the nozzle splattered the top of the machine, but the liquid didn’t burn on the machine. It merely rolled off the hulk and plopped down on the ground, causing small patches of flame.

I watched the Tripod move away, but my eyes were fixed on this new heatray. Its nozzle was glowing red hot. “Martian Napalm…” The Lead Marine sat back against the broken building. “We had a radio transmission come in a day or so ago. A squad had come across a new weapon that the Martians were creating. An upgrade from their Heat Beam weapon, using actual fire and some reactant to keep it burning for hours on end.” He explained as he pulled the clip out of his rifle to check how many rounds he had left. “After the fire was out they found this clear tar-like stuff. It was sticky and highly flammable. They had it analyzed at their camp and found it was a mix of Methane, Oxygen, Hydrogen and some other chemical that none of the scientists could identify, they’re calling it ‘Areidium’. When you heat it up it catches fire and doesn’t want to go out easily, you can pour water on it. Or even submerge it and it’ll still burn, crazy stuff.” He shook his head and loaded up the clip and cocked his rifle.

“They did find out one solution as to how to get the stuff off of you if you come in contact with it though.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “How do you get it off?” He gave a strained grin. “You’ve got to cut off the part that’s been touched by the stuff. It’s also highly toxic stuff. Gave the guy who handled it without gloves Gangrene in thirty minutes.” I swallowed and gave a snort of disgust. “War can be a very nasty place.” I said as I looked at him. He nodded and took off his right hand glove to show a stump where a hand should’ve been, Traces of Gangrene could be seen spreading through his arm. “Ya, tell me about it.” He said bitterly.

===


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===

Chapter 5

The squad moved out of the ruins of what I had been told was the remains of Seattle. We headed Eastward following the Tripod, hopeful that we’d come across a Martian camp. I had noticed strange things happening to our planet. The sky had begun to show a green tinge and the clouds were not a white color, they were light green. Apart from that here and there, crawling up out of drains, hanging from trees and choking streams and creeks was the Red Weed. A mass of red tendrils and long dagger shaped leaves. “Creepy plant…don’t swallow the scales or your screwed. It’ll start growing like that.” The Lead Marine pointed out a stream that had the Red weed growing like an octopus through the water, expanding and spreading it’s tendrils in the water. I shuddered at the memory of the military man drinking and spitting out the water with the Red weed seeds in it, thinking about what could’ve happened to him.

We came upon a giant hill and started scaling it. The Lead Marine and I reached the top and looked over it cautiously. Below the hill, nestled in the middle of a town was another cylinder, spewing Green smoke, surrounded by a number of tripods that oddly enough were stationary and only a few had their heatrays. It seemed that they were in the process of upgrading their attack force. I peered around the town for any signs of human life and I was startled to find a small paddock made out of a wire mesh holding a group of scurrying people. A Harvesting Machine was picking them up one at a time, examining them then placing them back into the paddock. “They’re getting ready to drain them.” The Lead Marine said as he glanced around the town too. Both of our gazes were caught by a lone Fighting Machine which was standing apart from the others, it looked like to be a watch out. It gave a howling cry, like a signal of some sort. A few seconds later, it was answered by a similar cry from a few kilometers behind us.

“sh*t! Move!” The Lead Marine cursed and pointed with his stump of a hand towards an outcropping of trees. I turned my head to the sound of the other machine and saw it. A Harvesting Machine, whirring towards the camp. It paused for a second and looked at the fleeing marines, instantly it gave a high pitched shriek and began tearing off towards us. I looked back towards the town and saw the Watch out Tripod and another Harvesting Machine advancing on us. “They’re coming!” I shouted and ran full tilt towards the trees. Booming footfalls behind me told me that the Tripod was getting closer. I didn’t dare look back. I kept running till I reached the trunk of a tree and hastily began to climb. Screams and cries of fear issued behind me, when I was a few meters off the ground I turned to see the squad members being picked up, one by one. Some were firing their rifles at the machines in vain. I watched for so long that I didn’t realize that the second Harvesting Machine had wrapped a tentacle around my torso. I had only realized when I was yanked from the tree trunk and thrown down into the wire mesh basket on the Machines back.

I fell down hard onto the wire mesh and bumped into a few other people in the basket, a sobbing woman, who was cradling her arm and a Priest looking mournfully out of the basket. A minute later, the Machine had reached the side of the paddock holding the group of humans. One by one tentacles swarmed into the basket and carried the three of us out of the basket and put us into the paddock. I looked up at the hole in the paddock.

It was a large space, it included a ruined building which had a broken water pipe, leaking water, and amazingly enough a working toilet. There was nothing to eat in the holding paddock, but every once and a while A Harvesting Machine would drop down a few pieces of cooked meat. I looked at the fencing that kept us prisoner and thought of scaling it to freedom, but that thought was quickly snuffed out as I witnessed a desperate man rush up and touched the fence, trying to escape. Instantly there was a bright glare and puff of smoke as he was electrified, the skeletal remains crumbled to the ground.

I went into the remains of the house and climbed to the highest point and watched the Martians work and eat. This was it. A slow and painful death by being drained of my blood. There was no hope of escape in this holding pen. It was over.

===


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I'm going to be posting the parts in 1 day intervuls. And after I put up the last part of Part 3...well...I'll put up whatever I get done when it's done after that.

Enjoy! Btw, the "Priest" Character is my version of the Curate...only thing is...you don't see much of him...but he does have a chunk of Part 3 devoted to him...


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Thanks for the info. Just keep up the good work! :D


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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I bet at some point some nukes would be used against the Martians...that would set them back a bit. Also, the airforces of the world could drop nukes just as soon as the cylinders arrived before they opened up. Also, ICBMs could also be reprogrammed in a jiffy to blow up cylinders in space!


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I can understand your point, but what if the Martians adapt to the technology (like the Borg)?


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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Xuxa the White wrote:
I bet at some point some nukes would be used against the Martians...that would set them back a bit. Also, the airforces of the world could drop nukes just as soon as the cylinders arrived before they opened up. Also, ICBMs could also be reprogrammed in a jiffy to blow up cylinders in space!


What is it with you and Nukes? They are just about the most evil thing man ever created! :?


Bah bah black sheap April diamond spheres, Rigsby, Rigsby, Eight sided Pears.


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