Rise of the Martians

Part I

We all waited for the signal. That signal was key, the only way to end this monstrosity which many called the Earthling Communist Government. All of us were tense, hoping that our plan would work, but the signal wasn't supposed to go off for another hour and a half. At this moment, the armies of Culraf and Marata were split into three parts and was currently attacking the western, eastern, and northern edges of the palace. The sheer numbers of the two armies combined would hopefully keep the attention settled there for a while so we can sneak in through the southern side of the palace. When the horn blew, that would be signal for safe passage. There was only one problem; we had suffered many casualties from the previous battle. The only reason why we continued on was because our spies informed us that the the palace would float off the ground and withdraw to the outer reaches of Mars where it would be short of impossible to attack.

Our goals for tonight included sneaking into the palace, kill the Martian communist leader, set explosives into the palace, escape before they destroy the palace (which destroys the symbol of communism on the planet Mars). That would be a piece of cake.

To ease the tension that gathered inside the twenty of us, the commanding officer told us of what Mars was like before the communists, how they kept their power, what they did when their power was secured, and the steps he took to help us get this far.

" I remember the year was 2351, almost half a century before you young'uns were born, and that was the year when all of this nonsense happened," he declared, his dark blue eyes twinkling, "that was the year when the Communists invaded Mars herself. I was tending the pineapple fields at the time. The lifeless overhead speakers announced the secondly news throughout the city. '... and so, our king, Gregor XIV, sent out a good half of his forces to Fort Orr, where he hopes to intercepts the rebels, lead by Xavier. This has been your up-to-the-second news.'

"We had been living on the planet for two-hundred and sixty-two years. Our ancestors have fled here from Earth, but we have no idea why. The government was a monarchy at the time with a little bit of interference from the Earth government.

"At the time, we were living by the beach, in small, cozy stone huts that matched the scenery. The city was fairly close to Fort Orr, so we heard the the army marching their way through, unaware that the rebels had already passed through there the day before. My day went along the same schedule: pineapple fields in the morning and evening and fishing in the afternoon. We were all doing good... until Xavier came to power.

" ' This is breaking news,' blared the speakers at midnight the following night, ' King Gregor has died ten seconds ago, Xavier is now in power, all hail Xavier. This has been your up to the second news report."

"Xavier made some terrible changes during his first three years. He changed monarchy to communism, a religious less government, so he banned the big six religions on Mars: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Daoism. There were many riots, but the biggest was the city of Culraf. Thousands rioted and soon lost their lives to Xavier, which soon came to be known as the Massacre of Bloody Tears.

"In the following years, Xavier banned certain books, movies, music, and even plays. Nobody minded, as didn't want to become another massacre. That was our mistake. The Marian communists kept pushing their limits, to make the perfect communist society. Many other things were banned: foods, teaching subjects, types of clothing, number of kids a couple could have, etcetera. Most of us put up with it out of fear, but they were claiming that tit was 'For the good of the people!'

"The one final straw was the changes that he made to our schedule: just work all day and a small portion of eating and sleeping. Then she, -" the horn blew. We set our positions. The officer threw a grappling hook over the High stone wall. One by one, we all climbed it. The top of the wall deserted, but we could hear the sounds of battle on the other side. Two of us split off to open the gate to let our allies in. We made our way to the main attraction: the throne room.

It was quite easy to find as it was the largest and most elegant building within the vicinity. The inside was marvelous. Paintings filled the walls, statues decorated the open floor, high up balconies lined the walls, and in the center was Xavier sitting in his gilded chair... unguarded, which seemed weird to me.

"We'll, well, well. What do we have here?" Asked Xavier, obviously pleased with himself, " She told me you would be the first here. Like moths to flame, and I didn't even have to lift a finger!"

Now that I really looked around, I saw that it was a trap. Armored gunmen filled the balconies, ready to soot if need be.

"Now look here, cousin, " said the officer, " she had nothing to do with this."

"Ah, but she did. She warned me, pleaded with me, and begged me not to kill you."

"No. This couldn't have happened," he fell to his knees, " IT CANNOT END THIS WAY!"

"Now, now, let me just ask you this, if you were to succeed in your little journey, what would you do? I have brought you purpose. Would you really kill me because of that?"

"You haven't given us purpose, only pain you are the bane of soul - " started the officer when a rumbling filled the room. The armies successfully made their way through the gates, causing amok. In the confusion, the officer pulled out a knife and .... I would rather not describe it.

"RUN! RUN! THIS THING IS GONNA BLOW!"

I don't remember the rest. The palace exploded, I made it out, so did many others. The nightmare was finally over. Bit why did I feel like there was still more? I plan on making a visit to the officer to find out many questions that have been floating around my head.

Days later, I finally visited him. He looked terrible. He was in a full body cast and his eyes were bruised and full of sadness. I took a seat next to him.

"What is it, Steven?" He asked me.

" I need to sake some questions, " I said bluntly.

" Well then fire away, " he said.

" What is your name, who was that woman, and I'd Xavier really a bad guy?" I questioned.

"My real name is Thomas. Um, no, Xavier wasn't really a bad guy, but his intentions were. the woman, well... she is an important... spy, I guess you would say. There is still more to this story than you realize, larger than you can ever imagine. I plan on leaving when most of the crafts are up and running to take us to Earth. So, will you join me in this quest?"

"If I do, do you swear on your life that you will tell me all the truth when we find it?"

" Yes, I swear."

"Then I will accompany you."

The End Part I