Loving the Enemy

Prologue

In the year of 2098, NASA's rover successfully landed on Gliese 581 d. For years, it was disputed that this place was only a fantasy, but they finally found it and got proof of its existence. As predicted, it was much too massive to carry only a rocky terrain and as the rover drove around, it found several rivers and a very large ocean. There was a lot more liquid than scientists would have thought. The plant life found was very strange looking. There was a forest the rover came across, but the plant species were unrecognizable to science.

The rover was destroyed when it reached a grassland. The last footage was when these human like creatures walked towards it and started speaking a strange language. One of them actually picked up the rover and looked directly into the camera. The scientists were shocked. Everyone for years have thought of aliens as ugly creatures and sure, they have had plenty of designs, but who would have guessed they would be similar to our structure? The man that picked up the rover had tan skin and purple eyes with a geometric design in the iris. He seemed to have said something to his companions and one with sap green hair stomped on the rover and hit it with a weapon. Then we lost connection but enough was already clear. There were inhabitants on the planet we have sought after for so long.

So they picked the best of the best for such a long journey. They put them to sleep in pods on the ship as to preserve them for the long trip ahead. When they finally landed on Gliese 581 d, a welcoming party was waiting for them. A whole army stood outside the ship as if for battle, but they greeted them warmly. They spoke English to them, but no one understood so one of the female soldiers walked up a kissed one of the astronauts. After that, she could speak and understand English it seemed like and left the astronaut very flustered. She acted as the translator. The general simply told them it was precaution for no ship has ever landed on their planet before so they needed to know if they were friend or foe. It was understandable so they followed the army to greet the king.

It was apparent that everyone seemed to have oddly colored features. On the journey, they asked if they used hair dye or contacts but the translator did not seem to know what they were talking about and said the way you are born is the way you stay. There were people with purple eyes, gold eyes, black eyes silver eyes, pink, yellow, and white. The hair colors were also varied as well with some bizarre shades and some people even had more than one color. On Earth, no one would find that strange but when there is no dye or contacts involved, it is amazing. Some people would kill for hair and eye colors like those. As they marched through the streets, they noticed that the pets the people on the streets were just as unidentifiable as the plants on the rover footage. They were definitely on another planet.

Now, when they met the king, the astronauts were forced to take off their gear. The air was fresher than that of Earth, but the temperature was chilly. They kneeled before the king, and the translator told them when to rise. The king welcomed them to their planet but warned them to not bring any weapons into the cities ever, and if they did anything against the law, they would be punished according to their rules.

They explored and took many photos, but they did not have any Unirid money to buy any souvenirs like jewelry to bring back to Earth. They found that the planet was full of gold and rhodium along with other precious metals. One of the astronauts tried to bargain but he was rejected. He tried to trade but it seemed like something from another planet was far less expensive to them. Eventually, it led to him stealing a lot of riches from one of the shops and before they could get caught, all of the astronauts had to run to the ship and take off. They returned back to Earth with plenty of riches and photos but they soiled the relationship between the inhabitants of the planet before it even had a chance to grow.

Ever since that day, Earthlings have not been allowed back on the planet. The Unirids, they call themselves, have called war upon Earth because they refused to give up the astronauts to them to receive punishment. Even though we took so long to get to their planet, they seemed to have no trouble finding ours and we have been fighting with their forces ever since. It has been 4 years. The tug-o-war seemed to have no hope for stopping until April 4, 2103.