War of the Worlds: Vanguard

Sequel to H G Wells' classic The War of the Worlds.

It's been two decades since Mars' failed conquest of Earth.
The journalist and his wife, Carrie, have a son. A criminal selling poems and nursery rhymes contraband on the streets of Artilleryman's glistening subterranean metropolis, New London.

Pursued by a disillusioned gunslinging-curate, Pockets evades capture only to stumble across darker secrets buried below the citadel. Teaming up with Tuppence and Zero the young trio plan to escape to the surface, fatefully on the conjunction of our two planets.

The Martians haven't forgotten us.
Revengeful, they've been busy scheming humanity's downfall.
Poised to launch a second attack.

Phase one: Using the advantage of space, an orbiting weapons platform bombards Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets with a constant harmonic hum. Oscillating molecules generate heat, melting millenniums of frozen layers causing our oceans to significantly rise. Swallowing most of the world's capital cities. Displacing fifty-five per cent of the planet's population. Unimaginable pandemonium ensues. All without setting a single mechanical foot on Earth's germ-infested surface.

Phase two: The first colossus floating sea-cylinder containing military logistics and processing factories splash lands. A mobile fortress using an ocean as its moat. New Martian amphibious handling machines wade ashore.

Mankind hasn't united against this universal threat.
We've bickered amongst ourselves.
Our greatest flaw shall be our demise.
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Formally released in 2017 as “The Massacre of Mankind” now re-edited and extended.