THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

SYNOPSIS

A century after their last attempt at invasion, the "Martians" documented in H.G. Wells' classic novel return once more to enslave (actually "harvest" would be a better word) mankind. Though they've corrected their bacterial problem and created some devastating new technology to aid them, humanity has advanced so much in the last hundred years that their "invasion" has become much more of a "war".

After dropping cylinders, packed with their Tripod killing machines complete with Heat-Ray and Black Smoke, on a daily basis in every continent (except Antarctica, where there is nothing to eat) they eventually wear down earth's forces and begin to gain ground. Once the east coast of the US falls, the resistance begins to crumble to pieces. Soon humanity begins to lose, not just to the "Martians" but to their own apathy.

Our story centers around a small group of pacifists located in Haven, a small town in Kansas, and what is left of the resistance as they try to defend Kansas City. The residents of Haven want to have no part in the "war" but soon realize that they have no choice. They learn that the Martians have intentionally let loose their red weed (which they call "Hellweed", a seemingly sentient vine-like plant that eats organic matter) upon the plains as a means to terra-form the earth's air to an atmosphere closer to the one that are used to living in.

Through co-operation with the resistance they fend off the Hellweed attack and assist the resistance in defending Kansas City from the Invaders. In the end, Haven is safe, but they lose the fight in Kansas City, though not before learning that the pesticide provided to them by the resistance can also be used against the Martian themselves, giving everyone hope that Humanity with endure.

BASIC THEME
The Martians, for the most part, are like an immovable force of nature, like a tornado or some other natural disaster, they do not communicate to humans, we are like mice to them, and, like in the classic novel, they are here not just for our planet, but to use us as food.

This is more than a story on invading "Martians", devastation, and war. It's a story of how we cope with disaster, how we deal with war. That is the true story here, how we "deal". The resistance has a war cry that all of Haven ends up adopting by the end of our tale, "For Humanity!" Each of our cast sees the Martians in their own light. Some question themselves and their abilities, others question their faith, their beliefs, their "humanity". Those are the questions and themes in the comics, and they were themes and questions that were questioned in the original novel as well.

THE CAST

JULIE LAROUQUE- mid thirties, pretty yet muscular and firm, white blonde female. She has a heavy survivalist background, so war and tactics are nothing new to her. She has been trained in survivalist tactics for as long as she can remember. Her parents were survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, and literally trained her for this kind of environment. She is a trained marksman, skilled in most forms of combat and weapons. When our story opens she and her daughter are standing watch in a nearby cow-town a few miles from Haven. She has become fed-up with war to the point of being jaded, having watched her friends and relatives pass fighting the Martians in DC. The residents of Haven turn to her for leadership when the invasion hits too close to home.

HOPE LAROUQUE- late teens, very pretty, slightly muscular, blonde female. Daughter to Julie, she has always followed her mother's lead and that has kept her alive. Hope has a strange aptitude for munitions, much better than her mother and has progressed rapidly and has actually developed the knowledge of designing explosives.

ETHAN SMITH- A intern in the emergency room of a large hospital before the invasion occurred. A twenty-three year old, Dr. Smith is a friendly guy on the surface and is enthusiastic about practicing medicine. He is very empathic to his patients, but is not above trying "radical surgery" if he thinks he can pull it off or if it is necessary. Underneath the surface, Smith seems to have a rather sadistic streak that tends to make people uneasy when around him and many begin to question his sanity. Now primarily in the job of mortician, Ethan quickly has his medical skills tested, as well as his ethics, as Haven is over run by the ravenous Hellweed.

STEPHANIE KLINE- Pretty, young, Steph is an expert mechanic who learned all she knows from her daddy, who ran his own garage before the war. Steph learns just how much of a pacifist you can be when you have blood-thirsty aliens coming after you. Steph's character evolves from peaceful to deadly through the course of the story.

LEWIS CAULKINS- Young teenage white male who's a whiz at computers and radios. Lewis lost his family in the invasion of the east coast in an experience that proved to be so traumatic that he lost his ability to speak.

"MOTHER" MCFADDEN- Late sixties, but still vibrant (think Lauren Bacall today). Once a Mother Superior in a big city convent, Mother's very faith has come to be tested as she tries to keep what little of the resistance she has left organized and able to fight the Martians.

GUY CHRISTIAN- Late forties "Geraldo" type male. Guy is a reporter of a news cable channel (like Fox News, or CNN), that has taken it upon himself to "report the war" no matter if anyone is listening or not. Guy's reports are key to getting information to Haven about the rest of the world. By the time the invasion of Kansas City takes place Guy has pretty much lost his sanity from witnessing all the horrors that he has. This makes him almost humor relief, as well as a major plot mover/explainer. His "reports" are also a small tip of the hat to the War Of The Worlds radio broadcast as Guy seems to meet sure death at the end of almost every report, only to resurface, somehow, some way, to make another one.

The Martians

Earth's invaders are not really "Martians" per se, though they've used Mars as a base, or embarkment point, for their invasions upon Earth. In the original novel as well as here, it is not clearly defined where the invaders came from but futuristic storylines could be developed when the humans go after the very source of the aliens.

The aliens are broken down into two classes, both of whom were described in the novel, but never explained as far as class goes:

The Alphas; or "Thinkers" who look as large as a bear with a dozen cable-like tentacles attached in pairs of six on both sides of its' beak-like drooling mouth. Large round eyes seem to have a look of intelligence in them. These are the organizers and leaders.

The Betas; or "Grunts" who also look like large mounds of flesh, but they have stronger, more octopus-like tentacles coming out from the lower part of its' body. Facial features are also smaller than the Alphas and almost deep-set into the front of the body. These are the laborers, the builders, the "grunts". They run the tripods and crawlers, control the weapons, and are usually the first ones to be slaughtered in any battle.

Both species do not talk verbally in any way. There seems to be some sort of telepathy between all the aliens that helps them act as one unit. Whenever an alien is killed it always lets out an ear piercing "deathscream" to alert the other invaders that it has fallen and needs to be avenged. Any Martian hearing another's deathscream with take immediate, and deadly action, usually killing ten bystanders to get to the one guilty. Again, Martians do not talk to humans (it would be like us talking to roaches or mice).

Future storylines involve the Martians taking humans and contorting them via mechanical and human based genetics into man-servants which are almost zombie like humanoids with little concern for appearance or health. This would expand the horror of the series as the survivors could find their compatriots transformed into these mindless slaves of the Martians.

Martian Weaponry

The invaders come equipped with an array of weapons, all of which were used in the original book (albeit the Hellweed has been modified and made practical):
Tripods: The invaders main war machine, this is a battle ship that stands on three legs and towers some four/five stories tall. The legs are flexible and can even telescope into itself if the tripod needs to be raised or lowered. These are fierce machines of death, easily intimidating any human who sees them. On the same note they are VERY difficult to destroy as they have the same armor strength as a tank. Once a tripod becomes crippled, but still somewhat functional, another tripod can "merge" with it, thus becoming an even more powerful "dreadnought" machine. Each tripod comes equipped with Heat-ray, Black Smoke cannons, and a series of tentacles coming out of the floor for outside ravaging and pillaging.

Crawlers: Used primarily for herding and harvesting this spider-like, low to the ground, machine comes with a wire mesh basket attached to its' back (easily containing a dozen or so humans on their way to be slaughtered). Crawlers are also equipped with Heat-rays and tentacle, these coming out from the bottom front of the machine.

Heat-ray: The Martian's primary weapon is the Heat-ray or "Death-ray" that looks like a beam of like that melts or ignites anything that's flammable that it touches. Humans, when they come under this ray, are instantly turned to charred ashes.

The Black Smoke: Used primarily for crowd containment (and apparently cleansing), the Black Smoke is a thick inky "gas" that instantly suffocates all organic matter it touches. This solid black cloud hangs about two and a half feet above the ground and up a hundred feet or more (though never more than four stories tall). There have been a number of survivors of a black smoke attack by either going above or below it, or by outrunning it's flow (which usually takes a fast car.).

The Hellweed: Referred to as the sweet smelling "red weed" in the novel, this plant has been bio-engineered to help the Martians terra-form Earth to an atmosphere more to their liking. Let loose upon the American plains, this weed seeks out any water/carbon based organic matter and "eats" it, turning it into food to keep its' rapid growth going. Those that have faced the weed usually suffer pure terror as the weed wraps itself around it's victim like a Boa Constrictor and then proceeds to eat the victim from the inside out (very gruesome to see). The weed grows by making berry like pustules on its' vines that then break open, letting loose toxic spores, the majority of which fall back upon its' own vines and begin to feed and grow. It is possible for a person to die of Hellweed poisoning, having the Hellweed generate, like a virus or cancer, inside their body until they are devoured from the inside out. Hellweed is also known to travel in "storms" brought about by high winds. At the start of our tale, fire seems to be the only containment for the Hellweed as the spores quickly dry out from the heat and the plant burns and dies. Haven's fire department is not only charged with putting out any accidental fires but also with the aid of napalm, are in charge of the "cleansing" fires that it has taken to rid the area around Haven of all Hellweed.

Other Machines: The Martians also have plenty of other equipment for whatever they need to do. The classic novel mentions the use of a kind of drill, bulldozer machine that was used to dig up some sort of mineral from the earth that once processed left a residue of blue dust.

ENDNOTES

The potential for visual spectacle here is incredible. Martians, Tripods, Hellweed and war in general will keep the special effects designers working hard, and audiences looking for action and spectacle happy, yet there are also some very deep themes and questions here that hope won't be slighted, and go well to make this that rare property that is visually as well as mentally challenging.

H.G. Wells' classic novel had the invasion as a totally hopeless one in the eyes of the humans, though we do hold them off for years it soon seems hopeless in the eyes of many of the survivors.

The reason the cast is heavily female is the fact that early on in the war most men did the "macho thing" and answered what was named "The Great Call" to defend DC. Most of the men that are left have there own personal reasons for not going, and still being alive, not the least of which is "cowardice". How many of us would go if the "call" was made?

Of course the war doesn't stop with Haven, or Kansas City. The Martians invade (or try to invade) every major city in the world. The focus on this particular place and moment in the war, is to show that the war is more than heat-rays and fried or eaten people, it's also the story of humanity's survival.

Additional storylines are in development including the current comic series that covers the invasion of Memphis and St. Louis and plots are being laid out for the invasion of Detroit, Chicago, and Champaign, Illinois.

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