"No one was watching..."
...their landing. Their first scout ships arrived at dawn, but only a handful of humans was still alive. Not on Earth, but far away, on the invaders mother ship - behind Moon's orbit. Lucky were those few taken 8 months ago. They were kept as specimens of a race that have to be slaughtered.
Invaders did not want to destroy Earth, its biosphere was just what they needed, it was the purpose of their long journey. They have only to get rid of potential thread posed by humans. Although primitives, but still dangerous. Invaders were preoccupied by thread posed by nuclear missiles. They have not being prepared to wage an open war with a technical civilization, and a single low yield nuclear warhead could easily destroy any of their ship.
They left their home planet over 20000 years ago, they knew their destination thanks to robots that transmitted them a very detailed information about Earth. However by a strange coincidence, no robot succeed to identify stone age humans as a specie that could quickly develop to technical civilization, which now posed a thread that have to be dismissed.
Just six month earlier, they started sending on Earth drones that spread deadly virus all over continents. Of course, drone ships were well protected against Earth's tracking radar systems. However, few malfunctioning drones crashed and remains of one have being discovered on hills surrounding Zaisan Lake. They have being even correctly identified, so humanity could learn the cause of mysterious disease that since few weeks proliferated at alarming rate. Yet, it was too late. Almost every human already have being infected by a masterpiece of genetic engineering.
Virus was extremely resistant so it could easily spread with dust or water, and was stealthy - it didn't kill its host during months, but very effective - after gestation period it quickly overwhelmed nerve system - a couple of days after apparition of first flue like symptoms, victims have being paralyzed, then fallen in coma and died. This was the best way to make place for new masters of Blue Planet - clean, quiet and effective. Other specimens of Earth biosphere did not pose a real thread to invaders. Therefore, they did not have to be targeted.
It was the darkest hour of human race, but the rest of Earth's biosphere could finally take a new breath after centuries of extermination imposed by homo sapiens ( sapiens ? - only this arrogant specie could name itself "intelligent").
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Fortunately, for you and me, it is only a fiction - I hope I did not scare you too much
This is my first post on CGTalk - previously I posted on Renderosity.
City blocks are from Ajax & Moebius fabulous DYSTOPIA CITY
Ships are from 3D Cafe, and "De Espona 500 3D Objects"
Harbor structures, Alien Scout Ships and Aliens are mine.
Sky is pure Vue volumetric atmosphere with only one cloud layer of my design.
I have to use many additional lights to simulate global lighting and some light reflects typical to radiosity, which Vue doesn't support (yet). Original scene was rendered in huge size 5400 pixels wide.
The story will continue.... (if you like it)
Cheers ! :-))
Robert