Battle for Area 51

The Battle for Area 51 was a major skirmish in the Earth-Mars Cold War between the Earth-backed defenders and Mars-backed raiders. It lasted just under a week and resulted in a humiliating blow to Earth's forces and the release of multiple Martian POWs.

## Background

Following the vicious but ultimately futile invasion of Earth by Infi-Knight in 2005, Emperor Bog began to implement numerous long-term strategies to weaken Earth's forces in preparation for another full-scale invasion. These strategies mainly relied in arming international terrorists and warlords to occupy the international community's forces while Mars prepared. Thanks to his network of agents, Bog was able to access a great deal of information about Earth's major installations, chief among them Area 51 in the United States.

Area 51 was publicly a classified military base, but the S.I.X., Mars' chief intelligence agency, Bog discovered that it was both a detention camp for captured Martian soldiers and a testing site for new International Peacekeeping Force weaponry. Using his personal fortune, Bog invested greatly in an internet campaign to organize and fund an offensive by anti-UN rebels to raid the facility and steal valuable technology within it. During this time, the UN International Peacekeeping Force was busy pursuing Venusian privateers operating in Australia and Oceania.

The campaign took off greatly, expanding across mercenary and rebel circles across the internet. As a result, the predicted number of raiders swelled exponentially, however this campaign also began to attract the attention of international intelligence forces. The United States moved local forces in to protect the area, but the greater United Nations dismissed the efforts as a hoax. On September 19th, 2009, the Mars-backed forces were secretly transported to Nevada by Martian ships. The next day, they began their attack.

## The Battle

### September 20th, Day One

At 0730 local time, the raiders began a blitz attack of US forces patrolling the outer perimeter of Area 51 without warning. Though better armed and having a terrain advantage, the defenders were taken aback by the sudden blitz, and were annihilated. Tanks were sent out to assist the lightly armored forces in the middle perimeter, while aircraft nearby were scrambled to deal with the situation. Within an hour and a half, the raiders had set up basic artillery positions and began shelling the walls of Area 51 and its airstrip, preventing local aircraft from taking off.

By 0938 local time, a USAF AC-130 gunship moved into a firing position, relaying information to the Department of Defense and United Nations. The raider presence proved to be much more than initially thought, with the attackers now deploying light tanks and fast attack helicopters. Before a course of action could be taken, the AC-130 came under fire by anti-air emplacements, and was forced to flee the battle.

Front lines finally emerged later that night at the former defenders' inner perimeter. Raider forces greatly outnumbered the US forces in the area, but lacked united command. At various points throughout the night, units separated to try to break into Area 51 independently, but were easily driven off by themselves.

### September 21st, Day Two

By the second day, the defending forces had secretly set up new defenses throughout the night, allowing them to hold their ground while reinforcements arrived. By noon, the US Navy authorized the deployment of a section of the Seventh Fleet, including the USS *Ronald Reagan*, to reinforce the base. Upon realizing this, S.I.X. forwarded a massive payment to Venusian privateers in the Pacific to slow down the strike group's deployment.

In the late afternoon, the attackers began a massive coordinated push to Area 51, losing thousands of men in the initial push. US forces were hunkered down heavily, and managed to fight off this initial wave. Later at night, a second wave attacked together, this time with the full support of the mercenary aircraft. The defenders were overwhelmed, and retreated to a fallback position further within the base. The raiders now held the airstrip and its supply of vehicles, but defenders still held the main facility.

### September 22nd, Day Three

By the next day, the mercenary forces had converted the airstrip into a refueling center, while defenders fortified the main base. Venusian privateers managed to prevent the advancement of the US Navy's reinforcements, resulting in the International Peacekeeping Forces deploying the UNIPF *Albatross* to assist. The news of the United Nations mobilization forced the raiders' hands, and Martian command ordered a full assault. The raiders moved in all their units at once, resulting in massive casualties.

After the push was over, the attackers had lost nearly half their forces, but the defenders had been forced into retreat. With the site in chaos, Martian command ordered the mercenaries to charge into the bowels of the facility, releasing all prisoners they found and seizing any technology they wanted. Security forces were still within the site, but the alien prisoners began rioting upon release, and the security forces were wiped out.

The raiders began taking any technology they saw, but soon they ran out of anything to scavenge. Some raiders did not seize any, while others held entire caches. Immediately, they fell into infighting, attacking each other with plasma rifles, power armor, ray guns, and pet aliens. By the time the fighting began to slow down, the *Albatross* in the local airspace, destroying the anti-air emplacements set up by the attackers using stealth fighters. In short order, the *Albatross* secured air superiority, allowing the US military to move in transport aircraft to land troops in conjunction with the arrival of armored divisions on the ground. Within a few hours, the UN and US forces regained control of Area 51, but the majority of the Martian and alien prisoners escaped in the chaos. Unbeknownst to them at the time, Martian intelligence ferried them off world, and returned them to Mars. The raider forces were utterly wiped out, with only under a hundred captured after the fighting ended.

## Aftermath

The attempt to capture Area 51 was doomed from the start, but succeeded in its mission of freeing important prisoners of war and disrupting Earth's weapon research. In addition, the raid proper gave a large morale boost to Martian forces, joining their newly-freed comrades in celebration on their home planet. The rescue of other aliens being held by the UN would also go a long way in earning Mars allies for a future invasion of Earth.

Later in New York City, Shaboom Shaboom was attacked by anti-alien protestors, later being held in a local hospital for three months until she healed. The Butt-Ugly Martians held a private meeting, agreeing to begin new efforts to stop Emperor Bog before he struck again.