Martian Invaders

Let history show that Friday, at 11:30 PM PST, the Martians invaded Earth.
The first notice of something wrong was at the China Excavation. the workers had unearthed the massive cylinder and were trying to examine it. Apparently, about a half hour before midnight, the top of it suddenly began to rotate and unscrew. Nobody knew what was going on. People were hanging from the top and got thrown by it, as the cap was spinning fairly quickly. It fell down with a resounding thud (crushing 20 workers and a crane), and a strange device appeared at its mouth. The device was described by those who saw it as a broken ring, about five feet across. The ring was about 6 inches across. At the center of the ring, where it connected to the long tether holding it up, a glowing red bar was visible. This object appeared to scan the present crowd for a period of thirty seconds, before emitting a high pitched screech or howl of some kind. The sound was acompanied by an intense heat, felt but not seen, that apparently cooked everything in its path. The entire gathering was practically wiped out by the force of the heat.
All around the world, the cylinders were popping. Those still buried deep underground, like the one here in Auburn, are relatively silent even now, most likely because their passengers remain buried inside.
The Martians, for who else might they be but interlopers from our neighbor, fourth planet in the sky, came out of the cylinders saturday morning. The cylinders at DC, New York, all of London's, Seattle Harbor, Texas, and any that were at least partially unearthed released their deadly loads. They came in what can only be described as towering tripods, thre or four stories high if they're an inch. The devices are constructed in an unusual manner:
The feet of the craft are wide and stretch out far on either side. The actual "ankles" are about 6 feet wide and taper to a four foot width, at which point two large "toes" come out, with a thrid stabilizing one on the back (towards the center of the vehicles). The angles are attached to the body first by a thick metal cord or pipe or similar structure, then by a strange flap or shoulder mechanism. These are in turn attached to the central body by a gyroscopic rotor, whcih allows the vehicle to turn and go in any direction it wishes not unlike a tank. I wish I hadn't jsut made that analogy.
The main body of the craft is small and very light. It's a bent wing shape on a pyramidal base, with pincers at eather point of the wing. These open up to reveal a glowing green point that can emit a spray of greenigh black gas that destroys the lungs and eats away at the flesh. The ring device, the Heat Ray, if you will, is mounted on a long slender tether that appears from an apperture at the front of the craft. There are six of these.
The head, or cockpit, or whatever it is, is curved and smooth. The windows are tinted, so we cannot see our invaders. The top of the craft contains three additional windows, so the aliens can get a good laugh out of seeing our bombers try ineffectually to stop them.
The tripods marched into almost every major city on the planet within twelve hours. By 9 PM, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, and Madrid had fallen. By Sunday morning: Paris, Moscow, Berlin, Beijing, Kyoto, Los Angelos, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Brazilla, Anchorage, Toronto, and Cairo. It's accelerating. Once the Tripods start moving, no more news comes out of that area.
The Tripods are protected from most of our weapons. This appears to be a repelling force, not like a force field, but like antigravity. Like Neo in the Matrix, where the bullets stop, except it keeps going, and they go shooting back at us. This makes fighting the Martians difficult.
For example: A Tripod was marching on Baghdad a few hours ago. A US jet, targeting the alien colossus, dropped a "smart bomb" on it. The bomb was pushed away and landed in a field three miles away. The Martians used their heat rays on the jet, destroying it in mid air.
It's not yet certain if the nations of the world will go "the distance" in an attempt to repel the invasion. The war could turn around at any moment, as we have so much technology we have not yet tried against them. They may, for instance, be vulnerable to Macintosh computer viruses, or cowboy yodelling. All that's certain is that we want to wait as long as possible before using the "N-Word".
Tripods have marched into Auburn Valley. They appear to be trying to free the cylinder buried under the Supermall. I look out the windo and can see them, surrounded by that green gas that does them no harm. It doesn't even kill bacteria, the scientists say, nor birds or deer or fish or anyhting. Just primates. I wonder how they managed that.
There have been earthquakes recently, in other news. Maybe the mountain'll blow and kill them before they kill us.
Mood: Elated. What do you think?
Listening: "The Hands of Fate" by James Newton Howard
Yearn For: Martians go home