One day, after the war ended and everyone went back to their homes, mars was under attack. A spaceship from earth has landed with soldiers ready to take Mars' natural resources. You, and your plucky band of lumberjacks in your deforistation mechs are the only thing stopping them from killing everyone on Mars and then taking the martian crystals for their own. If they do that, then they will have a supply of nearly unlimited energy, that the guardians of Mars have been protecting from the evil rulers of earth for generations. You know you're not going to win this battle. The enemy is well trained, well equipped and they've got more than enough firepower to wipe out all of you.

> I look at my compainions "we must stop the forces of Earth from taking the crystals", I say "but we're overpowered, we need to use the crystals ourselves in order to gain the upper hand. But anyone who uses the crystals will be cursed. Who will voluntier to accept the curse and save mars?"

You look at your companions and see that they don't seem to agree with you. They all shake their heads as if agreeing with you would be a bad idea.
"We can't let them kill us! We'll lose our minds!" says one of the men.

> "Fine." I say, resigned "I will take the crystal myself and use it's power to defeat the invaders from Earth." I walk towards my lumberjack mech, climbing up into the pilot's seat and turning on the ignition. "Hold the line for me until I return", I tell my companions

The next few days pass quickly. You fight off the attacks of the alien ships, but eventually you fall behind and are unable to catch up. Eventually, you crash land on mars where you find yourself surrounded by dead bodies. Your companions have also died in combat against the aliens.

> I struggle to my feat, my mech sparking from the damage. Knowing it's my last shot, I break the crystal in two, it's power overwhelming me for a second. My mech stands up, and I raise my axe to start attacking the humans from Earth. Over the public comms channel I shout "VENGENCE FOR MARS"

But suddenly, the radio goes dead. It's still working though...
A voice comes through, "Hello? This is the guardian of mars? Are you there?"
"Yes! Yes I am!" you reply.
"Then why did you destroy my radio station?

> "I needed to in order to get my overload power from the Mars crystals, they're too powerful to give to Earth", I reply to the Guardian of Mars

"So you were trying to stall me so that you could take the crystals for yourself?"
"No, no, I just wanted to help you, because I thought you'd be able to use the crystals better than any other being on earth".

> "My course is just" I reply to the guardian "all I want to do is to protect Mars, surely the sacrifice of a single crystal is worth it so that Earth doesn't get their hands on all of the crystals". At that moment, I've finished my charge towards the forces of Earth, with inhuman speed I chop the first invader down with a swing of my axe, their mech exploding with my swing. I turn to face the next invader. "Now it's your turn", I say

You begin to run forward, your mech roaring and firing its weapons. As you near the last invader, he raises his gun at you. You duck and roll out of the way, but he fires anyway. You feel a burning pain go through your body as bullets tear through your flesh.

> I grunt, "am I dead?" I ask myself

You stare at your chest, blood dripping down from your wounds. You stand slowly, looking around at the corpses of your comrades. There's nothing left except a pile of bones and dust.
"Well, what now?" you mutter to yourself "what do I do now?"

> I attack again, using the power of the crystal to survive through the pain, it's tough and there's a lot of screaming

Your mech charges forward, your axe swinging in an attempt to finish off the last of the invading force. Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain shoot through your body. You collapse onto the ground, collapsing into unconsciousness.

> "No, this can't be the end" I think to myself during bouts of lucidity "there must be a way to save the Crystals from earth"

You wake up, lying on a bed. You groan and try to sit up, but you can't move. You hear a nurse come in and check your vitals. She looks at you with concern "are you okay?", she asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine,"

> "What happened with the invasion", I ask

"It was over, but not really. The invasion ended when the last invader fell. But the Earth forces managed to capture some of my people and took them back to Earth, they said they were going to interrogate them, but then..."

> "The last invader fell? But I was unconcious?" I think back to the fight "Could it be that the power of the crystals piloted my mech all on it's own and killed everyone who invaded? Are the crystals safe?"

"They aren't safe, but they'll live."
"How?

> What happened to them? I must speak to the guardian of mars"

"We need to talk to the guardian of mars, he has more knowledge about the Crystal's powers than anyone else. He's been studying them for years."
"Why are we talking to him?"
"Because if we don't, our race will die out.

> The power of all Martians comes from the crystals. Earth just wants to use them as a fuel source but if we don't have the crystals powering the core of mars we'll die" I explain

"But why would Earth want us dead? We're the only planet capable of supporting life!

> "Yes, but Earth still contains the sentiant machines that mankind created before the calamity", I explain "they run on energy, and the more they have the faster their processors can run. So really, that's a kind of life"

"So... what do you want me to tell the guardian of mars?"
"I don't know yet, but I'm sure he'd like to meet you. Tell him I'm sorry for what happened and that we won't let Earth take anything from us ever again!

> Tell him I'm sorry I used the crystal, and tell him we need his help to make sure this doesn't happen again. The martians that have been captured by Earth will soon die due to lack of proximity to the crystals unless we save them, so we need his help to build a spaceship so we can get them back"

"And how long is that going to cost?"
"Oh, well we could just buy one from Earth, but I don't think they're willing to sell it for cheap. They might even charge us a hefty price."
"That sounds reasonable."
"Thank you for helping me!"

> "Why would Earth be willing to sell a spaceship to us, we're at war?"

"Well, yes, but not exactly. It's just that Earth is desperate for resources and space travel is one of the few ways they can get them. If we helped them, it wouldn't be long before they started attacking us too."
"Then why did you attack us first?"