[ WP ] Earth was never meant to habitable . It was meant to be a prison for the worst creatures in the universe . Today , the jailers have landed to inspect their prison .

“ Exiting subspace FTL in three, two, one… ”, announced the flight navigation as blessed gravity again filled the cabin. They had finished their long journey from the Omega Tao cluster at last. He was happy to be back in his own reality and out of the unnerving pressure of the void space. Glancing at the array of panels and screens he was happy to see the Sol system in his scanners. 
 
 A quaint little star system, it held one of the most nightmarish places he could imagine nonetheless. A class sigma star with nine planets was hardly anything special but the real prize was the blue ball hidden among the gas giants. 
 
 “ Sir ”, one of his crew began with a look of dread etched onto his face. “ It appears we will be arriving at our… destination in approximately fifteen minutes. ” The poor lad was obviously overcome with the reputation of the prison planet. Not that he blamed him of course. As the empire ’ s ships had begun to scan the dark reaches of space, fantastic and strange worlds had come to light every day. Mountains and vistas that put their own to shame and truly bizarre bio scans of other worldly life flooded the interverse with reams of information. One of those finds had been the discovery of the third ball of rock from Sol several million years ago. Named simply, Eath. 
 
 “ Show some bedrock ”, he gave his crew a stern glare as they made the final approach. “ It ’ s not as if any of us will be stranded here! ” Nervous chuckles arose from the crew as they came into localized scanning range. The vids back home were more than enough threat for most but he wanted to see this hell for himself. As triscans locked on, a perfect blue sphere circled by a battered moon slowly grew on the main screen. Gasps filled the cabin. 
 
 “ I ’ ve never seen that much dihydrogen monoxide in one place! ” And this, of course, was true. No other place yet discovered in the universe held as much concentrated water as Eath. It was the reason their species feared this nightmarish landscape more than any other. The substance had been found on occasion across the cosmos but always in its inert solid form. They quickly learned its terrifying effects on their bodies after a crew had accidently heated a sample. Unfortunately, water had the same liquefying effect on them as heat did on it. Little was found of the crew but the on ship vids told the tale in all too vivid detail. 
 
 After threats of anarchy and dissent began to tear at the edges of empire space the council began its search. They needed a deterrent strong enough to keep the colonies in line. They found it in Eath. After some devious mind on homeworld stumbled on the vids of that poor research crew, gods rest their souls, the threat of imprisonment on Eath was born. The vids were spread around the interverse as a form of propaganda and a clear warning. If you betray the empire then you will be imprisoned on the most bio hazardous planet ever found. The deadly effect it had on their species was named simply, the melting. 
 
 “ Making our final descent to orbit sir ”, a quiver of fear ran through the cadets. All of them knew the threat that lay under their feet. Eath was the ever-present promise to any and all who dared defy the law of the council. It worked. 
 
 The only semi-habitable areas of the planet were large swaths of barren land on the interior of some of the continents. All the rest was covered in an unnatural blanket of pure poison or noxious water filled weeds. The very atmosphere held enough moisture to make one uncomfortable in the least and dreadfully sick at the worst. Enough mineral nutrients could be found to sustain a meager existence if one could avoid the ever present danger. Trace amounts of iron aluminum and, his favorite, copper were available but scarce on the surface. Reports of the liquid substance falling from the sky on almost every location during a Sol rotation made him shake. Life on Eath was the fate that kept their enemies in line. One would be hard pressed to survive long. 
 
 “ Sir… ”, the confusion in his science officer ’ s voice was palpable as he joined him in front of the ships main console. “ There appears to be some sort of sentient life coming up on the scans. ” 
 
 “ Scan again soldier, ” he reached for the report. “ It must have been a bad reading. ” A sense of dread crept into his mind. It was simply not possible that life had found its way to Eath ’ s surface. All calcium carbonate based life was doomed to a terrible death on the surface. All automated scout reports had read all clear. The very reason they were out here was to drop off the first prisoner to Eath. The poor misguided soul. 
 
 “ I don ’ t think it was a faulty reading ”, his officer brought up the long range cameras and a detailed rendering filled the main screen. A shocked silence filled the room. The surface of all the continents was crisscrossed by obvious infrastructure as well as dotted by megacities. Adding to the confusion was the concentration of buildings on the edges closest to the oceans. 
 
 “ By the gods, ” he gaped at the screen and asked for an enhanced image on the coastline. As the ships sensors added more detail to the image tall pink beings unlike anything they had ever seen came into focus. 
 
 “ What type of rock are they made of? ” screamed his first mate. “ Why are they so close to all of that horrible water? ” exclaimed another. 
 
 The scene grew clearer as a large band of silica, no doubt torn apart by the dreadful oceans, bordered land and sea. There were hundreds of them laying down on odd rectangles and hiding beneath colorful circles of cloth. The beings could be seen thrashing about in the deadly liquid substance in droves. The worst part being their comrades on land didn ’ t appear to care in the slightest. 
 
 “ Why are they not saving their own from such a horrible fate? ”, said his bewildered science officer. 
 
 He turned to his crew his crew with horror in his rocks. “ I don ’ t think they are dying in the water, I think they are playing in it. ”
