[ WP ] In the near future , mankind explores the stars in search of life . Life indeed exists beyond Earth , but you , a researcher on a science ship , discover that all of the spacefaring alien civilizations died out . Curiously , their deaths seem directly linked to humanity reaching outer space .

On a distant world of sand and dunes, there comes a ship of steel and chrome. 
 
 Out of the ship comes a man in practical clothing, which is to say a pressurized suit. He heads off into the endless desert. 
 
 His pilgrimage is not long. He comes to an obelisk of a radio tower, rising high against the ruddy horizon. Around it lie hundreds of dead figures. Poison has dried on their mouths. They once would have stood tall. Their colonies were once of many systems, and they would have flourished on this world. 
 
 They also had attempted to colonize parts of the human solar system. 
 
 They watched us, maybe for years, maybe for millenia. 
 
 On the tower, next to a dead figure, there lies a set of words in an alien tongue scratched into the metal by clawed hands. The tower sent a signal with the same message. 
 
 The man looks closely at the inscription, examining it for a while. 
 
 His eyes widen with guilt as he learns their meaning. 
 
 `` The human race is coming. Die here, be enslaved, or be exterminated.''
