Background (Skies Above Earth Map Game)

The following includes some background into the Skies Above Earth game.

The Flores Incident
In 1961, the first ever recorded contact with extraterrestrials actually occured during a military training exercise by anti-Castro militants in Guatemala. It was a cloudy night in the middle of Guatemala on a March day. A usual military exercise 20 km from the municipality of Flores, Guaetamala for the anti-Castro militants with their wargames and military training. However, things changed quickly at 20:00 hours local time, when an unidentified object was reported by several groups and radar stations in the region. It was quickly intercepted by the local Guatemalan Air Force, although the object shot down an entire squadron with a few laser shots. By the time the US Air Force began intercepting, the anti-Castro militants already saw the object and various downed aircraft in the area. Then, a full compliment of US F-4 Phantom IIs began their interception and after a short, but pitched air battle, the craft went down near the training site of the anti-Castro militants. Both US Special Forces and anti-Castro militants advanced on the wreckage of the object. They found a small group of survivors, notably a small group of 4 extraterrestrial survivors, with the rest of the crew killed. It was a short, but bloody firefight, with all 4 survivors killed eventually, but with the Green Beret squads and anti-Castro militants both suffering heavy casualties, as reports came of advanced technologies previously unheard of and unusual-looking beings. A few minutes after the event, the craft was taken to an undisclosed location, disassembled, and the bodies of the dead burned to a crisp, in an attempt to cover up the events. The event in Flores was reported as a war game gone wrong, although sooner or later, the same species would return 5 years later....and it was only getting started.

A Different Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion happened on June 17, 1961,  two months behind schedule no thanks to the incident. Castro had the advantage in terms of strategic knowledge and location. However, what Castro did not realise at the time was that the militias, combined with the States had a big surprise. When Kennedy heard about the incident, a slight change of plans was made, under the belief that the USSR was testing new technology from Cuba, noticing the object's flight plan being detected off the coast of Cuba and when the new date for the invasion came, the necessary support the militias had was used. Several A-26 bombers flew into Cuba, along with various F-4 Phantoms and 2 B-52 bombers into the Bay of Pigs, deploying the militiants, along with a small group of Green Berets in the area, disguised as local militants. However, Cuba expected the attack to occur earlier in the year, given the CIA data. However, they were quite surprised that the militias attacked during summer, and that the US was directly flying in support. The Bay of Pigs Invasion pushed a little bit further inland, but then it all started falling apart, as the local militias and the anti-Castro militants began their round of fighting and the presence of Green Berets did not make it any better. The anti-Castro militants managed to take "Playa Girón" in the Bay of Pigs, with Green Beret support, but were nearly overwhelmed in the ensuing counter-attack, led by none other than Fidel Castro himself. They were forced to pull out, albeit in an organised fasion back across the Caribbean, with heavy aerial cover done by F-4 Phantom IIs and B-52 strategic bombers, whom later bombed the place into oblivion. As the militants retreated back into the sea, along with the Green Berets, Castro decided to strengthen relations with the USSR and to make the embarrasment even worse for the US, along the body count, there were a lot of Green Berets. Things were going to take a turn for the States a year later, though.

The Interbellum
Everything since the Bay of Pigs Invasion seemed to be different yet the same at the same time. The Cuban Missile Crisis still happened and nearly evolved into a nuclear exchange, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident still happened in 1964, and the Civil Rights Movement still gained momentum along with the counter-culture. The Cultural Revolution started in China the month before the extraterrestrial onslaught against Earth began and it is almost as if the incident never happened......

The Birth of the XRU
Starting on June 17, 1966 though, UFO sightings began to increase, and even skyrocket. They were seen in various areas of the countryside, particularly in Rhodesia, the American Midwest, the Balkans, Indochina, the North Sea and the Bering Straight. Despite various attempts to intercept these craft, none were successful, and this continued for 2 weeks straight, until the UN Security Council convened on June 28, 1966 in an emergency meeting. Governments became worried, and with the US being the only ones aware of the situation, the US declassified various files on the incident to members of the UN Security Council, but not to the general public. Regardless, the meeting lasted for almost two days before on June 30, 1966, the eXtraterrestrial Responce Unit was born, or the XRU for short. The organisation came into being on July 1, 1966. And it was born for one purpose only: to defend humanity from the extraterrestrial threat, and now, is mankind's last hope of stopping the extraterrestrials. The Extraterrestrial War has begun......