Alien Presence
Prehistory 
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-More clouds, and orbiting slightly closer to the sun allows life to flourish on Mars. -Venus's atmosphere is significantly less cloudy allowing for a temperature favorable for life.
Modern DayEdit
In 1884 William Wallace Campbell, an American astronomer shows through spectroscopic analysis that Mars likely has water and an atmosphere. In 1962 Mariner 2 looks at Venus. It detects a temperature just a little hotter than Earth's. This results in increased interest in Venus. In 1964 the probe Mariner 3 takes pictures indicating ground life, although it does not detect any sapient life. It samples the atmosphere detecting it is breathable. At the same time Mariner 4 indicates the same about Mars. President Johnson announces that instead of going to the moon the first mission would be to Venus. In response the Soviet Union decides they will seek a landing on Mars first.
In 1969 Apollo 11 lands on Venus. After exploring for a while the astronauts run into Venutians. The Venutians don't understand anything the Humans are saying, and think the astronauts are demons. They begin attacking the humans with swords and bows and arrows. In the ensuing fight they begin shooting the Venutians. The Venutians show a mixed reaction. Some panic and hide. A few stand still and drop their weapons as though surrendering. The astronauts decide to take the injured Venutian to get medical help. The team's medic knows nothing about Venutian biology but is able to get the bullet out and bandage the wound. The Venutian is taken back to Earth. While talking to the Venutian much is learned of his language(not the only Venutian language though), and that Venus was in the middle ages as far as technology. The Americans had landed in what they would refer to as the Miznagred Empire, a close approximation to the word the Venutian used for it, which is unpronouncable to humans.
A later mission, Apollo 12 lands on Venus in 1970. The Venutian goes with an American team including a diplomat and meets with the Miznagred Emperor, Emperor Vr'nath. The Venutian is made the ambassador to the United States and sent back with a larger staff of Venutians. The Ameican diplomat remains on Venus. Emperor Vr'nath is currently embroiled in a war with the bordering L'pix Republic. The Americans broker a peace treaty, and another American becomes the L'pix diplomat with a L'pix going to America. The treaty establishes peace, fixing current borders in place and offers both countries significant access to American technology. Many Americans stay on Venus in order to help train the Venutians in improving technology and particularly training the militaries of the two countries to use it.
The Soviets still working on Mars decide they have a vital interest in Venus now that the Americans had interacted with them. In 1971 the N-1 makes a mission to Venus to land in about the same place the Americans had. At the same time the Americans Soviet spies had obtained classified CIA documents detailing the Miznagred language, which they speak as best as they can. Upon coming into contact with the Venutians the Soviets say "we come in peace." Then they explain to them where they're from. The Soviets discover that there is a lot of discontent among the serfs, slaves, and peasantry. They preach communism, and promise great technological growth. The Soviets begin passing out weapon caches to the people. In 1972 the Miznagred Revolution begins.
The Soviets didn't forget about Mars. In 1972 they launch a mission to Mars, reaching it in 1973. When they land they are captured. In Mars they discover a civilization of high technological advancement. Although its space technology is just getting started Mars has developed antimatter weapons, and already had an internet. It also had its own cold war. However, the dynamics of the Martian Cold War are very different. Two superpowers dominate the globe, one is a free market society, the Shiarashi Union run by a theocracy which preaches that an apocalypse will happen when demons fall from the sky. The other, Null Mars is a society run by a version of socialism that seems to be a combination of nihilism, and proudonian mutualism. They have little respect for Soviet communism, seeing it as a system of self-denial as it still asserts moral and ethical superiority. The Soviets wind up landing in the latter. After being captured their captors decide to release them and they go back with a volunteering Martian who has agreed to become the Null Mars ambassador. The United States launches a mission to Mars the same year and arrives slightly afterwards. Aware of the superstition of the free market side of Mars the United States opts to land in the Martian equivalent of a third world nation, Corneshkhax, the largest island on Mars in its only ocean. The Shiarashi Union notices this and declares that if Corneshkhax doesn't turn in the humans it will annihilate it with an antimatter weapon. Corneshkhax gives in. The American astronauts are held prisoner in a secret underground bunker. There they are interrogated and tortured despite their pleas that they're not demons. The United States sends radio signals to Mars announcing that the Shiarashi Union would receive nuclear retaliation if it did not release the Americans alive. The Shiarashi Union says that they would launch at antimatter attack on Earth if that happened. The United States decides to play to teh Shiarashi's superstitions by telling them that they are a demon world and that it is protected from any antimatter attacks by evil power. The Shiarashi release the Americans, but this radio broadcast is heard throughout Mars and many believe it. Several states, including Corneshkhax join the Shiarashi Union that year. Most in Null Mars have caught the bluff.
-1978-The UN expands to include several nations in Venus and on Mars except for the 2 major Martian superpowers, the Shiarashi Union and Null Mars. Trade with Martians significantly improves Earthling and Venutian technology, including antimatter, hovercars, cell phones, and the internet.
-1981-After significant alien and human migration there are some aliens and humans forming relationships and even getting married. Some Christians denounce this as a form of bestiality. However, the Supreme Court decides in Zilxzigrebats vs. Texas that because they are sentient aliens do not count as animals and so humans can marry aliens and have sex with them.
-In the 1984 Olympics several Martian and Venutian teams compete for the first time. The only absent country is the Shiarashi Union seeing Venus and Earth as demon worlds. Null Mars surprisingly competes although the Olympic Committee is not organized by its government, yet its government doesn't care and says that the Olympics may accept who ever it wants to represent Null Mars it does not care one way or the other.
-In 1985 several Venutian and Martian countries compete for the first time in the Miss Universe Pageant in spite of Christian protests.
-In 1988 a Venutian woman from the country of Zeezelbrax wins the competition at Miss Universe.
-In 1994 a Martian woman from Corneshkhax wins the competition at Miss Universe.
-In 1995, despite heavy protest from fundamentalist Christians, the Venutian man Hornanagax officialy converts to Roman Catholicism, marking the first alien convert to any Earth religion.
