On the first manned mission to Mars. Everything is going great, we're on our way back and found proof of extraterrestrial life!
Then something goes wrong. Our ship is being attacked by a small vessel on the port side. It's an alien craft, but probably just a scout. The tech genius devises a plan to launch our used landing craft at the alien craft like a missile, filled with half our oxygen. But it needs someone to ignite it. I'm the only one uninjured at this point, and accept my duty.
As I'm launched from the shit in our small landing craft I look out the small window at the strange curves of the alien craft. Then my eyes focus beyond the craft, at the stars behind. I realize there's never been a human so isolated. The craft grows to fill the window. I wait until the impact and see the walls of my craft disintegrate. The last thing I feel before I ignite the cabin is a sudden propulsion. It's almost like I'm back on Earth, with gravity holding me close.
The alien craft is destroyed, and my surviving crew marks the debris with a transmitter for retrieval by future ships. Research of the collected data confirms that this alien race is only interested in one thing - expansion, destruction, and harvest. We also learn from their technology. My name becomes the rallying call for all nations on Earth. For the first time in human history, all people unite. They build defenses, and a hundred years later the aliens come again. And we are ready.
