Elysium Defense Contract
Sector 43, Utopia Coast, Elysium City...
The city square was a blood-bath. The unmarked camo-colored aircraft that had disrupted the protest had disappeared into the night. Mounds of bodies, men, women and children, civilians, EDC forces and Corporate Employees alike lay strewn across the 20 acre square. Fires burnt themselves out. The four remaining Elysium Defense Contract Armored Mech units lumbered awkwardly around the perimeter, searching for survivors.
"This is EDC Armor-1, Remy Hondek calling all local forces. Anyone here? Did you guys see the markings on those aircraft? God..it's horrible"The four mechs rounded the square slowly. As dawn approached they reached the doors of EDC-1. The metal blast doors were crumpled up covered in shattered glass and spent ammo casings.
"Commander Hondek sir,"one of the other mech pilots said over the comms."I don't think theres anything here for us. No survivors sir."
"I think your right soldier. My mechs just about out of juice. How about you guys?The fighting had lasted all night and the armored units had been running non-stop, and with no support units they would power down-and soon."Let's dismount guys. Grab your field kits and sidearms. Roberts see if you can pull your mechs cannon from its mount. It might come in handy. Let's try and get to EDC-2 before anyone catches us in the open."
Skyguard
Skyguard Ground Control, Polar Caps, Mars
A convoy of shuttles carrying carrying Skyguard brass streaked across the frozen landscape. Ground Control loomed in the distance, appearing suddenly over the curvature of the earth. Ground Control was a low-black dome surrounded by bunkers and guarded by an assortment of jump-jets, drones and mercenary hover tanks. Artillery cannons protruded from the ground in an irregular pattern. A grid of support structures and landing pads rounded out the facility.
The shuttles dipped to 200 feet for approach and were joined by hundreds of orb-shaped patrol drones. They immediately began scanning the ships for proper registration, life signs and cargo. The lead ship approached a landing pad near the largest dome and touched down. Men in black political uniforms immediately exited the shuttle which dusted off, making way for the next one. The pattern was repeated as SkyGuards political body, recently evacuated from Earth were deposited to Mars Ground Control. Two hundred men and women in black political uniforms made there way from the aerodrome to the conference hall.
Later...
The ampitheatre shaped conference room was layered with shouting politicians, navy brass and support staff. The politicos, recently arrived from Earth had escaped the blood-bath unfolding there, only to learn of the increasingly volitile situation on Mars."Gentlemen please observe protocol in this conference room-we are not barbarians,shouted Minister Lawrence Gep. He waved a stylus over his head in vain. The rooms speaker system amplified his english-accent laced voice and the room quieted."You are here because we have saved you from a war that will last perhaps centuries. Here on Mars we can start anew. Shape this planet to our will. All of your opinions, proposals and ideas will be heard-in due time. I promise you. For now, we must act quickly and get the factions under control. In two hours time I will issue a planetwide broadcast asking for the corporations to cease all military production. This war must not be allowed to escalate. Corporations are already looking for alliances amongst themselves-they should be petitioning us for an alliance!The room resounded with cheers and applause. The minister walked off-stage and was escorted through an annex and into a secure office.
"Fucking fools," said Gep to nobody in particular. His bodyguards shrugged."Not you guys-Marc get me a coffee,and get me Admiral Vonn on the horn."]A tall dark-skinned man in digital patterned camo fatigues nodded and disappeared into the corridor. The remaining two guards took up positions at the door. Lawrence learned to ignore them as he worked. He began drafting his messages:
Minister Gep tapped the execute command on his workstation console sending the message to a hundred thousand communications channels. The message would override any local signals, boosted by the awesome communications power of Ground Control and Defender II herself.
"This is Admiral Vonn. What do you want Lawrence?Gep looked up from his terminal. The admirals face appeared in a viewscreen on the wall. Bright stars twinkled behind the navymans bearded face. The Martian surface glowed red just over his shoulder. .
"Ah..admiral Vonn, I wasn't expecting you so soon. How was Jupiter?"
"Spare me the bullshit Gep. How is your congress coming along? What the hell is this 'La Paredo' mess going on down there? They overthrew a fucking corporation? Who has control on the ground Gep?!
"La Parranda" sir. I know it might seem a bit extreme but to be honest Hephaustus treated them like slaves. Literally. I'm not surprised they are so eager for self rule. I believe they are the least likely to fall in behind our move for power. TSDC on the other hand..seems eager for profits. New Horizon is another corporation we should keep our eyes on sir. I'll be contacting each of them privately soon. They have access to some incredible resources that our guys don't even know about yet....