The year is 2145. The world is currently enjoying a rather subtle peace. In this time, there exist several major world powers that share control the world and its resources. But the two most powerful are the United States government, and the UAC, a megacorporation that prides itself in its research into defense, energy sources, and biological and pharmaceuticals. To this day, the UAC remains the biggest contractor to the USA, and has proven its power and dominance by being the first outside of a government to build a space station in a foreign world. UAC bases are located in mars and two of its satellites, and several of Jupiter's moons. This widespread expansion occurred slowly at first, but after the corporation developed and seemingly perfected teleportation technology, travel across the stars has become quite manageable.
But teleportation technology, as advanced as it is, has only just begun to take its baby steps. There is far more to be found, and far more potential to the technology.
Lately however, there have been reports of strange occurrences. Many workers located in the Martian base have requested transfers. There has been a surge in accidents, both of civil and military origins. Workers claim to hear strange voices over their heads, while others profess to have seen strange creatures running about the lower levels of the complex. Many marines back up these claims with their own tales of strange events. Some who are superstitious claim the base is hunted. But most just scoff the tales off as nothing more than just pure imagination. But imagination or not, something is affecting those on the base.
Martian madness.
Martian madness is a strange and dire syndrome that seems to affect more and more people with every passing day. It starts off with increased paranoia, followed by hallucinations, dementia, and finally complete and hostile insanity. Those affected end up as wild animals, attacking anything that moves.
Many attribute the strange illness to Martian conditions and the cramped spaces of the base, other go as far as to say that the strange madness is a brand new kind of disease that had resurfaced thanks to human activity. But despite all the research into it, no one has come up with a plausible explanation.
It is this reason alone that mars has gone into partial quarantine, Demious has taken over all teleportation research, and Phobos has all but shut down. This is this reason why life in Phobos had become so unbearably boring for everyone.
But unbeknownst to most, things were about to change drastically.
History is like a wheel. Events occur, and pass. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Yet, when everyone least expects it, history repeats itself. It is true that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
But how can you avoid repeating something that you never did?
DOOM: Terra Abyssus.
Many times I ask myself why. Why did that girl dump me back in the academy? Why did the general scold at me so much when I was younger? Why was I born into a family of military lunatic? Why?
*Sigh* I guess I will never really know.
Name: Ayon
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 5 Ft. 10 In.
Weight: 220 Lb.
Hair color: Light black
Eye color: Dark blue
Blood type: A negative
Sometimes I wonder if my luck is just bad. It seems like no matter what I pick, I always end up in the most boring situations imaginable. Case in point, my stay in the Phobos base.
Ever since I landed here, life has been nothing but laying around doing absolutely nothing. It's so boring around here, I swear I could die and no one would even notice it. I truly believe that I would find more fun at a freaking funeral.
I thought being a marine meant going out there, meting people, and killing them! Yet so far, the only thing I've managed to kill is my enthusiasm.
Country of birth: United States of America.
State of birth: New Jersey.
Education: Military academy, University level.
Degrees: masters in engineering and computing.
Current military branch: Marines.
Rank: Private first class.
Current location: UAC Phobos base.
Current employer: UAC, U.S.A.
Hmm, lets see now, I've already seen all the movies my cousin sent me, including the *cough* Naughty ones*cough*. Yet here I am, sitting in my bunk, wishing that I had something more to do. What a life.
*Sigh* why the hell do they even need marines up here? Its not like there are green little men with blasters running about. I can't wait to get transferred to the Martian surface. They say that all the fun stuff is there.
But they also say the place is haunted. Hmmm, interesting.
Medical abnormalities: None.
Allergies: None.
Surgeries: None.
Implants: Combat implants (improves overall strenght, adrenaline, endurance, perception, and intelligence).
Major skills: Engineering, mechanics, and computer technician.
Minor skills: Small firearms, energy firearms, and biology.
I got up from my bed, and looked about my quarters. There was truly nothing worth doing here. How had my life become so dull all of a sudden? When the general had said Phobos, I had jumped from excitement. Now I was wishing I was back in training.
Feeling like nothing else would brighten my already gloomy day, I grabbed one of my rather smelly towels off the opened locker, and made my way to the showers.
No sense running around smelling like a wet dog covered in scat.
Current status: A C T I V E.
Prologue: The Martian transfer.
I walked down the rather cold metallic halls of the Phobos base for give or take a few minutes. Though I was used to the cold environment, several of my fellow marines, who were all walking down the hall still covered in water, shivered with intense displeasure. Ever since those bastards at maintenance had stopped fixing the heating vents, more and more of the extremely cold air from Phobos' surface made its way in, turning the base into a place fitting for polar bears and emperor penguins. Though many of the higher ranking marines had made violent petitions to replace to lazy sons of a gun, the good for nothing mechanics still held onto their jobs. I could already feel the anger ooze from the walls. If things did not change, blood would be spilled.
I hadn't walked for too long before I ran into another one of my fellow marines. His name was Cory, or as many called him 'Old glare face' due to his habit of glaring whenever possibility presented itself.
As I walked nearer to him, I noticed his trademark glare directed at the long line leading to the latrines. He seemed to be really pissed about something, probably having to do with the cold weather, but rarely did he glared at groups of people. I could tell he had something particularly nasty brewing in that sick mind of his.
As I continued to walk towards the showers, I ran into another one of my acquaintances, if you could even call him that.
"Ayon! How you doing Mate?"
Dunce shouted out loud as he turned to looked at me. I nodded my head in reply, seeing as I was too far and to old to simply wave.
Dunce smiled quite broadly and evilly. I of course whished he hadn't smiled, for several of his front teeth were missing, replaced instead with metallic ones.
Dunce was the residential psycho Australian hunter. He talked like Crocodile Dundee, and acted like a character our of Mad Max. He always wore a cowboy hat, dressed in a hunter's sleeveless jacket, and went around showing off his metal teeth to everyone who cared to see. Dunce had a long and rather complex story for his current look, one he gladly went about telling.
According to him, he had hunted with his late father since he had been five years of age, had killed and skinned his first lion in Africa at the age of ten, and had wrestled a grizzly bear in Alaska at the age of fifteen. This last endeavors had resulted in him loosing his normal teeth when the grizzly had swiped its terrible claw at his face. After he had stuffed the damn bear, he went and got himself some metallic dentures, the same ones he wore to this day.
Everyone, especially the women, fell for his Australian charms and accents. I personally knew several young cadets that wanted nothing more than to emulate Dunce.
But I of course did not believe any of that. Am not as gullible as everyone else after all.
For starters, Dunce could not have killed a lion at the age of ten. No one at that age can hold a sniper rifle properly, let alone fire it at a large feline beast bent on devouring your flesh.
He could not have wrestled at bear at the age of fifteen, that idea was ludicrous at best. Not even a fully leaded marine wearing power armor can pin down a bear long enough to subdue it. But what gave the story as complete bull was the fact that he said he lost all his front teeth in the tussle. If a bear had swiped at his face, his teeth would not be the only things missing. That much is sure.
By the scars left behind on his gums, it seemed like his teeth had been pulled out not by a claw, but dentist pincers due to cavities, not wrestling. I could never really understand why he had to have all his frontal teeth removed. Only once had I gotten cavities myself, and that had been so long ago, I'd swear I had a t-rex for a pet.
Feeling like I had nothing better do until the showers cleared, I walked up to Dunce, and engaged in small talk. I started off by answering his question.
"Well, I'm sleeping twelve hours a day, have watched every single movie in my shelve at least ten times, and I believe my muscles are starting to wear down from lack of exercise… Yeah, doing great!"
"Sounds like someone is feeling the effects of too much down time mate." Dunce said with his usual smirk. His teeth seemed shinier than usual today.
I merely scoffed at his reply.
"Too much down time? This place is freaking dead!" I shook my head hopelessly. "Why do they even need us here? Nothing ever happens. I mean, there is nothing worth guarding, no adequate training fields, and don't even get me started with cook's 'cuisine'! *sigh* Why did I ever agree to this transfer?"
"It's not all that bad mate. At least we don't have to worry about boot camp."
"But I kinda liked boot camp."
Dunce shook his head, shifted his hat's position, and smiled firmly.
"Ayon, you are a strange lad." He turned towards the shower room, which had now been emptied.
"It seems like the only thing that will make you happy is if some kind of war broke out in front of your eyes mate." He said as he entered the shower room and left me behind.
Well, war would be nice… I guiltily thought to myself.
Everyone in my family-and I mean everyone in my family-loved war with an unhealthy passion.
My ancestor had loved war so much, he fought in both world war one and two. My great, great grandfather had gone off to fight in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. My great grandfather had lost an eye and a leg in the gulf war, yet managed to continue fighting till he was riddled with two hundred bullet holes. My grandfather fought trough Operation: Iraqi freedom, and the subsequent third world war. And my own father sure as hell loved war, he was currently a general stationed somewhere here in Phobos.
Now here I stood, hoping for war to break out once again. Had you looked at my family record, you would have though of them nothing more than just a bunch of war loving psychos. But that is what I loved about my family. Generations of military training had eventually led to our genes being just a bit tougher than the norm. Just look at me for a good example. Seventeen years old and already on my way to a fruitful carrier as a soldier.
But by some cosmic joke, I was actually wasting all those genes away. Since the Phobos base was essentially a sort of dead space for soldiers, I was rotting away like a fresh corpse in a morgue.
"You going go in or not comrade?" Rang a rather deep, menacing, and heavily Russian accented voice behind me. I gulped as I slowly turned to face one of my worst fears on this base.
His name was Lieutenant Dimitry, and I feared him not because of his looks, but rather his attitude.
Dimitry stood at seven feet tall and had muscles so huge, you'd swear they were just about to burst fort from his skin. The guy was so tall and muscular in fact, the top of his skull was but a mere inch away from brushing against the roof of the hall. His shoulders stood out so broadly, he could easily occupy an entire hall. Dimitry's face was riddled with deep scars, some of which ran so deep; you could almost see the bone underneath. These facts, plus the guy's seemingly inhuman strenght, made me wonder weather or not he was even human to begin with.
Dimitry had the rather strange habit of calling everyone 'comrade' instead of his or her name. Many speculated he did this because he had been raised in Russia, but not everyone still did it. regardless, it was an annoying habit that drove many insane, me included. He also had another unpleasant habit he liked to show off often.
Whenever it was possible, he would slap anyone in the back with his rather oversized hand, causing some very serious pain. And whenever he did, he would smile in such a manner; you'd swear he was bout to hurt you real badly.
Even though Dimitry gave me the creeps, he was like the big, oversized brother I never had. I mean; the guy was literally insane, but he was a good guy. Better than old glare face and Dunce for sure.
Dimitry crossed his arms as he inspected me carefully, his faced seemingly stuck in a serious tone, something I never thought Dimitry could actually do.
Feeling a bit awkward, I smiled as innocently as my still juvenile face could manage, hoping to deter any kind of harm he might cause at me.
Suddenly, he burst into manic laughter.
"A Ayon! Always with the complaining I see." He smiled as he grabbed my shoulder with is incredibly huge palm, "Most soldiers would be glad to have some R&R, but not you!" He slapped my back, causing me to feel as though my right lung had burst like a water balloon.
"I haven't seen anyone want war and battle as much as you do since I was stationed back in the Motherland!" Dimitry then once again laughed as he led me into the shower rooms. "But do not fret my friend. I hear that we are being transferred to the UAC Martian base."
"We are finally being transferred?" I asked as I rubbed my aching back. "What made f-, I mean the general, change his mind?"
"I don't really know Comrade. All I know is that they need able bodied soldiers and engineers for something very important."
Something important? (Smile) Now you're talking my language!
"So when do we leave?" I asked Dimitry with some renewed interest.
He eyed me for a moment, and then burst out into his manic laughter once more, slapping me across the back with a rather powerful blow that nearly caused me to cough up my left lung.
"Patience comrade! The general will tell us soon. For now, I suggest you take a shower, you smell like wet dog covered in crap!" He laughed some more as he walked towards his locker and proceeded to undress.
"(Grunt) Yeah will do…" I said, holding back the strong urge to curse at him.
At this rate, I would need to have my lungs replaced. Dimitry just did not know how strong, or annoying, he could be.
I walked towards my locker, rubbing my increasingly aching back. I placed my towel into the locker, and proceeded to undress, being very careful with my armor. Curious about the intensity of my smell, I raised my left arm, and smelled my pit.
Before I could even register it, my eyes begun to water as my nose shut down. I quickly reeled my head backwards, desperately trying to get some life saving oxygen into my chest.
Damn! I do smell like a wet dog covered in scat!
**UAC Property. **
"More marines? Why would you need more marines? Has something gone wrong?"
"Are you implying that me and my own men don't have control here general?"
"I am not implying anything. All I am asking is why do you need more marines. Wasn't the group I sent a month ago sufficient?"
"We had a core malfunction. Most of your marines were killed in the accident. That is why we need more down here."
"Core Malfunction? You people are doing something unlawful down there, and you can bet I will look into it. I don't approve of the UAC's research methods, even if you guys are the military's biggest suppliers."
"You don't have to approve of anything we do general. The UAC controls your salary, meaning that as long as you are working for us, you will do whatever we want you and your grunts to do."
"Is that what we are to you pencil pushers? Grunts?"
"More or less. You are nothing but expandable assets. Assets that will be used if necessary."
"You should hear yourself talk. You sound just like a power drunk official."
"I would watch my tone of voice if I were you general. Don't forget, your employment can be terminated with a simple signature."
"…Why was I not informed of the core accident when it occurred? Those were my own men after all.
"That was classified information general. Now that the investigation is over, I can disclose the info to you and the public."
"Classified Intel… Just what the hell is the UAC up to?"
"That is on a need to know basis. Just do as your ordered general. Good day."
With those final words, the communicator screen went blank. The general scowled deeply. He could tell the Professor was not telling him the whole truth. Something was up, and he was going to find out.
**UAC Property. **
One week later, all the paperwork was finished, and all the training done. The entire fifth division was escorted towards the shuttles. Their destination was mars itself.
Though everyone in the squadron seemed discontent that his or hers' long, rather overdone vacation was now over, at least one young marine found himself glad to be back in action.
Ayon beamed at the idea of getting some much-needed action. Everyone else in the outfit eyed young Ayon like some kind of freak, making him feel as if he had somehow catapulted back to his high school years.
Of course, not everyone seemed to be as cold towards the young man. At least two other person shared some of his rather boredom induced excitement.
Lieutenant Dimitry kept a rigid face trough the trip, but deep inside, he too longed for something other than idly laying about the barracks for days on end.
The general also seemed to be very interested in the trip to mars. Not because he was bored of his stay in Phobos, but rather to find out what was happening on the UAC Martian base.
The shuttle rumbled and buckled as quickly lifted off and left Phobos behind, heading right for the Martian surface.
About three hours later, the shuttle begun its long and intricate decent towards the Martian base below. Ayon, though strapped facing against the window of the shuttle, managed to turn his head, and look trough his window. Before him was mars and all its glory. Too bad it was nothing but crimson sand as far as the eye could see. To Ayon, the fact that humans had built a base in the never-ending wasteland was nothing short of astounding, if somewhat foolish in his opinion.
After several tense minutes, the shuttle's rumbling came to a stop as it begun its landing sequence in the hangar. Ayon, being the closet to the pilot, could hear everything he and the control tower said to each other. Everything was going according to protocol, and there appeared to be no chances of critical failure. But he still felt rather tense. Something seemed to bother him greatly.
The shuttle slowly opened its doors, flooding the transport with fresh oxygen from the hangar. Ayon took a deep breath of air, unbuckled his harness, and slowly made his way out of the spacecraft, marveling at the construction of the base. The hangar was located in a natural canyon, shielded from the ferocious sandstorms that usually raged on the surface. What surprised him the most was that the hangar was in the open, clearly exposed to the Martian vacuum. At first, he worried that his helmet was not even set to bear the harsh Martian conditions. But then, he realized that the hangar was constructed in such a manner, life-sustaining oxygen was pumped out of tubes and pipes all around him constantly, much like water mist on a very hot and dry summer day. He had to get used to the fact that if the pipes failed, he would most likely choke from lack of oxygen. That thought quickly faded as he fell into line with the rest of his fellow marines, and headed into the much safer interior.
As he walked, he felt something strange throb in his head. He could not tell what it was, but his instincts kept nagging him about danger of some kind. Then, suddenly, a faint and weak sounding voice rang in the back of his head. It sounded like a young female, and it sounded in pain.
Ayon turned all around him, and attempted to spot the source of the voice, but found no one to speak off. He simply had begun to ignore the voice.
Past the scanners and past the reception desk, he made his way to his new bunk; thoughts about a new mission quickly filled his head with thrill and an almost childish impatience. All the while the voice became weaker and weaker until it was nothing but a soft whisper in the back of his mind.
As he neared his room, a rather unpleasant realization struck him in the face much like a mallet.
---
"MY ROOM IS IN THE BOILER ROOM!!" I screamed loudly. Loudly enough to cause every other miner and mechanic in the area to stop whatever they were doing, and pay attention to me.
"Keep your voice down! You trying to cause an avalanche or something?" The chief engineer told me in a very cautious tone of voice. The man was short, maybe about five feet even. He wore a rather dusty mechanic's uniform, and a utility belt filled with every tool imaginable. His face was covered in red dust that mixed with his sweat in some spots; almost making the patches seem like fresh blood.
His face, though seemingly stuck in a permanent scowl, seemed soft enough to deal with properly.
"And it's not a boiler room, it's the heat generators." He finished with a rather upset look.
I could not believe my luck. How in the name of all that was holy had I ended up fifty stories below the base? I was even lower than mars city!
Sure, I knew that good rooms would be hard to come by, but common! The freaking heat generator room!?
The Chief engineer took a look at me, and tried to smile as best as his crusty face could allow.
"Says here that your area of expertise is fixing things." He said as he held a folder to his eyes.
I immediately scowled at the damn papers. I knew the damn folder was trouble, but never did I think it would actually cause me to be separated from the rest of the group. I was suddenly filled with the strong urge to kill something.
"Well, the generators has been in need of a new mechanic for some time." The man said with a forced smile that somehow fitted his mechanic appearance. "Consider working down here an honor."
I merely snorted.
"And why is that?" I asked in a rather disconcert and sarcastic tone.
The man seemed to loose a bit of his smile, but he continued to force it on himself, making him almost seem in pain.
"Well, for starters, you don't have to look at any of those pussy scientist in the upper floors. Second, since you live down here, you are pretty much excluded from you commander's usual check ups and training since most of your time will be spent maintaining the damn generators. Plus, you get quite an amount of privacy. Of course, you have to keep the damn heat generators running. If you don't, everyone within five miles will freeze to death."
"Five miles? That's almost the entire complex!" I said in shock. "If this generator is so important, why are you assigning the job to me? Shouldn't you try and get a professional working on it?"
"Well, if you haven't already noticed, the base is nearly empty. We had a core malfunction about a week or so ago; damn heat wave nearly killed everyone of use. And those who did not die…" The man blinked, "uh, never mind." he shook some dust of his uniform. I could right away tell he was not telling me the whole story, but I did not push it further. No need to make enemies on the first day.
"So if most of the staff was killed in the accident, why wasn't the base closed for repairs? And how come I never heard of it?"
"You don't have any clue what the UAC runs here do you kid?"
"I've heard rumors, but nothing more than the usual weapons development and genetic research."
The man chuckled, "Lets pray that is the only thing you ever hear kid."
"Come again?" I said partially confused on the matter.
The man only walked back to his post and continued working, seemingly ignoring my question.
Something isn't right here… And why do I have this gut feeling? It feels like something is very wrong here…
Suddenly, something massive slapped me in the back. Once again, I had the sensation that one of my lungs had exploded from the blow.
I tried to slump over, but a pair of strong hands caught me in the left shoulder before I could even fall to the floor.
"Comrade! How are your new quarters treating you?" Ran Dimitry's strangely cheerful tone. I rolled my eyes; fighting back some tears of pain as I got up, squared off the agony, and showed the tougher hide I had grown in boot camp.
"You want me to lie, don't you lieutenant." I said, forcing myself into not showing the grimace I really felt.
Dimitry smiled even broader, making him seem rather disturbing.
"I know you wanted to be with the rest of the us, but your skill are more needed down here, where it matters."
"General's orders?" I asked in a bland tone. Dimitry seemed to catch on, causing him to slightly loose some of his smile.
"Generals orders." He said in a rather unhappy tone, "Sorry comrade."
"*Sigh* Sometimes I hate being so young." I picked up the rest of my stuff, and proceeded to move to my new quarters. "I guess he still thinks that I am to young for any real action… Damn."
"Hey, It's not that bad you know, you-"
"Have more privacy? Yeah, I already know." I pointed at the chief engineer, "He told me about my job and how important it was. He also told me I was mostly excluded from everything fun you guys may or may not do because of my full time job. (Sigh) Now, of you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep before I begin maintenance."
"Actually, I came down here to tell you that from now on, I am your commanding officer. The general appointed me for the job. And your first order of business is to come up and help with an escort."
"Escort duty?" I said with some hope.
"Yes comrade." Dimitry replied with a broad smile. "Dr. Sylvia needs someone to accompany her to the hangars. She also needs help cleaning up her office. Seems she is being transferred back to earth. Strange since most people are being forced to work double duty."
"Do I get to carry a rifle?" I said with some hope.
Dimitry merely laughed as he stepped into the elevator. "Nope, just a lowly pistol. Report in an hour for your briefing comrade." He pressed the console and the elevator shot upwards with great speed.
Even though my luck so far had seemed really bad, being an escort sure beat the pants off repair duty. I knew it was not really that big of a deal, but at least it was a good start. And maybe, just maybe, after it was success, I could get the old man to show a little more respect towards me.
I smiled as I headed towards my new quarters. At least I would no longer rot in a dead base.