Green Planet – Prelude to Red Planet
Earth Hub, Colorado 3.6.2144 0950 hrs
Parker hated his life. Be a doctor, his mother had said, be a lawyer. Be anything but a goddamn worker. Why do you need manual labor anyway? He'd debated with her for hours, telling her he wanted to do it just to get out of the family business. Both his parents were doctors. His father was a surgeon, his mother a psychiatrist. He wanted to get away from the rich kid lifestyle he'd grown up in. You'll end up dead, she'd said, dead, leg's crushed, missing an arm—I don't know. You'll just end up in a bad way.
That was their last conversation.
And, lo and behold, ten years later (after forging his papers, making himself eighteen instead of fourteen), he hated his job. He'd lost two of his friends working on the Union Aerospace Corporation's new Space Hub, where, if it was completed on time, hundreds of colonists would launch in shuttles and land on Mars, home of the UAC's Mars City project. They could also land at Ultor's Terra Colony, a similar project.
Parker watched two UAC guards walk past, coffee mugs in their hands. The UAC was spearheading this Space Hub, but had contracted Ultor workers to build it. It was due to both companies having a large stake in colonizing Mars. Ultor dug the tunnels while the UAC built the buildings. He was seriously considering transfering to the mines on Mars, but he'd have to wait for that. All workers on the Space Hub were comissioned through the end of the year, if not longer.
A clattering noise distracted him. He watched an Ultor guard walk up to a worker over by the control room. "What's going on here, bub?" the guard asked.
"Nothing, I just dropped my wrench," he said, sluggishly. He was tired, it was obvious, even to Parker.
"Maybe if you weren't so fucking clumsy, you wouldn't have dropped it." He hit the worker over the head with the butt of his rifle. "Now pick it up, you stupid basdard!"
The worker, however, had fallen asleep. He couldn't hear the guard at all. Parker shook his head, then walked over to the guard. "He's been working his ass off for the past three days, I haven't even seen him sleep."
The guard spat at Parker's feet. "Yeah? So? He's getting paid for those hours, not to sleep."
His hands balled up in fists. "And what are you getting paid to do? Beat the shit out of some innocent worker?"
The guard didn't do anything Parker thought he'd do. He didn't point his rifle at Parker's chest and fire a single bullet into his heart. He didn't use the butt of the rifle to send Parker off to dreamland like the other worker. He didn't even spit again. He turned and walked away. And as he did, Parker heard him say, "Motherfucking labor doesn't need sleep."
Halprin Street, Sopot City 3.6.2144 1032 hrs
John Kane checked his submachine gun and put the stock to his shoulder. He sighed. Three days. Three days they'd been in the hellhole that was Sopot City. Echo, next to him, kept his helmet firmly on his head. The kid was scared shitless. "Hey, it's just a warzone," Kane said to him. "We're getting out of here eventually."
"Yeah? How?"
"On your feet or in a body bag." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one in his mouth. "Gimme a light."
Echo reached over with his lighter and got the cigarette started. It was then that he noticed the blood on Kane's shoulder. "Are you bleeding?"
He shook his head. "Ain't got time to bleed."
He heard it after that. The sound of metal feet. Sopot's elite. He put one finger to his mouth to shush Echo and then relayed the battle plan using hand signs. Echo, and the rest of the team, all got it without making a sound. He then held up three fingers. A second later he lowered one. A second later he lowered a second. Another second, and he lowered the last finger. Every one of them hopped up and started firing away. They sprayed heavy concentrations of 9-mm bullets into the heavily armored soldiers. Two went down to the left, another six to the right, and four directly in front of Kane.
"Everybody up!" he shouted. He had to pull Echo. They all reloaded and continued to spray bullets into that chromium armor. Several more of the soldiers went down. Kane was clothslined by one of them. He quickly got back to his feet and squeezed the trigger—empty.
"You're out," the soldier said though some kind of voice synthesizer.
Kane didn't take it, though. He reared his fist back and then sent it flying straight into the soldier's armored face. Pain shot through his arm, and three or four cuts appeared between his knuckles where the soldier's faceplate had pierced his hand. He succeeded in knocking the soldier back, however, though he felt his chances of survival were less than zero.
Delta Labs, Mars City 3.6.2145 1110 hrs
Capek watched as the extraction team walked through the room. Betruger held something vaguely cube-shaped in his hands. "We found something!" he said. "Come, Capek, see!" Capek stood and—on feet that didn't move—met Betruger at the examination table set up on the far side of the room. He enjoyed his nanotech levitation ability—it was helpful in moving across lond distances.
"What is it, Malcom?"
"You know the funny thing about it? I don't know!" He placed the object down on the table. "We discovered it in the dig today. We found a huge room—there was definitely a humanoid civilization living here thousands of years ago."
Capek smiled. "You sound... happy."
"Of course, Axel—I'm elated!"
Shuttle GoldenEye, near-Earth orbit 3.6.2144 1200 hrs
Cecily Gordon set her datapad down on the empty seat next to her. Even after almost a century of advancement, Mars still took more than a day to reach from Earth. She watched as the Earth shrank away in the view port. Mars was still thousands of miles away, but steadily growing.
Beside her, Dr. Benson stirred in his sleep. They'd only taken off minutes before, but he was already asleep. His head rolled on his shoulders like it wasn't attached. Clearly, he wasn't one to just pick a sleeping position and stay there. She nudged him a little and he woke up instantly. "Jesus Cec, can't ya let a guy sleep?"
"Not for now. This ship is practically empty, I have to have somebody to talk to."
He yawned. "Good point. So, what's on your mind?"
All Cecily did was smile.
Marine Spec Ops Command, outside Sopot City 3.7.2144 0332 hrs
Kane set his rifle down against a wall, but it fell down as the walls shook from the artillery bombardment. He flipped through the names of his squad on his datapad. Over sixteen people dead from his squad alone. Echo was huddled on the floor, crying. Kane sat down next to him. "Look, Echo," he said, then stopped. What would he say to him? Kane had been in more combat situations in the last two years than anyone had been in the last decade. He'd seen plenty of people break down because of the stress of combat.
Yet, in all of those situations, his commanding officer had talked to the poor sap who broke down. Kane was Echo's commanding officer, and he had nothing to say.
"Echo... I know what you're going through. I felt it after my first op, too. The cold feeling that creeps up your back after realizing that you just killed someone, it's not gonna go away anytime soon. You're going to feel like a sonuvabitch for the rest of your life."
The kid didn't look up. He asked, "So I should just accept it?"
Kane sighed. "I didn't say that. I'm saying, get used to it. Know that it's there, and push past it. What we're doing isn't right, but it's what we're doing none-the-less. I don't like it, either." Kane gave him a pat on the shoulder and stood back up. He walked through the makeshift command center and found Lietuenant Weems. The lieutenant was busy delivering a report to Military High Command. When he was done, Kane said, "Sir, Sopot's forces have drawn us back. We're concentrated in a thirty mile perimeter in all directions around the command center, but I don't think we're going to hold up."
Weems nodded. "Seven of the eight units we sent in have returned. The eighth is stuck in there, somewhere. We've been getting reports from the rebels that Sopot's citidel is being attacked. Hopefully, that's them."
" They're trapped in there? Why the hell hasn't anyone been sent in there to get them?" Kane was furious. How could Weems be that stupid?
Weems held up his hands in a gesture of wait a minute. "Hold up, Sergeant. Military HC has ordered us out. Sopot's got too many troops." He pointed at the statue of Sopot in the center of the holographic image on the table. The holoimage showed the entire city. "See this?" he asked, pointing directly at the statue's outstretched arm. "Sopot started bragging about some new weapon as soon as he put that statue up, and this arm is pointed directly at Washington. Whatever the weapon is, he's threatened to use it unless we pull out."
"And what about that other squad? If he finds them after we've pulled out, he'll fire it anyway."
"I've been in contact with the rebels, and they'll take our squad in when they're found."
Kane balled his hands into fists. "Sir, I request to take a squad in and find them."
"Denied."
"Goddamnit, sir, if we don't, it'll lead to all-out war, not just these little skirmishes to end their anti-democracy stance."
"I understand, Sergeant, but your request is still denied. We're to be out of here by 0900 today." He pointed at the door. "Dismissed, Sergeant."
Kane didn't think, he just swung. His fist connected with Weems' jaw. The man fell against the holotable, and blood dribbled from his mouth. Kane was postively happy that Weems was unconscious. After that, he picked up the lieutenant's datapad and checked out the locations of the rebels. He was going in, with or without a squad.
He walked back through the command center, eventually picking his rifle back up and checking its ammunition. The CAR-72 held thirty 7.62-mm rounds, and his current magazine contained only ten. Doesn't really matter. I can find some more off the dead.
Echo was standing now. He held his own weapon cradled in his arms, like a child. "Sir, what are you doing?"
Kane was checking his handgun when he answered, "Defying orders."
"Sir?"
"There's a squad trapped inside city limits, and I'm gonna go find them and bring them home."
Echo stood there dumbfounded for a second, then said, "I'm coming, too, sir."
"It'll mean court martial."
He shrugged. "I don't think I want to stay in the military, sir. I thought I could handle it, then this happened. I'm not cut out for combat."
Kane smiled. "If you're not cut out for combat, what the fuck am I taking you along for?" He slapped Echo on the back. "Good to have you, kid."
Earth Hub, Colorado 3.7.2144 0350 hrs
Parker couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, he just couldn't sleep. He kept having nightmares. He wandered around the incomplete Hub, viewing places where structural integrity could be better, where a girder should be welded into the latticework. He shouldn't be thinking about work, but that took his mind off the nightmares.
However, he barely remembered the nightmares. They just scared the hell out of him. One of the few vague images was a being so tall, it was almost as if it were God himself. One arm had no hand, and the creature had horns as long as most men were tall. A tall whipped around behind it. An old 20th century film called Godzilla could almost sum the creature up.
Parker eventually found himself in the break room. He grabbed himself a cup of coffee and sat next to Berkowitz. "Can't sleep?" Berkowitz asked.
"Nope. Nightmares."
"I know the feeling. We all do."
The TV was showing something from the other side of the planet: the Commonwealth dictator, Viktor Sopot, was giving a speech about the failed military incursion into his capital city. "I shall not bow down to these corrupt 'Democrats'. There is nothing democratic about them. If you even deviate slightly from their path, they call you 'evil', 'traitor', 'dictator'. They are the dictators! They are the evil! My citizens have lived in peace for almost a decade now. What the United Nations doesn't seem to accept is that my system works, and theirs doesn't."
Parker scoffed at his speech. Berkowitz asked, "Ever been to Sopot City?"
"Nah."
"Nice little place. Armed patrols on every corner, tanks rolling down the streets, Aesir fighters patrolling the skies, looking out for anybody who wants to secede from Sopot's union." He coughed out a laugh. "Sopot's got a lotta balls talking about 'peace' in that city."
Parker laughed, thinking about his brother. Captain Parker, of the 142nd Marine regiment. He was currently stationed in the Commonwealth—a group of nations comprised of what was once Russia, Ukraine, Chechya and several other nations in that part of the world. Viktor Sopot, their dictator, had taken over a decade before, after killing the previous dictator by poisoning him.
"Say," Berkowitz said as he stood up, "I'm gonna get some sleep."
Parker remained there for the rest of the night, drinking coffee and watching TV. It was better than the nightmares.
Mission Hill District, Sopot City 3.7.2144 0400 hrs
Kane and Echo reached the bridge in Mission Hill. Tanks, cargo trucks, troop transports—military vehicles of each and every kind passed by above them. Echo leaned over and whispered, "Wish we'd brought a rocket launcher."
Kane had to admit, the URL-6T "Big Earl" rocket launcher would have come in handy—if there weren't tanks. Instead, Kane took a few packets of C4 from his pouch and handed half of it to Echo. "Don't fight the convoy, kid, just take out the bridge." Echo nodded, then jumped into the water and swam to the other side of the bridge, while Kane planted his C4 on his side of the bridge.
Once they were done, Kane motioned for Echo to get out of the way, then he followed suit and detonated the C4. The explosions were massive, and rocked the whole area. The bridge began to crumble, with piece by piece falling into the river that separated the city into two halves. They took out at least two tanks, as well as three troop transports.
Kane pulled back the action on his CAR-72, then walked up to a surviving soldier. He pulled the man out of the water and shoved the barrel of his rifle directly to the man's chin. "You've got five seconds to tell me where the heaviest concentration of enemy fire is coming from."
The man coughed. "You're the heaviest concentration of enemy fire, jackass."
He hit the man with the butt of his rifle, then placed the barrel back under his chin. "Wrong answer." He was out of luck, however, as the man was unconscious. "Fuck!" he spat. He squeezed the trigger and blew the man's brains into the river.
Echo caught up with him a minute later, and looked down at the bloody corpse. "He talk?"
"No. C'mon, we've got a dozen more fires to start."
Marine Spec Ops Command, outside Sopot City 3.7.2144 0413 hrs
Lieutenant Martin Weems rubbed his jaw as he viewed the holoimage of the city. The bridge in Mission Hill disintigrated, along with a convoy driving across it. "Kane?" he asked his second in command, Lieutenant Bosto.
"Not sure, sir." He handed Weems a datapad. "This was a non-combatant's report from almost twenty minutes ago. Kane and his second were spotted one block away, clearing out a hotel."
"Any civilian casualties?"
"None, sir."
He picked up his radio. "HQ, HQ. I'm putting in a request for Colonel Masako."
"Masako, sir?" his second asked.
"She runs a merc outfit. We're giving Kane and Echo some civilian casualties."
Sanctuary, Sopot City 3.7.2144 0430 hrs
Kane knelt down at the dead bodies of the eighth and final squad the marines had sent in. One of the rebels, a Sopot Augment named Molov, kicked a couple of them. "I always thought you marines were the best of the best."
Kane shook his head. "Best don't mean shit with a gun to your head." He looked over at Molov. "And even less with a bullet in it."
Molov nodded. "I'm sorry about your unit, I am. I need to leave, before I'm spotted."
"Understood." He turned to Echo. "Let's get the fuck out of here."
He and Echo left through a different exit than Molov. Kane truly did understand, Molov's loyalty to the rebels was a closely guarded secret. Officially, he was Sopot's most loyal Augment, a man so high up, that if he took a shit that was undocumented, Sopot pressed for inquries. How he was able to sneak away for the clandestine meetings he had with the rebel leadership, Kane had no clue.
They were ten minutes away from the border when lights flashed on. All around them, Sopot's troops aimed their weapons. Kane raised his rifle, but he knew he was outgunned. "Echo, be easy about this."
"What do we do, sir?"
Kane scowled as Viktor Sopot himself stepped forward, pushing two of his troops away. "Good morning, Sergeant Kane."
The scowl was replaced by a smirk. "Heard of me, huh? Guess what's left of my reputation preceedes me."
"Very little of it."
Kane shifted his rifle to aim directly at Sopot. "What would happen if I blew your brains out, right here, right now?"
"You'd die before you ever pulled the trigger."
"Every stupid ass dictator says that." He flicked the selector switch from 'automatic' to 'semiautomatic'. "One bullet. That's all I've gotta do to end a decade of you fucking these people out of their real lives."
Sopot smiled. "I'm not even here to kill you, sergeant." He tossed Kane a datapad. His own capture-or-kill orders were on the screen. "Your own government wants you dead or alive. I'm going to give you to them." Kane tossed him back the datapad. "But I get one thing in return, for the deaths of so many of my troops." He pointed at Echo.
"What?" Echo asked, dumbfounded.
"He's saying you're his prisoner," Kane answered.
"All this so you can go home and be executed?"
"Looks like it."
"I'm not gonna let them do that!"
Kane lowered his weapon and looked at the kid. "Echo. I failed. I deserve what I'm going to get." He turned to Sopot. "But that doesn't mean that you just get him as collateral. The kid and I both go, or I start shooting here. You lose either way, which would you rather lose: your life, or your prisoner?"
Sopot smiled and nodded. "You drive a hard bargain, sergeant." He motioned to his soldiers to lower their weapons. "Let them pass. They'll die in America, like good Americans."
As Kane and Echo walked past, Echo spat at Sopot's feet. One of Sopot's troops hit Kane in the face with the butt of his rifle, and Sopot grabbed Echo by his hair. The last thing Kane saw before blacking out was Echo being dragged away, kicking and screaming.
Ten Months Later
Fort Levenworth 1.28.2145 2013 hrs
Kane sat in his cell, wondering if Echo was still alive for the three hundred twenty-first time since that fateful day last March. Being put in a cell all by himself, he'd had little else to do. His meals were all brought to him and he wasn't let outside. He did all of his exercises in the small cell.
Weems had reamed him. His charges were desertion, assaulting a superior officer, leading an unauthorized rescue operation and the murder of one hundred and seven-three civilians in a building by the Mission Hill bridge that hadn't even been touched by his and Echo's C4.
There was a knock on his cell door. The guard opened it, amd Lieutenant—now Captain—Weems walked in. "Well, for a man about to be executed, you're looking pretty good."
"For an asshole who had a hundred and seventy people murdered, you're looking as much like shit as you ever did."
Weems smiled. "Have a nice day, Kane." He turned around and walked out, but before the door was closed he added, "What's left of it."
Fort Levenworth 1.28.2145 2020 hrs
Ian Kelliher sat down at the table across from his incarcerated brother. "Nice to see you, Shane."
Shane Kelliher looked as bad as he had the day he'd gone to Levenworth. Scamming the military was a big crime, these days, and Shane had scammed a great deal out of them. Sixty-seven billion dollars worth. He'd been building up his own private army, as well. However, as Shane was family, Kelliher couldn't help but visit him sometimes.
"I'm as good as ever, Ian."
Kelliher looked over at the door and watched as an inmate was being escorted through the visiting area. For some reason, he had the look of a man who didn't belong. Kelliher turned his attention back to Shane. "So, how much longer?"
"Till I die? Not sure yet."
He sighed. "Does it always have to be that?" Kelliher stood up. "I'll see you again, Shane."
Shane stood up and grabbed him by the arm. Slowly, carefully, a knife was pressed against his back. "Not so fast, Ian. You're gonna get me out of here, today. Now."
The inmate waved to his guard and walked close. "Excuse me," he said, "is there a problem?"
Shane growled, "Back the fuck off, Kane."
Kane smiled. "So, you heard of me. I've heard of you two, too. Ian and Shane Kelliher. UAC founder Tommy Kelliher's twin sons. Ian's a chip off the old block: ruthless businessman, but businessman only, Shane's the black sheep of the family, joined the military and promptly started siphoning money from them and selling them equipment that he'd later buy back. Building a private military company." He looked directly at Shane. "Why don't you put the knife down?"
"Back the fuck off," repeated Shane.
Kane wasted no time. He pushed Kelliher out of the way, grabbed Shane by the neck and slammed him into the table. He picked the fallen knife up and stuck it in Shane's collar. "Next time you wanna kill some one, don't hesitate."
Kelliher looked Kane in the eye. "You saved my life," he said.
"I just took a knife away from an unstable bastard. But, if you feel like repaying me, I'd take a pardon for all my crimes."
Kelliher smiled. "You got it. And a post as my personal guard."
"I'll take security guard. I'd prefer working nights."
Delta Labs, Mars City 1.29.2145 0020 hrs
They'd done it! The teleporters were finished! Betruger was enchanted by them. He didn't understand exactly how they worked—that was Capek's area of expertise—but he knew why. He knew why they existed. The other place they'd found... it would be extraodinary to study.
Capek floated into the room using his nanotechnology. The old man looked hideous, but his augmentations made him look even worse. "It's finished, Malcom," the old freak said.
"Yes, Axel. Finally finished." He smiled broadly. Science would never be the same.
Seven Months Later
Miner Barracks 9.18.2145 2242 hrs
Eos didn't go into the shower. She only showered when absolutely necessary. It wasn't that she didn't like being clean, or that she just didn't want to take one. What she didn't want was to be raped by the pain-in-the-ass guards
Orion patted himself off with a towel and then tossed it to her. "You could use it. Clean off the sweat."
She took the towel and patted herself down. It was a relief to have a wet towel to use, even if it was only damp from another person's sweat. "Thanks, Ri."
"Anything for you."
"I've been thinking, Ri..." she looked around to make sure no guards were in earshot, then continued, "maybe we should actually do something about all this. Some of us have been going crazy, there have even been suicides."
He sighed. "Yeah, I know. A lot of us have been seeing some pretty fucked-up monsters."
"We can rise up, we can take this all directly to Ultor HQ, get them to stop the shit."
" Look, Eos, I don't know what you think we can do, but I don't think we have a chance. As soon as we start taking it to them, they'll shoot the shit out of us."
" We have to try, Orion. Otherwise, we're just like he people down in Sopot City, and we're living under dictators."
Orion looked around, then leaned in and whispered, "We keep this to ourselves for now. We'll start spreading it out, giving other miners the word."
She smiled. "A second ago, you didn't believe in this, and now you're committed?"
" Because you believe in it."
Three Weeks Before Red Faction Uprising
Malcom Betruger stood at the gates of Hell. That was no exaggeration. He was truly at the Gates of Hell. Dead souls wandered all around him, though disfigured and hungry for his flesh. They made no move toward him, however, as their Master forbade them.
Their Master, the CyberDemon.
The creature was ten meters tall, no doubt. It's right arm was a rocket launcher, and a ten foot tail extended from its back. It had horns as long as a man was tall. It was covered with leather belts, which hung loosely from its arms and were stretched across its broad chest.
"Malcom Betruger," the creature roared, "I am the Warrior. Martian lore called me the CyberDemon."
"I know, I've read about you."
"And I have studied you. You seek power."
"All men seek power."
"Not like you. It has been your motivation from the moment you discovered your love for science: to use it to give you power."
"Are you saying you can give me that power?"
The CyberDemon smiled. "I can. I shall."
Betruger smiled, too. "Tell me what to do."
Delta Labs, Mars City
Axel Capek stood at the control panel and watched as Betruger rematerialized inside the teleporter. Betruger stood slowly and smiled. "Axel, come. We have work to do."
Two Weeks Before Red Faction Uprising
Shuttle DarkStar, near-Mars orbit
Private John Kane—busted down from his former rank of sergeant—sat strapped into the seat as the DarkStar, which was currently experiencing the worst turbulance he'd ever experienced. A UAC miner—Parker, by his name badge—was taking it all in stride. Wish I could be that at ease right now. Look at you, John. So many years of combat, and you can't take a little fucking turbulance.
He decided to take his mind off of the turbulance by looking outside. The red planet was getting closer and closer by the second. Thank God... I've been sitting in this goddamn chair for two days now. I can't wait for this assignment.
Saving the life of Union Aerospace Corporation's CEO would get you any manner of assignments, including being sent up to Mars for being a pain-in-the-ass to your own CO, since Captain Weems requested a transfer over to UAC's elite Space Marines. How Weems had managed that—especially after Kane had told Kelliher exactly who he was—he had no clue. His first action as Kane's new superior was to promptly bust Kane down to private and send him up to Mars as a part of the UAC's Mars City Security detail. Once there, however, Kane was being sent to Terra, Ultor's special colony on the other edge of the Tharsis plains.
Kane kept telling himself It'll all work out. I won't have to deal with anything except making sure some miners dig some holes, then I'll be rotated back to Earth, and I'll accept Kelliher's offer to be his personal bodyguard.
Kane closed his eyes and accepted sleep. He could use it, now.
Shuttle DarkStar, near-Mars orbit
Parker watched as the UAC guy fell asleep. He then peered out the viewport at the red planet below. Here's to you, Mom. You can finally go fuck yourself. He'd accepted the year-long commission to the Ultor mines without even a second thought, and when his mother called him to ask why, he'd just told her that it was to get as far away from her as possible. He'd finally be free of the shadow of being a rich kid.
The red planet meant a new beginning for Parker. One he couldn't wait to start.
Delta Labs, Mars City
Betruger held the Soul Cube in his hands. The small concrete cube held power unlike he'd ever felt before. And all he had to do to unlock it was summon them, to kill thousands.
He smiled. It was going to be one hell of a show.