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20:02:29 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
This forum needs an RP.
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The year is 2215. The planet Earth, cradle of humanity, is an industrialized wreck. Capitalistic metanational corporations buy and sell countries to maximize profits. A collapsing biosphere has lead to mass colonization of the system.
Mars has become a terraformed jewel. Oceans flow around the northern hemisphere and modified plants enjoy the still mildly CO2 rich atmosphere. By global consensus, the hungry corporate metanationals of Earth are barred from touching the planet. The world is ruled by a planet-wide council representing many groups, all existing in the same global territory of the red planet, in peace.
Venus has people living in steel habitats, as the planet's thick gases are processed by massive factory facilities. A huge orbital blind minimizes sunlight, bringing the planetary temperature down slowly to bearable levels. The surface will not be survivable for a hundred years. An absence of money so far has kept the confused metanationals out.
Mercury is a mining hell hole, being stripped for resources constantly by the metanationals, just like the asteroids.
Jupiter and Saturn is a political nightmare, with nations spread across their many moons and squabbling for land and resources, while also trying to keep the metanationals appeased by selling hydrogen fuel refined from the gas giants. They are too small and weak to act alone, and risk metanational takeover. Two large Jovian moons, Europa and Ganymede, are metanational-owned already.
The far outer solar system is as cold and lifeless as always, with only a few independent outposts supplied by the metanationals marking out that it is the same system.
On Earth, production of an economic coercion group is underway, to spread the influence of the metanational 'Icon Technology' among the inner system. The metanational has been making less profit than normal as of late, and wishes to expand its market throughout the system.
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Welcome to the golden age of Mars. Terraforming has finished years ago, and the spectre of the metanationals casts no shadow here. There are no wars because there is nothing to fight over - the land is shared by everyone. A democratic council makes decisions reflecting the will of the people, not the will of themselves. Credit flows, fuelling the economy, and the free market booms. In the cities and towns, water is free, standard food is free, and a standard electricity supply is free. There are no militaries, because there is no need for them. For the first real time in human history, the entire world is at peace. Even if it is a different world. From the capital, Pavonis City, located on the slopes of Pavonis Mons, rises the space cable, linking the planet's surface to the moon of Phobos via the longest elevator in the known universe. Crime is...well, it's a nasty flaw in the perfect image of Mars, but it's very low, not as high as it used to be on Earth (and still is, although it's mostly corporate crime now).
This is the world you enter into. Whatever your job is, be it a council enforcer keeping the peace, a trader or smuggler to the Jovian moons, or an engineer advancing the frontlines of computer science, or whatever you want, it takes place here. A sneak peek into the future: it doesn't matter that much what you choose your job to be. Things will change quickly...
Name: (Full name recommended, nicknames not in this field)
Age: (Meh, people live to be 100-ish on Mars)
Physical appearance: (Oh, goodie. Try to be brief. Remember, people normally wear more than one outfit, so describing that here ism not important.)
Occupation: (Just for character background reasons. No military - there isn't one on Mars)
Background/Bio: (Give your character some personality. Your character need not have that interesting a history, it will get far more interesting as the story progresses)
Just have your character live their life for now - the RP is go from the moment you post. Once we have enough people, things will start happening.
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20:15:06 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Arvious X:
Name: William Eidisi
Age: 17
Physical appearance: Wears whatever is given to him, he isn't that picky.
Occupation: Works at Arvious Tech Wreck Repair Shop. (ATWRepair)
Background/Bio: Nothing really interesting, just a standard high school student in his last week of school. Most likely to get special honors at graduation for being one of the smartest in school.
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20:36:12 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Name: Lanoc Azyx
Age: 25 years
Physical
appearance: Just under six foot, with a wiry frame. He has blue eyes and short brown hair.
Occupation: Horticulturist, breeding the various strange modified plants of Mars, to increase the amount of oxygen in Mars.
Background/Bio: Lanoc was born on Earth, but transported to Mars at a young age. He dislike(d)/(s) the company of others, and did/does as much as possible to avoid them. So he became a horticulturist.
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20:53:51 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Arvious X:
Uhh... coulda sworn I wrote my guy's hair collor in this thingamoboberbootethingamajiggywig.
Physical Appearace: Long black hair, slightly tanned skin, brown eyes.
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20:54:08 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
Feel free to act out the roles of your characters while we wait for more people so the main storyline can start. I'll aid your efforts if I can. Who knows, you might just interact with some NPCs who will help you out later...maybe.
Oh, and Mars is breathable, by the way. It's just not at optimum. You'd start suffering from CO2 poisoning after several hours - a sign you'd need to get indoors, put on a mask or enter a tented town.
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22:42:25 Feb 27th 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Lanoc gazed with pride at the assortment of plants in front of him. They were all modified plants, Lanoc didn't know of any seeds that just had to be transported from Earth to Mars. There were a few types of trees, but it was mostly grasses that were in front of him. They were trying to make a widespread plant that could grow in Martian soil. Lanoc heard the trod of heavy boots. He sighed, doubtless it was Bob, who would meticulously check that all the plants were there. Lanoc managed a small plot at the corner of a reasonably large plot. Most plants were seeded in the greenhouses, and then planted outside near a river. There wasn't enough oxygen or water in the soil for the majority of seeds to grow.
Bob went through all the plants, paying little heed to Lanoc. When he finished however, he bantered on a while about how wonderfully the rhododendrons were coming on, and the pitiful state of the ash trees. Lanoc waited until he finished and went on his way, and started watering the plants.
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04:56:01 Feb 28th 10 - Lord Himanil X:
Name: Adam Dragstorm
Physical appearance: 6'4", 190 lbs, Jet black hair, lack eyes, muscular build.
Occupation: Part of security team aboard a smuggling ship
Bio: Always rather poor in studies Adam dropped out halfway of the Police Academy training on Mars and met Marcus, the owner of a smuggling ship in a bar whereine lured by the prospects of travelling to other planets and adventure along with earning huge sums of money he signed up. Marcus hasn't till date revealed who he works for and always answers his queries with, "Don't ask. It's for your own good."
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06:32:25 Mar 1st 10 - Emperor Gaius Septimus Cidellus:
[[OOC: Time to make somebody that isn't a badass like Miller or Arkon. XD]]
Name: Dr. Robert Thomas Cross
Age: 55
Physical appearance:
-5'11"
-167 lbs.
-Gray hair, a short beard, and an athletic build kept up by morning runs. He requires glasses to read, and refuses to receive an operation to correct his sight. His favorite choice of clothes is a gray suit, a black tie, black shoes, and a white shirt.
Occupation
-Professor of Ancient History at the University of Pavonis City.
Background/Bio
-He is a very, very boring public speaker. However, in normal conversation he is a very exciting person to speak with. He is renowned back on Earth for his expertise, but does not think himself to be above others. He is hard-working, honest, and has been happily married for thirty-four years. He has two sons and a daughter, all of which are grown and married with children.
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07:37:45 Mar 1st 10 - Mr. Sekasi The Sly:
Name: Doran Eturo
Age: 34
Physical appearance: About 6' tall, with medium-length blond hair and a thin build.
Occupation: Former moderately-successful information dealer and smuggler go-between.
Background/Bio: Doran lived comfortably on Earth as an information broker, buying and selling espionage on the metanationals and getting smugglers together with those who need things smuggled. About a month ago, however, his contacts started going dark. He got one of his last remaining smuggler contacts to get him off the planet and onto Mars. None of his other contacts know where he is.
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16:37:00 Mar 1st 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Lanoc pushed the spade deep into the soil, carefully placing its contents beside the trench. He dug until lunch-time, making a ten metre long bed, and then had a meal of various fruits from his plants, and then set to work hoeing the ground. Eventually, he had managed to get the ground fairly fine, and wandered home for the day. Tomorrow, he decided, he would see if any of those blasted seeds would grow. Needless work, he thought, they were seeds beyond recognition of any others, having been distorted by generations of genetically modified plants. However, they were specifically modified for the boiling, arid climate of Venus, and they were said to be able to photosynthesize using gases other than carbon dioxide, supposedly. Lanoc didn't believe it, and most certainly didn't believe they would grow on Mars, but he was payed to plant them even if they would die.
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18:20:25 Mar 1st 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
Well, we got enough people. I'll not wait any longer; we have had long enough and getting into character may just be unnecessary for most of you.
_
Earth is getting more unstable by the day. A mechanically-maintained climate has painted most of the sky with clouds and any semblance of nations acting outside of metanational control had long since been destroyed. The control of the metanationals is absolute - they exploit every human on the planet, farming them to boost their own net profits, claiming money in an attempt to run the others out of business and control as much of the solar system as they can.
Icon Technology, normally referred to simply as Icon, is the second largest metanational on the planet. Their goal is set off-world, as in their eyes Earth is slowly crumbling into oblivion. The Jovian moons are too far away to control effectively from the inner system, Venus is not yet worth anything, and Mercury is already a planet-wide strip-mining operation. But Mars...Mars is an economic paradise. A few billion consumers, working in an ideal 'free market' which had never really been present on Earth, despite the politician's words...if a single metanational could get a foothold on the rugged red surface, it wouldn't be very hard at all to have the entire planet working solely for them. And that would be the turning point, for no metanational could stand up to another that controlled an entire planet such as Mars. But legally, the old Metanationals were banned from Earth.
Icon had decided to try breaking the ban the old fashioned way.
Icon controlled the old USA and most of China, among other places. Both were extremely powerful space powers during the first interplanetary colonial years, and both still had many rockets and shuttles throughout bases across Earth. Both had also adapted their armed forces for an interplanetary war; a threat which had never surfaced. But Icon's board of directors had decided to make use of this asset, and take blissful, ignorant, unarmed Mars by force.
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At 2PM Pavonis City time, the broadcast flared across the city. A large fleet from Earth had arrived, demanding that Mars be handed over to the USA else military action be taken on a planet-wide scale. Mars wasn't fooled; the USA was long since dead, a mere shell company within Icon. But Mars couldn't retaliate, or even defend. The entire planet was demilitarized in peace. They had foolishly ignored the armies of Earth, awaiting orders from their new corporate owners. But the metanationals had never moved like this before.
A hasty council was held, and although loss was inevitable, to go down fighting was seen as being better than falling beneath the metanational thumb of Icon. Citizens were advised to carry a personal air-mask, and to prepare for hostilities. Resisting was requested. Any citizens who carried anything that could be used as weaponry, arm themselves. Those who can, head over to an enforcer station and collect the emergency firearms. There wouldn't be enough to go round, but it would have to do. The metanational legion will be descending soon when no answer is heard from the red planet.
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Your character hears the broadcast, or a planet-wide variation thereof. They probably have only a little time to prepare, until...
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The old US dropships descended, outdated design carrying Chinese suited soldiers to the surface. The Chinese had kept their military equipped well, with the latest in rifles, grenades and other weaponry. They swarmed across the dusty planet surface, trampling grass and bushes underfoot in the arid scrubland most of Mars remained. Whole towns surrendered, traveling house-sized rovers gave up on seeing the ships descend. The cities and some towns started resisting with whatever they could find. Urban warfare broke out across the planet, but the result would undoubtedly be in Icon's favor. Mars was fighting a desperate losing battle.
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Have fun, you're going to lose. You might want to escape in a rover or a shuttle, or hide in the cities, or...hell, you could even join the metanational. Just try to keep your character alive. But I repeat; have fun.
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18:37:21 Mar 1st 10 - Emperor Gaius Septimus Cidellus:
Pavonis City was the first to fall in a strategy designed to eliminate the Martian leadership. Dr. Robert T. Cross, his wife, and his children, all lived in Pavonis City. This was the cause of Dr. Cross's worry, and as he raced home to his wife, he was hoping that his children were okay. He was most worried about his younger son, Marcus "Mark" Cross. He was a policeman, and he was extremely patriotic. He was probably dead...no! He couldn't let those thoughts into his mind! He could not lose hope! What about David and Sarah? David was a factory manager, and Sarah was a computer technician. They would hopefully be wise enough to avoid trouble.
But even if they did live, life would be hell. Mars's beauty would be torn apart by the invaders, and gradually, just like their counterparts on Earth, their world would fall apart. They didn't give a hoot about ancient history, he knew this. They didn't want any reminder of the days when Earth wasn't ruled by corporations. What would he do? He didn't know! Where were his children? Was his wife okay? He had to make sure!
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18:51:25 Mar 1st 10 - Mr. Sekasi The Sly:
Doran dashed out of his apartment complex, checking his pistol on the way there. Even though Mars was peaceful, it was good to see that his old habits were still in place. He even had a bolt-hole ready. On the other hand, it was half-way across the Pavonis. If he could get there, he might have a chance to survive. Wait there and then establish contacts in the new system that might be able to get him off the planet. If only he could make it before the soldiers found him.
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23:23:11 Mar 1st 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Lanoc finished placing the seeds in the bed, smiling. Tiring though it may be, it was satisfying work. He had to painstakingly place each seed exactly 20 centimetres apart, they probably wouldn't be checked, but he would lose his job otherwise. He then heard(/saw, felt, somethinged) the broadcast. He let the spade fall into the trench, cursing as he did so. It was not so surprising, but it was swift and sudden. The people of Mars were inevitably doomed, either to death or to slavery. Lanoc grinded his teeth, and went home to fetch the few belongings he had.
He arrived at his abode, a bungalow little more than a hut. It was peaceful however, he had managed to secure a few acres. Still he could hear the terrified screams and yells of others, as they bolted their doors and windows. Little good would it do. Lanoc opened the glass case in the bedroom. It contained a suit weaved together from waxy leaves. Lanoc forgot the name of the plant, and as ridiculous as the suit appeared, it was somewhat fire resistant, but more importantly, was ideal for storing water under extremely high temperatures. Perhaps, he decided, he might find security on Venus, inhabitable as it might be. He shoved the remaining seeds in is pocket. He smiled wryly. Perhaps they would grow on Venus after all. He rushed from his dwellings into the countryside.
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02:59:07 Mar 2nd 10 - Sir Arvious X:
Will stood at the graduation ceremony, wearing the Medal of Scholars, the highest honor of education in Pavonis City. He was about to bow before an odd siren sound started to vibrate throughout the Auditorium. Normally, this would be an indication of a fire, but soon the ComSys soon crackled to life, as the voice of the announcer began to speak in a fearful voice.
"Attention, the Metanationalists are invading Mars. Repeat, Mars has been attacked. Three shuttle pods shall be provided for all student personel."
The whole audience started to panic.
"Oh, and since I don't think I'm going to be every to do this..."
The old song from the 21st Century, 'Peanut Butter Jelly Time", began to play.
"What the hell!?" Will muttered as he ran out the Auditorium.
***
-Arvious Tech Wrech Repair-
Arvious sat at his Manager's desk, polishing his glasses, his feet on the table. When the announcement came on, he just shrugged and finished cleaning his spectacles. Afterwards, he wandered into the back and pulled out his flask of Hermalt Beer. Then, he ran out into the crowds of screaming pedestrians to the nearest transport pod, while taking an occasional swig of beer.
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04:47:36 Mar 2nd 10 - Lord Himanil X:
BEEP!BEEP!BEEP! Adam woke up from his slumber and looked around. For a moment he knew not where he was, the metallic surroundings, sophisticated equipment made his mind go dizzy. As he spashed some water in his fae he heard the Beep sound come again and his jaw dropped wide open when he saw the source of it. On the radar panel was a blob as large as he had never before seen in his life. It covered at least half of the radar screen. Slamming his hand on the alarm button Adam raced to the Weapons Station. As he climbed he ladder the enitre ship went dark as only the red and blue sirens began to flare all around.
He found Alex and Ursula already up there. Alex (aged 23) had a thin lean build whilst Ursula was an attractive female aged at around 27. Both were proficient shooters. Just then Emanuel came running up and looked around. Finding Adam manning the guns he rushed to Adam's old position. Just then Marcus appeared and ordered everyone to calm down and not engage.
"Stand down evryone, it's an Icon sponsored invasion, we don't have to give a rat's crap about it, we are to proceed with our mission and dock at Mars Rover-3 Space Station."
"Those *******," swore hefty Emmanuel. "You'd think Mercury would've been enough for 'em bastards."
"Men are wretched things Emmanuel and we're no exception, things should get a bit tighter from now on but our business should improve in these regions. Let our motto dictate your actions, Self before Service."
Chuckling Emmanuel returned to his station. Adam was the best shot on board and had really been looking for some action, it was with some measure of dissapointment that he returned to his station cleaning his KP-5 submachine gun. Back home they'd seen automatic weapons only in the hands of permanent commision S.W.A.T teams. Enforcer training was limited to small arms such as pistols and many other antiquated weapons. All they saw of such automatic weapons was only demos and instructions. He'd grown up dreaming of owning an assault rifle. On his second week at job he'd been given the KP-5 when he proved his marksmanship by shooting dead a rival smuggler through the head who'd been holding Ursula hostage. She had somewhat lightened up to him after that. She was a quiet one likely to kick the shit out of someone for no reason at all and hadn't been happy on being saved. You'd think she'd've preferred to die then Adam had joked with Alex their computer whiz who'd always unsuucessfuly try to flirt with her.
The thought of home however triggered memories of his parents, how they'd been killed in a metanational gang war shootout. His father had been an Enforcer and a damn good one in his life. After his parents death he'd been left with some decent bits of property and a tidy sum of cash. He'd never quite bothered to use it for by the time of their death he'd already been in his new businness for 2 years. Going back home only brought painful memories. Lokking our of the forcefield window he looked at the stars stretching out forever and the vast Earth fleet approaching. He looked at his hand and saw that it's assumed the colour of the space skies. Stealth mode probably on he thought to himself. He went to his bunk to try and catch some sleep.
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16:54:36 Mar 2nd 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
The soldiers fought the cities in a battle they could only win. Mars was unprepared, undergunned, and without a professional military. The major cities held out until the metanational forces threatened use of destruction instead of capture; nobody wanted to face the missiles. The Martian government was stormed by the metanational forces, and a second announcement was put out stating that Mars was under metanational control. Most of the resisting settlements gave up right then. Hostilities were over no less than twenty minutes after the first soldiers touched down. Many of the citizens had never got a chance to resist; the battle was over before it was really begun.
However, some citizens continued to fight. Retreating under advancing troops, they fled into the maze of city buildings, hiding from the overwhelming soldier presence. Hastily packed house-sized rovers rolled out of massive garages, carrying rebellious citizens out of the cities. Shuttles launched all over the planet, with Martians fleeing to Jupiter's, and even as far as Saturn's moons. Some even ran to Venus, it's orbit placing it on the other side of the Sun. Those who went off world thought that they would be safe, but the metanational ships started disabling and capturing all ships near the planet that did not have metanational identification. Although they could not catch most of the shuttles abandoning the doomed planet, they tried hard to place every ship they found back on the surface.
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Oh, this is bad. Mars has pretty much lost. Have some encounters with the soldiers, hear the surrender broadcast, and do some hiding or running. Or you could just run and hide first thing. In any case, the soldiers seem to have won.
After this, the RP is going to get far more open-ended. You'll be able to do pretty much as you like...although I will still be hinting at the right direction. :P
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20:49:48 Mar 2nd 10 - Mr. Sekasi The Sly:
Doran replayed the message again in his mind. Mars had fallen. It was now under Icon control. This was the end. With Icon controlling those kinds of resources, the other metanationals would have to either band together or fall seperately. Doran had a bitter laugh at that. He knew how much the metanationals hated each other. They paid top dollar for even the slightest hints for each others' weaknesses.
Doran shook his head and walked into the other room of his hideout. Looked at the bodies sprawled on his floor. Regular people, sleeping or comatose. They looked so much alike. He had found a band of them fleeing from Icon troops after an ambush had gone wrong and had let them in. He had admired them for their bravery. They had fought when he had run.
But no more. Doran checked his bag one more time, stocked with all the tools that he had used for so long to survive, and left the building. He was going to find something he could do to help. One of them had mentioned a man trying to get people organized elsewhere in the city. Maybe he could use a hand.
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23:01:36 Mar 2nd 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Lanoc didn't wait for the announcement that Mars was defeated. He already knew it. He carried the little baggage he had in a Rugsack, a bag that folded up neatly to act as a blanket or the equivalent of. It didn't work as a blanket, but it was a damn good bag. Lanoc jumped onto a shuttle, bound for somewhere, but at least, Lanoc reckoned, it was not bound for Mars, nor Earth. As the shuttle lifted off, he heard the broadcast. He nodded to himself, hiding deeper in whatever the bloody, furry things around him were. At least they didn't smell, Lanoc thought to himself. And the shuttle probably wouldn't bother with a heat-detecting intruder warning. He fell asleep, listening to the groaning metal of the shuttle.
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20:38:11 Mar 4th 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
Where is everyone?
I guess I'll provide generic update. Key point; Don't be afraid to do things. A lot of this RP is going to be your character deciding what to do.
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The soldiers patrolled the streets of Pavonis City, making sure the 'peace' was kept. Icon feared using the planet like they would one of Earth's nations, as the Martian natives were far from subdued entirely. Inside reinforced buildings with their own air supply, newfound rebels gathered secretly, trying to plot a way clear of the mess their city had fallen into. Nobody knew how to fix it.
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Several shuttles had escaped the Martian disaster by fleeing to Jupiter. On the Jovian moon of Io, the underground steel habitat called Redemption beckoned them in, claiming it would grant them asylum from the chaos. Redemption was a massive underground facility, running on the same Martian ideals but in a harder situation - Io's volcanic nature made everything besides power hard to come by. Minor metanational outlets were present, but the metanationals were not concerned enough with this single city-base to buy it out. As such, the ruling party, a collective of fair-minded individuals hailing from Mars, ran the structure as kindly as their situation allowed. As such, any Martian refugees were welcome.
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12:56:30 Mar 6th 10 - Mr. Sekasi The Sly:
Doran woke up in an unfamiliar room. He looked around for a moment, startled, until he shook off the remaining fragments of his troubled dreams and remembered where he was. He was deep beneath the surface of Mars, inside a hardened bunker that the group he had hooked up with had taken refuge in.
Doran had searched through the underground for what seemed like days, trying to find someone, anyone, still fighting. The situation was worse than he had thought. At least the chaos had made the group willing to overlook his past, at least for the present. A broker like him wasn't nearly as bad as the people going around on the surface in the uniforms.
Doran had been in the bunker for a week, occasionally being drafted to go on raids, but mainly being allowed to ply his own trade as an information specialist. As new people came in, new rumors came in and Doran made it his business to know them all. There were mixed reports, of course, but it was said that most of the planet had come under complete Icon control. Still, there were pockets of people fighting and some settlers were said to have fleed to Io, which had been settled by Martians a long while ago.
Still, the rumors about a single person getting the resistance movements organized seemed to be greatly exagerated. None of the groups had any idea what this was truly about, what was at stake. They all thought that if they could just kill enough soldiers, if they could bomb enough buildings, then Icon would pack up and leave. These kind of random atttacks could solve nothing. They needed cohesiveness.
"...Cohesiveness" Doran sat up, rubbing his chin as he always did when strategizing. "They need cohesiveness or they will never accomplish anything, but how to get it? They need some way to coordinate. That's obvious, but how?" Doran crossed the small room to his desk and begin to write, planning for the days to come.
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21:06:06 Mar 6th 10 - King Berkeley The Disheartened:
Name: Dante MacColumn
Age: 41
Physical appearance: Black hair, hazel eyes, athletic build, 6'1" tall.
Occupation: Engineer that deals with working on and repairing ships.
Background/Bio: Dante is one of the many engineers that work on shuttles and other assorted vessels for travel. He is a pretty plain man that does a job just like his fellow workers. Dante had been working as an engineer for around 20 years.
Dante woke up. Blood was smeared all over his normal work clothes which consisted of a single dark blue piece of clothing that held most of his tools. He tried to get up but a sudden jolt of pain that was like being stabbed by a dozen needles flooded through his body. Red warning lights were flashing over his head and alarms were buzzing dully and he knew something had gone wrong. He didn't know what time it was. It felt like only a few hours had gone by since he had been taking part in a test flight of a new space vessel when warnings began going off all around him. Then there were explosions and screams, but Dante didn't know what had been going on.
"Were we fired at?" Dante thought to himself. He tried moving again and was surprised that the pain had died down a bit, or the pain had just been dulled by the cold floor. What he first saw was Captain Anthony Detrich laying facedown in a pool of blood. A long metal bar had apparently shot itself through is body and he was not moving.
"Captain?" groaned Dante as he tried to crawl towards the man. A smell caught his attention and he realized it was burning flesh. He had not been able to see the bottom half of the captain until he moved closer and saw that only half of the man was there. The rest had either been incinerated or slowly burnt...hopefully after death.
"Mr. MacColumn, just hold still...I think we made it," said a voice that seemed to echo through his head. Dante looked towards the front of the ship and saw one of the crewmen holding a cloth to a bloody wound on his head.
"Made it? To where?" asked Dante as he gave up trying to stand.
"We were attacked. I am still not sure what is going on, but Mars is no longer safe. We barely made it to Io though. The captain and Harrison died in the attack...but we made it!" said the crewman. Dante squinted his eyes and realized that it was not a crewman at all, but his engineering partner. Jonny Reed was only about 25, but he was a smart and capable young man. Blonde hair and golden eyes distinguished him from most other people. He was not athletic like Dante and had a slim frame that would not put up with much abuse. Dante was surprised that the two of them survived while the more experienced men had died.
"Where are we on Io?" asked Dante.
"Well, we haven't landed just yet. Most of the systems are offline and I have been trying to figure things out. I don't think I can move you, so you will just have to sit tight while I land us," replied Reed. Dante sighed and tried to calm himself, but then his eyesight began blurring again and he slumped back to the ground and everything went dark again.
"Mr. MacColumn! Stay with me!" said a familiar voice. Dante opened his eyes again and saw several faces looking down at him. One was Jonny, whom he recognized right away, and the others were unfamiliar.
"We are getting you to a hospital right away sir. Just hold on," said one of the men moving him along. He tried to look around and he realized that he was no longer on the shuttle anymore. When he tried to speak, his dry throat made any attempts impossible. Then he felt the prick of a needle and drifted back into unconsciousness.
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22:21:14 Mar 6th 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
"This is an open broadcast from the new Icon Martian Government to anyone on Mars who is listening. We mean you no harm. Icon is here to enrich your lives. You will join the big happy family that includes Earth, Mercury, Ganymede and Europa. You may work with us for a richer future all around.
"Some of you have taken to resisting the coming of Icon to Mars. We ask you to stop; why do you fear us? We came here to improve Mars, as your forefathers the settlers did back when it was a cold dry rock. We have come to make life better for everyone. If you resisted in the past, come forward, and we will not harm you. You may simply return to the ranks of the citizens. We may ask you about your friends if they choose to still resist, but that is mere standard procedure. We only want to help them, too.
"We repeat, come forward. We will hold no grudges. Only united with Icon, collaborating with this metanational corporation, may we achieve a bright future for Mars."
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17:21:56 Mar 7th 10 - King Berkeley The Disheartened:
"What kind of idiots do they take us for?" said a voice as Dante began to wake up.
"They broadcast some stupid announcement that is so full of lies that people must be dying of laughter rather than believing it," said another voice. When Dante opened his eyes, he saw Jonny and possibly a doctor.
"Mr. MacColumn? Are you awake now?" asked Jonny.
"Call me Dante dammit," he mumbled in reply.
"Sorry Mister Mac- I mean Dante. Here, listen to this recording. It was played on Mars," said Jonny. He then stepped over to a button on the wall and a voice was heard.
"This is an open broadcast from the new Icon Martian Government to anyone on Mars who is listening. We mean you no harm. Icon is here to enrich your lives. You will join the big happy family that includes Earth, Mercury, Ganymede and Europa. You may work with us for a richer future all around.
"Some of you have taken to resisting the coming of Icon to Mars. We ask you to stop; why do you fear us? We came here to improve Mars, as your forefathers the settlers did back when it was a cold dry rock. We have come to make life better for everyone. If you resisted in the past, come forward, and we will not harm you. You may simply return to the ranks of the citizens. We may ask you about your friends if they choose to still resist, but that is mere standard procedure. We only want to help them, too.
"We repeat, come forward. We will hold no grudges. Only united with Icon, collaborating with this metanational corporation, may we achieve a bright future for Mars."
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20:33:53 Mar 7th 10 - Sir Lanoc:
Lanoc stared at the towering steel buildings. He trodded slowly towards them. The gravity was much stronger here than on Mars, and the atmosphere much denser. He looked down the arm of the suit he was in. It could withstand temperatures of more than 500 degrees Celsius for short periods of time. Fortunately it was not quite so hot, but still it was good to enter the slightly cooler buildings. He could even take off the suit in the steel buildings. He looked at the line of machines inside. There were gases inside, undergoing various reactions to change them into substances that would not trap heat. He took a bowl of a sludgy substance, eating it quickly. Lanoc did not know what it was, nor did he wish to. Lanoc stared at the paper in front of him. Scribbled down were different gases. Lanoc tried to recall what he was supposed to do with the figures beside them, but couldn't. He glanced around, and seeing no-one peeking over his shoulder, added a few of the numbers and subtracted others. It would be checked anyway, and the work was, for a reason unfathomable to Lanoc, anonymous.
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07:47:05 Mar 9th 10 - Lord Himanil X:
Integration of advanced research and development in the fields of planetary magnetronics and stealth technology, access to cryptic government secret files and a whole lot of free funding by MTC's saw the birth of the mid altitude orbiting Rover stations.
A favorite with established smugglers and covert MTC operatives Adam had been stunned when he first saw the small station and even more amazed at the fact that he'd been unable to detect it with radars from as close as 500 kilometres, a true embarrasment. It was a truly a great boon to individuals wanting to get around unnoticed, unfortunately Rover stations were one of the most common objects of conflict among the MTC's who often would hire mercenaries to infiltrate under the guise of smugglers, take over the station and obtain what information they could.
As the ship docked inside, Adam got down with Marcus, 2 aides of his and his 7 man security team. Entering the complex after Marcus gave a retinal scan Adam's men got sharp and went ahead of Marcus. KP-5 at the ready Adam felt something to be very wrong, there were usually guards at the inner entrance but they seemed to be missing today. Pausing to look out of the forcefield, which had taken over the job of specialised reinforced glass some decades ago Adam observed something strange outside, something red. As he watched a body with a bullet hole in it's head came drifting about, getting incinerated as it came within the 100 yard zone of the station by modified laser beams. Before Adam could warn the others there was gunshot and 2 of Adam's men were hit. Leaping for cover he blindly fired ahead while keeping his head down and heard a short but loud yell of pain as one of his bullets registered. Getting up he and his 5 men sprayed the corridor with bullets even as Marcus and his 2 aides ran back to the ship helter skelter.
As they started to retreat 1 more of Adam's men got killed by what was uncharacteristically accurate firing. By the time they had reached the ship only 3 of Adam's men were standing. The moment they were inside they manned the machine gun turrets and Adam saw that these were no mercenaries, they seemed to be soliders proper in uniforms with sophisticated assault rifles. The entire ship trembled as their craft, the 'Aurora' fired a pair of HE (Heavy Explosive) missiles to blast open the dock doors. Adam fired indiscriminately and hit no soldier as Chinese officer aimed a BK-79 rocket launcher at their craft. Just as he fired the Aurora lurched forward and they were off. Adam watched behind him as the rocket hit the Rover station from inside and the entire station conflagarated. Strips of metal from the flaming inferno streaked towards their crafts, all getting deflected by their artifically generated shields. Just when they thought they were safe, there was a deafening sound, as a very large piece of burning metal crashed through their shields and struck the ship. Everyone was thrown to the ground as the sirens went off.
"Breach!" yelled Marcus as everyone got to their feet and rushed to the upper compartments. Adam being closest to the ladder grabbed it just as there there came the sound of something crashing, a whooshing sound all the people present got sucked out. Adam pulled himself towards the ladder which itself was getting unhinged from the ship, the pull from outside was unbeliveably strong and he couldn't imagine what was causing it. Inch by inch he made his way up, with every second seeming to stretch on for an eternity, his eyeballs were bulging. As Adam was about to let go a hand grabbed his and pulled him up. He felt the pull for a few seconds more before it stopped and everthing went black.
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18:03:43 Mar 9th 10 - Emperor Gaius Septimus Cidellus:
Robert Cross's house was two stories tall, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office with a library, a kitchen, a dining room, a basement, and a living room. At the moment, he was sitting at the dining room table. His eyes staring at the wall. His wife was dead, she had been killed during the invasion. She had been running to her car outside the grocery store when she was caught in the crossfire. His younger son, Mark, was missing and presumed dead. He had always been the more reckless of his children, but he had a good heart. David and Sarah were alive, but the factory David worked at had been taken over by the metanationals.
What would Robert do? He mourn his wife, go to work, and continue his life. He would continue to hope that Mark would surface alive. It would be hard, but he could do it.
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18:29:29 Mar 9th 10 - Sir Karzun Demonsul:
The new Icon Mars HQ, established in the building formerly used by the Martian council, was happy. They had taken Mars, there would be little resistance on that front. Those who fled would not be returning, but at least they had 90% of Mars as their new 'workforce'. Not that they had any choice in their forced employment. Mars was under Icon control. Yes, the soldiers on the surface would crush any rebellion quickly, then Mars would be theirs entirely, and they'd destroy the other metanationals, and ultimately own all of humankind.
_
Metanational forces across of Earth had had their doubts confirmed. The huge metanational Icon had taken Mars. With that kind of resource, they would be able to drive the others out of business quickly. And metanationals didn't forgive or forget rivals.
Sparta Corporation was the biggest metanational on Earth, controlling almost all of Europe and a large chunk of southern Africa, as well as numerous off-world colonies and a lot of the Mercury mining operation. The board of directors met once a week in their Athens headquarters, and had had time to think on the Martian situation. They unanimously agreed that Icon had violated some kind of legal protocol (leave it to the lawyers) and that their new provinces should be confiscated. Of course, in their plan, this would involve handing them over to Sparta Corp. completely.
The old European Union had been a space power prior to the ultimate climax of the metanational powers. As a result, Sparta Corp. had access to a large arsenal of space-plane type vehicles, although they were significantly more limited than the fleet of dropships utilized by the USA and ultimately Icon. However, there was no time for preparation. Icon had Mars, and each passing day put it more firmly in their grasp. No doubt they wuld resist hading over their greatest asset and prize. As a result, the numerous European and African militaries were mobilized. Smoke belched from old German war vehicles dating back almost one hundred years, and the only slightly more up to date arms manufactures in Zimbabwe were hastily outfitted with modern technology. Sparta had more 'employees' than Icon, and would probably win of it came to direct conflict. However, the other metanationals would probably act quickly, so Sparta Corp. needed a foothold on Mars as fast as possible. Logically, Pavonis City would be the target.
The shuttles were launched soon after, in a continuous stream carrying brand new firearms and soldiers. They were shipping out as fast as the guns and war machines could be built. Sparta Corporation would not stand idly by.
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22:07:07 Mar 9th 10 - Mr. Stickman:
*Sparks Stickman's interest*
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22:53:44 Mar 9th 10 - King Berkeley The Disheartened:
[[OOC: Uses Stickman's spark to start a fire and roasts marshmellows]]
The hours following Dante's surgery were calm for the most part. Groups of people who had escaped Mars seemed to have been flooding in because the area he was in was becoming crowded. The marvels of modern medicine took care of his wounds in a matter of hours, so Dante and Jonny Reed began wandering around the Redemption facility. Many Martian refugees were scattered around the place, looking for a place to stay while their homeworld was under the control of the metanationals.
"Well, do you think these people could use the skills of a ship engineer?" asked Dante as he wandered around with Reed.
"I am sure that ship engineer would need his trusty assistant," joked Jonny.
"Assistant? More like apprentice to me. You still have a lot of work to do," replied Dante with a sly grin.
"Fine fine...so I am an apprentice still," moaned the young man. The two continued exploring the facility until they found a small area for ships and Dante talked to the supervisor.
"So, do you think you could use some help with things?" asked Dante.
"We could use all of the help we can get. I will show you two what you can do here," replied the supervisor as he began showing them around the docking bays and repair bays for ships. Dante hoped his family back home was safe for now. He would come back for them soon enough. Hopefully peacefully, but no one wants to deal with the rage of a man separated from his family.
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04:23:31 Apr 6th 10 - Lord Himanil X:
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04:33:20 Apr 6th 10 - Emperor Gaius Septimus Cidellus:
[[OOC: Because a majority of the players, including me, did not post. =D]]
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05:56:46 Apr 6th 10 - King Ernest Deallus The Wise:
[[And Himanil did not post after Demonsul's update!]] :G
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12:22:52 Apr 6th 10 - Lord Himanil X:
What!
*Re-checks posting order and shuffles shhepishly*
"Well yes, perhaps I didn't but as I said before in this thread I was posting in roughly the same order as it started with, guess forgot 'bout it when no one did post."
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