1/23/2048 (military calendar)
Fort Alpha, Space Force Base, Noctis Valles (Alpha Base)
Noctis Labyrinthus Region, Phoenicis Lacus, Mars
*****
The dreams of multiple generations stretching back to the founding civilizations finally became a reality. From the first flyby of Mariner 4 to the first robotic landing of Viking 1 - all those accomplishments have built up to this moment. That humanity had finally reached the Red Planet, Mars.
Throughout history, the Red World has gone by many names. The first was Nergal by the first civilization of Mankind, the Sumerians. While the Sumerians were the first, being a mighty warrior people of their time, they were not the last to name the planet after a god of war. The Romans, the most efficient war machine ever to walk the ancient world, gave this world its modern name.
Staring out at the reddish wasteland, Captain Taylor Miles of the United States Space Force stood on the observation level of Alpha Base. Every time he stood on this level, he found it strange how the most war-like civilizations always saw this place, being separated by thousands of years and distance, and came to the same conclusion. Now that Mankind had reached this world, he struggled to make the connection from the myth. For a warrior world, it felt..., quiet and peaceful.
From this vantage point, Miles had the perfect view of the city. From this view, he could see the many different modules that hosted the many residential communities to the research centers, from the many space agencies to the commercial side of the colony. One could see the extensive hydroponics facilities to the left, and to the right of the town center are the water and ore refineries that help provide this place with life. But most of all, what he enjoyed staring at the most was the launch pads over on the other side of the colony.
During Taylor Miles's free time, which the captain had much of while being posted at such a remote post, he would come up and stare at the city, watching the rockets take off and land. He sometimes wondered if this was like the old colony towns that once settled North America. While many in the online media on Earth call this place the next Jamestown, he sometimes wondered if this place could end up like Roanoke.
The colony-town below was a decent size for being around over a decade. Officially named Alpha Base by the US Space Department, the common name the people and media use are Noctis Valles City by those who live here and on Earth. The name was a hybrid between the region where the city was built and the most extensive canyon within the solar system, Valles Marineris. While the city was primarily a joint NASA-private partnership establishing this town, it multiplied ten-fold. Over fifteen thousand Americans, with hundreds of other personnel, are stationed here under the Artimus Accord members, permanently living here while thousands more rotate in and out after a tour.
The United States decided to follow a similar policy based on the US Antarctic Program, where McMurdo Station was the main base of operation with dozens of other outposts scattered. While it was an American colony, other nations have utilized it for their needs and as a staging ground to search for locations for their outposts.
Hearing the NASA Traffic Controller over the colony live stream, stating that the next launch was in its final preparation state, Miles looked up toward the three screens above the large window. The number showed T-3:44, showing the countdown.
"Captain, Traffic Control reports that Starship 1226 systems are all clear," Hata said over the intercom from Operations.
"Thank you, Hata," Miles said. "Another good day to fly."
Miles watched as a small dust cloud emerged from the engine blast and consumed the area around the launchpad as the starship lifted itself into the sky. Living in a world with less atmosphere and less gravity allowed what should be small dust clouds to snowball and spread over a large area. Blast shields surrounded the city to help protect the city from the dust clouds; however, parts of the blast always sneaked through and would cover the city briefly.
Thrilled by another successful launch, the captain left the observation level and headed downstairs to the rest of the base. With this being the beginning of his shift, he needed to head to Operations to start his day. While on the way, he passed through the lounge, where he saw a few fellow guardians, a US and British marine, and a single soldier playing poker. He could tell the US Marine and Guardian were ganging up on the soldier as he had the fewest chips.
Noticing the frustrating look on the soldier, Miles asked, "How is the war?"
Everyone stood at attention as they realized an officer had entered the room.
"Stand down."
The group slowly sat down as some gave the soldier grief for losing.
"The war is going good, sir," the US Marine named Peter said with a cocky tone. "Just reminding our friend here who is the superior branch."
"Knock it off," the soldier replied with an annoyed tone.
Miles shook his head, understanding the situation. There has always been competition between the Army and Marines as many of their roles overlap. The two had been competing since the nation's foundation, and the insults were in jest at the end of the day—an everlasting competition to fight for which branch would be dominant.
Luckily for Miles, the guardians are the newest branch of the US military and have finally found their feet with the Second Space Age. While some academics and media creators' debate that the Navy should play a more significant role in space because of the need for warships, the USSF had struggled to shake off its Air Force legacy to forge its own identity. It did not want a repeat of that competition game a second time.
Watching the soldier go all in with his remaining chips, Miles saw the guardian and marine glance at each other with a smirk, clearly working together. Together, they matched the soldier and leaned back in their chairs.
"Be careful," Miles said. "You might be picking on the Army, but remember, they are the heavy branch. Once they mobilize, you're all dead."
Seeing the uncertainty in their eyes from the threat, the captain walked in, thrilled that he installed some fear in them. He headed toward the hallway that led to the base's interior. As he left the lobby, he heard the soldier cheer as he must have won that round.
Seeing the large airlock door with the words Operation Center with a Delta 8-unit symbol painted, he opened it and headed inside.
The airlock matched the aesthetic of the rest of the installation. The facility was module in nature. The color coding was white as the primary color, with blue and black as a secondary. There was yellow paint with black letters labeling everything of importance everywhere.
In front of the Operations Center airlock was a Guardian guard sitting in front of a terminal.
"Morning, sir," Sergeant Sanchez said.
"I believe it is evening on Earth," Miles replied as he handed him his security ID.
"That joke got old thirty times ago, sir," Sanchez said. "You are clear."
"And that is why you are on the most frontier post, Sergeant," Miles said. "Need to learn to laugh at dumb officer jokes." The two nodded at the lousy joke; he saw that the airlock started opening.
The airlock slowly opened, and inside, he saw the large glass wall that said Operation Center with the USSF logo stained into it.
Walking through, he saw four massive screens at the center of the room, with additional smaller screens surrounding them. There were other smaller screens scattered throughout the room at different terminals. Two primary terminals were next to the command, which was for the office, almost shaped like a starship bridge.
While the room could host a complete detachment, it only operated at twenty-five percent. The intention behind Alpha Base was to be handled by a skeleton crew because it was remote. No one expected the next war to occur on Mars, so the brass saw no need to waste stationing military personnel there. Still, with the growing space economy, they needed a military presence. In case someone wanted to mess with trillions of dollars of investment.
As Miles headed to his station, he had to admit that seeing all the empty terminals made the sight feel slightly depressing. Reminding them how few they were showed how alone they were.
With four additional personnel in the room, Miles focused on the women sitting at one of two main terminals. Technical Sergeant Kyomi Hata of the Japanese Air Defense Force. "Evening Hata."
"According to Zulu time, it is the morning, sir," Hata replied sweetly, not looking away from her screen.
"To hell with Zulu; we are on Mars," Miles mumbled, reviewing his checklist tablet.
"That is what you said yesterday, sir, last week, and the week before."
While this was an American colony, the brass allowed fellow NATO and Artemis Accord members to station troops here for rotations. Publicly, it was to show how space is an international effort and that the US was not exploiting its advantage with this ever-growing frontier. In private, everyone knew it would be a global public relations nightmare if the US were stationing military assistance everywhere, easily able to strike every other country's assets. For Miles, he figured that it was about the budget. Allowing other friendly nations also meant The Pentagon could push some operating costs onto other countries.
"Roger that, Technical Sergeant." Miles glanced down at his checklist; he couldn't help but feel bored from seeing the usual daily issues. It had only been three months of his two-year tour, and he had already discovered how little there was to do for military personnel. The miners, explorers, scientists, engineers, and even their families had roles within the settlement, so there was something to keep them occupied. Even the housewives had a role within this colony, keeping the children in line and their education.
Outside of the civilian convoy needing rescue after breaking down in the middle of the desert or dealing with a ship malfunction in orbit, there was very activity. "Please tell me you are hiding something?"
"Within the town, no sir," Hata said as she checked through her computer terminal. "Astro Engineers did state that Mavorte Orbital Station was seventy-seven-point three percent complete. They stated that civilian ships will be permitted to dock in two months."
Placing the checklist on the table, Miles looked at the two main screens. "Seventy-seven-."
"Point three." Hata corrected boldly, never looking away from her terminal screen.
"Okay. Seventy-seven..., point three percent," Miles took a frustrated breath.
"Only an engineer would make an exact statement like that and be useless."
Captain Taylor Miles walked around the operations room as he tried to occupy himself. He was making sure that everything was operational. Noticing nothing, he stopped by Technical Sergeant Kyomi Hata's terminal, looking at her screen. "All right, so what does the highway look like? Any pirate reports?"
"There was an issue in the first phase," Hata said as she transferred the data to the main screen. "Starship 1273 was eight days from Luna before her engines went out. A ship from Hermite International Base approached them; however, a British corvette intercepted before the IRA vessel arrived. They will not be able to make the trip."
"Good. The last thing we need is an interplanetary war."
While no one there believed anything would happen on Mars, on Earth and Luna was another story. The world had changed dramatically since the 1990s post-Cold War Golden Age, where nations worked together for economic unity. In the modern era, international blocs now compete against each other to dominate their regions. The domain of space was not left unscared. Luna became the next battleground of competition as nations and alliances secured their interests, starting the militarization of space.
The game-changing event that made the militarization of space acceptable was the Starship 1183 Incident. For the first time in human history, a spacecraft was hijacked by a hostile power within the asteroid Apollo Group. The government said that it was pirates who attacked the spaceship and left it at that. Everyone knew that was partly a lie because space wasn't cheap enough for the average citizen to buy a ship and go rogue, so it had to be state-sponsored. The issue was that no one could determine which nation sponsored the attack. Regardless, this gave every Astralis Power the excuse to militarize space.
After carefully studying the screen, Miles saw the hundreds of beacons from starships from many nations. Luna acted as a staging ground for ships heading to Mars, mining missions with the Apollo Group, and some vessels towards Venus.
Seeing hundreds of icons on the two screens, Miles sipped his coffee and asked, "What is happening with this group?"
"Standby...." Hata changed the filter on the screen, removing satellites, space telescopes, and other miscellaneous spacecraft. That left only the active spaceships between the 'Luna-Mars Trajectory,' also known as 'The Highway.' "Convoy 1223 will be arriving in two weeks. Conoy 1309 is still at the midpoint, and Convoy 1167 left Gateway Station three days ago."
"What about Space Command?" Miles asked with a yawn.
"Not very professional, sir," Hata said. "USS Vanguard is running three days late for its rotation. They thought they heard a whisper and went to investigate, but it was nothing. NASA-JAXA exploration ship will be here in three weeks to start their Mars-crossing asteroid mission."
"Alright, keep me posted...." Miles started to leave before being stopped as his cell phone vibrated. Checking, he saw a message from his commanding officer, Colonel Gallivan. "Looks like the Colonel wants coffee."
"Before you go, sir," Hata said as she turned to face him. "Since it's the Colonel messaging you, I should warn you that he has been in meetings all morning with Cheyenne Mountain and the Pentagon."
A meeting with the Space Force Cheyenne Mountain Complex was ordinary. Alpha Base is a Space Force facility and the only military installation out this far, so there is a need to maintain daily communications. However, when the technical sergeant mentioned the headquarters of the United States military, that was a massive red flag for him.
Leaving the operation center, the captain went down a long hallway to the briefing room. Passing through the lounge again, he noticed both Marines were gone, leaving the soldier and guardian alone.
Heading down the long corridor, bypassing many modules ranging from an armory, vehicle bay, barracks, and other vital military infrastructure. Reaching the briefing airlock, the guard let him in after a security check.
Once inside, Taylor Miles was surprised to see how many personnel were in the room. Besides the base commander and himself, the head marine officer, a few other key base officers, and the heads of the British and Japanese contingent. Surprisingly, not the Canadians or the Australians.
Captain Taylor Miles sat beside his friend, First Lieutenant Grant from Delta 8, 12th Squadron. "Do you know what is going on?"
"Hey man, I was going to ask you the same thing," Grant replied. "On my way here, I saw the US and the Royal Marines gearing up. All of them."
"You said, all... them?" The Japanese man behind them asked, struggling to speak proper English with his accent.
While Miles's friend responded to the Japanese officer's question, he noticed the rest of the room was paying attention to what they were saying. He couldn't blame them. When the Marines were gearing up, that had to mean some threat became local.
Realizing that the troops were mobilizing, everyone's heads raced, all wondering what could be happening. Many flashpoints are happening around the Earth and even on Luna. He could tell everyone was wondering if another conflict had started or if things had escalated elsewhere.
A guardian master sergeant entered the room from a different airlock and said, "Attention."
The room stood as they saw the base commander, Space Force Colonel Gallivan. "At ease."
Right behind the Colonel was British RAF Squadron Leader Lorcan Pearce, the second in command of the NATO contingent of operations on this post. The Colonel sat at the front desk; however, the Squadron Leader stood to the left.
"Thank you, everyone, for meeting up so quickly," Gallivan said. "I understand you all have many questions, so let me be clear. World War Three has not started, and an astro-terrorist attack has not occurred. So, you all can put your minds at rest on those issues."
A sense of relief spread across the room. The idea that the end of the world or being trapped here without rescue was no longer a worry. However, Miles noted the tail-end of what Gallivan said.
"However, there is a developing situation, and we might be at the heart of it," Gallivan continued. "This is the highest form of classification, and each of our friends here, your nations, are in the loop of this developing situation. None of this leaves this room until further orders." The Colonel then nodded toward the Squadron Leader.
The large screen behind the two officers turned on. To everyone's confusion, the United Kingdom appeared. The screen then zoomed over the Natural History Museum in London.
"Eight hours ago, 0237 local time," Pearce said. "While on patrol, a museum security guard noticed one of the historical artifacts that was in storage suddenly activated."
"Activate?" Miles asked.
"Yes, activate," Gallivan quickly responded. "A lot of the information you are going to be told will confuse you, but bear with it."
The screen changed to inside one of the museum warehouses from the point-of-view of one of the security cameras. The room was dark, the only light being from the emergency lights. Then, a spot on one of the artifacts started blinking orange. The security guard in the recording jumped back once he noticed the orange blinking coming from the artifact.
"As you all can see, this orange blinking light is coming from this crystal at the base and sides of the artifact," Pearce explained. "As of now, the artifact has been secured and has been transported to Colorado Springs Space Force Base."
"Why are they going to such extremes?" A British officer asked.
"It was discovered that the blinks at the center of the device are repeating predictably," Pearce replied. "Every five seconds on the dot."
"I must ask," Grant said. "What does this have to do with us?"
"Everything," Pearce said. "Yesterday, an orbiting NASA satellite detected the same energy signature around the Ulysses Tholus region. It also is emitting every five point five seconds. As of now, we do not know anything more than that."
The screen switched from London to the Tharsis Montes region, Mars. Most people know of this region as it hosted the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons.
At first, Captain Taylor Miles was confused by what the Squadron Leader said. Looking at the screen only confused him more. He could not figure out why this energy signature appeared at the edge of civilization. While the region was relatively close to their location, it was not nearby, several hundred kilometers from Noctis Valles City.
The Japanese officer asked, "Are you saying you found..., ET?"
"No," one of the American officers replied. "They found Santa Clause."
There was laughter in the room, but everyone noticed neither the Colonel nor the Squadron Leader were laughing.
"That is the current theory, yes, we found evidence of ET" Pearce responded.
A sharp confusion reigned over Miles as he tried to figure out what was happening. And then it hit him. He only saw the situation as an archaeology issue and a military operation, refusing to acknowledge the obvious.
"I have a message from USSF Brigadier General Graham on your next mission," Gallivan said. "Listen closely as I will not repeating it."
The screen switched to a video with a general on it sitting at a desk. The man started with the usual military talking points and repeated what Pearce said. That was until he began speaking of their mission.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, all other priorities on Mars are now considered secondary for this operation," Graham said. "Your objective is to secure this site, identify what emits the signal, and, if possible, retrieve it. A Covert Operation ship is already inbound and will retrieve whatever emits that signal."
The video stopped and switched back to Ulysses Tholus, showing where the signal was emitting from.
"There is a NASA and JAXA drilling personnel from Tharsis Tholus Station, so they have already been dispatched to this location and will begin drilling operations," Gallivan said. "You will take five Rovers and four M5 UGVs as logistical support. You will set up a perimeter as we establish a proper base."
"Question," the British officer asked. "If you are deploying our combat forces, are we expecting combat?"
"We have no idea," Gallivan replied. "We do not know what we are sending the scientists and engineers into, assuming this is not a trap of some kind."
"Especially after they notice our movement," Miles stated. "A large military force and scientists heading to the middle of nowhere was never part of the expansion plan. It would be a natural red flag and raise questions if anyone noticed that."
"Correct," Gallivan said. "We were debating whether we should send only a small unit to help avoid suspicion; however, it was decided that the risk was worth it as speed is the key. Delta 18 is trying to hide the signal from our enemies and civilians. But we cannot confirm what they know."
"However, we must assume that other nations could or already have picked up the same signal," Pearce added. "We do not want the French or the Indians to beat us there."
As Taylor Miles's grandfather once said, the world had dramatically changed since he was a kid. The old Golden Era finally ended, in which nations mostly cooperated for economic efficiency and only had one superpower. The world ended in the 2020s and 2030s because of many factors, mainly the dramatic decline in birthrates and the need for major powers to secure their supply lines. The world fractured into many new regional blocs and competed like the old Imperial Age economic model.
The United States refocused itself on protecting geopolitical importance and strategic allies. Outside North America, the country maintains strong relations with Japan and the United Kingdom, which acted as the left and right arms, respectively. Other essential allies scattered throughout the world are either a significant regional foothold or a nation that allows the US to remain economically secure, like Australia.
While the French and Indians are American allies, they act independently within their regional blocs. After a century of trying to create strategic autonomy from the United States, the French were finally able after the Decade of Crisis and the global demographic decline crisis. Utilizing those moments and the economic decline of Germany, they became the dominant power in Europe and reformed the old European Union into the Western European League.
Of course, the United States naturally supported the United Kingdom and its regional Bloc, the Commonwealth Union. While the three powers are on the same side on most issues, key geopolitical issues keep the two sides at odds, like the hostilities of the RIA, Africa, and the French wanting their stake in the space economy.
The Indians are more complicated than the other regional powers on Earth. Being one of the most powerful countries in the world and space, there never was a need to formalize relations above what they were. During the early US-China rivalry, it was natural for the US and India to grow closer; however, it never grew to a formalized alliance like the UK and Japan. Mainly because there never was a need. Both nations agreed to fundamental principles. Once the Chinese economy and population began to collapse, they were forced to look internally, removing the primary driving force for the two nations to reapproach. Now, India is too large for the US to push its influence on them, and the two powers were far enough apart that their interests didn't overlap.
China became a strange geopolitical mess as many internal regional factions fought to become the ones who ruled over the nation. The CCP controlled the north, the Zhongguo controlled the heartland and major coastlines, and the Guangdong controlled the south. There are other minor factions; however, these are the major ones that the State Department monitors. While the CCP has become a shadow of its once self, it still maintains a long reach as it controls most of the country's astro-infrastructure and outposts, able to sell its estate to third-party nations to avoid the US Artimus Accords.
While each nation had its reasons to oppose the United States, the Russians, and Iranians aligned to pool their resources; with Russia's decline as a significant power, they needed a growing nation to maintain its economic security, while Iran needed a nation that had deep industrial and technological knowledge. The two had worked together going back to when they cooperated against the Islamic State and in Ukraine. The two work closely with their other Eurasian allies to be an alternative to the United States, France, and India blocs.
Other nations had their small stake within the new space economy, having space stations or outposts; most utilized the Great Power facilities to save on cost as it would be impossible for them to carve out their interests. While this had been great for international corporations, it had the side effect of having smaller nations utilizing hostile facilities, allowing them to strike against their enemy's interests, usually with the blessing of the host nation.
The French, English, and Indians have outposts on Mars; however, that has not stopped other powers from stretching their hand with these pirate attacks. While the United States has the dominant foothold in this frontier world, it was only a matter of time before others arrived.
"Or the RIA and CCP," Gallivan said. "If they learn of this, they might throw whatever assest they have to retrieve it."
"We are trying to keep this out of the public as much as possible," Pearce said. "If that fails, the proposed cover story is that NASA had discovered a rich vein of lithium."
"Why not water?" Miles asked. "In the context of being an Astro outpost, water makes the most sense."
"That was considered," Pearce said. "However, that creates other unwanted questions we are unprepared to answer. Both in the short- and long-term timeframe."
While Taylor Miles is not a geologist, he understood that lithium was a vital resource for modern technology. Depending on the size of the deposit, it would be worth deploying troops to defend it as it would be a game changer for developing a Martian economy. Without a second look, most civilians would buy the cover story and move on with their lives compared to the water solution. With that, people would expect pipelines, a specific type of extractor, a refinery, etc. With an ore-related story, it overlaps with the necessary equipment needed for the cover story.
Gallivan stood and said, "All right, go gear up. You're leaving in thirty minutes. For the ones who are not going, I want all departments focused on providing operational support for the deployed team. Weather, enemy deployment, status on the NASA team. Dismiss."
The mood in the room was complex. While everyone remained silent, everyone knew what the other was thinking.
'Just what the hell is out there?'