Colonist Log - Gene Lawrence
The Beastmen have attacked one of our bases, and Alpha squad is responding. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here for supplies, and are going into this mission with only half the normal ammunition loadout due to rationing.
The mission goes pretty well, though Harald was shot up pretty badly. We got him back to the transport before his suit air leaked out and hooked him up to a life support system to stabilize him on the way to Home. He's admitted to the hospital right away, and I'm assured he will make a full recovery. I got four kills myself, not bad for a 'scientific liason officer'.
When we got back to Home we got some exciting news... communication with Earth had been re-established! It's been about a month since the comms went down. I ran over to the communications console where one of our techs was watching a recording of the message we got. The video was grainy and badly focused, but seemed to show a grotesquely fat man with several cybernetic implants. One of the Servants then... a kind of cult which worshipped the apotheosis of humanity through technology. One reason we left earth was to get away from his kind, but he's the only voice we've heard from Earth since the planet fell silent. He seemed to be proposing an alliance with the "Free Peoples of Mars" and says that our superiors on earth had perished in a great cataclysm brought about by the Reticulans.
He's obviously lying, I told myself. Any attack on Earth would have been noticeable, even from Mars. While it's true we've been tracking some changes in Earth's atmosphere, nothing major has seemed to change according to our telescopes. The communications blackout could be for several reasons, any of which is more plausible than an alien attack. Still.. we didn't think Mars would be teeming with alien life, either.
I left without watching the rest of the recording, but was later notified that the technicians had been tasked with upgrading our satellite system to transmit and receive high density data bursts. It was quick work, since we made the system modular and expandable. I lent a hand in the original design, so I helped them out a bit. I'm told that the Servants are willing to send us technical specifications on some new gear which may help us here on Mars in exchange for any data we have on the Reticulans and other aliens here. Seems a fair trade. We've also uncovered a few new sites of Martian ruins... or whatever the aliens called themselves. Diego referred to the drones and ruins as 'Martian' and the name stuck. We don't actually know if they evolved here on Mars or if this was just some kind of... outpost. The prevailing theory so far is that the Drones are some kind of automated defense system which tracks and eliminates intruders on the planet. They were activated by accident when we disturbed one of the Martian ruins, so we're proceeding with more caution now. I'm told there is some hope of being able to repair and re-program the drone wrecks we've brought back so far. That could lend us a hand with the manpower situation...
Before I could help finish the data transmission upgrade, Alpha Squad's alert went off. The dig site in Cydonia had once again spewed more Beastmen out onto the surface. We went in and swept the area clean, but Ute was badly hurt. These Beastmen fought smarter, and were probably a bit more senior than the footsolders we've encountered so far.
When we got back I was informed that I'd been pulled from active duty to assist in developing the new combat suits for the team. My tactical experience combined with my scientific background made me ideal to contribute to the new designs, or so I'm told. I guess I'll have to miss out on some fun for a few days while Ramirez and I hack this out.
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Topic: UFO: Afterlight - Red Dawn (Read 11513 times)