DATE: NOVEMBER 26th, 2145
TIME: 14.37 GMT (EARTH)
LOCATION: MARS BASE - DELTA COMPLEX - DELTA LABS AREA 3 - LOBBY
THIS IS COMMANDER 'RUNE' BYRNES OF UNION AEROSPACE RECOVERY TEAM ZETA, ASSIGNED TO SEARCH FOR AND RECOVER SURVIVING PERSONNEL IN THE MARS BASE DELTA COMPLEX, SPECIFICALLY DELTA LABS AREA 4. WE'VE HAD LITTLE LUCK FINDING ANYONE, LET ALONE ANYONE ALIVE. FROM THE LOOKS OF THE PLACE, IT WENT TO HELL. MOST OF THE DEAD PERSONNEL LOOK LIKE THEY WERE CHEWED ON AFTER DEATH, OR SAID CHEWING WAS IT'S CAUSE.
AFTER ABOUT FIVE OR SIX HOURS OF SEARCHING, WE LOCATED ONE CORPORAL JOHN WARD. HE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO U.A.C.-MARS SECURITY TEAM 4 AND THEN DIRECTED TO FIND ONE DR. JOHN ISHII PRIOR TO THE 'INCIDENT'. WHEN WE FOUND HIM, HE WAS QUITE AWAKE, IF THE GUNFIRE THAT NEARLY CAUGHT MY HELMET WAS ANY CLUE, BARRICADED WITHIN THE LOBBY OF DELTA LABS. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF FIRING, AND HIM REALIZING WE WEREN'T DEAD OR UNDEAD, AND HIM QUESTIONING US AS TO WHY WE WERE THERE, HE CALLED OUT SEVEN OTHERS, INCLUDING DR. PIERCE ROGERS. EACH OF THEM LOOKED RAGGED, AND ALL WERE ARMED. THERE WAS A GUY, FROM MAINTENANCE IF THE UNIFORM WAS INDICATION, WITH A CHAINGUN IN HAND AND DR. RODGERS HIMSELF HAD A ROCKET LAUNCHER. WHAT WERE THEY FACING, TANKS? A MORE CURIOUS THING WAS WARD HIMSELF, CARRYING A SMALL ARSENAL IN GEAR AND AMMO, HAULING EVERY WEAPON U.A.C.-MARS HAD TO OFFER, INCLUDING ONE OF THE MISTAKENLY SHIPPED BEAVERTOOTH CHAINSAWS. HE EVEN HAD ONE OF THE ARTIFACTS FROM THE DIG, THE ONE CALLED THE 'SOUL CUBE', SITTING IN A CUSTOMIZED MAKESHIFT HOLSTER. WE FOUND OUT WHY AS WE LEFT THE ROOM.
ONE OF THE OTHER 'DEAD' PERSONNEL WAS UP AND WALKING TOWARD US, WRENCH IN HAND AND GROWLING. CORPORAL WARD PROCEEDED TO FLIP HIS HANDGUN INTO THE AIR AND TOSS THE SOUL CUBE AT THE 'ZOMBIE' AS THEY CALLED IT. THE SOUL CUBE... TRANSFORMED INTO SOME KIND OF BLADED DEATH-BALL AND HURTLED THROUGH SAID ZOMBIE LIKE IT WAS THROWN FROM A CANNON, PULLING SOME KIND OF... ORANGE ENERGY FROM THE 'ZOMBIE' AS IT PASSED THROUGH. THEN, MUCH LIKE A BOOMERANG, IT RETURNED TO WARD. MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE, ONE OF THE LARGER CUTS ON HIS RIGHT ARM THEN PROCEEDED TO GLOW WITH THE SAME SHADE OF ORANGE AS THE ENERGY THE SOUL CUBE PULLED, AND HEALED BEFORE OUR EYES, WITH THE MAINTENANCE GUY SAYING, "DAMN, THAT NEVER STOPS LOOKING FUCKED UP WHEN IT HAPPENS." EVIDENTLY, THEY'D ALL SEEN IT BEFORE, NUMEROUS TIMES IF THE FAINT, PINK SKIN ON EACH OF THE OTHERS WAS ANY INDICATION. AFTERWARDS, HE CAUGHT HIS HANDGUN AND PROCEEDED TO EMPTY THE CLIP INTO ANOTHER BEHIND THE FIRST.
ON OUR WAY BACK TO DELTA LABS 3, THEY ALL COLLECTED EVERY BIT OF EXPLOSIVE THEY COULD FIND: ROCKETS, GRENADES, C-4, EVEN THE FUEL CELLS MADE BY THE M.C.S.S. (MOLECULAR COMPRESSION STORAGE SYSTEM) WERE COLLECTED. AFTER A NUMBER OF SAID FUEL CELLS WERE CRATED FOR THE SHIPS, THEY STARTED PLACING THE REST, WITH RIGGED REMOTE DETONATORS, THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE DELTA COMPLEX. WHEN WE (TEAM ZETA) ASKED WHY THEY WERE PLACING THEM, WARD SPOKE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX HOURS, SAYING, "WE DON'T WANT THOSE NO-GOOD SHITS GETTING UP BEHIND US AND ATTACKING AGAIN." ONCE WE WERE WITH TEAMS GAMMA AND DELTA ON THE NEWLY PLACED MONO GOING AWAY FROM DELTA, WARD TRIGGERED THE DETONATORS. THE RESULTANT BLAST SENT ABOUT 90% OF DELTA COMPLEX INTO LOW ORBIT, THE REMAINING 10% BEING VAPORIZED OR SENT OUT OF MARS' GRAVITATIONAL PULL TOWARDS DESTINATIONS UNKNOWN.
ONCE WE WERE BACK IN MARS CITY PROPER, AFTER A GOOD EIGHTEEN HOURS OF WATCHING THE EIGHT SURVIVORS SYSTEMATICALLY SAVE ALL RESEARCH DATA IN EACH SECTOR OF MARS BASE, COLLECT ALL AMMUNITION, AND THEN DESTROY SAID SECTOR, THEY BEGAN PLACING THE LAST CHARGES AROUND MARS CITY AND THE MARS CITY SUBSYSTEMS. HAVING ALREADY TRIED TO STOP THEM THE FIRST FOUR TIMES, AND GOTTEN OUR ASSES KICKED, WE JUST BACKED OFF AND LET THEM WORK, SOME OF TEAM GAMMA EVEN ASSISTING WITH CHARGE PLACEMENT FOR MAXIMUM DAMAGE.
ABOUT TWENTY-FOUR HOUR HOURS AFTER WE GOT BACK, ALL EIGHT SURVIVORS WERE GIVEN CHECKS IN THE AMOUNT OF 8.7 MILLION (USD) AS COMPENSATION FOR THEIR 'LOSSES'. WHEN THE [U.A.C.] GUARDS TRIED TO GET THE WEAPONS AND AMMO BACK, HOWEVER, THE EIGHT SURVIVORS PROCEEDED TO DISABLE EVERY MEMBER OF THE SECURITY FORCE, WITH ONLY ONE FATALITY, ON THE GUARDS PART. THE ONE GUARD, A BURLY MALE CALLED JOHNSON, ATTEMPTED TO SHOOT CORPORAL WARD IN THE CHEST WITH HIS HANDGUN. BEING ARMORED, WARD DIDN'T EVEN FLINCH FROM THE SHOT. JOHNSON HOWEVER, FOUND OUT PERSONALLY HOW A BEAVERTOOTH MODEL 476X HIGH-SPEED, 20 HORSEPOWER CHAINSAW CAN BE USED ON MARS. CORPORAL WARD PULLED THE CHAINSAW FROM IT'S RIGGED SHEATH, AND, WITH THE RATTLING ROAR ALL CHAINSAWS ARE KNOWN FOR, PROCEEDED TO CARVE A LARGE HOLE IN JOHNSON'S CHEST. AFTER THAT, THEY WALKED OUT TO THE PARKING GARAGE, THE NOW-DECEASED JOHNSON'S CAR KEYS IN DR. RODGERS' HAND, AND PROCEED TO MR. JOHNSON'S, NOW DR. RODGERS', VEHICLE, A LARGE RV. ONCE THEY HAD LEFT, THE SECRETARY IN THE FRONT LOBBY FAINTED AND EVERYONE ELSE WENT BACK TO WORK. I SUPPOSE IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT THE NEARBY JANITOR WAS MOST UPSET THAT WARD, AND I QUOTE, "GOT ALL THAT DAMNED BLOOD ON THE NEW CARPETING, DOESN'T THAT SHIT KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET BLOOD OFF OF CARPETING?!" END QUOTE.
I SUPPOSE NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO ALSO REPORT MY AND MY TEAMS' RESIGNATIONS FROM THE U.A.C. WE'VE ALL DECIDED TO JOIN MR. WARD AT HIS NEWLY-BUILT HOME 30 MINUTES OUTSIDE THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES. APPARENTLY, THEY PUT THEIR COMBINED RESOURCES TO USE, BUYING OUT THE PATENTS FOR EACH OF THE WEAPONS, SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES DEVELOPED BY U.A.C. ON MARS. THE CHAINGUN, PLASMA RIFLE, B.F.G. 9000, MOLECULAR FUEL COMPACTER AND STORAGE SYSTEM (MFCSS), THE HYDROCON, THE ELEMENTAL PHASE DECONSTRUCTOR, EVERYTHING, AND HAVING A SIZEABLE FORTRESS CONSTRUCTED OUTSIDE LA. ACCORDING TO WARD, DR. BERTRUGER, THE INSTIGATOR OF THE MARS CITY SLAUGHTER, WAS NOT AMONGST THE DEAD IN ANY OF THE FACILITIES ON MARS, AS SUCH, BELIEVES BERTRUGER WILL RETURN SOMEDAY, AND WANTS TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING CONFLICT.
COMMANDER 'RUNE' BYRNES, OUT.
