Mechanations

On October 19th, 2014, the entire world watched as comet Siding Spring impacted with the planet Mars. The blast was estimated at 50 million megatons, about half the power unleashed by the asteroid impact on Earth 65 million years ago. While many pundits believed this would be a globally unifying event, they were wrong as they are so often.

The destructive power of Siding Spring was felt on two planets. Physically Mars was altered forever. Dust, rock, and ancient gases beneath the Martian surface were expelled into the air, covering the planet in a thick cloud for years. The energy from the blast was enough to reheat the iron core, unleashing geological activity the Red Planet hadn’t seen for eons and re- activating Mar’s dormant magnetic field.

On Earth economic, political, and religious institutions began to fall like dominoes. Disorder, death, and destruction erupted on Earth just as ancient volcanos were erupting on Mars. Gripped by fear, panic, and desperation, society began collapsing at a rapid rate. In the months following Siding Spring, only the strong survived.

Governments failed and political boundaries of old became inconsequential as the paradigm of the Human race was drastically shifted. The large and powerful corporations of Earth began forming into even bigger conglomerates, each vying for resources and power. The People no longer claimed allegiance to a specific nation but rather became shareholders in a certain corporation. No longer were Rights a natural and assumed endowment but instead Privileges could be purchased... and sold.

As the dust was settling on Mars, the Wars were coming to an end on Earth. Emerging from the chaos were four powerful Conglomerates. These Conglomerates were the new powers that be, each nearly balancing one another out. The People of Earth had become weary of fighting and easily ceded their power to the only entities capable of maintaining a lasting peace.

From the Wars, new technologies and ideas had been developed. The People sought a new frontier to explore and the only frontier left was space. Utilizing their Shareholders’ renewed vigor the Conglomerates aimed for the Heavens. The competitive nature of the Conglomerates allowed the Human race to set their eyes on a new prize... the domination of the planet Mars.