The Great Galactic War: Mars Arise

Roughly 40 years before the Great Invasion that started the largest and most devastating conflict the milky way had ever known the, Galaxy was in no sense of any resemblance of peace. 

One such internal conflict was the Martian Insurrection.

History:

The Cause:

This conflict between the United Nations Martian local governance and the Free Martian Movement, goes by multiple names, some call it the Martian Civil War, the Martian Seperatists War and the Martian War of Independence, The main focus on the conflict is the very future of Mars itself.

For despite being the closest planetary colony for Humanity in proximity to the world of their origins, Mars was by surprise one of the least terraformed planets of all the various worlds that Humans have managed to successfully establish themselves. And despite this the importance of Mars for the U.N and her colonies was immense, Mars although rich in minerals, has an economy focused more on the production of ships, this due to the difference between the Martian and Earth gravitational pulls, the U.N actually decided to have Mars be the primary shipyard for the various Military, Civilian and Economic fleets.

As such Mars has the largest Orbital Shipyard in the entirety of U.N governed space, yet this wealth is not returned to the Martian people directly. Despite having a terraformed atmosphere, the work is still incomplete. Even though the work began well over a century before the conflict broke out, the planet was still incomplete and no efforts had been made to finish what had been started. The major cities and the major industrial zones had been successfully terraformed allowing the domed habitats to be removed and repurposed, the citizens inside being able to breath fresh Martian air, as well as not have to fear the great sand and dust storms of Mars's past.

However for those who lived beyond the Terraformers range, life remained a struggle, to move between habitation and other external facilities, they still had to wear the breathing apparatus in order to be safe when moving around. Despite the fact that Mars was officially terraformed, as well as this these settlements were still forced to hold onto the domes and protective shields to defend themselves and their families from the dust and sand storms that were still common.

To this end many of these settlements banded together and formed a trading measure to better provide for themselves, so should one settlement have a means of producing a greater amount of food then they would share it among the others within their region, those with greater access to mineral mines would provide the ores needed for metals that in turn are required for parts.

This system worked so well that 5 years before the conflict began, the Outer Settlements decided to form a system of governance for themselves as very little ever came from their Representative in the U.N council. So they decided to form their own, with the aim of becoming not independent from the U.N but to merely govern their own affairs from home, instead of from Earth.

Eventually the idea of Home Rule began to spread into the major cities with many influential people on Mars joining what became known as the Free Martian Movement, a movement not for the Independence of Mars from the Unified Council of the United Nations of Earth and her Colonies, but merely to be granted the right to govern itself whilst remaining a member of the Council. Many of those who studied history, compared what the movement wanted to the ideas of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Irish Free State, officially these territories were a part of the British Empire, but were granted the right to govern themselves.

This was what the movement wanted, but did receive a great amount of resistance, most notably from various Earth based corporations who had a great deal invested in Martian businesses. Most important of which was the Shipyards which generated a vast amount of income for them, and if Mars was to be given the right of self governance then many feared that this income would be interrupted by various new forms of taxation or trade tariffs.

For four years both sides of the argument quarrelled amongst themselves with various diplomatic visits between the Movement, the Martian Representative in the U.N council, the U.N president and the Council as a whole. No compromise could be found that all involved could agree upon. And many feared that without a diplomatic effort being allowed success, some were afraid that more militant elements could try and stage something.

But sadly for all contenders, the Movement was pushed to this action, when an peaceful protest within the Martian Capital of Olympus, turned to a steady riot as people were becoming more and more Frustrated with the lack of willingness of the U.N to hear the demands of the Martian people. When riot units were sent out to try and contain the situation, the troops were accidentally given live ammunition instead of the standard stun rounds they were meant to have had. When they opened fire to prevent the riot from spreading to other areas of the city.

The Free Martian Movement turned against any essence of Diplomacy, as far as they were concerned the U.N had no intention of listening to Mars, and if they were to have any chance of governing themselves then they would have to fight.

Armies Assemble:

With this Idea embedded, the Free Martian Movement ordered for the formation of a new military force to defend the Martian people from future acts of aggression. This new army was officially dubbed the Army of the Republic of Mars, or A.R.M for short, this was to act as the official military branch of the Government that the movement wanted to establish for Mars.

This army however started only as a simple rag tag militia with very little training and almost no true uniform, instead it was simply made up of ordinary people from all walks of life wearing what ever they could find. 

For the U.N recognising the incident known as Bloody Mars, decided to launch an investigation into the incident to try and find out the cause and who was at fault, they hoped that by doing so they could ease tensions on Mars and prevent a possible rebellion occurring on their closest colony. After two years however, nothing had turned up, it appeared to have been an unfortunate accident in communications and supplies. Sadly they knew this was not enough to calm matters and prevent the creation of new A.R.M divisions.

What was making matters worse however was the fact that many serving in the U.N marines and U.N navy were martian born and dozens were actively deserting their posts and ships to sign up with A.R.M, this convinced that the U.N needed to interfere before more could join the growing militant group. To that end they began to enforce a system of operational control over the outskirts, the aim was to find and confiscate any and all weapons and non mining explosives from those regions in an effort to prevent them from being used by A.R.M.

In response the Free Martian Movement officially formed a self governing colonial government in the form of the Federal Republic of Mars with an elected Congress and Prime Minister, this new government met in secret in the underground town of Pyramids near what was once the face of Mars. Here at the first session, the Congress decided that any attack or act of aggression against any one settlement or town on Mars by the U.N forces would be regarded as an attack on all of them and would be taken as a declaration of war.

This same decision was sent to both the Council of the "United Nations of Earth and her Colonies" and the "United Federation of Systems". The decision was clear that if the United Nations forces on Mars committed any other act of aggression then the A.R.M would respond in kind.

An action that some in the U.N council considered a threat, these individuals began to push for the Troops on Mars to put down the movement before it could become a credible threat. Something that the majority were against, the U.N had faced insurrection in her colonies before, but these were planets with a population of a few hundred or a few thousand and all of them were colonies at the furthest reaches of what was considered U.N controlled space. These insurrections were easily put down when a single small light cruiser carrying a company or battalion were sent to restore order and mostly with little bloodshed. 

But This was Mars, the second most populated place in the Sol System, second only to Earth itself. If the U.N were to send troops they would have to send an entire fleet and multiple divisions consisting of tens of thousands of troops. Something that would be a political nightmare not too mention an action that would hurt diplomatic efforts with other species across the galaxy.  Thankfully for the U.N President Jane Alderman, the renowned Liberator Corps had managed to organise a last ditch effort at a neutral location, representatives from the Congress of the Federal Republic of Mars would meet with her and members of her cabinet on the Felis home-world who had agreed to act as mediators for the negotiation until that time however both the Martian "Separatists" and the U.N agreed to a Truce, which was to be held until the conference one month later.

Sadly the negotiation never took place, as precisely one week before the conference was due to take place, U.N troops on Mars alongside private security forces hired by an Earth based mining company, shot and killed four Martian citizens who were allegedly reaching for weapons and as such posed an immediate threat to life. However many witnesses stated in the investigation that the four men were not armed and were only going for their identification papers when they were shot. The U.N investigation into the incident was quick and deemed that the soldiers in question had acted properly and were not liable for criminal charges. 

This infuriated the Martian population who chanted that the U.N were covering it up, as well as the rapid growth of Anti Earth Riots across the planet and since this had happened within the boundaries of the Outskirts. The Congress of Mars regarded this a cause for conflict, as according to their previous statement any violent actions to Mars or it citizens would be regarded as an action against all Martians and a declaration of war.

War Begins:

After deliberating for no more than 15 minutes the Martian Congress formally declared that the actions of the U.N troopers in question had violated the truce between the Federal Republic of Mars and the United Nations of Earth and Her Colonies. And as such they were officially in a state of war with the U.N administration on Mars.

Days after the Declaration reports began to flow into the U.N administration on Mars, with reports of U.N outposts coming under attack, and Garrisons in the smaller settlements across the Outskirts being forced to surrender after being overrun by A.R.M. As well as this the U.N no longer had to deal with a small number of its troops or sailors deserting to join A.R.M, but instead a sudden surge of defections as previously stated many in the U.N military were martian born and refused to fight for the U.N anymore. 

On one occasion, there was even a mutiny, where around 32 Martian Born Marines and Sailors attempted to seize control of the U.N.S Serenity an Intercept class Cruiser. The Mutineers managed to seize control of the Bridge and attempted to use to the ships weapons on the U.N ships currently in Space Dock along the Orbital Shipyard above Mars. They were all killed during a fire fight with the rest of the Marines on board, but not before they managed to Cripple one of the Carriers, severely damage 2 destroyers and damage 3 other escort class vessels.

The Incident became known as the battle of the Yards, the 32 Martians were killed as well as over 24 other marines onboard their ship and 83 sailors and engineers on the other vessels. The Attacked proved that the U.N needed to consider the conflict much different that the insurrections that they had faced in the past. These Separatists were fighting both a conventional war but also a Guerrilla campaign.

At first the U.N forces on Mars attempted to reorganise and launch a counter attack with the added support of Fresh Reinforcements which included heavy armour support, involving armoured personnel carriers and even few squadron of tanks. When these units they launched their offensive however they found that A.R.M were more than ready for them.

In what became known as the battle of the Canyons the U.N forces attempted a simultaneous assault by both Ground and Air, but A.R.M had established a solid line of defence in the canyons and rocky mountains that provide a natural defence. With the Armoured vehicles and tanks having to traverse an uneven and extremely under developed road network, the tanks and other vehicles were easy pickings for strategically placed mining explosives and improvised rockets since the lack of proper roads meant they had little traction hindering their mobility and manoeuvrability. 

Thanks to the defections and desertions, A.R.M were able to create a series of makeshift weapons that could combat the heavy armour of the U.N which included armour piercing rockets and even Heat seekers to counter the Air power of the U.N fleet. 

The 13th Division of A.R.M alongside the 10th were tasked with holding the line for as long as possible, to allow for reinforcements from other sectors could be brought in to aid in the defence. Yet with the new improvised weapons and the terrain, the Commanders were able to construct a cunning plan to hold the line for a much longer period than they originally predicted. For they knew that the high mountains and tight corners in the valleys would mean that the gunships flying over head would have to go much slower than normal, making them much easier targets.

And the simple dirt roads that lead through the valleys and canyons mean that the Tanks and armoured vehicles would have to travel single file along the flatter ground whilst the infantry would have to move over the more broken ground of shifting sands and rocks. All of which was true, when the U.N forces moved into the region, the troops disembarked the vehicles to provide ground support, the tanks were forced to hold back as the sand would deny them traction. 

When the U.N forces came into range, the A.R.M forces unleashed a hail of improvised missiles and rockets against the supporting gunships and armoured vehicles. Soon almost half of the gunships were down or being forced to turned back under orders, the armoured vehicles were forced to pull back to avoid being caught in a crossfire, but stayed close alongside the tanks to provide supporting fire. 

It was up to the U.N marines on the ground to try and break through on their own. This meant moving down one sand and rock dune to then move up another, where the Separatist forces were firing from. Over the course of the day, the marines attempted four assaults on the position, each time they were hit by continuous and concentrated fire from the A.R.M forces on the opposite side, they also had to concern themselves with mining explosives being thrown at them as well as explosives planted into the ground acting as land mines.

By the end of the day, the Marines had suffered a number of casualties and were running low on ammunition and the heavy weapons on the tanks were becoming dangerously overheated. With half of their division either dead or wounded, the commander requested permission to begin a tactical withdraw from the area. Understanding that the Separatists were in an entrenched position and armed with various heavy weapons, the Commander in Chief agreed and ordered a full withdraw not only from that attack but from all attacks across the planet. All of which had been facing heavy resistance, all of which the troops had not expected from what Intelligence had reported to be a ragtag militia.

This battle marked the true beginning of the War on Mars, as from this point the Front lines on Mars had been Drawn. As well as this, the battle had proven that the Free Martian Movement was more than just a simple Insurrection but was more compatible to a fully functional rebellion. As soon as the U.N Council learned of the failure of the attack, the news was met with both shock, amazement and disbelief. Many Councillors refused to accept that the Marines had been forced to retreat from a ragtag militia that had no battle experience. But President Alderman made a public statement, declaring that Mars was officially in a state of civil war between the U.N authority and the Federal Republic of Mars.

Several months into the conflict the lines had settled with the U.N maintaining control over the major cities and the Terraformer, whilst the Separatists controlled the outskirts and the more wilderness like sectors of Mars. Many of the United Federation of Systems formally recognised the legitimacy of the Federal Republic of Mars and pushed for the United Nations to do the same as well as open up fresh negotiations with the Martians being recognised not as a Separatist Faction but as a legitimate Government.

It had by this point become clear that the Free Martian Movement had changed over the many months of negotiation. the A.R.M had been performing much more efficient training regimens, with the help of officers and experienced soldiers that had joined the movement before the conflict had begun, A.R.M had turned from a Militia of locals into a organised and professional army.

The Great Galactic War:

Up until the outbreak of the Great Galactic War, the two sides were caught in a continuous deadlock, with both launching raids and attacks on towns, outposts, bases and other locations. Upon the invasion however, the Federal Republic of Mars and A.R.M decided that both sides needed to put aside their differences to fight the common enemy. To that end they offered to the U.N forces on Mars and any wanting to get away from the Invader Occupation, sanctuary within the parts of the planet they had control over. 

An offer that was accepted without a second thought, the U.N marines immediately took shelter among the former enemies and were able to regroup from the attack. After which the Commander in Chief of all U.N forces on Mars and the Leadership of the Separatists decided to ally together to fight the Invader forces on Mars. This new Martian resistance became one of the most successful of all the resistance factions in the Occupied Zone. With most of Mars being held by the Resistance.

Organisation:

Politically:

Politically as previously stated the Federal Republic of Mars, was a governing system with three distinct branches, consisting of a judiciary which consisted of the law enforcement (Police) the prosecution service and the Courts. Above these was the Supreme Court of Mars, which handled all of the cases of great importance to the government and the Constitution.

The Second of which was the Legislature, which came in the form of the Congress, which comprised of 80 representatives elected from all across the planet. These representatives would meet to deliberate and vote on matters of importance such as laws, acts and other such matters.

Finally there was the Executive, in the form of the Prime Minister of Mars. Whose job was to lead the government during their term of office, they were to request the Congress for the enacting of new laws and acts which they believed beneficial to the Martian People. Due to the Colony being made up of various ethnicity and traditions, to prevent any one ideology taking hold, it was agreed that a single Prime Minister is allowed only two five year terms in office after which they must step down and are never allowed to hold the position again.

Law Enforcement:

With Law, the elements of the Republics Bureau of Law Enforcement work very closely with the other sections of both government and Military. Since most volunteers often join up with A.R.M, it is very common to see A.R.M reservists acting as the police force in certain regions. Yet the congress has made it clear to the population that it is not Martial Law, the regions closest to the front lines may have A.R.M acting as the police forces. But for those further back then a more traditional force is employed.

The Bureau of Law Enforcement is that force. Consisting of volunteers or A.R.M reservists who have not been called to full service, the Bureaus primary focus is the continuation of peace and order among the various settlements in the regions that F.R.M has control over. These Separate stations and departments work in unison on certain cases and incident or as individuals in more local or regional incidents. 

The Bureau divides itself into two distinct branches, Standard and Emergency. Standard is not the official name but is what most call it, Standard Branch or divisions operate the everyday actions of the Police forces, such as standard patrols, none extreme incidents, cases and crimes. Emergency or Special Branch, is the focus of more extreme cases and large scale investigations, they specialise in the investigations of Homicides, Organized crime, high profile cases and in certain situations supporting the Intelligence Service in Counter Espionage.

Military:

The Army of the Republic of Mars or A.R.M is often interpreted as a mixture of local militias and a more centralised military force. However this is not the case, originally the Military branch of the Free Martian Movement was a simple collection of militias using whatever fire arms they could get their hands on, mostly shotguns, pistols and old rifles. 

However rather quickly the High Command realised that the army needed a proper system of management, leadership and above all training and equipment. And this came in the form of help from U.N deserters and defectors, who aided the movement in giving the local militias a focused military view, they trained the troops to the same standards of the U.N marines and even got the Republics to grant the creation of a standard uniform for the army. Using old foundries and the abundant mines in the outskirts, the production of a simple armour for the troops was easy enough and when designs for more updated weapons such as the AR362 which was the newest laser based assault weapon for standard infantry use was secretly smuggled to them, they were able to give the army proper weapons to go toe to toe with the U.N.

Extra help would come in the form of improvisation of simple mining tools. Items such as Pylon Embedders, which originally used to fire electrical systems such as lights into solid rock to allow better visibility in the mines or within the valleys and canyons. These once repurposed were turned from shooting pylons to being able to fire armour piercing Rockets, which would prove of great help to A.R.M.

Another Tool which proved useful was the simple but effective mining explosive mark 6, which was a high explosive charge meant for deep mineral mining. The charges were designed to focus their explosive power in a focused blast, negating any danger to miners, as the blast would be focused into the rock. These charges proved exceedingly useful during the Battle of the Canyons, where the A.R.M forces planted them in locations where the armoured vehicles and tanks would pass, then the charges could be set off manually with the entirety of the blast being focused in the direction of the vehicle rather than outwards in a 360 degree circle.

A separate branch of the Military forces of the Federal Republic of Mars, was the Martian Republic Marine Corps MRMC. These units unlike their counterparts of the U.N marines were not the most numerous, whilst the troops of A.R.M numbered thousands of soldiers per division, with over 23 divisions being active before the outbreak of the Great Galactic War. The Marines barely had a few hundred soldiers, to this effect the Marines acted more as an elite strike force for the military branch, as well as serving as shock troopers during high profile missions and operations.

Navy:

Officially the Federal Republic of Mars does not have a functional navy, although it has been confirmed that they have a small fleet of old blockade runners which they use to ferry supplies and smuggle in Defectors and materials from secret supporters in other parts of the system. 

Yet these runners do not under any circumstances engage the U.N fleet, the reason being rather simple. The U.N has shipyards and can replace and repair its ships much easier than Mars, so to this effect, the Martians prefer to keep their ships out of danger and have the standing order of if engaged by hostiles they are to immediately retreat.

Despite this however, there are plans in place among the Martian High Command who are intending to properly form an Admiralty leadership section for their armed forces. These Admirals would be the top brass for the eventual creation of what would be the Interstellar Navy of the Republic of Mars or INRM.

This future Navy has already been thoroughly planned, with the primary fleet consisting of Escort, Intercept and Cruiser class, but with a few Carriers, Destroyers and one or two battleships to act in support. However the Congress have made it clear that although they intend to have a Navy, they do not intend to have a vast Naval strength as they are not wanting full independence from Earth, and therefore Mars will support the U.N fleet in situations such as counter piracy and Anti Criminal actions as well as possible conflicts, whilst the U.N would support Mars in the same actions.

Special Forces:

Although the Marines are often looked on as the Special Forces of the Martian Separatists, the Republic does officially have a special forces branch. 

These Elite Units technically called the Martian Special Operations Task Force, or MSOTF is more often called the Red Devils by the actual Units. These special forces often are called on to provide support recon where the unit goes behind the line to gather intelligence on enemy strength in preparation of an attack, or Active Recon. Where they go behind the lines to pin point targets of importance for Martian Artillery or Mortar attack.

They are also sometimes called on for sabotage missions. Going behind enemy lines to infiltrate an enemy held location to destroy critical munitions or hardware, such as heavy vehicles or fighter craft. The Red Devils achieved some level of infamy after the legendary Point Rain raid, where the a unit of around 18 troopers managed to infiltrate a U.N air base and successfully managed to destroy over 80 fighters and 40 bombers with carefully placed detonators that set off a chain reaction of explosions through out the base. All without losing a man.

Due to the dangers of their missions and the specialisation of the units, the High Command often allow each member of the unit to choose their equipment to what suits them best, instead of receiving standard gear from the Armoury. The Units are allowed their weapon of choice on missions, this has lead to a great amount of variety in the unit, with some having heavy weapons, others smaller sub guns (Sub machine guns) and some sniper rifles. 

To greater improve their chances of success in missions, the High Command allow the use of combat drones, these humanoid shaped units have strong armour plating and versatility, as they were originally used in the Mining industry before being purchased or donated to the military.

Intelligence:

Serving as a separate branch from the other branches of the defensive forces for the Republic of Mars was I.S.M or the Intelligence Service of Mars. This branch was solely focused on the workings of spies, informants and communications, both defensively and Offensively. When working on offensive, the I.S.M use a wide range of strategically placed sleeper cells, which work on a variety of missions, whether it be the missions of spies and informants who embed themselves in different areas of society and either gather information themselves or recruit and protect a network of informants.

These particular cells are most common among the major cities on Mars where the U.N maintains control. So successful are these cells in gathering intelligence that some believe that every level of Martian infrastructure has been infiltrated by the I.S.M. Also included in these cells are the special units who are tasked with the tasks that are often looked down on by the Media, these include selective assassinations of key individuals, sabotage or the planting of high explosives either at security stations, factories or refineries and even military barracks and military medical stations.

With Communications the I.S.M primarily works on the interception of communications signals from the enemy over long distances and cracking the encryption codes, the most important messages they listen carefully for are those regarding the U.N forces close to the frontlines. As these often involve the movement of troops or the orders for a possible attack, they also use a series of operatives within friendly territory to aid in the division of counter espionage. However the Counter Espionage division is much smaller than originally planned, this is due to the lack of requirement, due to the great amount of support for the F.R.M.

Economy:

Due to the limits of the economy within the outer settlements on Mars, the economic focus of the Federal Republic of Mars is very limited at the present time, mostly focused on the continuation of the success of the settlements as a whole, who primarily focus on the manufacturing of metals, food products and refined goods. All of which was the focus of their economy before the war began, however the Congress has put together a committee to formally plan out the future economic plans for the planet once the war is over. 

They intend to focus on the continuation of certain industries that are successful and prosperous in spite of the war. Mainly ship construction and repairs which has been the focus of the Martian economy for decades and still remains a sizeable portion of the Martian Income, however the Congressional Committee intend to expand on the shipyards to be more open. Instead of servicing ships from the Sol System exclusively, they intend to expand on the number of ships that can enter the yard for repairs and allow non human corporations to be granted contracts for Ship Construction.

Another key area of focus will be the renewing of the Terraforming process, the committee has information that the completion of the Martian Terraforming will allow new forms of industry to be set up. They even have plans for the establishment of oceans on Mars and eventually the seeding of plants and animals, including fish in the oceans. This alongside typical economic interests will not only allow the establishment of proper farms and ranches on the Martian surface, But also the possible beginnings of a Martian Tourism industry.