Greenies

'Sega, do you know what you're saying?' Rosewood was outraged and terrified. 'A third of the WestHem navy is in dock here right now. You would turn that over to the greenies? You'll be imprisoned for ordering such a thing!'

'We can't win this battle, John,' he said, seemingly near tears. 'All we can do is get a shitload of our forces killed and give the greenies valuable combat experience in the bargain.'

'But what about...'

'John, sit there and think for a minute. What are the greenies going to do with all of those ships? They don't have the personnel or the know-how to man them. Are they going to use them against us? Please. And did you think that WestHem is simply going to relinquish the planet to them because their guard force managed to overwhelm the pitiful number of troops that are stationed here.' He shook his head firmly. 'Mars has enough armor and trained men to hold back a few divisions of EastHem troops for a week or so. Our intelligence estimates have always been that it was doubtful that they could even do that. Do you really think they can stand up against the full fury of the WestHem armed forces when they come to re-occupy this planet? WestHem will send five times the number of men the MPG has and will equip them with five times the armor. Sure, we'll be taken prisoner for about five months or so, the amount of time it will take for WestHem to send over a task force, but believe me Rosewood, there will be a reckoning for this and the greenies are gonna pay a stiff price for fucking with us this way. That cunt Whiting and that nigger motherfucker Jackson are going to have their heads on spikes on top of the capital building in New Pittsburgh. The MPG will be disbanded and its officers will be imprisoned for life, some of them even executed. As the old saying goes, they may have won this battle, but they don't stand a fart's chance in a windstorm in the war.'

There was silence as Rosewood considered these points. He found that Sega's words made sense, as much as he was loath to surrender his beloved base to those green traitors. He had to admit that there seemed no other option. Already he was envisioning his testimony before the justice subcommittee that would inevitably follow this heinous act.

'Okay,' he said to Sega. 'I'll reluctantly surrender.'

Sega nodded. 'Good. Do it immediately so that not a single soldier is unnecessarily killed or wounded. Send a report off to Earth before the greenies take control of the base and for God's sake, be sure to disarm and scramble all of the nuclear weapons on your ships.' He smiled. 'Perhaps we'll see each other in whatever POW camp they send us to.'

'Perhaps we will.' Rosewood nodded miserably.

General Sega got General Jackson on the computer and told him his intention to surrender the forces on the planet and above it, effective immediately.

'Very wise decision, General,' Jackson said amicably. 'I must say that I'm relieved. Our intention is to make this transfer of power as bloodless as possible.'

'The marines are going to come take this planet back from you,' Sega told him. 'If you truly want it to be bloodless, then you'll surrender to me immediately before they deploy.'

'Why don't you let me worry about the marines?' Jackson said. 'In the meantime, we have some shooting to stop, don't we? Things are quiet at the base right now. I'll instruct my troops guarding it to take defensive measures only for the time being. You need to instruct your troops to disable their weapons and put them back in storage. Nobody is to leave. When things stabilize around here, we'll be entering the barracks to take control of it.'

'I want my men to be treated as POWs,' Sega said. 'With all the rights and privileges that come with it. I don't want any of them beaten or killed by your thugs.'

'They'll be treated under the Geneva Accords, you have my word on that,' Jackson assured him. 'In fact, they'll be held right where they're at. EMB will make an excellent POW camp once we get all of the computers and weapons taken out. Now, shall we discuss the situation on Triad? We still have heavy fighting taking place outside the control room. The navy personnel and my men are being needlessly killed as we speak. I'll order my men to hold in place and take defensive measures only. You get Admiral Rosewood to have his men cease fire immediately and disable their weapons.'

'It'll be done,' Sega said.

He signed off a moment later and then began composing a hasty email video that would be sent to Earth.

No further shots were fired at the Eden Marine Barracks. The MPG troops holding the perimeter continued to build up at each stronghold, just in case Sega's surrender offer was nothing more than a deception, but they kept their weapons down and their lasers uncharged.

Up at Triad Naval Base, things went just a little differently. Thanks to communications difficulties between Rosewood's command center and the MPs that were deployed throughout the base, it took nearly twenty minutes before all of them got the word that the brief war was over. Several skirmishes occurred in the corridors near the housing area and the ship docks resulting in more than fifteen deaths - all of them MPs, and more than thirty wounded - twenty-five of them MPs. At the control room itself, the MPs here were among the last to hear about the cease-fire. Finally, however, after more than twenty of them were shot down, the proper radio frequency was located and the order was given. The word was quickly passed and their guns fell silent one by one. More relieved than anything else, they dropped their weapons and allowed themselves to be taken into custody. They were handcuffed with plastic ties and stripped of their radio gear. The MPG troops then moved to the control room itself.

They did not have to blow open this door with their primacord. Admiral Rosewood opened it for them voluntarily. A platoon from Charlie Company entered the building, their guns ready for action. They didn't need them. Everyone inside was unarmed and sitting peacefully in their chairs, some of them weeping softly in fear or anger, most stoic. Admiral Rosewood was one of the stoic ones.

'You will all be executed for this you know,' he told the troops as they searched everyone, one by one.

'We all have to die sometime, don't we, Admiral,' a voice replied. 'I'm Captain Evers, the commander of the group that hit this part of the base. You put up a much better defense than we gave you credit for in the planning stages. You should be proud of yourself. You cost me a lot of good men.'

Rosewood said nothing. He simply glared at the captain.

Evers was unoffended. He had seen too much in the last hour to be offended by much. He tuned his radio to the command frequency and keyed it up. 'Evers here,' he said to Colonel Bright, who was still back at the Triad Control Center. 'We have the TNB control room secured. We'll start working on gaining control of the security functions.'

'Copy,' said Bright. 'We've restored light and power to the main tunnels. We're offloading all of the passengers on the trains that were trapped at this end and then we'll be sending them back empty to start transferring the wounded. I've got the dip-hoes moving to the platform to help our medics and start transporting them. How many are we talking about from your section?'

'I've got nineteen dead and thirty-three wounded,' Evers told him. 'We're still getting a count of the MPs but it looks like upwards of seventy dead and almost a hundred wounded.'

'Could've been worse I suppose,' Bright said with a sigh.

'Yeah,' Evers agreed. 'We could've lost and had them die for nothing.'

Brett Ingram and his group of Martians that were unloading supplies from the Mermaid were as surprised as anyone when the security alarms had activated in response to the condition Red Zebra. Still, they had followed the protocol that was established for such an event, which stated that any ship personnel in the immediate vicinity of their vessel at the time of the alarm would return to their vessel and assist in its individual security. They hadn't done much to assist in the security but those of them that had been in the supply room at the time had come back just seconds before the base computer system automatically closed and locked the docking door, sealing them inside for the duration of the crisis. And so, as the MPG special forces troops were forcing their way through the access tunnels and engaging in battle with the MPs, Brett was sitting on a small chair in the supply room.

Trapped in the ship with he and his offload crew were two security personnel — who's presence were required at all times due to the nuclear warheads on board — and Lieutenant Commander Braxton, the executive officer, who had been overseeing the details of extended docking. They too had been quite confused at first, with the security personnel grumbling about ill-timed drills and Braxton complaining about missing a lunch date with his