Worldwide Total Radio Silence | Red Eden Codex
In the year 2184, Earth-observing Martian satellites detected hundreds of high-energy radiation bursts emitting from the Earth in rapid succession. The analysts who first noticed the radiation bursts concluded that nuclear Armageddon had befallen the cradle of humanity. This event would later be referred to as the Cataclysm.
As news of the Cataclysm spread throughout Mars, anger, grief, fear and anxiety dominated the public mood at first, but the Martians soon realized that the Cataclysm presented them with an opportunity: the chance to retake Earth and rebuild civilization in their image.
After the Cataclysm, Earth fell into total radio silence. The Martians took this as a sign that the Directorate, which had ruled Earth with an iron fist, had completely obliterated itself and no longer posed as a threat. Martians now had free reign over the Solar System and would one day return to the homeworld of their species. The mood soon shifted to that of cautious optimism and hope that, one day, future generations of Martians would grow up in paradise, living on a garden world teeming with life, air, and free-flowing water – luxuries long taken for granted by those who had never experienced the desolate, hell-like conditions of the red planet.
Unfortunately, the nuclear cataclysm meant that Earth would have been turned into an irradiated rock and so the Martians would have to wait for the nuclear fallout to settle before attempting to cross deep space. Furthermore, the radiation and satellite debris orbiting the Earth prevented the Martians from sending satellites to monitor the planet. As such, the Martians would remain cut off from Earth for several more decades.
Decades after the Cataclysm, the first Martian satellites arrived in orbit around Earth. By now, the vast majority of the orbiting debris had burnt up in the atmosphere and no longer posed a threat. These early Martian satellites detected few signs of radiation hot-spots on the planet surface. In fact, satellite imagery revealed that not a single city that had been levelled by an atomic blast. The conclusion: the nuclear weapons had detonated high above the atmosphere.
The implication was that whoever launched the nuclear missiles intended to wipe out Earth's satellite infrastructure while leaving the cities intact. However, the resulting electromagnetic pulse would have caused a world-wide blackout and damaged any electronic equipment that lacked adequate protection.
Speculation grew abound as to the identity of the harbingers of doom and what their motive could have been. A widely accepted theory among learned Martians was that the Eden Directorate likely suffered from factional infighting, a common feature of totalitarian regimes. However, there was a glaring hole in this theory. Destroying the satellite infrastructure and causing a world-wide blackout would leave no faction the clear winner and everyone the loser.
A common theory among everyday Martians was that a popular uprising occurred. The rebels would have seized control of the nuclear arsenal. Faced with a militarily, technologically and numerically superior foe, these rebels would have launched the nuclear missiles out of desperation. The resulting destruction of Earth's communication and power infrastructure would have hurt the Eden Directorate far more than the rebels, thus levelling the playing field. However, the weakness in this theory was that the Eden Directorate held complete control over Earth's communication, military and industrial infrastructure. It would have been impossible for ordinary people to coordinate an effective uprising, let alone seize control of the Directorate's nuclear arsenal.
Less widely accepted but more compelling theories include alien intervention, rogue-AI action, or an act of God. A cult-like following had developed around one of these fringe theories: the Immortal Enon Theory. According to this theory, Enon Truss, the Father of Mars and Founder of Solar Resources, had survived the Directorate's attempt on his life and escaped to the fringes of the Solar System where he went into hiding. He then secretly built up a nuclear arsenal over the next several decades before unleashing his fury upon the Directorate. After the deed was done, he became grief-stricken over the billions of innocent lives he had indirectly snuffed out, and so he took off to another star system aboard an FTL-capable starship that he had developed in secret.
A more plausible variant of the Immortal Enon Theory is the Truss Family Conspiracy Theory. According to this theory, the Truss family, still reeling from the loss of their great father, hatched a plan to wipe out the Directorate with an interplanetary nuclear attack. The family would have spent decades building up a nuclear arsenal in secret, and then delivered the warheads when the time was right. With the Directorate destroyed, the Truss Family would have free reign over Earth as they would be the only ones who possessed the resources needed to reach the planet. The Truss family has categorically denied the truthfulness of this theory and all its variants.
Whatever the truth may be, the Martians would have to find it among the derelict ruins of ancient cities where crumbling towers of glass and steel stand as ancient monuments to the billions who died in their midst.
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