ONN: ARES Issues a Planetary Blockade on Mars
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Originally Published on July 28th, 2490
Orbital News Network/Grant Jones Reporting
Right after the devastation on Hades Colony, the Martian Wars aren't slowing down. Hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees currently roam the Inner Planets looking for safe port to start anew, food and water shortage caused directly by Luna's acquisition of most of the stock in the system, tens of thousands dead on Advanced Research and Experimental Systems's latest attack, and the reveal of the fearsome Elite Omega Units as well as the ships still hovering over Hades Colony, the tables have turned and suddenly, everything the Martian Native Tribe Clans had accomplished seemed to have been regressed to almost nothing.
Originally, and with the attack on Hades Colony, Advanced Research and Experimental Systems hoped to deliver a fatal blow to the Hidden Demons, and to the morale of the War Effort for Independence by eliminating big profile individuals, and hopefully, even take the face of the Independence movement: Kusanagi Akio. The plan worked for a time and it appeared that the rest of the Clans were disheartened, but after three days, somehow, a transmission from Hades Colony made it past the Comm Interference Protocols of ARES and all the way to the ShadowNET. Not only was it revealed that Kusanagi was still alive, but that others made it out of the Colony in time. On top of everything, Kusanagi had claimed to have found a weakness on the new Elite Omega Units, and even went on to detail what that weakness was. While it's almost impossible to corroborate data on the ShadowNET to be true or false, most users who have engaged in conversation with Kusanagi have come to the conclusion that the mannerisms, figure of speech, and even the tone are a match. This has caused a re-invigoration on the Martian Native Tribe Clans, as well as sympathizers and allies, as reports started to come in of a few victories on their guerrilla war-like tactics. Morale seems to have been boosted, and it appears that the Natives could, in fact, get their second wind.
How did Kusanagi manage to send a message through the Comm Interference Protocols? The answer is not clear, but in spite of his message not being 100% clear, it was mostly understood. While some have been quick to point out a temporary flaw on ARES's systems, others have come to a different conclusion: There was someone or something slowly and steadily understanding ARES's architecture and slowly assimilating it too, and this breach proved it. If it is something, then it could easily be attributed to a rogue AI, there are reports of the AI that was housed in Hades Colony has vanished and ARES hasn't stated that they have seized it, of course, the absence of a statement doesn't mean they haven't seized the AI in question.
If it is someone, then the speculation is running rampant, is this the work of one individual, or a collective working together? And if so, could they be tracked down? ARES is one of the leading corporations in cybernetics as well as communications, so much so, that it's one of the very few corporations to regulate NET protocols as well as communications, so in theory, ARES has the means and the resources to track this individual or collective, the question is, do they want to? The answer is complex, on principle: Yes, they want to. Because this individual or individuals have done what no one else has done before, and intruded into internal protocols as well as functions that aren't meant to be publicly accessed. On practicality however: No. and it's not that they are unable, or unwilling. ARES has different ways to handle situations like this, and as we have seen for the past few days, they also have the capacity of thinking outside the box.
Advanced Research and Experimental Systems has issued a planetary blockade on Mars two hours ago. They are moving a great part of their fleet planet side and they are restricting the arrivals and departures to authorized ARES personnel only. A while back, it was rumored, then suspected, then proven true that the Natives had disabled ARES's own Orbital Network that makes a blockade 100% effective, by moving their fleet to Mars, they have a different way to ensure a blockade to happen. As of this report, there have been four incidents registered where ships ranging from freighters to shuttles to cargo ships ignored the warnings from the ARES fleet to back away and were shot upon, it will be interesting to see if the Martian Native Tribe Clans have a way to turn the tables once again on their favor, or if they have run out of gas, and this could be the determining moment that signals for the eventual victory of Advanced Research and Experimental Systems, and New Geneva as well.
And as for the breach on ARES's Comm Interference Protocols? It remains unclear what or who is behind it, but ShadowNET users, mostly hackers and runners, reinvigorated by these news, have apparently looked into the precise moment when ARES's protocols were breached, and in spite of them not being able to find a trace, or even a hint as to the identity of the one, or ones, behind this breach, they did find a digital signature that, apparently, was meant to be found and revealed:
"The unnamed thousands lay trod at your feet; And I ask, was it worth your kingdom of dirt?"
It is unclear what this means, but some have claimed to have seen these words on the ShadowNET before, which doesn't shed too many answers. And as far as the planetary blockade is concerned, these actions have now turned the War Effort into a War against the clock itself: Will the Natives be able to fulfill their objectives before they run out of resources? Or will Advanced Research and Experimental Systems come out with the victory at the very end, and after a bitter defeat for the Natives? There are increasing rumors of ships being developed in a way that could outrun the blockade, while ARES is officially silent after Colonel Nathaniel Harker's statement and report on the destruction of Hades Colony, it's also true we're seeing ARES's "True Face" when it comes to War, and it's difficult to predict what each party will do next.
What do you think? Do you think the planetary blockade will be enough to grant victory to ARES? Do the Martian Native Tribe Clans have an ace they haven't played yet? Please, share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.