Earth 2145

  It had been more than thirty years since mankind had almost gone nuclear. The nuclear war between Earth and Mars had scarred the entire planet. In this war far over six billion humans on both sides had died, several millions are considered still today as missing.

  The reason for the war of all wars was the independence of Mars. For one hundred and thirty years now people lived on the red planet, much had changed since then. People no longer lived on open terra. They had built themselves whole cities under the martian surface. They were safe from the sandstorms, the radiation and the still very thin oxygen.

  But while the Red Planet and its inhabitants flourished, the Earth withered. The Blue Planet, as it was once called, was only a shadow of its former self. There was not much left of its vast oceans and flourishing landscape. The planet was completely overpopulated with its 13.2 billion inhabitants. Water even clean oxygen had become scarce and was reserved only for the upper class. The oxygen was artificially produced in huge factories and the people lived in overcrowded cities. Under the kilometer-sized skyscrapers grew the crime which was hardly to be brought under control. More and more people on Earth used cyber implants to increase their performance for work or crime.

  The dependence on other planets and their resources was boundless. So it was Mars that sacrificed the most to keep this lump of earth still alive. But the colonists were fed up, they were second class citizens. Their wages were far too low for the work they had to do. The working hours were fourteen hours daily, only on Sundays the Mars inhabitants were allowed to work ten hours.

  Due to the many sandstorms that occurred, it was a backbreaking job to extract resources from the surface. The dangerous work demanded dozens of deaths, but the earth accepted this.When the already rather lax work safety regulations changed and they effectively ceased to exist, the unions called for a strike. But it did not last more than three hours.While the demonstrators were still being chased away with tear gas and non-lethal ammunition, the United Nations of Earth had the union leaders hanged in public.

  When the already rather lax work safety regulations changed and they effectively ceased to exist, the unions called for a strike. But it did not last more than three hours.While the demonstrators were still being chased away with tear gas and non-lethal ammunition, the United Nations of Earth had the union leaders hanged in the open street.

  They wanted to show the colonists what happens to those who rebel against Earth.

  It took almost three years for the situation to come to a crisis once again. Now the time had come, because the work on Mars did not yield a profit for the colonists, but a loss. No matter how much the people worked additionally, by wage cuts and compulsory contributions they were dependent on credits from the earth. It was just enough for food, the rent could hardly someone still pay.They wanted to show the colonists what happens to those who rebel against Earth.

  It took almost three years for the situation to come to a crisis once again. Now the time had come, because the work on Mars did not yield a profit for the colonists, but a loss. No matter how much the people worked additionally, by wage cuts and compulsory contributions they were dependent on credits from the earth. It was just enough for food. The rent could hardly be paid. Now the time had come, because the work on Mars did not yield a profit for the colonists, but a loss. No matter how much the people worked additionally, by wage cuts and compulsory contributions they were dependent on credits from the earth. It was enough just once for the food. The rent could hardly someone still pay. Houses were sold row by row for not even half of the value.

  The anger ran wild in the Martians, so much so that they called for a revolution.

  At first it was just whispers in narrow streets, then it was talked about on television, finally the revolution reached every household. It was not only colonists who stopped working, it was not only one industry, it was the whole of Mars that went on strike.

  Earth didn't need an hour to respond to the dispute, threatening to nuke the entire planet.

  But Mars had not been idle for the last three years, they knew how Earth would react to disobedience and had secretly armed themselves with nuclear weapons by bribing third countries. When the first nuclear missile hit the surface of Mars, the then Earth government thought they had eliminated the conflict with Mars. But Mars gilded the same with the same. For every missile on the Martian soil, the revolutionaries shot one towards Earth. After several atomic impacts on the surface of the earth, the earth decided for a truce.

  Mars had its independence but the losses on the sparsely populated planet were in the hundreds of millions, a hard price to pay for turning one's back on Earth.

  Earth, on the other hand, had lost the war and thus had Mars as a supplier of urgently needed resources. But since almost half of the people died in this nuclear firefight. Rubbed behind closed doors, the upper classes the hands. It is true that a nuclear winter would soon, with a high degree of probability, cause problems for the earth and that the nuclear fallout would spoil the next harvests. But by and large the food shortage was defeated by a cruel and senseless war.

  Up to 9 billion humans could supply the earth and its allied planets themselves, each further human was a problem for the earth government.

  Now that Mars had its independence, the focus had fallen on other planets in other solar systems whose resources they could capture without resistance.