Mars Campaign
The Mars Campaign, launched in December 2325, marked a pivotal escalation in the widening interplanetary conflict between the United Terran Federation (UTF) and dissident human factions. Sparked by the embers of the Rainforest Wars, this campaign relocated the struggle from Earth’s jungles to the red deserts of Mars. It was a brutal contest of ideology, logistics, and advanced warfare, fought for control of humanity’s most strategically vital industrial world. The UTF had long viewed Mars as both a symbol and a keystone of post-apocalyptic recovery. Its domed cities, terraforming outposts, and orbiting shipyards had been painstakingly reconstructed following the devastation of the 21st century. However, Mars was also a world of simmering unrest. The Brotherhood of Nod had maintained a scattered presence there for decades—hiding among mining towns, abandoned excavation fields, and unregulated settlements. In the aftermath of the UTF’s partial victory in South America, Nod commanders regrouped on Mars, seeking a new theater from which to reignite their campaign against Earth’s unified government.
The Argyre Offensive
By late 2325, Brotherhood forces launched a major offensive across the southern Martian hemisphere, concentrating their power on the Argyre Planitia. This vast, ancient impact basin had become home to several corporate-run industrial zones, including one of the largest shipbuilding complexes in the inner system. For Nod, control of the Argyre shipyards meant control over a fleet—one that could challenge UTF naval dominance and serve as a rallying symbol for resistance movements across the stars. Utilizing smuggled weapons, local sympathizers, and repurposed excavation equipment, Nod insurgents captured several installations within days. They rapidly fortified the area, installing anti-orbital defenses and converting factories to churn out modified vehicles and weaponized drones. The UTF, unwilling to lose a foothold on Mars, initiated a full-scale military response.Xeno Warfare Begins
In response to the growing interplanetary threat posed by rebel factions like Nod and the Templars, the UTF had, earlier that year, authorized the formation of a new military division: the Xeno Warfare Division (XWD). Designed for off-world combat under hostile environmental conditions, the division combined state-of-the-art equipment with experimental tactics. Central to its capabilities was the deployment of biologically engineered alien lifeforms—augmented creatures created to thrive in harsh planetary environments and assist in combat operations. These organisms, often developed in underground biosynthetic labs, could scout terrain, support infiltration, and disrupt enemy communications with neuro-linked precision. The most storied and infamous unit within this division was the Red Devils—an elite special forces group renowned for their ruthless efficiency and psychological warfare tactics. The Red Devils became the first and only human unit to regularly fight alongside these engineered alien organisms, forming hybrid squads that blended cutting-edge human combat strategy with xenobiological instinct. Trained in zero-G tactics, sealed-environment warfare, and infiltration under extreme conditions, the Red Devils were deployed with the highest secrecy and operated under independent mission command structures.Lightning Strikes and UTF Victory
The Mars Campaign marked the first deployment of the Red Devils. Backed by orbital surveillance and high-altitude precision strikes, the Red Devils were inserted behind Nod lines at key chokepoints around Argyre. Utilizing adaptive camouflage, enhanced biosuits, alien-guided recon drones, and symbiotic sensory networks, they conducted surgical strikes that crippled Nod’s logistics and command networks. Unlike previous UTF engagements, the Mars Campaign was not drawn out over years. The combined pressure of precision orbital strikes, relentless Red Devil sabotage, and armored UTF ground columns overwhelmed Brotherhood resistance. Key industrial sectors were reclaimed within two weeks. Several high-ranking Nod commanders were killed or captured, while surviving elements were driven into the Valles Marineris or forced to scatter off-world.Aftermath and Strategic Implications
The Mars Campaign was hailed as an unquestionable UTF victory. It not only marked the first operational success of the Xeno Warfare Division but also demonstrated that the UTF could strike hard and fast beyond Earth. The destruction of Nod’s Martian command network significantly weakened their strategic capacity. Though remnants would continue to harass UTF operations for years, the Brotherhood had lost its most valuable forward base. Symbolically, the campaign restored public confidence in the UTF after the chaos of the Rainforest Wars. Footage of Red Devils operating in crimson storms and the reclaiming of orbital factories was broadcast across colonies as part of a renewed propaganda effort. Recruitment surged. Military planners within the UTF began restructuring their forces with Mars as a case study in rapid off-world combat. While the Templars remained largely uninvolved in the campaign itself, their influence was not absent. Intelligence later revealed that several Templar-aligned corporate agents had sold Mars-based weaponry and logistics contracts to the Brotherhood in the weeks leading up to the offensive. This revelation would further justify UTF crackdowns on Templar sympathizers in the following years.Collapse of Brotherhood and Templar Resistance
The UTF’s momentum did not end with Mars. In 2328, Brotherhood leader Vladimir Koslov and his family were killed in a bombing near Lake Autolycus on Luna—a strike widely suspected to have been carried out by UTF intelligence operatives, though officially denied. Koslov’s death fractured the Brotherhood’s leadership, triggering confusion and infighting across its remaining cells. Sensing an opportunity to finally break the back of its enemies, the UTF launched coordinated marine deployments across key rebel-held systems. Strategic strikes were executed on Europa, Io, Callisto, and other moons where Brotherhood and Templar factions had reestablished bases. The Templars, under the command of Oscar Bauer, attempted a last stand amid the ice caverns and bunkers of Ganymede. Despite fierce resistance and entrenched defenses, UTF forces, backed by Red Devils and mechanized shock troops, overran the Templar redoubt. Bauer himself was captured after a brief and bloody siege, effectively ending the Templars as a coordinated fighting force. The UTF’s campaign across Mars and the outer moons crushed the last organized elements of Earth’s pre-apocalyptic ideological insurgencies. The Red Devils, once experimental, were now legendary. And the war, though not over, had decisively turned in favor of Earth’s united government.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
War, Theatre
Battlefield Type
Planetary
Start Date
2325
Ending Date
2328
Conflict Result
Decisive UTF victory : Destruction of Nod’s Martian command network and loss of strategic assets
Location
Belligerents
United Terran Federation
Brotherhood of Nod
Strength
10,000 (including Red Devils)
8,000
Casualties
2,500
6,000+
Objectives
Reclaim shipbuilding infrastructure and eradicate Nod presence on Mars.
Seize Argyre Planitia shipyards and destabilize UTF control
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