Operation Plymouth

Operation Plymouth was a military operation by the Transnational Aerospace Security Alliance (TASA) on the surface of Mars. The TASA Marines were tasked with establishing a safe zone for future missions to Mars after the first expedition was killed by Native Martians. The mission was an overwhelming victory for TASA given the disparity in technology, but it served as a catalyst for decades of animosity between Native Martians and the inhabitants of Earth. For a time, it also led to a reunification of Mars' tribes under the banner of mutual defense.

Background

The first expedition to Mars in the wake of World War 3 came in the form of an unmanned probe in 2156, which found plant life and a near-habitable atmosphere, but no sign of any survivors from the original colony. Several decades later, a team of scientists and engineers assembled to visit the Melas Colony and assess the situation there for salvage and reoccupation. The expedition would be codenamed Prodigal One. The chief participants in the expedition were assembled from the nations of the African UnionAfrican UnionAfrican UnionAfrican UnionAfrican Union and Confederation of Southern Nations - Confederación de las Naciones del Sur, though representatives of the companies that sponsored the Mars colony like ExoSource Industries (then ExoPlanetary Resources) accompanied the expedition to assess the state of their property.
Prodigal One departed for Mars near the end of the year 2190 and arrived in mid July 2191 within a week of Mars' opposition. Upon arrival the expedition were surprised to be met by vaguely human individuals with primitive weapons and the peculiar ability to breathe the dangerously thin air without protection. Attempts at communication were unproductive as the Martians spoke an unidentifiable language. In less than 24 hours after first contact, a conflict broke out between the Native Martians and the International Expedition.
The exact reason for the conflict is in dispute. Native Martians later would claim that members of the opposition acted threateningly towards the Martians' home in the Melas Colony. Survivors from the expedition claimed that the attack came unprovoked. The Prodigal expedition did not expect to find human survivors -- let alone hostile ones -- so they did not bring a security detail or any sort of offensive weaponry. As a result, the Native Martians very quickly overwhelmed the expedition, killing all but three in the initial clash.
The two survivors attempted to barricade themselves in the Prodigal One mothership. One member, Viktor Mutombo, hurried to relay a panicked message back to Earth of their encounter as his colleagues worked to secure the ship and hold off the Martians. Viktor managed to pass on a rough log of events and a description of the Martian attackers before the Martians found a way into the ship and took the last two survivors captive.
News of the attack shocked the world. Speculation ran rampant as to the origin of the Native Martians. Many were enraged by the apparent senseless attack and demanded action. Debate broke out as to the next course of action: whether the people of Earth should leave the Martians in peace, attempt another peaceful contact, or lay waste to the new threat in an act of retribution.

Forming Task Force Plymouth

In 2192 representatives of the relatively young Transnational Aerospace Security Alliance made a proposal to the Most Mira Council. TASA would send a military force to Mars with a goal not of conquest or annihilation, but of establishing a foothold for future peaceful missions from Earth. TASA's proposal won favor with most of the Council and upon international consensus, Operation Plymouth was set in motion.

Organization of Forces

The Task Force would be TASA's largest mission up to that date in its brief history. It would consist of a TASA Marine Corps component to secure the ground and a TASA Space Corps contingent to support them. The force would be led by TASA Marine Col. Mateo Cortez.
Colonel Cortez would lead a force of approximately 300 Marines organized as the First Marine Expeditionary Group. The Marines were hand selected from across the eight TASA Brigades in existence at the time. The majority of the Marines were pulled from British Brigades, 195 in all. 76 more were American, 22 were Australian, and the rest were from a mix of French, Polish, German, and Nordic units that had recently formed after those nations joined the Alliance. The 1st MEG was further organized into two combatant companies and a support company.
The Marines were to be supported by a flotilla of three ships:

• TSS Essex - Atlas Class Heavy Cruiser
• TSS Ottawa - Agamemnon Class Destroyer
• TSS Cantrell - Ares Class Patrol Frigate

Cdre. Richard Grant would lead the Space Corps flotilla from aboard the newly christened TSS Essex, the first of its class and largest TASA spacecraft at the time. Though Commodore Grant outranked Colonel Cortez, it was decided that operational control of the mission should belong to the most senior Marine due to the grounded nature of the mission. The Essex would also carry the Marines to Mars, along with most of their supplies and medical resources. The Frigate TSS Cantrell would provide close-in orbital support for the Marines and use its sensors to provide Marines with up-to-date intelligence. The Ottawa would provide heavier firepower if necessary, and would occasionally stand in for the Cantrell. Its main contribution to the force, however, was as a mothership to three fire support drones which could be deployed to the surface to assist the Marines.
Over the next year, the Task Force would undergo extensive training, including simulated battles on Luna, in preparation for their departure once Mars' orbit neared opposition.

Recontact

The flotilla departed for Mars in April of 2193, arriving in Martian Orbit by late September. Two platoons of Marines secured a safe landing zone in the Candor region, 250 kilometers and an ocean away from the Melas Colony where the Prodigal One expedition was killed. Over the next two days the remaining Marines landed and established a base camp, dubbed Camp Kipling. Subsequently, scout patrols were formed to survey the surrounding area and observe the Melas Colony.
Within the first week of ground operations, the TASA Marines encountered a small Native Martian tribe near their Candor Sea base camp while exploring a cave network. In the confusion, fighting broke out which resulted in three Marine deaths and the near-eradication of the tribe. The survivors fled to Melas Colony to warn the other tribes of the new threat.

Martian Tribes Unite

For the first time in 25 years, the scattered tribes of Mars convened a tribal council. The religious strife between the Children of Mars, the Followers of the Twelve and others were deferred because of the danger posed by these invaders. The tribes agreed to unite as one and drive the foreigners from their planet. Internal struggle would have only served to weaken the Martians, so all disputes were to be formally deferred until the invaders were defeated. All tribes would be allowed access to the Melas Colony, regardless of religious affiliation, so that families would be easier to defend.
By the end of 2193, the Martian tribes had organized into warbands with a total strength of approximately 600. More than half of the Martian population at the time. The Marines had meanwhile maintained a standoff distance from the Melas settlement, hoping to avoid direct confrontation. Space Corps orbital surveillance tracked large migrations among the Martians, but lost track of groups as they entered in and out of caves, hinting at a larger network of caverns and tunnels.
In early 2194, the Martians began their first united offensive against the Marines. On the night of January 6th, approximately 400 Martians launched a surprise attack on the Marines' Camp Kipling. The Martians gained the element of surprise by using undiscovered tunnel networks to make their approach on the camp. They attacked from both the high and low ground, inflicting several casualties as the Marines roused at the sounds of their sentries' gunfire.
The attack was a resounding defeat for the Native Martians. Though the Martians were able to breach the camp and kill 40 Marines (wounding dozens more), the Marines' advanced weaponry quickly turned the tide of battle, even in close quarters. The majority of the Martian attackers were killed. Those that could not retreat were captured. The survivors returned to Melas Colony to tend to their wounded and prepare for a counterattack.

Relative Calm

The Native Martians learned that they were ill equipped to attack the Marines directly, and instead stuck to defensive activities and small ambushes whenever recon patrols were discovered too close to Melas Colony. The Martians fortified Melas against attack to the best of their ability, canibalizing old drones and vehicles for scrap.
The Marines, on the other hand, had no strategic necessity to stage an offensive, though many, including Colonel Cortez, strongly desired revenge for their losses at the battle of Camp Kipling. The Marines would spend the next few months attempting to map nearby tunnel networks and interrogating the Martian prisoners.
The greatest obstacle in understanding came in the form of a language barrier, as the Native Martians all spoke an early incarnation of Marineri, which the Terrans had never been exposed to. Eventually some rudimentary understanding was achieved through the use of pictograms and English cognates. The eldest of the Martian prisoners seemed to have the easiest time understanding English, as they still retained some knowledge of the language before the tribal creolization that led to the creation of Marineri.
Two of the Martian prisoners were released as a token of goodwill and to offer a message of truce. They were given a portable communication terminal to use if they wished to discuss peace. Upon returning to Melas, the other Martians were initially distrustful of their returned brethren. They were even more distrustful of the Terrans' technology, smashing the communication terminal for fear it might be a weapon or trick of some sort. Declassified reports would later vindicate the Martians' paranoia, as the terminal did contain surveillance equipment to bug the Martian base.

The Next Opposition

By 2195, fighting between the Marines and the Martians had fallen off significantly. Both parties seemed to avoid crossing paths as much as possible. Several more prisoners were released when they were determined to be either completely uncooperative or hold no strategic value, though these prisoners had obtained a rudimentary understanding of English that TASA officials hoped would spread to others among the Martians. The next Opposition of Mars came in late 2195, granting a limited window of opportunity to move ships between Earth and Mars as their orbits neared.
Three new ships arrived in October 2195: the TSS New York - a destroyer carrying 200 additional Marines, the TSS Appleseed - a support tender bearing supplies and reaction fuel for the Task Force Plymouth flotilla, and the Polaris - a civilian vessel carrying roughly 50 doctors, linguists, diplomats, and scientists from the African Union and several allied nations. Upon their arrival, the TSS Ottawa departed for Earth with more than half of the original Marines - mostly the dead and wounded - and three of the Martian prisoners who agreed to visit Earth. Though Colonel Cortez was wounded in the battle of Camp Kipling, he refused to relinquish command, vowing to see the mission through to the end.
The civilian envoys established a camp along the North bank of the Mariner Sea, approximately half way between Camp Kipling and the Melas Colony. Colonel Cortez was concerned over the prospect of spreading his Marines between two encampments. The envoys were adamant that they couldn't afford having the Martians associate the newcomers with their Marine adversaries (to that end, the envoys' protection detail would have to wear differently painted combat armor). Cortez eventually agreed on the stipulation that he reserve the right to close the aid camp and evacuate everyone to Camp Kipling if the tactical situation demanded it.
The year 2196 largely saw a slow and tenuous movement towards peace as Native Martians reluctantly began visiting the Aid Camp where fresh water, food, and medical treatment was offered as a gesture of goodwill. A few isolated skirmishes punctuated the progress, but none were significant enough to break down the dialogue. Towards the end of 2196, a meeting between the Envoys and the Tribes' Dooktars took place just outside of the Melas Colony, whereupon the Native Martians agreed to allow the envoys to collect the remains of the Prodigal One expedition and whatever they could salvage find from the ship. In exchange all prisoners would be released from TASA custody except for the ones who had gone on to Earth (it was difficult to explain the astronomical limitations on travel between Earth and Mars to the Martians).

Occupation of the Melas Colony

Geopolitics in the realm of Earth and by extension Luna would have far reaching implications for the situation on Mars. In 2197, a brief conflict broke out between the Pacific Asia Coalition and the African Union after PAC efforts to sabotage African Lunar Mining operations was uncovered. AU ships tactically inferior to PAC ones, granting a tactical victory in orbit to the Asian forces, but African economic sanctions and superior ground forces pushed the PAC into a negotiated resolution. In an attempt to salvage the situation, the PAC launched a clandestine expedition to Mars in the aftermath of the orbital battle. TASA intelligence ascertained that the PAC intended to capture the Melas colony for themselves.
The PAC ships were well on their way to Mars when the plot was uncovered, and no Terrestrial ships at the time could intercept them. The Task Force Plymouth flotilla could not engage the PAC expedition for fear of sparking another world war. Without any other options, Colonel Cortez was ordered to preempt the PAC invasion by retaking Melas before their arrival. Even Colonel Cortez recognized that this course of action would dash any hopes of finding peace, but so would a PAC attack on the natives' home. Cortez ordered the closure of the aid camp so he would have enough troops to carry out the dangerous mission and to protect the envoys from reprisals.
On December 26th, 2197, Colonel Cortez led the bulk of his forces into Melas Colony under cover of night. His hope was to surprise the Natives with shock and awe and drive them out with minimal bloodshed. Unfortunately the Native Martians were not deterred, and quickly descended upon the Marines in droves to defend their home.
The fighting that ensued was intense as Marines methodically cleared every habitation and access corridor. Casualties were exceptionally high as 158 Marines and 447 Martians were killed in the Operation. Both populations were nearly halved in a single night. Eventually the Martians were routed from the Melas colony and fled into the surrounding tunnels, caves, and outposts left over from terraforming. The mission was deemed a success, though the betrayal and subsequent slaughter would lead to resentment and hatred for decades to come. The PAC learned of the siege when they reached Mars orbit in January, 2198. With their initial plan foiled, the PAC redirected their colonization efforts elsewhere, instead landing in Hellas crater.

Aftermath

Colonel Cortez resigned his post over the handling of the Melas situation. He returned to Earth on the next transfer. Low intensity conflict continued over the next 8 years, with TASA forces suffering modest casualties from Martian ambushes and excursions into Melas Colony. In 2204 the African Union established a permanent colony on Mars in the spirit of the earlier Aid Camp. The AU would use their own security to dissociate from the TASA forces who fought the Martians. The AU colony declared itself open to any Martians who wished to join their society. It would take another two years for any Martian tribes to accept the offer.
The echoes of this first bloody conflict with the Native Martians can be felt in the current conflict against New Dawn terrorists on Mars. Resentment over the violence wrought by Terran militaries has characterized the sentiments of many Native Martians, even those unaffiliated with New Dawn. For those that do buy into the New Dawn ideology. Operation Plymouth serves as an example of the cruelty and crudeness of the unaltered humans that inhabit the Earth. It is unclear whether the specter of this conflict will ever fully vanish from the memories' of the Martian tribes whenever they deal with Terrans. Until then, trust will be an uphill battle.