We've been framed for destroying the airlock system and the lung. Even though we had evidence against Roby, people still believed him because of his authority. Those people weren't happy.
- You destroyed the ice cream! - one of the scientists added another accusation - You don't want us to be separate, glubby Americans!
This was pretty stupid, considering how Sebastian risked his life to bring some of the tubs to safety and was currently holding them. The scientist took this as evidence of his definitely despicable act.
- Catch the spies! - another scientist exclaimed, with the rest joining him.
Roby vanished, seemingly planning something more. We couldn't focus on him, because word about our supposed evil actions spread like wildfire. Soon, a literal wall of people was chasing us.
- What is going on? - Dawn asked.
- Remember when I talked about the distrust between the colonists and earthly Americans? This is said distrust in its worst form! - Anthony responded.
- But why would Roby cause this chaos? Won't it hurt his own image as a governor? - Amber added.
We couldn't talk for much longer, because we had to get away from the wall of angry people. Some of them were shouting at us, telling us to stop. Others however, had greater ambitions than stopping just us.
- Americans shall go home! All hail a free Mars Base Beta! - a random guy yelled as loudly as possible. Unfortunately for us, many people shared his ideology. It seemed like a revolution was brewing.
- Are they crazy? - Claudius asked - They need supplies from Earth to live and they want to cut it off?
- It's not that crazy - Einstein opposed - They can sustain themselves to a certain degree. Sure, they can't make stuff like ice cream, but it's a living. It seems like people wanted liberation for a long time and we just lit the fuse of an age-old bomb...
- So... what do we do about it? - Dawn interrupted.
- Expose Roby and his truly despicable operation? - I suggested.
- Nobody wants to listen to us - Arika pointed at the random guy, who was gaining a lot of traction.
It seems like Martian people feel opressed. I don't understand this, as I'm not a colonist myself, but I didn't witness opression. However, it seems like people incorrectly connected the dots and assumed that everything was an American operation meant to send a clear message to Mars: we don't want your uniqueness.
- From the perspective of an ordinary colonist, this makes sense. First, the "Americans" steal one of the symbols of Martian culture, the iconic ice cream. Then, they set fire to the lower levels of the base as a "show of strength". When the Martians tried to salvage something, the "Americans" sent an even clearer message by cutting off the air supply, trying to suffocate the colony in a "fit of rage" - Anthony summarised.
As far as our perspective is concerned, all of this is incorrect. We know what happened behind the scenes and who the real culprit is. But the colonists only witnessed the damage and blindly trusted their leader who pointed his accusing finger at those who hoped to thwart his true plan.
The random guy's revolutionary messaging made even more people angry, mainly because he was spreading the point of view explained by Anthony. That everything is a sign of violent oppression that must be overthrown with full force. Even if it's untrue, it mobilized the colonists. Now, an even larger wall of people was more than ready to capture us, the "glubby Americans".
We had no choice but to escape from Mars Base Beta, but that was easier said than done. We quickly plotted out our escape route, but soon encountered a major issue.
Because of the air system being recently compromised, everybody wanted to leave the base, which is the same direction as our escape route. It was the closest exit, so naturally, everyone flocked to it. This included the revolutionaries.
If we wanted to have a chance at survival, we had to be fast. Very fast.
Many people were running around in all directions. Civilians wanted to reach the airlock, which made us blend in perfectly. Revolutionaries were far more scattered, some chasing us, others smashing things as a show of their anger.
The random guy ascended to the role of a leader of the revolutionaries, commanding them to search for us. Said revolutionaries mixed into the large group of civilians, spreading the word about our "crimes". This turned more people against us, which made it even harder to run away. Even though we didn't want to, we were forced to fight with the colonists.
Although it wasn't a violent attack, but rather self-defense. Amber pushed away one of the revolutionaries, who noticed us. A group of four soon chased us, but was overpowered by the girls. I focused on selecting the right path in the sea of people, which allowed us to pass through with minimal damage.
Finally, we reached the airlock and got dressed. As we were putting our chunky spacesuits on, we saw fighting occur. The prisoners from earlier were also fleeing, but they didn't share the beliefs of the revolutionaries.
Some were confused upon hearing about Roby's accusation and maintained a neutral standpoint, but others outright defended us and blamed Roby. Thus, they were dubbed "counterrevolutionary" by the random guy and the revolutionaries started clobbering them. We wished to help those poor prisoners who were defending us, but we had to use the time which they bought us.
The revolution soon turned into an outpost-wide fight of three factions: the revolutionaries led by the random guy, the counterrevolutionaries led by Big Donny, who believed us and the civilians, led by nobody, focused only on survival. We were thrown into the middle of this as a fourth faction, but our beliefs mostly matched the counterrevolutionaries.
- Why are you defending the pesky Americans, you traitor of a celebrity? - a revolutionary called out Big Donny.
- I know what I witnessed: they just escaped the fires like everyone else! Someone else lit them! Those spies saved the remains of our ice cream! - Big Donny maintained his position, pushing the revolutionary away.
It was nice, seeing someone supporting us in this mess. However, we couldn't support them back, as the revolutionaries were inevitably making their way into the airlock and we had to run with the civilians.
Along the way, we encountered none other than John Premium and his wife.
- This is absurd! Firstly, there's no cavior! Secondly, I'm forced to work in this pit of a base! This isn't even a hotel! - John Premium was complaining, just like the last time we met him.
- And now, we're forced to leave this place, but there's no rocket to take us home and we're stuck in this hellscape, just like everyone else who isn't into this whole "revolution"! - his wife added.
- I'll leave a bad review...! - John threatened, but was punched to by one of the revolutionaries who made it outside.
As far as we're concerned, we didn't really plan our next move until escaping the base. We had to think quickly, because the revolutionaries were outpacing the counterrevolutionaries and we had to run further.
- The rover! - Arika remembered - We need to get to the rover!
- Don't shout! The revolutionaries will hear us! - Dawn nudged her.
- Keep it cool! We're on the same side and we need to work together if we want to get out alive! - Einstein silenced the two.
We couldn't run because of the low gravity, so we were bunnyhopping. The battle eventually bursted out of the base and the fighting people blew clouds of dust into the air.
Our rover was nearby and we made it inside in one piece. Unfortunately for us, John Premium joined the revolutionaries, who blamed the Americans for the lack of luxury. The furious billionaire was quick to notice us, leading a group of revolutionaries to the rover.
Arika and I were quick to boot up the rover and we drove away, with John's group in hot pursuit.
- Where's Roby in all of this? - Amber asked out of the blue.
- I wouldn't be surprised if he uses the revolution to solidify his authority - Anthony replied. That would be a good move.
- Roby's the one who accused us, so he's probably with the revolutionaries - Sebastian added.
- How didn't I notice earlier? I should have recognised Roby! - Dawn was angry with herself.
- It's not your fault. Supreme purposefully concealed his identity. You had no way of knowing about it until now - Sebastian comforted her.
- Look at that! - Arika distracted me.
I looked up from the control panel and saw a rocket on the landing pad. It was similar to the Remedy in shape, but with light blue fuel tanks instead of orange ones. Two astronauts leaped out of it, bunnyhopping in our way as quickly as possible.
- Who are they? - Arika asked me.
- Let me get a better look... - I waited for the astronauts to get closer to us.
Eventually, I recognised them. I was jawdropped.
An angry Justine dragged a disgruntled Captain Nigel with her.
ns216.73.216.86da2
and then Add to home screen.