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Description
The blue-green jewel of Earth had once been a beautiful, breathtaking, awe-inspiring and perfect place. Just as it had been an unknown, miserable, grim hellish mess as well. Earth was the cradle of Humanity, who had evolved so far from the omnivores taking their first tenative steps into the dry savannah on the red continent of Africa. Lush blue oceans had once rolled, curdled, seethed and crashed against the ground above the bedrock of the ocean on that world, and had bitten away at the cracked and old continents of the world. Grand, gaping canyons were gouged out of the very mantle of the world by tremendous glaciers making their way down into the oceans in prehistoric times. At the far corners of the world, mighty icebergs and polar ice caps had formed from the cold of the very air itself. Where the molten core of the world burst out to meet the air of the surface, great volcanoes burst up to spew magma and volcanic ash and sulfur into the air.

But all that had changed when Mankind shed its animalistic origins, and their supposed 'civilisation' had arrived. They moved on from using simple stone axes to beat each other to death, and with technology and innovation moved forward. Their lush green home had seen them through the ages. From their crusades to their Renaissance to their space age, Humanity had flourished, thrived and grown on Earth.

But they had also expanded beyond the confines of their one blanket of air and emptiness, and they expanded beyond the world they once had. They established hundreds of orbital bases, gigantic spaceborne farms, factories, military bases and housing blocks which housed countless millions of people . The rest of the solar system was conquered, and what worlds didn't support them were terraformed and colonised. Now Humanity dominated most of their home Solar System, and the spatial fleet they possessed was nothing to sneer at.

And they ended fifteen million years of tranquility and balance by the finicking and power-mongering of two mere men. None could ignore what was happening before their very eyes, in their species' home. The nations of the two corrupt and greedy men had unleashed their weapons unto the earth, and the fallout destroyed it all. The seas had long since boiled away, and forests, glaciers, savannahs all had long since been obliterated by the nuclear fires of the 21st Century. The cultural, industrial, military and political home of Mankind was now the red world of Mars, but no man or woman could deny their species' birthplace, even as common sense and logic and the very media frowned down upon that idea.

And so it was with great despair and much grieving that Mankind mourned the blasting and desecration of their home. Today in 2214, there was no more of the ancient, beautiful, fertile earth. In place of rivers of water, there were huge canals of foul-smelling and toxic nuclear waste. The oceans had long boiled away to leave a vast, barren wasteland that was no safer to traverse than the old jungles, which had mutated into unimaginable horrors and hideous gigantic boils which spewed more toxic gas into the atmosphere.

Among these inhospitable environments, humanity still flourished, under the newly-emerged and tyrranical Overwatch. They were supposely 'extremist peacekeepers', but in reality they were little more than organised thugs. The situation was complete with extortion, blackmail, drug and gun smuggling within and outside Earth, and even beating down innocents for 'protection money'.

One among the millions of people they harassed was one scientist in the Eastern District. He was a curious soul, wishing no more than to carry on his studies and experiments as he wished. Naturally, the Overwatch opposed him with a vengeance, and had tried to storm him and 'shake down' his organisation. The Grunts they had sent were so stupid they hadn't even seen the few relatively weak masses of automated sentry guns he had emplaced all over his perimeter, to say nothing of the heavier anti-tank and anti-air automated turrets that dotted the sealed complex.

But such a mind was cluttered, and more or less unable to cope with everyday things in a way most people found astounding. For which, he was hiring assistants. But for one reason or another, which was code for 'Overwatch getting to them', his assistants were short-lived. And he found himself once again in his only decent suit, with an office in the body of the district a cleaning drone had gone through thoroughly, and with a stack of papers before him as he read through yet another batch of applications. And a knock on his door, and a glance of his clock told him this must have been his next appointment. He called out for the person to come in and waited, a neutral expression on his face.

Description
The blue-green jewel of Earth had once been a beautiful, breathtaking, awe-inspiring and perfect place. Just as it had been an unknown, miserable, grim hellish mess as well. Earth was the cradle of Humanity, who had evolved so far from the omnivores taking their first tenative steps into the dry savannah on the red continent of Africa. Lush blue oceans had once rolled, curdled, seethed and crashed against the ground above the bedrock of the ocean on that world, and had bitten away at the cracked and old continents of the world. Grand, gaping canyons were gouged out of the very mantle of the world by tremendous glaciers making their way down into the oceans in prehistoric times. At the far corners of the world, mighty icebergs and polar ice caps had formed from the cold of the very air itself. Where the molten core of the world burst out to meet the air of the surface, great volcanoes burst up to spew magma and volcanic ash and sulfur into the air.

But all that had changed when Mankind shed its animalistic origins, and their supposed 'civilisation' had arrived. They moved on from using simple stone axes to beat each other to death, and with technology and innovation moved forward. Their lush green home had seen them through the ages. From their crusades to their Renaissance to their space age, Humanity had flourished, thrived and grown on Earth.

But they had also expanded beyond the confines of their one blanket of air and emptiness, and they expanded beyond the world they once had. They established hundreds of orbital bases, gigantic spaceborne farms, factories, military bases and housing blocks which housed countless millions of people . The rest of the solar system was conquered, and what worlds didn't support them were terraformed and colonised. Now Humanity dominated most of their home Solar System, and the spatial fleet they possessed was nothing to sneer at.

And they ended fifteen million years of tranquility and balance by the finicking and power-mongering of two mere men. None could ignore what was happening before their very eyes, in their species' home. The nations of the two corrupt and greedy men had unleashed their weapons unto the earth, and the fallout destroyed it all. The seas had long since boiled away, and forests, glaciers, savannahs all had long since been obliterated by the nuclear fires of the 21st Century. The cultural, industrial, military and political home of Mankind was now the red world of Mars, but no man or woman could deny their species' birthplace, even as common sense and logic and the very media frowned down upon that idea.

And so it was with great despair and much grieving that Mankind mourned the blasting and desecration of their home. Today in 2214, there was no more of the ancient, beautiful, fertile earth. In place of rivers of water, there were huge canals of foul-smelling and toxic nuclear waste. The oceans had long boiled away to leave a vast, barren wasteland that was no safer to traverse than the old jungles, which had mutated into unimaginable horrors and hideous gigantic boils which spewed more toxic gas into the atmosphere.

Among these inhospitable environments, humanity still flourished, under the newly-emerged and tyrranical Overwatch. They were supposely 'extremist peacekeepers', but in reality they were little more than organised thugs. The situation was complete with extortion, blackmail, drug and gun smuggling within and outside Earth, and even beating down innocents for 'protection money'.

One among the millions of people they harassed was one scientist in the Eastern District. He was a curious soul, wishing no more than to carry on his studies and experiments as he wished. Naturally, the Overwatch opposed him with a vengeance, and had tried to storm him and 'shake down' his organisation. The Grunts they had sent were so stupid they hadn't even seen the few relatively weak masses of automated sentry guns he had emplaced all over his perimeter, to say nothing of the heavier anti-tank and anti-air automated turrets that dotted the sealed complex.

But such a mind was cluttered, and more or less unable to cope with everyday things in a way most people found astounding. For which, he was hiring assistants. But for one reason or another, which was code for 'Overwatch getting to them', his assistants were short-lived. And he found himself once again in his only decent suit, with an office in the body of the district a cleaning drone had gone through thoroughly, and with a stack of papers before him as he read through yet another batch of applications. And a knock on his door, and a glance of his clock told him this must have been his next appointment. He called out for the person to come in and waited, a neutral expression on his face.