2062 Arcadia Planitia, Mars

XIRANG ONE - CHINESE SETTLEMENT - Arcadia Planitia Region

They looked outside at the shipwrecks. For hours, the sky was punctuated with a handful of fireballs from the sky. Dead ships.

"I think it's over. Were people caught outside?"

"Yes, "XO", we had crews doing repairs and salvage of anything that was fried on the surface. I don't know how many were lost."

"These new wrecks must have been from incoming transports on approach. Whatever hit the surface must have knocked them out."

Do we have any drones from storage? I want to send probes in.

The wrecks didn't explode, there may still have fuel for reentry, even if they were going to be parked in orbit."

"Yes. We can build and send in drones, while we move people to the far end of the complex, away from our landing fields."

"The Americans at Arcadia One must have been hit too. My guess is deadstick transports fell across the whole region."

"That covers several settlements and outposts."

A medic walked into the room.

"Sir..." "Yes, what is it?" "The Base Commander, Sir. He was outside, leading the salvage crews, when it happened. Sir, he didn't make it."

Liwei, despite years of training, was in freefall for a moment.

The Base Commander picked him as executive officer over many other candidates, with better social and political points.

Liwei looked outside, and wondered what it was like at other bases. He thought about Hayley and wondered what she faced.

"Let's finish moving everyone to the far end, to safety."

As the new acting commander, he had to talk and act as if there was a safe refuge for everyone who survived. It was his job now.