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The wilderness of mirrors is upon us. WestHem, EastHem, and the Martians are going to play Spy vs. Spy, just like in the old Mad magazine. Enjoy!
I had an interesting question asked of me. How did you manage to replicate Al’s style so well? The answer is simple - I constantly checked with Al to make sure I was doing the story right. Every few chapters I would send him a copy and then wait until he said it was okay. He would correct any errors I made, as well as offer suggestions. Then it was back to the drawing board, so to speak. I couldn’t have done it without him.
On a totally different subject, my last story, The Bridge Club, had several references to a hotel near the Albany airport called The Desmond. Very nice place, it really exists. Anyway, my wife and I had to fly out Saturday morning at Oh-Dark-Hundred, so we stayed there Friday night. It wasn’t inexpensive, but there is free shuttle service to the airport. Since a week at the parking garage would cost me over a hundred, it was actually pretty cheap.
PS: It was 25 degrees F and 2” of snow when we left home, and 75 degrees when we got to Miami before getting on the boat.
Anyway, Chapter 3 is up. Enjoy!
Prior to working on the new story, it was necessary to determine the results of the first war, Martian Hammer. I needed to figure out some exact details and see just how far Greenies varied from what we learned in APW, where the wars were ‘ancient’ history. In APW Chapter 4, total war losses, all three wars, are reported as roughly 11,000 Martians and 500,000 WestHem. However, I came up with alternate numbers by adding up specified losses from Greenies. This is how I calculated the numbers being reported to the leaders of WestHem and EastHem.
Convoy phase - Greenies, Chapter 11, five Panama transports destroyed (Pacaderm, Mule, Camel, Llama, Clydesdale), each carrying 20,000 Marines and 1,200 Navy. One Seattle-class ship destroyed (no losses given). One Panama class (Elephant) partially destroyed, 4,000 lost. Total convoy losses, appx. 110,000.
Ground combat - Greenies, Chapter 26 - Very little detail on numbers was provided through the story, though they were vastly lopsided. However, some details can be determined. In Chapter 26 it is stated that over 5,000 WestHem APCs and 3,000 WestHem tanks were destroyed. Earlier in the story it was divulged that an APC carried 10 soldiers (plus driver) and a tank had a crew of 3. (5,000 x 11) + (3,000 x 3) = 64,000.
That’s a total of roughly 175,000 dead. Also reported in Chapter 26 was the capture of another 41,000 WestHem Marines and Navy personnel, not including the initial captures of appx. 35,000 personnel during the Chapter 6 takeover of Triad Naval Base and the Marine compounds on Mars.
Also unstated were Martian losses. It was stated in Chapter 26 that there were 44,861 Martian civilians in WestHem, all of whom will be imprisoned and killed. Elsewhere it was stated that 8% of the WestHem Navy enlisted ranks were Martians. Since it is also stated that the WestHem Navy lost a third of its strength when Mars was lost, and in Chapter 6, that third of the Navy had 8,000 Martians, we can estimate that the remaining two-thirds of the Navy had 16,000 Martians, all of whom would have been sent out an airlock. Finally, direct combat losses for the Martians were 3,237.
So, the total losses of Martians and Earthlings for Martian Hammer are within the limits given in APW. However, things might get a little bloodier in the next two wars. We’ll just have to see.
Al Steiner is arguably one of the best authors, if not the best, on SOL. You can imagine it was with some trepidation that I sent him an email. What would he think if somebody wanted to do a sequel to his science fiction masterpiece, the top-rated book on the website? Well, he said…yes. (My initial reaction, much like Wayne and Garth, was to bow down and call out, "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!") He made a few rules, all of which I understood and agreed to, and even provided considerable editing assistance. As always, the fuckups are mine and mine alone. While not required, if you haven't already read Greenies, it is highly suggested; there's a lot of backstory.
To those who say he already has a sequel in A Perfect World, allow me to correct that common misperception. A Perfect World was published on this site between 11/24/04 and 12/29/04 and covers events occurring mostly in 2191. The following year he published Greenies between 9/21/05 and 8/30/06, covering events mostly in the year 2146. In other words, Greenies was the prequel to A Perfect World. The third story in the series, Homebodies, was posted from 8/1/17 through 8/11/18 and occurs in 3217, over a thousand years in the future.
Martian Justice takes place in the years 2146 through 2150 and is about the second Martian invasion, which is mentioned in A Perfect World, though few details are given. One thing to be careful about. There may well be discrepancies between some of the novels. I'll go into that at some point in the future, but that's the way it worked out. For the eagle-eyed readers of the series, you'll have already found differences in the details between Greenies, A Perfect World, and Homebodies. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but I have primarily tried to stay true to Greenies.
I will be publishing on my standard schedule, Tuesdays and Fridays. Enjoy!
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