Red Faction Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Plague Armageddon (2175 CE)
Plague Armageddon

Darius fighting against the plague aliens with his fellow red faction squad member

Location Underground Tharsis, Mars
Sides Red Faction
Marauders
Cultists
The Plague
Commanders The Plague

Cultists

Red Faction

Marauders

Key Engagements Defense of Bastion
Battle of Dust
Destruction of Cultists Relay Station
Battle of Bradbury Canyon
Plague Invasion of Marauders State
Assault of Central Hive Mine
Skirmish at the Terraformer
Outcome Red Faction and Marauder Victory
  • Cultists - Death of Adam Hale, the Cultists retreat around Mars
  • The Plague - Flee into the deeper ground to avoid the surface atmosphere. The Queen barely destroyed but was not known to be seen again after Darius weakened her
  • Red Faction state/Marauder state - Rest of the colonist face an unknown future ahead


The Plague Armageddon can be loosely described as a military conflict between an alien species known as the Plague and the various human populations of Mars. Taking place in 2175, approximately five years after the destruction of the Terraformer, the awakening of the Plague from hibernation is a major catastrophe for the Red Faction and the Marauder state alike.[1]

Historical Background[]

While strictly speaking, knowledge of the Plague's existence had been available since 2067 when the Ultor scientist Axel Capek launched the ill-fated MASTers expedition, it was not widely known even within the Ultor Corporation at the time. This is likely due to Capek's status as the sole survivor and his ruthless disregard for others.[1][2]

Capek had the shaft sealed underneath an Ultor facility, concerning himself instead with genetic experiments utilizing samples he had recovered. The truth behind the army of mutants (the Ultor Plague of 2075), encountered by Parker in his hunt for the ego-maniacal scientist, was never uncovered by either the first Red Faction or the Earth Defense Force.  As a result, the Martian colonists remained ignorant. The secretive experiments conducted by the Ultor scientists were largely forgotten.[1][2][3]

Despite Capek's death, select groups within Marauder society did remain aware of the existence of the Plague and its origins. The old Marauder temple at Bradbury Canyon, enshrining the alien Seal and filled with alien idols is an excellent example of this. There are segments of Marauder community that regard technology with quasi-religious reverence, and it was long believed that there were those who accorded Capek the standing of a god. It was from the preserved Ultor database of one group, a Marauder sect known as the Archivists, that Adam Hale discovered their existence.[1] Hale forged the Cultists into his own private army to strike out against both Red Faction and Marauders. He initiated the Cultist War and set out to destroy the Terraformer, opening the way to release the Plague.[1][4]

A plan was developed by the self-proclaimed Messiah of Mars and leader of a group of Marauder Cultists, Adam Hale. The former Red Faction combat engineer Darius Mason was tricked into destroying the Seal, causing all underground colonies and Marauder settlements in Tharsis to be attacked by the aggressive alien species. Eventually, due to Darius' persistence to solve the problems he caused and clear his name, the alien species was driven back after the reconstruction of the Bakhuysen Terraformer. This drastically changed the climate on Mars, making the surface re-inhabitable for the humans colonists. However, not all of the creatures were completely wiped out.

Beginning of the Armageddon[]

Prelude and Back Story[]

Five years after Adam Hale's destruction of the terraformer, all of the colonists and Marauders, along with the Red Faction during the Cultists Crisis, relocate underground to the caves and tunnels of Mars. The surface had become uninhabitable due to atmospheric turmoil, such as huge, everlasting storms and destructive lightning. Adam Hale was pronounced dead after the Terraformer exploded with him still inside. In the underground cities, colonists kept blaming the Red Faction for their failure to protect the Terraformer and the subsequent hardships they endured.

Darius Mason has quit working as a soldier of the Red Faction and has become a mercenary, using his experience as an engineer as well as his personal walker, to help other people make their lives easier and earn money. Along the way, he meetsKara, a former Marauder who has been smuggling her wares around Mars, while she is having an argument with McMohan in the Bastion market. McMohan, who has been denouncing the Red Faction, threatens her for being a smuggler and a Marauder until Darius interferes by picking up an old Arc Welder, asking Kara "Does this Arc Welder still work?" and shocking McMohan senseless. He then proceeds to tell Kara about a job he hads been hired for, an excavation job on the surface. Kara warns him and gave him a Franklin amulet, to protect him from lightning and for good luck. Darius proceeds to his job site, where some miners have asked him to help in excavating an old Marauder temple. The miners, who are actually Adam Hale and his Cultists in disguise, trick Darius into destroying the Seal, which has been keeping the Plague in hibernation.

Bastion City Under attack[]

In the caves, when Darius wakes up after accidentally falling in, he discovers that his S.A.M already calling so many time's of 36 unsuccessful and warning that unknown life-forms are about to attack their city if they are not warned. When Darius tries to get through with the alternate way, he encounters the unknown life-form also knows as the Plague. The "Creepers" is the first one to appear in-front of Darius eyes as he is able to kill it, but S.A.M warns him of more up front. A while later, he discovers an incubator pod that spawns more of the Plague until it's destroyed. He manages to destroy it and continues moving on, along the way, he discovers another one, "Ravagers", which is much accurate than Creepers and starting to think what the horror about to happen to the city is not aware after he was not around after 3 days.

Along the way, Darius fall even deeper into the underground, due to the terrain is very unstable ever since the time of ancient, eventually he is able to make it through to the outskirts of Bastion, While trying to locate some of the interfering as he encountering some of the few survivors were able escape from the onslaught that cause by the unknown plague and decided to help them on the way as they retreat to the main city to seek refuge as a lot of casualties making through from underground cities to generator facilities. In the way, he discovers another new-form of creature known as "Berserkers", right after the bridge is destroy along with the squad APC for crossing to the other side. When he goes through the elevator of going through near of the station that holds off the swarm of plague. Ultimately, they make it into the main city and prepare for defense on any of the attack from The Plague.

One of the soldiers, tells Darius go to find the power-cell to recharge the defense for the city, before the plague come to destroy everything as he quickly gets it. Along the way, he discovers an armed civilian named "Luther", where he tell him there are some few of civilians are trapped in the force field, as he repairs all generators with enough power to open the force field, even though a lot of civilians are able to escape from the horror of Plague except one as Darius watched in horror as the Berseker pulls off the head of a woman and kills her instantly. After retrieving the last power cell and head back to the entrance of the city, Luther threaten Darius to handle all those power cell, before he able to open fire on him, a Monolith pop up on his feet and kill him instantly, following that Darius kill off the remaining aliens and head back to the city for starting up the defense. The corporal tells Darius once again that food become very critical but however, the water is already gone a few days after The Plague onslaught on the outskirts of Bastion as Darius has no choice he needs to go and repair the Water Pumping Station before heading back to Bastion.

Suddenly, the corporal contacts Darius again to go to the Purification Plant before the communication cuts-off due to some interfering that jams the signal making the corporal unable to contact him as he is wondering to the other side of outside city without knowing and forgets to get back to the main city. Almost reaching to the location, the corporal tries to contact Darius, urging him to get back as quickly as he saw the new Plague. However, he continues wondering off even deeper to another place and discovering another the Plague creature that has the ability to clock itself and blocks the way with Microscopic Organism, probably the one that the corporal saw and contacted him about it moment ago. In the way, he went to even deeper into the outskirt city as he follows the red signal of an alternative way back to Bastion. Eventually, he makes it to the Plant and realise it is nothing more than just the infestation of the spawning ground for the Plague as Darius needed to take it out before even more come.

After destroying it, he come's back to Bastion and discovers the outskirts of the city have already become an infestation. Darius is trying to find the source and temporarily stop the spread by destroying the infested structure, after destroying few of the them. Suddenly, a voice comes to the speaker as speechifying by McMohan the person that encountering Kara after being shot by Arc Welder three days ago, starting to do a speech about Darius for failing once again to save their beloved city ever since the start of falling Terraformer five years ago and rally the entire half of the Civilians to find him and want him to pay what he done to all those years.

Escaping to the Surface and Assault the outside of Cultists Outpost[]

When he returns to Bastion and the people label him as traitor among them, due to the betray of him for not returning back to help them fending off the alien, before he try's to explain to the entire crowd, McMohan starting to use gun to shoot him down as a lot of people follow and chase him down as he manages to escape into waste underground processing as he accidentally shot a pipeline causing explosion almost causing the entire civilian group to die.

In the Waste Processing Center, He is struggling to go up and avoid the citizens. Along the way, S.A.M receives transmissions from Kara, she asks him of making out alive and suspecting that Darius was the one, who destroyed the seal and letting the creatures out as he didn't know that was holding the creatures of the Plague ever since in the old days when Ultor helping Capek to use their species of DNA as test subject to the miner and causing almost the all the worker of Ultor to die. When he is near to the Crystal, McMohan appears in-front of Darius and was about to shoot with the Rail Driver. Before he could shoot him, a Berserker came, charged at him and exploded along with him. Kara calls him not to go to Market as it is already overrun by the Aliens. But, he didn't hear any of Kara of warning since the nearby crystals jammed the signal communication as he wonders off again into the Market. Fortunately, along the way, he discover another L.E.O suit before entering the Market. Upon on the arrival, transmission is re-establish as Kara warned him not to go in, but it is already too late as it is nothing more again, only a spawning ground for the plague as Darius going through from there to the Barrack, where red faction operatives have been since after the time of Second Martian Revolution, when he goes inside and he begins to start thinking about what happening of his other operatives make it out alive after he causing this whole epidemic.

He later contacts Kara again about almost near to the exit, where the elevator taking to the surface and telling her to go first, he will catch up. Suddenly, a great heat signature have detected from his awareness being very near over there, he go and scout it out as it turns out to be a "Behemoth" as his S.A.M congrats :"Good News, only just one creature detect" and Darius starting to nag at it said :"I am going to melt you into salvage S.A.M" as he is taking that huge creature, which more tougher than anything that he have never encounter before. Eventually, he kills it and reunite with Kara worrying about her. But before, they can get to the surface, a group of Citizens catch up in time with weapons and try to shoot Darius and Kara as he warn them about a lot of those aliens that he predicated as the plague of swarm came out of nowhere slaughtering them immediately from seeing their eyes. They try to help the citizens, but is in vain as only watching them in horror getting killed one by one from the plague as they getting closer to the surface.

At the surface, Darius tell Kara that he need to find Adam Hale since he is the only one knows, who behind the entire of the Invasion of the plague, before he heads off to find him, the Red Faction captures him and suspecting of him, that have causing the entire event as he tries to explain about his innocence and telling that Adam Hale is still alive. However, they don't listen and about take him into custody. Along the way, he tries to have a conversation with his friend of his innocence due to that he is being setup by Adam Hale. Before Darius tries to talk even more, the Plague comes out of nowhere and blocking their path to the side as Red Faction have no choice to let Darius to help them fend off the creatures, but it seems they just keep more coming and more soon will be overrun if they don't do something about it. Darius has no choice and leave his position to find the source and stop the spreading, along the way he discovers another new creature also known as "Tentacles" just without any warning using piece of structure throw at him as again, he asking how to destroy using the same technique as the same as other creature that encounter earlier, after destroying it he once again encounters many of those incubator and manages to destroy it before heading back to the group and help fending off the Plague. Colonel Paul ordered him to stay put and not use the L.E.O Exo-suit Armour to go off as Darius telling him to shut up and he gets mad to say another bad thing as his S.A.M. ends communication with a slam, continuing to hold off the Plague, until they have stopped. Eventually, they did it and successfully to repelled the alien and survive again, Paul confronts Darius and speculates that he was behind the destruction of the Terraformer and the plague outbreak. As Darius had it and enough of his speculation, he punches him.

Inside the surface camps, Frank is able to pin-point those Cultists Relay Station of them and indeed that they're still alive ever since after the Terraformer fell 5 years ago. Darius try to order the post to strike but Frank decides not to since it's too dangerous outside as the storm is to dangerous. However, he volunteer's to use stealth and destroyed. He operate at night so that they won't be getting any attention of it and manages to destroy all five of the relay stations and head it back to the Red Faction camp before the dawn arrives.

Return to the Ancient Temple and Retreating to Marauder State[]

In the Morning, again the Red Faction continue to watch over their camp and defend themselves any possible attack and Darius is asleep, while Frank is playing with Chess. Suddenly, an unexpected signal coming as the Alarm sounded as one of the troop starting to fire but as it turns out is only Kara return with extra help with the Walker. But however, it draw attention to Cultists ready to launch offensive possibly of revenge after what Darius destroy their Relay Station of using to control the Plague, after that, he rides along the Walker with Kara to stop the offensive as being through after through it discovering that they're about to dig through another hole to take the caves and a possible inner city of Bastion as they manage to destroy it without any difficulty due to the walker is just powerful.

Later on, Darius and Kara enter the temple once again only this time discovering the Cultists have capture one of the Berseker as their leader Adam Hale telling them that this is the force and the power to rule the entire red planet with forces of the plague, but Darius have already enough with this madness and decided to attempt assassinate him before he have a chance to escape once again. But failed and foiled as the cliff is crumbled and making him fall letting them spot him causing anger the berserker's to killed every member of the Cultists that he hired, Adam Hale attempted to shoot Darius but instead, he escape riding a cart as Adam use the Heavy Walker to chase him down. Now this is where the old bad blood bone beginning to settle to in the end as Darius tries to ride the cart to exit as Adam riding Heavy Walker chasing and chasing him down from pit to elevator to upper surface. Darius will do anything to keep him alive from passing wave after wave again. Eventually, near to the exit of the surface make one final showdown but as the Darius already did enough damage to the Walker Adam can't even ride that thing due to the amount of damage the walker has taken, but he refuse to get out of there instead putting one more to die along with his family legacy, Darius manage to drop the Mechanical Structure Ball at top to drop on it and causing even more damage to the Walker and finally, it stop and destroy as Adam Hale Head rip off into his feet. But the danger doesn't pass out yet as a lot of cultist ready to avenge their master of murdering by Red Faction own hands.

Suddenly the door break off as Kara's Walker was able to find him and rescue him moving out of the temple and head outside. As they try to get out of there, she tell him that the only way to stop this outbreak is to go to her homeland and find marauders as they knew it for long time as along the way more of the Cultist try to prevent them escape with vengeance after Darius have killed Adam as they keep moving on, they discover another structure that being infested as Kara mentioned it how far they spreading as they moving on. Finally, they find the aircraft, the Inferno GX, but was defended by two Behemoths. But, they killed it without hesitation and eventually fleeing back to marauders to seek help and a way to stop this outbreak.

A Helping Hand[]

Upon the arrive at the Marauder State and discover is already too late as Noella's body lied between and being shot by someone else in the back. However, Darius still thinking they is still hope as he takes off her necklace, hopefully to find something that provided information and possibly of stopping the Plague installed into S.A.M. Suddenly, the Alarm have sounded once more as they prepare to defenses against aliens. Kara tries to power up the defenses of the state, while Darius tries to fend off. First, he goes to the bridge to keeping the plague at bay by destroying the bridge. Second, fending off once more while the marauder try to detonate the caves to block off from outside try to get in, Third and last, He fends off the bugs once more and using the turret to fend off while the power is trying to recharge the power to limit and activate the force field. Eventually, He successfully buys some time until reinforcements arrive from the Red Faction.

As he done it, he try to use playback from the Noella Clip about showing the information how to destroy it, but only received a few part of the as the file being damage from the unexpected event and S.A.M informed him that it need to take a week to repair it finish as he asks Kara there is any chip that can make his Awareness to translate faster. Yes, they can construct but it will take days to construct as they have no time about that, Kara remembers that their one remaining in the downside of hall and Darius quickly go downstairs and of course is already overrun by the plague as need to examined them one by one before reaching it. Eventually, he makes it and take the chip install to S.A.M making the playback to play fully, In the Video clip, Noella, tells that she was the one who let the Cultist know about the plague that have been seal in the temple to break it to conquer, but however, they won't be easily to take control of that power since it have a queen located by Capek, hundred years ago, in to even more deeper underground of was now lava control called the "backdoor" by some type of device which can passed if it destroy it and after that she tells everyone to forgiving her about this secret before shot by behind is none other than Adam Hale as Kara contacted Darius about he getting the information of Noella and those Plague and asking him to help her people to evacuate further of the state and avoid the horror of more casualties as Darius tells her, that he will be back very soon by riding the Inferno GX Flyer . While, he is in the gunship, he able to helping to escort the convoys and destroy some of the structure that were already infested with spawning zone to buy more time for even more civilians suffering from the horror of the plague. Before heading almost reaching Frank and Kara that way. However, that way is already blocked as he is taking short cuts that nearly and again Kara ask him: "Where do you think your going" and He reply to her: "I am taking Short Cut" and she warn him that short cuts will lead him into electrical shocking of power which can fry his ship before getting to the exit. Eventually, he makes it and suddenly an unexpected object hits the flyer causing Darius almost losing out of control to ride it as it hit the lava, but with a lot of try he mange to make it stable and finally reaching the deeper state and Frank called him about what is going on, only more victim being suffered and S.A.M. encourage Darius to destroy the bridge so that the plague won't get easy to chase the convoys that carry civilians to the evacuate zone to slaughter them.

Assault in the Central Hive Mind[]

Inside the commanding center Marauders and Red Faction to discuss a plan to end the nightmare, Darius and Frank ride the boat to Chamber site, where the controller device of the lava is located and while Kara and her fellow Marauder bought with the Heavy Walker go to the other side, but however, the lava need to be lower off first before they can go in, Otherwise, it will melt immediately if it contacts with it. As they waste no time as they operate the mission quickly to end the nightmare, Just as it say first Darius and Frank need to ride the boat to the reach the other side to destroy the device to lower lava as they encounter even more enemies before as it make sense that they already know, They are coming for their queen.

To get there, Darius had to unlock the chamber door by activating the metal door after destroying the Reactor of the back of the boat, After that, he goes to another room to close down by the force field with hands and left of the boat. But however as they advance even more Aliens coming to kill them and they easily fend off, when Darius Arming the Gauss Turret to keep them off from every corner to not kill his friends. Eventually, they make it to the chamber door checkpoint Elevator beyond the door lies where the huge device that blocks and controls the lava. Suddenly, Incoming Transmission Kara telling them that Lava is almost close in as they didn't destroy the device yet and she says again it is too dangerous. They need to go back and the transmission end. As Darius almost reaches to the device once again, the path block they need to find another way to cross it. Frank thought of an idea, he tells Darius to destroy the rocky walls and telling to hang on something before a bumpy ride to the Device as even more enemies starting to spawn and stop them. Ultimately, they make it but it has a protected force field and the only way to disable it is to destroy it part by part from Top to Down as they have no time and do it right away before they will die in the lava flow. Eventually, they did once again, successfully destroying the device and open a new passage going down to which where the queen hideout. Just before they have a chance to landed to the rocky Terrain and being ambushed once again. Suddenly, at the back a Huge Walker which they ride by Kara flushes them out with the deadly huge impact beam, after that she tells Frank and her fellow Marauders to head-back to the Marauder state to defense, While She and Darius can take care of this whole infestation.

In the Heavy Walker, they head through the way where the queen is being held with as the places is even more dangerous then even before with Spawning Eggs, huge number of Berserkers and Behemoths guarding their way, it just keep going over and over again. Until, they headed the right way and discover in what used to be an Ultor Corporation Facility, which housed those creatures, ever since long before the First Martian Revolution happened, As they keep on continue and continue with wave after wave before reaching to another way, his track signal discovering that the Queen is right down the deep underground, however the Walker doesn't support walking the bridge down terrain as it slipping into deeper and deeper into their hive nest. Eventually, they make it but without the walker being damage during the going down as Darius ask S.A.M. about any creatures nearby as she reply :"No Life-Form Detected, Yet" as they have no choice but to repair one of the Walker legs, after awhile, they joke each other about dirtying themselves. Ultimately, they kissing each other as S.A.M, Joking about the Blood Pressure rise up in Darius as they didn't know Plague is attack them and almost killed Darius and still he manage to get up and tell Kara to go in the walker for safety, but as he turns his head back only watch in horror as one of the tentacle have already stabbed her in the back of her chest and drag her down into deeper and deeper as he will never see her again. This outrages him, asking S.A.M angrily telling, where is the queen is as it try to clam him down since anger won't solve anything as he keeps on destroying all the spawn with the walker except this time, It needs to power up the armor for safety since is only repair half-way. Eventually, he makes it through the rocky bridge, which S.A.M warns him the terrain does not supporting the weight to go through, but he insist and almost reaching to other side the terrain collapse, it even deeper underground than ever. Now, the Walker is heavily damage as swarm of enemies close by and he have only one choice to go all the way to find the queen by himself. First, he shoots off the tentacles that block his path, which where the queen is located and after that he needed to climb all the way up and just below the Surfaces as even more enemies coming through since he is already deeper in their lair.

After a long struggle, he finally reach to the top and confront The Queen as S.A.M tell him to aim at the weak point which is the part that have sparkling, but every-time he destroy the weakness, the queen desperately calls her children to help her, against Darius from killing her as every round after she falls and stand again. Eventually, he did it and did enough damage against her, But however, she still have the strength to bring the entire Red Planet down as Darius fear what he is going to do now even though he has defeated her.

Last Hope[]

After Darius had nearly killed the queen she still had the strength to escape. Suddenly, S.A.M tells him that she had already analyzed and the creatures can survive the damage even if their queen is already almost killed. But they have one major flaw, that will perished is the earth make atmosphere since they cannot survive that, they will die immediately if they breathe that. Darius comes with the idea to repair the Terraformer that Hale have destroyed, it is the only hope to kill them once and for all. He waste's no time, he quickly jumps on one of the tentacle ends and grabs it and he catches a ride to the surface and the Terraformer.

Once he is outside of the structure, he has to deal with the some enemies, as he needs to get inside of the facility by crossing bridge and reaching the entrance, Inside there as he see it is nothing more than hive nests that he saw in the tunnel, and all the ways have been blocked by the hive and the only way to activate the system is going through the pipes as a short cut to the system.

While almost to the core, he needs to activate three of the required environment generators to power up the Terraformer. After activating all three stations, he goes to the reactor core and repairs it, but is suddenly attacked and they trap him inside. Inside, he is beginning to repair the core control one by one. Darius fights off the plague, attempting to destroy the Terraformer generators. Until fifteen minutes later, the atmosphere becomes pure and clean once again, and the Plague is starting to die from the atmosphere.

Aftermath[]

After Darius had repaired the Terraformer to kill the plague, he walks out and seeing many of them disoriented and dying. After that, he contacts the Red Faction and Marauders forces to secure the Structure and defend against any remaining aliens. Frank congratulated him by saying that he lives up to his family legacy to continue to serve the Red Faction, but feels sorry about Kara that he couldn't save her. The sun appeared and S.A.M stated that there was an increased amount of radiation penetrating the atmosphere as the Red Faction units and Marauders face the upcoming unknown future that awaits them.

Video[]

References[]

Advertisement