Humans like to make a mess, and sadly, they’re very good at it.  A while back, humanity turned the Earth into an overpopulated cesspool of pollution.  When things got too bad, the great powers of Earth decided they needed an exit strategy.  And so humanity terraformed Mars to support human life–barely.  The war ruined any chance of turning Mars into the utopia it was meant to be.  Brought on by greed and fear, haves fought have-nots, and everybody lost.

When the red dust settled, much of the knowledge and technology from Earth had been destroyed, leaving Mars a pretty wild place.  The only hope of turning things around were the inactive Foundries, giant stores of advanced nanotechnology brought over from Earth and meant to be the seeds of the new Martian civilization.  But no one can get them to work, no one except Duran Grey.

Duran opened a Foundry and pulled out a sword of all things, a nanotech, rocket-propelled sword.  The weapon is a target on his back and the only thing protecting him from the mercenaries, corporations, and governments that want to get their hands on him to see how he used the nanotechnology.  In “Wild, Wild Red Planet,” Duran runs into a new company that wants him dead or alive, the Ares Corporation.  He managed to give them the slip with the help of his sword, but for some reason he doesn’t think they’ll give up that easily…