[12 Feb 3072; VOTW] Mars was restive after centuries of neglect and rumors that the Word’s “toaster worshipers” might frown on the large-scale use of robots in the mining industry. Nothing of the sort was true – the Word needed Mars, and needed its industry to grow to revive the fortunes of new members of the Word of Blake Protectorate. After consulting with wary mining company managers, the Word agreed readily to their proposals. Investment, new employees, and updated machinery boosted short-term production while the Word began a medium-term program of lowering operating expenses by adjusting Mars’ terraforming.
In the centuries since Kerensky had fled the Inner Sphere, Mars’ environment had not been maintained at all. It is a testament to the Lowell Program that Mars remained habitable despite the neglect, and probably would’ve been tolerable to humans for millennia more. However, it was not pleasant. The crust was drying up Mars, the ozone layer was failing, and the long seasons drove inhabitants into domed towns to escape the harsh weather. The environmental changes made mining Mars increasingly expensive.
The Word revived the Phobos Skyhook in 3060, sending the first comets “gently” into the old receiving area at the Chryse Planitia Sea (the resulting tsunamis had the unfortunate side effect of stripping bare the once-beautiful subtropical beaches, leaving a barren landscape). Titanian nitrogen thickened the atmosphere by some 30 millibars while re-sown terraforming moss darkened the south pole and algae cracked oxygen from the new water. Thriving fusion-powered ore processors ramped up their power output simply for the waste heat to melt the space-icebergs now floating through the Northern Ocean.
Today, the Word of Blake’s efforts have rendered Mars several degrees warmer, re-flooded river beds, and secured the loyalty of the miners. Mars is, however, currently wrought by unpredictable tempests as its atmosphere and seas find new equilibrium. This is not always a problem: One brutal polar storm in the Martian autumn of 3067 is thought to have contributed to the demise of the Wolf Dragoon invaders on the now-barren shores of Chryse Planitia, quickly killing MechWarriors with exposure as their cockpits were sundered.
If the current economic boom continues, perhaps those magnificent estates on the Grand Canal may soon find new inhabitants or, at least, tourists will rediscover one of mankind’s greatest wonders.