Mars

Evangeline said nothing throughout the tense situation which she suddenly found herself in: an encounter between Jarvis Lagan and the Federation pilot who introduced himself as Arthur Wainwright. Evangeline would leave it to Michael to defuse the situation, which was teetering on the edge of violence thanks to Jarvis's threats, and indeed the situation went no further.

As the elevator descended, Evangeline considered Michael's words, his 'offer'. Why were the people here fighting? Jarvis' reason was as clear as anyone could hope; he wanted revenge against the Federation. The mercenary was probably in it for the money, or for the adventure. Arthur Wainwright, she wasn't so sure about. The Federation spewed out propaganda constantly about the Jupitris Coalition: one of the major propaganda campaigns displayed graphically the survivors of major battles such as the Battle at Gagarin (a space station orbiting Earth that had seceded into Jupitris and was nearly destroyed when the Federation attacked and retook it). Jupitris pilots were depicted as violent, bloodthirsty brutes who, once they attacked Earth, would slaughter, rape, and pillage every civilian enclave.

In truth, though Jupitris was technically fighting for freedom and against oppression, General Yu Kojima had less than humane ways of going about it. Kojima had had plans for Gagarin that, fortunately for the Federation, could not have come to fruition once Gagarin was retaken; Kojima had planned to attach thrusters to the massive station, and then drop it on the Federation's largest city, London. And though Gagarin was now safely under Federation control, the station colonies that had pledged support to the Federation were not. And they were much larger than Gagarin.

Going back to the initial issue...why did Evangeline fight the Federation? Not, as was Jarvis' believed, in memory of her parents, though there was a factor of that in it. Perhaps fear that Jupitris would force her to permanently merge with Zephranthys if she ever tried to escape. But also because Kojima had told her there was more to her parents' death than she knew.

As the elevator stopped and they stepped out into what appeared to be a hangar, Evangeline saw a number of Frames--and one which appeared to be a prototype of some sort. Her thoughts were confirmed when Michael spoke; apparently he intended for them to accompany him in it. She signed the waiver--not as if she was going to sue them if she died, of course--and then looked back to Michael for further explanation.