The Martian Exodus

*This article refers to the Orion universe.*

The Martian Exodus was the culmination solar-system-spanning crisis started in the planet of Mars, that consisted of the refuge of two thirds of the martian population and the complete abandonment of Mars for 220 years, with the last third of Martians having died in the preceding Martian Troubles. Many refugees fled into Earth and Venus, and many others ventured beyond the Solar System to found new colonies in other planets, such as Euphoria, Lucreos and many others.

The Martian Exodus is covered in the first story of the Epoch of Strife, "Exodus".

## "Exodus"

*"Unparalleled destruction and terror ravaged Mars. War, famine, disease, revolution and counterrevolution taint their pastures with blood, Phobos is flooded by desperate refugees trying to escape the apocalypse. As the paranoid Lunalian upper class close their tether in panic, an act that would surely let millions of fleeing Martians die, the chaos spreads to the moon in a wave of rebellion. Earth and Venus desperately try to mediate, to preserve law and order in inner Solaria, but their efforts backfire and unrest spirals beyond control. When the dust sets, humanity is reforged into a new order. Up to two billion die, almost a third of Mars’ population. The planet lies abandoned and its few remaining humans revert to savagery in the shattered corpse of the Federation. Earth’s moon is ridden with violence, as her long-oppressed children torch their cities in revolution. Venus and Terra are forced to manage the crisis as billions flee to find safety in their arms.*

 *Mars has been in decline since long before the end of the Common Era. Energy poor and lacking in capital, the planet struggled to compete against the likes of America and Monverde. Economic stagnation and comparative poverty were at first mild problems, not insignificant, but solvable. Yet as centuries passed and reform did not, the Martians’ hope melted into anger. A meteoric rise of nationalism and palingenesis dug trenches into their politics, as the pan-Martian identity that held the nation together slowly withered away. Some thought the planet should shatter like Venus, others that it should be knitted even closer together. Neither side had a chance to prove themselves.*

 *The Red War began even before the Federation fell, its sides long set before the first shot was fired. A decade following Elysia’s de facto independence, the federal capital in Apollonia was razed to the ground by armed militiamen. Immediately, global chaos ensued. Cyrene, the largest city in Mars, was completely abandoned, its fields occupied by bandits and its stores looted for steel. Emerging governments claimed heirship to the Federation, sending armies to brutally reconquer as much land as possible. The peaceful farming communities of egalitarian neo-societies attempting to wait out the chaos were put to the torch with no resistance. Democracy seemed like a hazy dream as autocrats and emperors cut their way through Mars. The first nuclear war in four thousand years flattened Letonia, the survivors forced to live in the crowded streets of Phobos, hoping to one day escape to Earth.*

 *The atrocities in the third sister eventually grew too baroque for her siblings to ignore. Earth and Venus came together to, as quickly as possible, resolve the crisis. Their intervention in Lunalia sided with the rebels, in exchange for UN control over Armstrong. With little option, the rebels accepted their terms and the Republic of Selene forged a new future for the satellite. Back in Mars, only three factions survived the slaughter, and all three refused to cooperate. In response, the United Nations began preparations for the final solution: a complete evacuation of Mars. Earthborn starships based on the Kuiperion orbited the planet in mass. One by one they passed by the overcrowded Phobos, picking up as many Martians as possible before sailing back home. Over a billion people escaped through these ships alone, but Mars proper was left to rot. The exodus left Mars to nature, not to be reclaimed for centuries.*

*The fallout of the Great Exodus kickstarted an age of strife across humanity. The fall of the Breadbasket of Solaria and the slowing of astral trade impoverished all remaining human worlds. Pushed once again beyond the stars, humanity focused all her resources into settling exoplanets. Proxima Centauri, Trappist, all stars with suitable planets in the Orion Spur saw colonial expeditions that assessed, chartered and registered any and all useful information. The exodus diaspora crewed the settler ships that led these voyages, making Martian the lingua franca of mankind.*

*Back on the red planet itself, absent humans to regulate it, evolution played her slow game, and natural selection made the world an alien kingdom of giants. Competing species flourished and fell, Titanian and Earthling fish fought for oceanic hegemon. Birds of prey quickly grew in scale, colossal eagles the size of the large pterosaurs roamed the great Martian ocean. Flora covered the ruins of cities, forming concrete jungles that host raccoons larger than most dogs. The last bastion of surviving humans, descendants of the greatest faction of The Red Wars, mistakenly sterilized their kin while trying to engineer themselves into a new race of übermensch. When men once again return to Mars, they will be awaited by an alien world of wonders centuries in the making."*

***-Exodus, Second Epoch: Strife, Orion: A Collection of Stories on Humankind***