Mars

Low orbit around Mars

Mars is the 4th planet in the Solar system and second smallest planet in said system. It was the first planet to be colonized by Earth and has a population of 3.338 billion residents.

## History

The first settlement on Mars was established by the United States Mars Command on September 17th, 2082. The US colony there stood strong slowly growing over the next decade to a population of 2,000 and growing when in 2091 both the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom established colonies on Mars, not too far from the already existing American colony and in 2092 a Chinese colony was also established. This created friction among the different colonies on the planet, and to different degrees. No official borders existed and multiple colonies claimed different stretches of land as exclusive research or economic zones.

On New Years of 2100 the Chinese began mining iron deposits on Mars; despite a tacit agreement between the 4 powers to not begin mining for another 10 years, this quickly aggravated the United States and the UK who at a meeting of the United Nations called it a "critical violation of trust" on the part of China, while China accused the US and UK of attempting to stifle China's economic endeavours on Mars. With no resolution found the US began arming it's colonists as a show of force, however this was in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The UK and Russia followed suit. With the potential for a global conflict high, the UN stepped in and encouraged the 4 powers to sit down and negotiate.

This happened on the Greek island of Rhodes where the powers sat down and agreed to a de-militarization, the mining ban was lifted and a number of territorial concessions were made on both sides. In addition, the Solar Treaty System was founded which established space as a territorial condominium allowing any country to establish colonies in Space, so long as it didn't interfere with other colonies of other nations. In addition, a force of peacekeepers from all nations would exist to enforce the Treaty of Rhodes and law in space with recent advances in fusion making such a force possible.

This lead to a new age of prosperity on Mars, Mars became an economic hub in the solar system and colonization efforts began on Venus and tentative settlements in the belt. As this occurred, the colonies on Mars began to expand rapidly and become more and more interconnected and multiple economic and political unions formed between colonies, however they all remained under direct rule from Earth.

This remained the status quo until 2161, when the first calls for autonomy from Earth began. Initially for autonomous organization, a split in the movement was made. A faction of the the movement, called Osiris House (named after the lodge it's members met in) called for total independence and the creation of a Martian Republic. Martians began to see themselves as different from those back on Earth, nearly two generations had past since anyone on Mars was actually born on Earth and those on Mars, especially the younger ones, saw themselves less as Russians, Americans, British or Chinese but rather as: Martians.

However, the more moderate faction the Red Planet Committee advocated for Martian autonomy, while still keeping connections with Earth. It didn't take long for tensions to grow, and soon there were clashes between the RPC, Osiris, and colonial authorities. With the colonial general election coming up, the position for Lieutenant Governor of Mars was on the table. The Osiris candidate won with 67% of the vote. The RCP boycotted the results of the election, and staged sit-ins around the planet. Throughout their term in office, Osiris raised the issue of independence multiple times and even outright threatened to declare Martian independence, causing Peacekeeper ships to burn for Mars only for the crisis to be settled.

However, eventually a Martian lab produced the Warwick drive; a modified fusion engine that cut down journeys to

anywhere in the Solar system significantly. Martian authorities quickly seized this development, with this they could travel out to Saturn, Jupiter, and the Neptunian belt. With this, Earth's military superiority was in question: and forcibly seizing the technology would've been politically unsavory back on Earth. So Earth and Mars negotiated: in exchange for this technology, they would grant Mars independence. The deal was accepted. In 2164, while the first few days were chaotic, eventually a Parliament was formed around various Republics. These republics were the former colonies on Mars, now making up the newly made Martian Republics. Elections were called, and Osiris won again. The Martian Republic quickly formed a military force in the form of the Republican Army and it's various branches including a new star fleet. The military would continue to expand in size and influence since independence.

Mars began using it's vast commercial power to set up colonies in the outer planets, racing with Earth to capture appealing planets. With this, Mars secured vital resources such as fresh water and various metals, each colony was largely autonomous however hosted a great deal of Martian forces.

However back home the Republics that aligned with the RCP (mostly former American colonies) calls to do something about the current Martian scene were made, what started as a peaceful gathering of more than 10,000 RCP supporters in the Grand Hall at the New Providence Colony on March 12, 2172 turned into a riot when a gunshot was fired, after the shot rang out Martian Civil Authority officers began attempting to forcibly clear out the hall, however the demonstrators pushed back and soon a clash insued that saw the police on the loosing end of. Eventually the Republican Army arrived and forcibly put an end to the unrest, 14 civilians were killed. It has been referred to as "Martian Bloody Sunday".

The event sparked outrage in the RPC-alligned Republics, and self-defense battalions began organizing themselves to protect future RPC rallies, this however only antagonized security forces. Soon, the RCP-aligned Republics were rife with said battalions, which began calling themselves the "Revolutionary Martian Army" who demanded that the Martian Republics be re-organized and serious reform take place along with normalization of relations with Earth. Quickly, clashes began and soon an outright civil war occurred, with the rebels and their organizations being defeated by Osiris-aligned forces at the Battle of Acidalia Planitia in 2177, after 5 years of brutal civil war. The conflict claimed more than 600,000 lives.

After this, the RPC and it's affiliates were banned and a reconstruction process initiated with the aim of rehabilitating Martian republics devastated by war and kicking back up the industrial and terraforming efforts. Since then, Mars has largely known peace.

## Terraforming Project

Considered by some the greatest engineering project in human history, the terraforming project is a driving force of Martian society, involving most of the population of Mars either directly or indirectly. However, it is implied that the project is in decline, due to younger generations of Martians becoming accustomed to living in domed settlements.

## Martian possessions

*Mars:* Titan, Ceres, Ganymede, Dione, Callisto, Enceladus (Various other artificial orbital habitats)