Mars

Mars is the home of the Butt-Ugly Martians, and the main participant of the Martian-Venus War. Originally a lush, utopian world, it is now unlivable and only inhabited via underground shelters and domed cities.

### Rise of the Kingdom of Mars

Martinius I was born on 459 B.C., and waged a crusade across the planet to unify it under his rule. His prowess as both a warrior and a strategist were unparalleled among his peers. He finished his crusade on 433 B.C., defeating the last of the Mons Tribal League. During his address to the Martian people, he suddenly collapsed and died, sending the address into panic.

After his death, his highest generals fought among each other for rule of the Kingdom, reigniting the violence of the First Crusade. Eight years into the civil war, the Marthinus' secret consort presented his lone heir to the kingdom, rallying the loyalists to her side. Mars was engulfed in this succession war for 3 more years until Martianian I was finally installed as king.

### Martian Civil War

On 201 B.C., centuries of peace were interrupted by the attempted secession of the Olympus Mons Confederation. The provinced had been burdened by ludicrous taxes for decades, crushing its internal economy. The warriors of Mons raided Martian Loyalist ports and cities, sending the kingdom into chaos. The Provisional Government of Mons demanded a representative government that allowed fairness to all provinces. This campaign inspired Mare Erythraeum to join in secession, causing a domino effect across other oppressed regions.

On 197 B.C., the Free Armies of Mare captured King Martinius CCCCXXVI and forced him to sign the Martia Carta, forming a democratic Martian Parliament in exchange for the King retaining a powerless but protected position. In the following decades, the Martian government tilted towards a social democracy that used Mars' overabundant resources to build a utopian society.

### Martian-Venusian War

By 92 B.C., the resources of Mars had dwindled to near-emptiness. Meanwhile, their rival the Federation of Venus had continued to thrive off their Vespene Gas Deposits. Prime Minister Kratius Cerelius attempted to convinced Parliament to invade Venus to solve the energy crisis, but Parliament was too divided to risk a vote. Due to the Prime Minister being allowed to only file for unprovoked war once per term, Cerelius did not push for an official to vote.

On 91 B.C., an asteroid from the asteroid belt was hurdled at Mars, devastating the city of Neo-Olympus. Venusian spacecraft were seen in the area the asteroid came from, and Cerelius used his emergency powers to declare a defensive war against Venus. Mars' military vastly outnumbered that of Venus, but their technology lagged behind significantly. For eight years, Martian and Venusian spacecraft battle each other in the space over Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The war was at a stalemate, with each side suffering massive casualties monthly.

Though having an initial numbers advantage, Mars was losing even this over time. On average, the ratio of Mars' casualties to Venus' was 8:1. Military leaders of Mars were suffering from catastrophically low morale, and Prime Minister Cerelius began to worry of a possible mass mutiny. Out of desperation, he ordered the Martian Navy to begin firebombing the Venusian surface, hoping to destroy their major command centers. The initial push to Venus was devastating, with Mars losing 103 ships in the first battle. Cerelius ordered the 1st Martian Battle Group, responsible for protecting the capital, to assist the offensive. The second push was a Martian victory, scattering the Venusian defenders.

On 82 B.C., the Martian fleets began rapidly firebombing the Venusian surface, killing millions of inhabitants in major cities, military bases, and ports. The majority of these casualties were civilians, but the operation succeeded in devastating Venus' strategic supplies and command structure. However, with their leaders wiped out, Venus was unable to surrender. Cerelius viewed this as a bluff, believing the Venusian leadership had evacuated before the bombings began, and ordered the firebombing to continue nonstop. During the bombing of one Vespene gas deposit, a firebomb set off a chain reaction across the region, sending much of the local atmosphere in flames. The explosion consumed most of the fleet at the site, melting 428 Martian ships and turning their crew to ash. Total Martian casualties were estimated to be at 5,079,000.

The Martian fleet was reduced to 17% of its original strength by the end of the campaign, and Mars was virtually undefended. Cerelius sealed himself in the capital, protected by his most fanatical supporters, and declared Venus neutralized. Both Parliament and the Martian Navy, however, had turned against him and were preparing for a coup d'etat. During this chaos, a group of Venusian radicals managed to sneak into the Martian atmosphere, and detonated a 1,000 Megaton Vespene reaction bomb, and the fireball spread across Mars. The initial detonation charred 33% of the surface, and irradiated the entire planet. The Martian government was instantly killed, and only 25,000 Martians escaped to the underground cities.

### Exiled Underground

The Martian species remained confined underground, only sending out robotic scouts every decade to examine the surface. Eventually, the Martian Underground Government was overtaken by the radicals known as the Sons of Mons. This radical group launched multiple unsuccessful invasions of Earth from 1893 until 1953. Eventually, this government was overthrown by the radical terrorists known as the Butt-Ugly Martians, who instituted a Anarcho-Syndicalist government in half of the underground, and an absolute monarchy in the other half. They immediately grew bored of keeping the peace, and left to visit Earth.

### Reunification

Shortly after the Butt-Ugly Martians left for Earth, Emperor Bog, leader of the Martian Monarchy, reoccupied the anarchist half of Mars and reformed his territories into the Martian Empire. Under his reign, he established a new space program and began building alliances with other solar powers, hoping to regain control of the Sol system for Mars once more. During this time, he began funding and arming insurgents on Earth, and eventually tasking Infi-Knight with leading an invasion, but this ultimately failed. Due to this, he chose to build up Mars' forces for over a decade until he viewed them as capable of destroying Earth's defenders and the remainder of Venus' forces. For unknown reasons, he also attempted to use the Butt-Ugly Martians as spies during this time, somehow unaware that they were actually allied with Earth.

### Regaining Power

Later, in the mid 2000s, Martian scouts found a large cache of underground building materials on another region of the planet. Bog, seeing an opportunity, began a large campaign of importing terraforming gasses and alien crops in order to begin colonizing parts of the Martian Surface. By constructing large domes capable of covering regions, the Martians could build cities with self-contained environments, allowing some Martians to again begin living on the surface. The project was extremely expensive and required years to flourish, but in 2011, the city of Third Olympus had finished much of its construction. After preparing several defensive measures such as anti-ship turrets and drone squadrons, Bog moved the capital to Third Olympus, taking along his government and many privileged Martians.

Though the majority still lived underground, Bog satiated them with promises of once more invading Venus, and using their gasses to terraform the entire planet. Third Olympus became and economic center for those who did not associate with Venus, most notably elements of the Jupitriad Clans. Though Third Olympus was highly secured, a team of assassins including the Butt-Ugly Martians did manage to infiltrate the city in disguise, and nearly assassinated Emperor Bog in the process.