Covenant City

Covenant City was a colony on Mars in Sol, originally founded by the Bandorian Protectorate in the 21st century. It rapidly surpassed the other Mars colonies in size and population, but also became known as a dangerous place, largely because many of the heavily armed citizens would shoot known criminals on sight when they encountered them in the city; while this was in line with the principles of the Bandorian criminal punishment system at that time, other factions, most notably the United Nations, did not appreciate such behavior. After several controversies about these incidents, the UN did not bring them up with the Bandorian authorities again. In the First War of Sol, both Bandorian and Asgardian colonists on Mars took to the skies to defend their planet against UN dropships, and starships from these factions repelled the UN forces in space. Millions of pro-colonist protestors on Earth were deported after the end of the war, and many of these protestors moved to Covenant City or other colonies on Mars, further increasing the population; many new buildings were constructed in the area near Covenant City to house the new citizens. No UN soldiers were able to land successfully on Mars in this battle. In the starting phases of the Second War of Sol, the UN deployed many troops to Covenant City and other Bandorian colonies on Mars in its campaign to "reduce criminal presence in Sol". After multiple violent incidents between the UN troops and Bandorian citizens, the local Bandorian authorities declared a state of emergency on 3 June 2149 and ordered all citizens "to defend themselves as necessary". Within hours over 1,000 UN troops had been killed. The UN then deployed more troops to Covenant City and other Bandorian colonies on Mars and in the Sol system and began attacking Bandorian ships on sight. While Bandorian forces were able to land in small numbers on Mars, they could not gain a strategic advantage over the UN ground forces there, which began bombardments of Covenant City and other Bandorian colonies that killed over 100,000 civilians. The civilians tried to defend themselves, but were overwhelmed by superior military technology. While the other Bandorian colonies in Sol were easily retaken by the Protectorate, the Mars colonies could not be reached due to the massive numbers of UN ships in orbit, which added their weapons to the bombardments. Despite this, the Bandorian forces in space continued to press the offensive, constantly raiding UN forces and destroying ships; among the commanders leading these attacks was Xia Shang, a future Supreme Leader of the Protectorate. Eventually the UN and Bandorian commanders reached a ceasefire agreement. After the ceasefire, the Protectorate evacuated all its citizens from its colonies in Sol to avoid further conflicts there. Colonists from other factions, most notably the Asgardian Alliance and the UN, settled there after the Bandorians left. Covenant City became very dangerous, with high rates of crime, and by 4000 it was known as the most dangerous place in human territory. In 3680, citizens of Covenant City led a colonization effort to the New Cov star system (originally known as New Covenant City), which became an almost equally dangerous place.