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The Settlements of Mars
/Main/
New Europa - The virtual capital of the planet, it can be summed up in three words, regulations, corruption and sprawl. The city has long since lost the domes that covered mars, surrounded by gardens and agricultural settlements, it is a battle to keep the city constantly fed, but it is a battle the city is winning. Holding a close connection to the Mars Express spaceport, nothing happens on Mars without someone in Europa knowing about it. Guarded by the "Ares" Battle Group, it is a formidable force in Martian politics.
Liberty One - Money, money, money. This is the battle-hymn of Liberty One. It has many nicknames, among which, tax haven and the land of corporations. The main contender of Europa, it is a virtual extension of the North American Union from Earth, a land where even the police and military are privatized (functions handled by Arcturus Security, based in Fort Redwind).
Yinghuo City - As the other powers, Yinghuo is basically a China-on-Mars, even more so then the others even. Under the close watch of the military in Hong Bao, the state capitalist city serves as a way-point between the Outliers and the center of colonized space. The city, based in a middle of dune, is an oasis, the closely packed population maintains a strong agriculture, enough to feed the outliers as well as their own colony. However the existence of little "heaven" in the south is still seen as a mole on the face of china, which angrily denies its very existence.
Unity City - The Gomorrah of Mars, a city abandoned by the UN administration a long time ago, it has become a haven for all sorts of scum from all over the colonized areas. Its huge dome now slowly withering away as the population is constantly divided between the various criminal gangs. The most powerful of which are now in an open contention for the city, the Red Enyalius Society and National Unity Party, a Martian Nationalist Criminal Syndicate and a Neo-Nazi Movement are locked in a vicious struggle for the city.
Gorchakov Camp - There are two kinds of people in the Gorchakov Camp, Russians and "undesirables". Called the biggest slave camp in the world, by western media, the camp is an enormous, enclosed labor camp, connected to the V.Putin Mine, the biggest mine on Mars. Planned from the start to be a labor camp, guard posts, cameras and automated weapons systems allow for a close monitoring of all individuals in the camp. To give an idea of the meticulous planning of the camp, each of the buildings in it can be sealed off from the others and all the air evacuated instantly, killing any would-be revolutionary before he could even think. It is a stark contrast with the western parts of the camp, which are filled with Russian military and civilian personnel, devoid of all sorts of listing devises, or any threats to their security, they work for the betterment of the All-Russian nation.
Mahd adh Dhahab - The Cradle of Gold, colonized by an insanely rich Emir from the Dubai Compact on earth, it became a haven for Arabs, Persians, Kurds and Turks in the red planet. Initially starting off as a fully pre-planned settlement, with the influx of Arab and various Muslim settlers however, it branched out, with many shantytowns appearing on the sides. Known for its exquisite Medina district unlike anything else on the red planet, and its Peshmerga battalion based out of the small fortress island, it is a weird mix of decay and abundance.
Montanha Vermelha Mandate - The little south america, started off as a side project for the United Nations' Interspace program, which was funded by various third world nations and attempted to open up space for colonization by the less fortunate of the world, it was dropped as the rest of the UN's involvements in space soon after. Left to fund on their own, the south american colonists became a virtual capital of the Outliers.
Victoria Factory District - The biggest factory district on Mars, British citizens, unwelcome in the mother country anymore, find themselves quickly sent here. As the British Federation clamped down on all "un-British" behavior on earth, many Gaels, Celts, Muslims, Hindus and even Catholics found their way to the colony. However, the colony itself lacked the same anti-partisan planning like its Russian counterpart, so a bloody revolution has finally exploded after brewing for a while.
Kieserbach - Kaapland Factory District - The second largest factory district on the red planet, build around the shore and nestled under one of the mountains in the colonized zones, its closeness to Europa has allowed it to prosper. Originally settled by South African colonists of Boer and Afrikaner descent, it has grown in later years to include people of Dutch, Angolese and Zulu descent, even going as far as to house West African escapees. One of the better places for manual labor for black Africans, but still mostly ran by white South Africans.
Puria Mines - The Second largest mine in the colonized areas, originally settled by American settlers from the Quiverfull Christian movement, it grew beyond that to include various other protestant communities. While it did start like that, after finding a vain of silver, the locals stumbled into a silver rush, quickly pushing the fundamentalists on the fridges of the settlement. Nowadays, they are a large and vocal minority, but their power is falling.
Kasei uchū sentā (Martian Space Center) - Japan though its troubles with corporations were behind it, but after the pacific war, the Zaibatsu resurfaced. The keiretsu, or "grouping of enterprises" in translation, well known in Japan since the early 20th centuries, eventually grew back into the well known Zaibatsu system, funded and pushed by both China and the NAU, they turned Japan into a corporate battleground. The Martian Space Center was established by JAXA, with funding by the NAU, however in order to actually arrive on Mars they needed to make a few concessions to the EU. Even with that, initially, pushed by private money the Space center flourished, building the largest water-treatment facilities and water-works on the planet, learning from their experience on earth. But once it became clear that the MSC holds an important resource, the battles were back on, huge Zaibatsu fight over domination of the MSC, backed by the Europa, Liberty One and Yinghou City.
Clearwater City - A large multi-national city, it begun just like the other multi-national agricultural settlements on the edge of Clearwater Lake, but quickly evolved into a center between the settlements and Europa. People from all over the world could be found here, various African ethnicities, many northern Europeans and Russians, British subjects, South American and Indians and much, much more.
New Galilee / Al-Jalil - The first major extra-terrestrial settlement of the United Republic of Israel and Palestine, it is a gathering point for both the best and worst of the United Republic. Structured in the Kibbutz system, it is spread out along a lot of land in the north, but actually sparsely settled and loosely held. The symbiotic relationship found between the Palestinians and the Israelis however was not liked by many, with Islamic fundamentalists who were found on Mars not liking the idea of a joint Jewish-Muslim settlement. In response, the Martian Mujahidin declared a holy war against the colony, and soon the mountainous region of New Galilee was a virtual battleground.
the Market - A multi-national settlement, the Market started off as a small agricultural settlement in the middle of nowhere, but soon enough, sitting in a cross road between Europa, Puria, Kaapland and the Solaris plant, the Market grew into a large gathering point for merchants from said settlements.
Lyon-sur-Mars - A town of electricians and scientists, Lyon-sur-Mars was built up by Europa to ensure their domination over the Solaris Power Plant, as it was filled with French and German Euroloyalists. However, soon afterwords, many Chinese begun to settle and the city is now pretty evenly divided, making the European hold on Solaris tenuous at best.
New Bengaluru - New Bengaluru is one of the fewer religious based settlements on Mars, that don't suffer from sporadic attacks. Originally started off as a few domed-off Hindu Monasteries on mars, the idea spread around and Buddhists and various other Asian religions also moved to it. By now, even though it is ethnically majority Indian, it is religiously majority Buddhist, due to the mass emigration of Tibetians.
Anga Colony - The East African Federation's own little attempt at colonization, tucked away on the other side of the New-Jordan canal, it is populated by all sorts of groups found within EAF's territories. It came to the international spotlight after continuously helping the Illegal settlements in exchange for goods and services.
SpaceX Martian HQ - A large compound, but sparsely populated, it is basically a massive research station and a store-room for SpaceX's operations in Mars. SpaceX however are not very open about what they are working on in the inside, and their refusal to share resources with the nearby Australian colony is drawing skepticism.
Hotsprings city - Another multi-ethnic settlment on mars, it started off as a settlement of groups of prospectors, who settled along the geysers in the area. In time it grew into a major tourist destination, which is pretty much its status nowadays, a major tourist destination with a lot of hotels found all over the place.
New Bogong - Nestled deep in the New Bogong Mountains, the New Bogong colony is a roughneck mining community, build by Australia as their only settlement on Mars, they managed to tap a vein and have been exploiting it relentlessly for many years now. However the people of Bagong are not an easy bunch, living in the harsh mountains they survive on what little farming the area allows. Recently they were involved in a scandal, when SpaceX refused to allow a water convoy to pass through.
Heaven - Tiny heaven leaves a big shadow, after Korea was occupied by the Chinese completely, the Korean government was searching for a new home. Running from country to country, eventually the Government-in-Exile found a new home, the Red Planet. A source of contention between China, the EU and the Nordic Union on Mars, the city itself is guarded by the Nordic Union's Peacekeepers in Fort Vanern and the EU Battle-group, which has allowed it to survive for so long.
Settlement of Chirst- As with other fundamentalists, many Fundamentalist Christians moved to Mars, many seeking to start a new society. They have settled out in the wastes so nobody knows much about them outside of the occasional trader who would come visit the marketplaces down south. What is known is that they survive as a virtual Sparta, where all men and woman are expected to fight for their independence.
Fort Vanern- Once a Nordic research station, it was one of the first settlements on Mars, when the water levels increased and the Mariner Valley filled up, the Vanern lake slowly begun to fill up. Determined not to lose the station that has been of utmost importance to the Nordic Union, the fort was elevated along with the water, on massive pillars to hold it up. Nowadays it is mostly staffed with Nordic Union peacekeepers and a few scientists, as most of the Nordic Population is settled along the many towns on settled space.
/Others/
Various Agricultural Settlements - The life and breath of mars, these settlments cover large swaths of farmland and are populated by people from all over the world, they are what produces all the food for the major settlements.
The Outliers - By divine luck or bad planning, these settlements found themselves on the fringe of human civilization, not due to lack of wish to expand further or anything, but because of the Dusters, who raid, kill, murder and rape their way in every season.
