Mars

Mars, once known as the Red Planet, has long ago shed that name after extensive terraforming efforts have transformed its surface into a lush environment teeming with life. In fact, it is the only other world in the Sol System to undergo enough terraforming to make it comparable to Earth. Its new atomsphere is strong enough to shield the surface from solar radiation and dense with enough oxygen to support life without mechanical assistance. This has led to the formation of many large cities on the surface.

History

Terraforming Event

In early 22nd century, Earth was devastated from the Asio-Opec War. The desire to rebuild re-awakened mankind's desire to explore. Many early manned missions to Mars had failed or been terminated due to costs. New technology, however, emerged from the war, and with this came the ability to terraform a world like Mars. Simple drones, capable of self-replication and programmed for specific tasks, was at the core of the terraforming event. In 2113, 109 drones were launched in intervals of one hour toward the Red Planet.

Some of the drones landed in the polar regions with the goal of melting the icecaps there. This freed carbon dioxide (CO2) trapped in the ice. The build-up of this gas creates a greenhouse effect that gradually raises the surface temperature of the planet. The heat from the greenhouse effect would help melt the icecaps even more. These two processes would contribute to the other: the greenhouse effect raising the temperature which melts the ice, freeing more CO2, and thus raising the greenhouse effect. The effect of these rising gases would cause wind currents to form in the fledging atmosphere.

Later, in 2115, drones were launched carrying bioengineered algae spores capable of flourishing the CO2-rich environment. Many of the spores produced fields of green algae near the polar regions where water was still locked in ice. The presence of the algae absorbs light, heating the surface more and producing significant amounts of oxygen.

In 2116, the final phase of terraforming began. The final wave of drones were sent to construct the earliest Terraforming Engines, called Grav-Plants. These sophisticated factories had the sole purpose of producing nanobots that gradually burrowed their way to the core of Mars where they began reprocessing metals there at a subatomic level - making various forms of Iron more dense. This process raises geothermal activity across the planet, gradually increasing the world's gravity and magnetic fields. The appearance of a magnetosphere begins to shield the planet from solar radiation.

This entire process takes roughly 50 - 60 years. During this time, additional drones are sent with large payloads of more complex plant life bioengineered to convert CO2 to O2 at significantly higher rates than the traditional plant life on Earth. By 2133, a manned mission of 29 astronauts is sent to Mars abroad the massive new spacecraft, Aurora II. Its payload is the core of Calypso Station, the first space station in orbit above Mars. From it, missions are undertaken to correct the degrading orbit of Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, due to the increased gravity of Mars caused by the terraforming.

Early Colonization

Despite the success of Mars' terraforming efforts, there was little interest in widespread colonization of the planet. After several decades since the Asio-Opec War, great strides had been made in reconstruction, and it was corporations, not governments, that adapted and formed a new world economy.

By 2183, however, enough colonists had arrived on Mars to form an outpost, Rio Rygell, in Tempe Terra along the Xanthe Ocean. The outpost quickly became self-sufficient, a necessity since space travel was still an expensive venture. Within 10 years, Rio Rygell had transformed itself into a bustling space port with over 20,000 residents and had successfully transplanted many animal and plant life from Earth. Several other outposts began forming in various areas of Mars' northern hemisphere.

Growth Stunted

Just as Mars' growth began to take off, Earth entered what is now known as the Second Black Plague. In order to save Earth's fledgling colonies on Mars, new regulations were placed on colonists. They would have to undergo extensive screening in order to avoid spreading any contaminants to the new world. Eventually, the costs and waiting period became too much, and all colonization freighters were deactivated. Only a handful of supply freighters were left in service to make the journey to Mars. The supply company, Geneva Interplanetary, became rich with bribes from Earth's wealthiest seeking escape from the escalating plague. Geneva increased its fleet to over 200 spacecraft to accommodate those who could afford the steep price of transit.

Introduction of Clones

With immigration to Mars reduced to a trickle, many cities enacted policies to encourage larger families. Others fought for the use of a new and controversial technology, Genetic Accelerated Cloning (GAC). While first developed during the Asio-Opec War by Chinese scientists to help replace combat troops, the technology had limited success, but was always been opposed by civil rights groups as a inhuman and immoral way to create life.

Despite being officially rejected, many criminal organizations on Mars acquired the technology to create clones accelerated in age to approximately 20. These Gacs, as they were called, were implanted with minimal education and memories that made them inclined to take orders. The technology had its flaws, however. All Gacs were inherently infertile (a fact that, unfortunately, made many female Gacs more suitable as prostitutes). The frequency of terminal birth defects with organs was also quite high - causing many Gacs to die before the age of 30.

The GAC Wars

Petty criminals, with the right facilities to create Gacs, quickly became warlords with a crew of expendable enforcers. Members of the law community were eliminated at an alarming rate, and leaders on Mars could not turn to Earth for aid as it faced its own crisis. Soon, Mars leaders were forced to create their own Gacs to aid in preserving the law, and extensive weapons training became standard imprints on the Gacs during development.

By 2293, the streets of Rio Rygell had become a constant struggle between rival gangs and the law enforcement. Some of the politicians became corrupt, accepting bribes from regional warlords. Other leaders saw the Gacs as a means of achieving their own ambitions for more power. The number of Gacs increased significantly for all parties - similar to arms races of past centuries. The limited weapons facilities on Mars became targets for each side. Soon, Gacs were being armed with less sophisticated weapons such as swords, knives, and simple plasma handguns that could be smuggled from Earth.

Continents and Natural Formations

The surface of Mars is now teeming with life, from the massive forests of Arabia to the bountiful schools of fish in the Xantha Ocean and Hellas Lake. The blue areas, and most of the green areas, are now underwater after the terraforming event.

1. Xanthe Ocean

After the terraforming event, Mars contains only one ocean, known as the Xanthe Ocean. It occupies a majority of the planet's northern hemisphere, and contains a massive glacier icecap at the planet's northern pole. Without any moon of significant mass, like Earth's Luna, the ocean does not have a tidal shift like the many oceans of Earth. This helps it maintain a much calmer surface than those on Earth.

2. Tempe Terra

This region, located in the northern hemisphere bordering the Xanthe Ocean, is one of the most geologically active regions. It is characterized for its lowlands that stretch for thousands of kilometers. The most notable except to this is part of the volcanic Tharsis plateau that this region encompasses. The Tharsis plateau, an area that dominates the equator of Mars, contains some of Sol System's largest volcanos led by Olympus Mons and Tharsis Montes, a range of 3 volcanoes. At a height of 26 km, Olympus Mons far exceeds the height of any other mountain in Sol System.

Rio Rygell

Located in the Marineris Delta where the Valles Marineris River meets the Xanthe Ocean, Rio Rygell has become the capital of Mars and the most populated city, home to over 29 million people.

3. Terra Cimmeria

The Cimmeria region is the largest in the planet's southern highlands. Much of its rocky surface remain under a layer of snow and ice.

4. Terra Meridiani

Meridiani, located in the southern hemisphere of Mars, is a vast plain just west of Cimmeria.

5. Arabia Terra

Arabia Terra is a region located slightly north of the planet's equator and east of the Valles Marineris River Delta. The region's northern border forms a beautiful coast along the Xanthe Ocean.

6. Valles Marineris River

The mighty Valles Marineris River dwarfs all of Earth's rivers at 4,000 km long and 200 km wide. At some points the water is almost 5 km deep. Its outflow feeds Mar's only ocean, Xanthe.

The river is home to the Marineris Max 6k race, a track on the Xifor Series Racing Circuit.

7. Hellas Lake

8. Elysium Mons Island

Similar to Earth's Hawaiian Island chain, Elysium Mons is a volcano that once towered almost 14km above the surrounding plains. Now, after the successful terraforming of Mars, Elysium Mons is an island in the Xanthe Ocean.

9. Argyre Lake