The Martian Colonies
Mars was colonised back in the 2020s and further colonization continued up until after World War 3 with the majority of colonies being relics of bygone countries unifying a singular planetary government in 2041 in order to resist Earth's Imperialistic exercises against it. Democracy was the chosen system of government for this new Planetary administration so that way all of the national colonies could get representation.
After continued skirmishes between non-compliant colonies, regimes were changed and Mars became a Mono-polar world with US Colonies at the top, Russian and Chinese Colonies at their sides and everyone else following along. Even if the British Colonists still occasionally rumble about the Americans being the top dogs. The big 3 Colonies, Apollo One, New Moscow and New Shanghai are the 3 largest Megapolis' on the planet with other colonies not as big but still pretty sizable such as New Yorkshire for the Brits, Normandy for the French and new Valencia for the Spanish as an example.
Most colonies have culturally melded and after long and difficult periods, learned how to work together in order to resist Earthen Oppression and build the colony up despite the lack of Multinational Earthen support outside of SATO itself.
The MDF is a Multinational army between the colonies, it's the only army capable of defying earth and has taken on a fair few operations both on the Martian Surface and Earth itself. They look recognisable but understandably possess a wide variety of different weapons and equipment yet despite that, there is signs of familiarity. The MDF has 1.2 Million Active personnel and anywhere up to 300 spacecraft and many more vehicle assets in its arsenal.
Mars doesn't possess a giant population like Earth and while it is certainly high, it is not ideal for Mars to lose hundreds of people in a combat operation. Instead, its forces are focused on highly skilled well trained Task forces to minimize losses. Instead, they pursue a Minimalist strategy ensuring maximum results for minimal loss. It's quite similar to Old NATO except if NATO had the benefit of having Chinese and Russian Armies involved.
The Diverse set of task forces enables multiple sub-divisions to perform multiple tasks at once, showcasing an impressive skill in cooperation and Coordination. Their entire defence and offensive strategy depend on Good soldiers doing their objectives and a limited but effective range of vehicles and assets to do it with.
The MDF prefers big bulky Pizza shaped ships for raming and huge capacity also keeping a variety of other ship designs in mind rather than sticking to one theme for all situations. These ships normally carry large Plasma Lances and lasers rather than large missiles and guns. This is because the MDF prefers accuracy over all things and energy Lances do not arc, they fade meaning whatever they're shooting at they can reliably predict flight path.
The Missiles they do employ tend to be following the ideal of Saturation, often deployed in the thousands, these Micro ordinances soak targets in damage, softening them up for torpedos or for energy lances. MDF ships often ram enemy ships, engaging in close distances to do so. Meaning their ships are very bulky and not as fast but they hit like trucks and carry enough firepower to turn ships into fireworks displays.
On the Planet of Mars, Millions go on about their lives enjoying Modern Pleasures, comforts and delights without a real clue about the pains people on Earth have to endure. While Earth resembles a nightmarish Dystopian world, Mars resembles a glimpse into the future. Living in these large cities gives you lots of comfort from guaranteed healthcare to welfare systems and a well-functioning well-oiled market system where the common person makes their dreams.
There are problems of course, there is bigotry, hatred, greed, murder, illness and more going on every day but Mars makes a good and decent effort to mitigate these realities in life. Martians know a lot about Human History with well-maintained museums to teach future generations about the legacy of their species. However they don't just protect the old they invent new types of music, instruments, stories, rhymes, catchphrases and oh so much more.
People live their day-to-day lives in a perfectly ordinary way, massive Super Market Chains exist and public transport is wide spread. Martians have a very communal culture about them, operating in large interlinked social groups and have a very defined and proud sense of belonging with each other. While inequality exists, most live in relatively comparable conditions with each other and it's not uncommon to hear the phrase 'Everyone's Got a Purpose'.
Even if you're uneducated the colony won't waste you, they'll try to make every citizen productive at least in some form meaning that homelessness is pretty low for most colonies and crime is on a decline rather than on a Rise like it is back on Earth. Education is pretty widespread with some examples of a lagging education system but these are the growing pains of a more difficult past rather than the foreshadowing of a dark Era.
Most Martians aren't very political due to the high standard of living and relative comfort. This means that Martians don't push for change as much and thus there is a lack of serious Rebel movement on Mars unlike on Earth where there are massive well-armed revolutions bubbling to the surface, barely contained by overwhelming military power. Martians however do have general consensus around an Intervention ethos, most believing that the MDF one day should liberate Earth from tyrannical governments and show Earth the way to prosperity as they have found.
You might be detecting some arrogance by now and you're right. Martians don't recognise it but they almost always treat Earth's people as less educated and intelligent than they are and do have mild tendencies to snobbery and entitlement over Earthlings. That said they are compassionate about them, and genuinely find what they do know about planetside conditions as highly disturbing, enough to inspire generations of young people to sign up for the military, hoping to one day get in on the action.
Martian Media is pretty well regulated by Independent Watchdogs rather than government ones but they're still paid by taxes rather than by traditional corporate profits. This means Martian News generally takes a more realistic and Pragmatic stance rather than a political one due to most New Media being taxpayer funded though bias still exists. In terms of recreational Media, there is still love for the classics but Mars has well and truly moved on.
There are hundreds of giant media brands that have nothing to do with the classics, new movies, shows, books, comics and more dot the Media landscape of Mars. Their culture has moved forwards while Earth's has stagnated. Martians are always dreaming of greater perfection and pursue that perfection relentlessly.
Mars is about 10-5 Years behind in earth in most fields except for space travel and utilization of its resources and communication through space. In terms of civilian tech, Mars while not as cutting edge, does have a far better distribution of technology. You'll notice in the concept pictures that Martian Citizens seem far more augmented than Earthlings. This is thanks to a much better distribution of technology across the classes.
More people have augments and genetic treatments, lowering cancer rates and also significantly lowering the population of cripples on Mars. AI also has more freedom within Mars, with Replicants being a normal everyday integration. They also learned how to help and support imported members of groups like Ultra Mutants or Basilisks. Computing technology is roughly the same as Earth and Understandably Mars has an equal interest in Dark Energy and harnesses it to drastically improve its civilization and get it first before any Fascist power has the chance to beat them to it.
The Martian Economy is a Gift Market Economy, The way that Martian Economists think of business is an investment. A person buys clothes, food, water and whatnot at a cheap expense with the idea that the civilian will go on to contribute to the wider economy. Planning is all about maximizing output without capital necessarily being a consideration outside of measuring GDP and getting a general first impression of Production.
There are many facets of Martian Economic practice that is emblematic of a Market Economy but the purpose is different. Corporations on Mars are all about ensuring they receive the goods they need to sell at a fair and good price to get even more goods. Businesses live and thrive on the welfare of their citizens. In order to discourage profiteering, Corporations pay scalable taxes based on profits that ensure that Corporations care more about their products and services than getting the latest high score on the number chart of profits.
This means that people still trade currency rather than simply taking something and being expected to contribute back like a typical gift economy. Corporations still desire some profits as money is still a lifeblood resource it's just not the only lifeblood resource. Common people normally pay close to value prices for goods, if a soft drink costs 60 cents to make, it's common for that to be sold for a dollar, not two and not 3.
Because Money isn't the only lifeblood, Inflation troubles can be troublesome but it's not the end of the world. The Value of work and contribution can be used to deflate a nominally inflated object. For instance, if food is hard to produce then it's likely those with spare time and resources will grow their own and sell it, organically deflating Supply/Demand Inflation.
Government & Law Enforcement
Mars holds a Democratic system of government but each colony is basically its own nation-state and while there are agreed legal standards such as rights and laws. These national governments vary between Liberal Democracies and Socialist Worker Republics to Constitutional Presidential Republics. They all share a unified legal court named the Ruby Court which handles the major legal affairs of the colonies and moderates each of the governments. When it comes to policing that is basically left to the nation-states with Colonial Police being basically Federal police. Every colony has its own Police forces, Local National Courts and department of foreign affairs to talk with the other colonies. The main method for how the governments interact with each other is diplomacy but there have been small flare-ups of hostility mostly in the early days.Interacting with Interplanetary Elements
Mars has the Outreach Department for interacting with Earth's Governments, including having an embassy from SATO in Apollo One, new Shanghai and New Moscow as some of the big embassies. The only other country to have an embassy is the Neo-American Embassy in Apollo One. It is highly watched and only exists as a way for President House and his administration to contact Martian Governments. Ordinarily, communications between them are about resolving border crises, skirmishes and matters of stolen tech. The other Nations of Earth do no possess embassies on Mars, meaning they're nearly completely cut off from those countries and nor does Mars have an interest in interacting with them.Status of Rights and Perception of the Martian Government
Things were chaotic from the 2020s to the 2040s, infighting, Coup d'états, and greed over essential resources were experienced across the colonies. There have been moments of Great Liberty and great oppression. In the current era of the 2070s, Mars has made a lot of social, Political, Economic and physical progress after a lot of competition and rivalry. Now citizens enjoy a lot of freedoms across the board with parts of Mars still catching up with the rest. A lot of problems that are still ongoing and getting worse on Earth are on their way out with Mars thanks to efficient media controls, and a clear and defined rule book concerning public speech. Concise enforcement against Hate and a lessening problem with corruption. There are still many problems for instance institutions are extremely resistant to change already and thus it slows alterations to policy and government.Military
Budgeting & Army Creation
The MDF has a Budget of 4.34 Billion Redcreds which is comparable to the US Budget back in the 2020s, this Budget is used to make quality over quantity, developing the most effective weapons and vehicles. Creating highly proficient and unique squads rather than spamming certain types of forces and trying to make them do everything. When creating a Task Force, MDF Command designates a selection of roles that the Task Force is to be specialised for and then a portion of the budget is committed to making the task force. At the moment the Colonies have most of their forces in a defensive capacity with offensive Task forces being Special Operations designed for high-risk and covert operations. Defensive Task forces often require heavier armour, heavier vehicles and a generally more static build with QRFs designed to be fast light and quick response. This is so Mars can withstand a long-lasting siege, with so few settlements, every inch of land is like Gold for the Colonial Republic.Roles
The Military is also pretty much the emergency task force, and relief. They handle disasters, do welfare checks and provide security for colony important convoys. As a result, they're not a faction within the colonies only meant for killing but also for protection, support and rescue. For Instance, Military Police Task forces are Mostly non-lethal emergency law enforcement for when a colony falls into chaos. They also serve as Frontline Diplomats, the MDF Peacekeepers are a small but important force designed to put a first strong step forwards with any encounters of unknown factions as such was the case with the Authority when peacekeepers were deployed at the edges of the Solar system to contact the Authority.Ships & Navy Structure
Culture & Common life
Demographics
Mars actually does have immigration, notably from wastelands and SATO rather than the other big countries. Lots of Androids, basilisks and whatnot have ended up coming to Mars and this is due to a general embracing of Immigration as a net positive to society. At the current moment, Martian Population is floating around 5 Billion people which while less than Earth, has enabled Mars to carefully craft its cities and environments for continued growth. Age Demographics are carefully moderated with reactive policies either to promote or discourage childbirth rather than letting the population spiral out of control for the purposes of manpower. There are a lot of ethnicities on Mars at this point with multiple language options being available in school even in colonies like New Shanghai or New Moscow.Technological Level & Development
Economy
Trade Economy
In order to function, Colonies must trade with each other and do so by flying supplies via shuttle craft in suborbital to orbital flight with other forms of transport existing in Bullet Cargo trains. There is a lack of big roads on mars right now so Trucks aren't used between colonies but rather to ship resources within the colony. Colonies don't trade resources for money but resources, often exchanging other resources rather than straight money however it is an option if what you have is inappropriate to what you're trading for.Martian Stock markets
Companies exist and that means their value must be measured and this value can be bought but the key difference between a typical stock market and a Martian one is that ordinary people can buy stocks. Investors come from many forms and organizations from charities to other companies. This buys power in other companies and ensure that the voices on the board aren't only corporate. In past Eras Government insider Trading, stock manipulation and other Hazards were far more commonplace but Stock Law reforms have helped lessen instances of this but it still can be a problem and is usually a big source of corruption, especially within the government."Untoward a Brighter Future!"
5.6 Billion People
GDP
14.2 Billion RedCred
Founding Date
2020s
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Alternative Names
Republic of Mars | The Colonial Republic
Predecessor Organizations
Demonym
Martian
Head of State
Government System
Democracy, Presidential
Power Structure
Transnational government
Economic System
Gift economy
Currency
Red Credit (RedCred)
Location
Official Languages
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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