The Intergalactic Martian Senate

[We are currently rolling out the First Wave of Lore. When updates are made to Lore pages for waves, there will be updates posted!]

Formed as a result of the first Martian War for Independence, The Intergalactic Martian Senate is the second foundational government within the Sol system. Given the status of its birth, the IMS's culture is quite heavily orbiting their own perseverance and tenacity in the face of any adversity. It is curated of many planetary and sector factions under one banner, all seating their own politician's within the Martian senate based in Laika's Rest, the golden jewel of the IMS owned space right on its capital on Mars.

Despite their colourful history with the Trans-Solarian Federation, the two factions maintain a present level of peace throughout most of their space together. Being neighboring planets has its perks and drawbacks, though after the signing of peace between the two superpowers after the war of independence, they exist semi-symbiotically, rivaling each other only with various cultural and political differences, and economical powers. Given their recent hostilities with the TSF, the tensions have never truly felt higher throughout the space the two superpowers share.

The IMS culture is incredibly rooted within it's origin. As a state born from an independence war, there is a strong sense of pride within the citizens of the IMS. The senate itself ensures the states that fall under its flag have their own autonomy even during the discussion and execution of laws throughout the greater space.

Senate Structure

The IMS is a structured senate of smaller federated sectors, and planets, of which all pledge senators and allegiance to the singular flag. This structure dates all the way back to the birth of the IMS, in which the assigned administrators of each settlements on Mars' surface came together to consign their unified goal of peace, and name the first Steward of the IMS. Following that structure over the next two centuries, the IMS founded a more unified senate comprised of each assigned administrator for planets founded in the Martian name, or that which were deemed under IMS space.

Still following it's founded structure, the IMS seat a Steward at the centre of the senate to ensure and keep order within their assemblies, as well as deal with the administrative areas of their owned state. The assigned Steward is done via chance assignment every 10 years, in which Senators may elect themselves to be viable Stewards, and are then drawn from a lot. The title of Steward doesn't hold any power within itself, and when under the rank of Steward, senators are unable to vote or debate internally regarding current affairs, and are solely responsible of ensuring that standing orders and discussion points are made. They are, however, responsible for hosting the vote for the four relative overseers of the Martian Senate - The Civilian General, The Chief Treasurer, The Secretary of Peace and The Director of the Future.

Votes are accepted on a majority approval basis, and in the events of a tie are decided by the member of the cabinet that the debate is related to. Once a new decision is passed in the senate, it is passed as a strong advisory to those within the pledge that they are adhered, and are seen as IMS space law. Whilst each state within the senate may police and uphold whatever it is they wish regardless of the outcome of a senate decision, those that do not adhere to the rulings of the senate lose the support of the cabinet member related to the law they are contesting, and are expected to advise and monitor it themselves. This is to ensure that, regardless of the senate, a state under the IMS banner can be left as, and seen as independent, though the central IMS state still hold their integrity away from independent states.

The Steward

As detailed, the Steward's job is to chair and host Senate meetings. They hold no political weight in the system, and only exist to ensure that all standing orders that are put forward by the four titled members of the cabinet are seen to, debated and voted on. They are often seen as the de-facto 'leader' of the IMS, despite having little power, and sit at the center of the IMS governance in their home sector.

The Civilian General

The Civilian General oversees matters directly relating to civil, constitutional, criminal and employment law. It is their job to ensure that all matters across IMS space are overseen regarding these faculties, and bring those topics of debate forward in front of the senate. They are in charge of development projects throughout IMS space, and oversee planning and bureaucracy on a wide scale. Often looked to as the 'peoples leader' within the Senate, as they represent the civilian life within IMS space.

The Chief Treasurer

The Chief Treasurer oversees matters directly relating to banking, commercial, competition, contract and corporate law. They oversee the IMS's central treasury, often used for senate central investments. They also decide the budget that the senate assigns to each of its states every year, as well as the councilors tax - effectively a tithe that each state pays yearly to the central senate to be apart of it.

The Secretary of Peace

The Secretary of Peace is in charge of overseeing the IMS's military. They're often regarded as the highest within the military hierarchy, and more often than not at the final say on grand moves made by the Senate's military. In terms of budgeting, they are treated as a state of their own, and are assigned a budget from The Chief Treasurer. Beyond commanding, they're job is to ensure the readiness and integrity of the IMS fleet.

The Director of the Future

The Director of the Future upholds the longstanding research ties between the many states within the IMS. They're often tasked with ensuring that the various states are able to uphold a contribution to a galactic wide research initiative that all who work within IMS space in terms of research must adhere to. They also decide the focus of research goals throughout the senate, and push forward these goals through Senate meetings.

Together, alongside the localized state councils, the IMS is governed in a way to ensure that all states amongst it's capture are overseen and lead to a somewhat central standard.

History

Present day

As we see it today, the IMS stands strong as the second largest diplomatic faction in space. Given its pragmatic approach to gaining space and nations, its growth spurs from newly discovered factions signing on under their welcoming guise. In the last 50 years, the Martian culture had shifted to something a little more unsettling. After the unveiling of Olympus Mons to the public, and the usage of it on Pluto, they carry with them the baggage of creating the first planet cracking weapon to ever truly exist, and be used, in known history. Despite this, the Martian people still pride themselves on their independence, and the gilded jewel that is Mars as a planet within the Sol system.

The First Off Planet Settlement

Following Nanotrasen's rise to power on Terra as the majority power supplier for most of the planet, it was the eyes of it's first CEO that turned to the sky and thought of the future. Mars had been mapped and explored in close to it's entirety, and short of having a true planetary settlement, it was for the most part free real estate for any company big enough to get to it first. The only powerhouse truly able to do it, was Nanotrasen and so with approval from the UGT and a contract to found a true settlement on Mars, Nanotrasen alongside an independent space program built and launched what would become Laika's Rest, the first settlement on Mars.

Given it's relatively in-habitability, Laika's Rest was set to be the first of it's kind - a dome city. The original plans were written up by Nanotrasen themselves, a move made in two parts. One was to ensure that whilst the agreement between the company at the UGT was to settle the first off planet settlement, the settlement would still be of NT's design and own private governance - but also to ensure the company had ensured control over exactly what the settlement would be used for. What started as a project to land a place for people to live, slowly became a place for people to work. Laika's Rest was designed with expansion and research in mind. Whilst Mars had been entirely mapped, and explored, there was more about the red planet than met the eye.

Over a number of years, NT made the launch, creation, and settlement of Laika's Rest alongside bringing the first colony ship of five hundred people. The list of selected occupants was closely monitored and curated for a maximum success rate on the colony, alongside a small collection of VIPs that had paid their way into the one-way expedition to settle on Mars. A small, private system of governance was created in which an Administrator from Nanotrasen was assigned to the mayoral duties of the town, and overtime what founded was a small Frontier-esque town housing all of those that had set out on the expedition.

The founding of Laika's Rest was hailed as the greatest Terran success of the 22nd Century, and yet Terra had little control over the settlement itself, Nanotrasen still ensured that the UGT received all it was they wanted from the colony - power production and profit. In the background, Nanotrasen had began their own work on Mars however, and it wasn't long until their work bore fruit with the discovery of Phoron... and the rest is history. The boom of success Laika's Rest saw on Mars allowed its settlements to expand, and for more sites across the Martian surface to be born.

Unification of Settlements

Whilst the war is often attributed to the actual birth of the IMS, the settlements of Mars had begun unionizing to a degree prior to the kick off of the war. Given that all the settlements had been assigned 'Mayors' by NT, the planet-wide governance of Mars was becoming somewhat laborious for the corporate side of the company, especially given that at the time, the company itself was still fighting for relevancy after Electra Dynamics had undercut their Phoron reveal. To combat this, the Mayors began gathering together under a unification to better assist the management of Mars. Alongside this, NT setup a small cabinet and military doctrine on the planet as a way to solidify it's own assets. Towards the last years of Mars before the war hit, it was a considerably bleak place. It had a strong NT Private Military presence, and a lot of the soul that had once been apart of Mars' founding had bled away a little. This unification was supposed to help tie those people back together, but it found itself rudely interrupted when the Terran's turned up on the Martian doorstep hoping to claim the planet back.

The War for Martian Independence

The exact writings of how the war even started are different in every book you read them in. Some histories ensure that it was NT that struck first when the UGT landed on the Martian planet to defend their assets. Other's state that the Terran's fired first on the grounds of claiming their ownership of the planet itself. Regardless of how it started, it was a heavy and brutal combat. The first landers from the UGT were all wiped out with a level of ruthless efficiency by the NT defenders, and over the short time of their first landing party, NT were quick to grow wise to whose these landers really were. The Terran invaders were outfitted with Cybersun equipment, and Phoron-based weaponry, though it wasn't too different to what NT themselves had designed. Despite it all, the first landing party was wiped out and NT emerged victorious - but the war was far from over. What followed was a relatively bloody war, in which NT held down a powerful hold on Mars, under the guise of Laika's Rest being the defendent. Given that technology was far from how we see it today, the followup landing on Mars took a number of months to arrive. In those months, NT had rallied a stronger militia to arm and defend the planet so they were prepared for the second landing. When it hit, what followed was a bloody skirmish that NT and Mars managed to come out atop of, but it was enough of a hit for the governors of Mars to reassess the situation as a whole.

Foundation of the IMS as we know it

Once the second landing party had been wiped out, the unified governors of Mars came together to approach NT with a better soloution to their issue. With the show of strength they had managed together against Terra, the politicians decided to use the momentum to attempt a formal announcement of independence away from Terra, as well as a sue of peace. Given that Martian supporters on Terra, who'd apposed a large amount of this fighting and rallying, where in support of the Martian independence, the governors had the perfect excuse. Whilst NT wasn't entirely sold on the idea, as it would rest control of Mars away from them, the ever deal-centric minds of the corporate board managed to cut a deal with the then first Steward. "Shake their hand on the moon, and make sure they know we flew you there."

(More to be added upon the second wave)

The Second Martian War

It was roughly five centuries of peace before the TSF and the IMS's peace would finally break in the public eyes. The tension had been ever present over the years as they grew alongside each-other, despite their desires to travel in different directions in space. It was the discovery of D3-N Salvation that spurred the second war. What had been surveyed as one of the largest expanses of space just waiting to be colonised, offering a galaxy shattering discovery that was the Noosphere, it was an incredibly lucrative find. Once the TSF had discovered it, moves into it were launched almost immediately, and their colonisation efforts quickly picked up. When the IMS detected these moves, a missive was sent to the TSF's central government on Sol, requesting that they hold back their expansion until the IMS had further surveyed space and laid claim to their discovery, to which the Solarian's responded by executing the emissary. This immediate act of war spurred the IMS to immediately launch efforts to seek redemption for their fallen emissary, and an assault was planned on Earth's soil, yet the Solarians were more prepared this time. It was a very, very short war. In the skies above both Earth and Mars, war waged amongst the stars for the first time between the two factions in almost 500 years. Given the extent of how bloody the war was, the IMS found it fit to try and end it quickly, and as so saw it fit to reveal a hidden weapon they held close to their chest. Alongside Nanotrasen, the IMS had developed a weapon named the 'Olympus Mons' after Mars' largest volcano - an interplanetary rail-gun capable of launching a payload capable of boring a hole through a planet. It was a move of intimidation, one the Martians never aimed to truly use, but in true Solarian resilience the Federation continued fighting despite this weapon.

The TSF fought for the upper hand, and it soon seemed that combined with the Federations might, alongside their powerful technology, that they would win this war and finally lay claim to Mars as their own - and so, in a ditch effort to push the Solarians back, the IMS authorised the firing of Olympus Mons as a show of power. They targeted Pluto, a planet home to the TSF's main listening post and communications array, the very same that allowed them to communicate so easily within deep space. The firing of Olympus Mons was so powerful, it was detected on Earth by amateur astronomers at the time, and was even visible to the naked eye. It caused new fissures to crack along the Martian surface, and slightly destabilised the planet's internal Phoron supplies. Some theorised that firing it would even knock Mars off its Solar orbit, yet another reason that firing it was such a risk, and still they did. The shot connected with Pluto, and was enough to splinter the planet into nothing but dust. Pluto was no more as a body within the Sol system, and in response to the firing, the Solarians quickly backed down and retreated to Earth. It was a total surrender, under the agreement that the IMS would decommission the Olympus Mons weapon and ensure such a powerful and destructive weapon would never be present in the Solar system again.

Peace was signed but 45 years ago, and the war was over. Tensions since then were of a new ilk, one of fear. Where the TSF and the IMS had solidified something of a proud peace, it was the greed of the Solarians mixed with the ruthlessness of the Martians that finally broke that bond, and the two fell silent to each other. Whilst trade, immigration, and a diplomacy were reinstated, there is no hiding from the scar this action had left on the relation between the two factions, and the tarnish that the usage of Olympus Mons had left on the IMS.