Trans-Martian Railroad

The Trans-Martian Railroad is a great feat of engineering, a railroad that once encircled the equator and spanned the 36th and 324th longitudes to the north and south poles, with smaller lines branching off to ever major Capitolian city. With much of the southern hemisphere claimed by the other corporations or the Dark Legion, the southernmost reaches of the line are no longer operable, but it's still one of the major ways to get around on the red planet.

Trans-Martian Railways, which maintains the lines and operates most of the trains running the rails, has established a line of cheap hotels in every city where the trains stop, ensuring that any travelers on the rails can find a place to stay for as little as 100 crowns a night. The Capitol AFC also maintains numerous railway fortresses that dot the railroad during its treks across contested areas, and these fortresses have been made famous thanks to movies featuring the beleaguered forces of the Freedom Brigades posted to defend these forts from invaders (most often Imperial, but in recent years, against the Dark Legion as well).

Canals

Another major feat of engineering would be the complex network of canals dug across the surface of Mars, reaching from the two poles toward the equator. These canals are, at some points, a mile wide, and have many pumping stations along their length to keep the water flowing. These canals irrigate the land and have a number of locks through which pass various waterborne vessels which use it as a means of travel. During the course of the South Martian Wars, many of the canals were destroyed, and the pumping stations and locks are often military targets. The southern network of canals has been all but destroyed, and Capitol has been unable to rebuild it due to interference from other corporations and the Dark Legion. Thus, the Great Rust Desert, which spans halfway around the equator, has been expanding slowly southward.

The Waterways Department of Capitol is charged with the defense and maintenance of the canals still under Capitolian control, and there is a dedicated law enforcement branch known as the Canal Police, which patrols the canals, assisting travelers in need, watching for drug smugglers, and reporting damage to the maintenance crews ... as well as watching for any activities of rival corporations or the Dark Legion.

Great Rust Desert

The Great Rust Desert spans halfway around the equator of Mars, and is largely uncultivated, save for crater lakes that dot the desert, and form little microecologies of their own. Wandering nomadic tribes cross the desert, roaming from lake to lake, and these tribes are regarded as being especially superstitious and religious, the most notable among them being the Zealots, which prophesy the end of the world. While most of these tribes are human, quite a number are tribes of Dog-Men, and from these tribes are recruited the bulk of Capitol's Dog Soldiers special forces.

Huge sandcrawlers roam the desert, sifting the rusty sand for iron-rich ores, and ferrying them back to the smelting factories in the massive city of Valley Forge. It is rumored that, since the return of the Dark Legion, giant monsters now burrow underneath the sands, capable of coming up to swallow entire sandcrawlers in a single gulp ... and much more so any unwary traveler that might be traversing the sands. The desert nomads claim to be adept at being able to cross the sands without attracting the attentions of these monsters.

San Dorado

San Dorado is the largest city on Mars, and the second-largest city in the solar system (the biggest being Luna City). It is located at the hub of the Trans-Martian Railroad, and this is the center of the Capitolian megacorporation. The Board of Directors meets here to determine the course that Capitol will take, and various landmarks of great symbolic importance to Capitolian society are located here: the Statue of Freedom, for instance, and the great Pyramid Building of the AFC. It is a city of towering starscrapers, sky-sweeping spotlights, monumental statues of Capitolian icons, flashing billboards, flickering neon signs, buzzing gyrojets and airbikes, elevated highways crammed with Capitolian cars, monorail systems, and lots and lots of noise. Underneath the city is the Old City, a network of tunnels built by the original Pioneers on Mars, and here crime runs rampant, with many areas that the police won't even enter. It's a place of glamor and excitement, with a dark, corrupt underbelly.

Kirkwood Bunker

This mountain fortress overlooks San Dorado, and is home to a massive arsenal of missiles and other weapons designed to protect the city of San Dorado from spaceborne attack. It also houses Capitol's Fourth Army, which can be deployed to come to the city's aid in times of riot -- and, theoretically, in the unprecedented event of actual invasion. During times of war, the President is shuttled off to Kirkwood Bunker to take charge of defense from a command center deep within the mountain.

Endless Caverns

The Endless Caverns are a natural marvel that stretch on for hundreds of miles underground, with several openings near San Dorado. Some of these caverns have access to rich mineral deposits and ores. Mishima, having far more experience in subterranean environments than Capitol, has capitalized on this by building the city of Asaka at an access to one of the more rich deposits. Capitol has repeatedly tried to make arrangements to lease the lands to Mishima (and thus get revenue from the mining operations there), but Lord Heiress Mariko maintains that since Mishima is taking all the risks in this venture, it should keep all the gains. This is a source of contention between Mishima and Capitol, but so far has not led to any armed conflict over this particular issue.

Cyberopolis

Cybertronic has built a "city" of geodesic domes and factory complexes not far from San Dorado, on land leased from Capitol. The area is patrolled by an army of Chassuers, Cuirassiers and the dreaded T2000 heavy combat robots, making it a place that no tourist will ever get to see except from a great distance.

Burroughs

Burroughs is home to the AFC's largest military base, and also to the second Cathedral built on Mars, where the Fifth Chronicle -- Algeroth and Demnogonis -- is inscribed upon the walls. Since the return of the Dark Legion, this base has grown considerably in size, serving as the center of Capitol's anti-Dark-Legion operations. There is also a very large presence maintained by the Cartel and the Brotherhood as well.

Freedom Lands

The Freedom Lands take up most of the northern hemisphere, and are an offshoot of Capitolian ideals of liberty and opportunity. These lands are dotted with countless settlements, where various peoples have flocked from around the system. With the exception of worship of the Dark Apostles or the practice of gross violations of others' civil rights, all religions are tolerated here, and various bizarre (and not so bizarre) cults and sects have found homes here, setting up farming communities in these fertile lands. It's also a place where many mutants and social outcasts go to find a new life as well. Except where obvious Dark Legion activity is involved, the Brotherhood agrees to live and let live here, though there are still rumors that circulate of entire towns that have gone over to the Darkness.

Hope

Hope is the capitol of the Freedom Lands, located on a railroad hub, and home to processing plants and slaughter houses that form the heart of Capitol's massive food industry. It's also home to Hope University, the largest academic institution on Mars, and to the prestitious Air Combat Training School, home of Capitol's so-called "Top Gun" program. There are rumors that some day a third Cathedral may be built here in Hope, but so far, such rumors have not been substantiated.

Vega

A large city situated on the edge of Lake Vega in the Freedom Lands, this is a place given over totally to vice and greed. It is best known for its casinos and gambling houses, where are brightly advertised with holographic displays on the outside, and on the inside, no expense is spared in creating the "perfect" environment to part visitors from their cash. Drinks are free to gamblers, food is cheap, there are no clocks on the walls, and artificial daylight ensures that no one should have any cause to think about just how much time they've spent there losing money.

The Brotherhood frowns on the whole operation, but since this is part of the Freedom Lands, it is unable to take any action. All manner of organized crime is involved here, but, oddly enough, this city has the lowest crime rate of any Capitolian city on Mars. This is largely because the "powers that be" in Vega don't wish to scare off potential customers.

Valley Forge

This is the largest city located in the Great Rust Desert, though it's not a very pleasant place to visit, thanks to all the fumes and smoke lingering in the air, with all the ore-processing plants that are based here. This is home to Universal Steel, the largest provider of steel in the solar system.

One monument of note would be the Valley Forge Monument, a steel spire that juts upward into the sky some one thousand feet, built entirely out of scrap taken from the battlefield where Imperial laid siege to the city for over a year. The attack was repelled, in one of Imperial's most devastating failures in pursuit of its policy of armed acquisition, and this monument has become a symbol for Capitol's attempts to repel invaders from its Martian holdings.

Valley of a Thousand Stones

This secluded valley is located right next to the otherwise insignificant settlement of Clarkesburg, and is something of an out-of-the-way tourist attraction. It has approximately one thousand hexagonal pillars scattered about its interior, each pillar face inscribed with alien hieroglyphs. The columns have been dated by scientists as being over five million years old, but there are no other known sites on Mars that attest to any other signs of alien culture (despite claims by some individuals that if the light hits it just right, one of the mountains nearby looks like a human face).

Edison

This city dates back to before the Age of Catastrophe, originally heralded as the "City of the Future", where Capitolian scientists created new inventions and researched new technologies. When mankind's computers turned against him, however, some of Capitol's most brilliant minds turned to despair and then madness, and the city of Edison was destroyed in a great explosion of unknown origin, generally attributed to a group of scientists gone berserk. The city has been diligently scoured by Capitol and other corporations for anything of value, but a shanty town has built up on the edge of the ruins, populated by scavengers and treasure-seekers determined to find some valuable artifacts or ancient technology in the ruins. Every once in a while, someone strikes it lucky and comes out with a valuable find, prompting a flurry of renewed interest that eventually dies down when no further discoveries are forthcoming.

Mount Erebus

Mount Erebus is home to a rare sight: an abandoned Citadel. It was once the base of operations of the Nepharite Malakhai, until it was bombed into rubble. Although the Dark Legion had been driven out, not all traces of the Dark Legion have been eradicated: Mount Erebus itself is carved with the visage of Malakhai's leering face, and all attempts to remove this image -- by bombing, by the Art, and other methods -- have seemed doomed to failure. The Brotherhood maintains a constant guard of Sacred Warriors and troopers here to warn away scavengers and treasure-seekers from the ruins. The leering face can be seen from the nearby stretch of railroad going between San Dorado and Burroughs, though most passengers choose not to look at the strange landmark for more than a few minutes at most.

Southern Freedom Lands

This was the site of the South Martian Wars during the time of the First Corporate Wars. These once fertile lands were fought over by the various corporations, until they were reduced (often by deliberate sabotage) to scrubby lands marked by countless wars. As part of the Treaty of Heimburg, Capitol was forced to cede these lands -- most of the southern hemisphere of Mars -- to anyone who would help rebuild them. Thus, the corporations have set up fortress cities here, following a general policy of outward expansion as the once-wastes are slowly reclaimed, and Capitol has no legal justification in the eyes of the Brotherhood or Cartel for contesting these claims. (That is, this is how it works for most of the corporations, save for Imperial, which, true to its usual methodology, largely just preys upon the holdings of the other corporations whenever an opportunity presents itself.)

Lawrence and the Imperial Mandate

The Imperial Mandate is a large stretch of land ceded to Imperial by Capitol as part of the Treaty of Heimburg. While it was originally thought worthless by Capitol, it has since then proven to be home to one of the richest deposits of ores and gems on all of Mars in a hopelessly ironic twist of fate. Capitol, of course, has been fairly resentful of this, especially given Imperial's general treatment of its end of the peace process in the Treaty of Heimburg, but so far it hasn't seen fit to bomb the capitol city of Lawrence into oblivion and take the lands back. Given an opportunity to do so in a "cost-effective" manner, however, Capitol just might be tempted to throw caution to the wind and take the land back ... but doing so at present would require resources it can't spare, in holding back the Dark Legion. Imperial, for its part, maintains a fortress in the capitol city of Lawrence, and does its best to keep reminding Capitol that to try to take the Imperial Mandate back would be very costly.

Strathgordon

Another major Imperial holding is the fortress of Strathgordon, built on the edge of the Grand Martian Canyon, in the Mariner Mountains. It is built upon several rich gem mines, and is another source of resentment for Capitol, though it is located in the southern hemisphere ceded by the dictates of the Brotherhood. Strathgordon is a major base of the Highlander Clans, who defend it against the nearby Citadel of Absalom that has appeared in recent years. There is an ancient prophesy that says that if Strathgordon falls, doom will befall the Imperial corporation ... and Absalom seems determined to see this prophesy come about, by sending attacks against the fortress on an almost daily basis.

Karkov Retreat

Located atop the collosal Karkov Cliffs and the Silverspray Waterfall at the edge of the Grand Martian Canyon, this Brotherhood monastery is home to the Penitents -- an order of monks who are Brotherhood members that have been disgraced in some way, and here seek to serve penitence by performing the most menial labors that can be prescribed to them, in hopes of gaining absolution and being allowed to return to their calling in the Brotherhood at large.

Hosokawa

Hosokawa is capitol of the Lord Heress Mariko, home to the Palace of the Skies (which is also faithfully replicated in San Dorado, minus the fortifications that surround the original). This is the base of operations for Mishima's holdings on Mars, and is located in the heart of scattered Mishiman settlements. Mariko has worked diligently to rebuild the Capitolian canal system in the southern hemisphere, despite interference from the Dark Legion (and other corporations). Capitol has resented Mariko making herself so "at home" here, and has repeatedly demanded return of control of the canals, but Mishima has invested so much in rebuilding this part of the southern region that this is simply out of the question.

Mundberg

Mundberg is Bauhaus' largest settlement on Mars, and its only real holding of any note. It is located close to the south pole, on a string of seven islands, each one heavily fortified against attack, and protected by the prestigious Order of the Ice Bear. It was once meant to be the anchorhead of Bauhaus' incursion into Martian lands, but the constant conflicts back on Venus have forestalled any such efforts on Bauhaus' part.

Out of general principle, Imperial has made about a half dozen assaults on Mundberg since the return of the Dark Legion, taking advantage of weaknesses in Mundberg's defenses left after the Dark Legion's own assaults. However, despite being cut off from any aid from Venus, Mundberg has so far foiled all such attempts. Still, there's a general belief that Imperial's next offensive could well succeed ... and so Imperial seems to be waiting for the next Dark Legion incursion to "soften up" the Bauhaus defenses, so it can then move in to take the prize.