Who's Who on Mars

Governance

Mars Planetary Council

• Role: Supreme planetary governance body. Balances Arcadia vs Elysium interests while directing planetary-scale infrastructure.

• Size: ~5,000 staff, 30 senior councillors.

• Culture: Bureaucratic, political, visionary but cautious.

• Council Chair: Idris Malvek – Grade A1. Known for steadiness, compromise, and consensus-seeking. His critics call him indecisive, but his legitimacy makes or breaks starport projects.

  
  

Arcadia Prime Development Corporation (APDC)

• Size & Activities: Employs ~200,000; manages Arcadia’s domes, canal systems, financial centres, and biotech parks. Invests in tourism, festivals, and space hospitality.

• Culture: Cosmopolitan, flashy, and very Earth-facing. Known for zero-g art sponsorships and canal regattas.

• CEO: Selene Avarin – Former financial magnate from Luna. Charismatic, fond of pageantry, and nicknamed the “Face of Mars”. Her critics say she is too focused on prestige over practicality.

  
  

Elysium Industrial Guilds Consortium (EIGC)

• Size & Activities: Umbrella group for 40+ guild-owned industries; employs ~300,000. Handles superconductors, maglev systems, and ship hulls as well as managing Elysium’s infrastructure and environment

• Culture: Rooted, guild-driven, “blue-collar Mars.” Celebrates solidarity and the dignity of work in cavern festivals.

• CEO (Guildmaster): Taron Veyric – Once a miner, now elected Guildmaster. Stoic, respected, with a pragmatic streak. Known to say, “Steel speaks louder than slogans.”

Starport Management

Sol Gate Authority (Arcadia Prime Starport)

• Size & Activities: 50,000 employees; manages passenger luxury terminals, orbital docks, immigration plazas, and freight depots.

• Culture: Customer-first, luxury-focused, “the red carpet of Mars.” Known for its lavish hotels and concerts.

• CEO: Drisella Korr – A logistics expert turned hospitality mogul. Polished and relentless, she treats Sol Gate like a brand as much as an infrastructure.

  
  

Forge Gate Consortium (Elysium Nexus Starport)

• Size & Activities: 35,000 employees; runs bulk ore loaders, ship drydocks, and heavy cargo terminals.

• Culture: Efficient, no-frills, with guild backing. Slogan: “We move what moves Mars.”

• CEO: Kole Dravik – Former engineer, now executive. Gruff, pragmatic, and distrustful of Arcadian pageantry.

A glimpse of the Martian landscape, full of potential for development

Starport Construction

RedForge Interplanetary Construction (RIC)

• Size & Activities: 120,000 workers across Mars and orbital sites. Built large portions of Forge Gate and Sol Gate. Likely to be prime bidder in any future starport expansion projects on Mars.

• Culture: Engineering pride, motto: “If it can be built, we’ll build it.” Strong ties to both guilds and investors.

  
  

ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilisation) Engineering Firms

CryoCore Systems

• Specialty: Water ice mining, hydrogen/oxygen fuel plants in Arcadia Planitia.

• Size: 20,000 engineers and technicians.

• Culture: Scientific, innovation-focused, proud of being “the veins of Mars.”

  
  

GeoTherm Dynamics

• Specialty: Geothermal energy taps and basalt construction materials, mainly in Elysium Province.

• Size: 25,000 staff.

• Culture: Rugged, field-oriented, known for risky projects deep in lava tubes.

  
  

AeroForge Systems

• Specialty: Atmospheric CO₂ capture, Sabatier fuel reactors, and carbon composite manufacturing.

• Size: 22,000 staff across refining plants, orbital fuel depots, and materials labs.

• Culture: Bold, pioneering, with a unifying ethos — employees call themselves “Airwrights” for “forging fuel from the air.”

  
  

Heliosyne Solar Consortium (HSC)

• Speciality: Renewable Energy – Solar & Solar-Fusion Arrays

• Size & Activities: ~45,000 employees across Mars. Operates concentrated solar farms on the basalt plains of Arcadia Planitia and experimental solar-fusion hybrids. Supplies ~35% of Mars’ planetary grid and provides backup to starport energy systems. Gigantic orbital-reflector assisted solar arrays. Hybrid solar-fusion systems designed to power both megacities and starports.

• Culture: Bright, futuristic, and idealistic. Heliosyne markets itself as “the light of Mars.” They host Sol Festivals timed with peak solar exposure, blending science, culture, and branding.

  
  

Infrastructure

Aegis Habitats Incorporated (AHI)

• Sector: Dome & Subterranean Life-Support Infrastructure

• Size & Activities: ~70,000 staff. Designs and builds domes, lava-tunnel settlements, and pressurised corridors for both Arcadia and Elysium. Major contractor for life-support systems at Forge Gate (lava tube expansion)and Arcadia’s dome integration.

• Specialisation: Structural basalt-glass domes, geothermal heat recycling, and atmospheric stabilisation for enclosed habitats. Their claim to fame is a dome that withstood the “Great Dust Storm of 2179” without a scratch.

• Culture: Conservative, safety-obsessed, and pragmatic. Workers call themselves “Shieldwrights of Mars.” Their branding focuses on resilience and trust.

  
  

Freight

TitanHaul Interplanetary Freight

• Size & Activities: Operates the largest Earth–Mars fleet. Moves ~300M tons annually of cargo, from food to alloys. Owns orbital freight spines and cargo drones.

• Culture: Hard-driving, efficiency-obsessed. Their unofficial motto: “On time or not at all.”

  
  

Martian transportation system

Passenger Transport

Stellar Horizons Passenger Lines (SHPL)

• Size & Activities: 80,000 staff. Runs luxury liners and economy shuttles between Earth, Mars, and Ceres.

• Culture: Customer experience above all, blending Earth luxury with Martian spectacle. Famous for holo-shows during transit.