Mars: Difference between revisions

|system=[[Sol system]]<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/mars '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Mars'']</ref>

{{Quote|Time on Mars tends to give a man... perspective.|[[Edward Buck]], referring to [[Taylor H. Miles]].<ref>[[Halo 3: ODST ViDoc: Desperate Measures|'''Halo 3: ODST''' ViDoc: ''Desperate Measures'']]</ref>}}

'''Mars''', also known as '''Sol IV''',<ref name="Halo Channel">'''[[Halo Channel]]''': ''Encyclopedia''</ref> known as '''Edom''' in the [[Forerunner]] era,<ref name="Cryptum">'''Halo: Cryptum''', "Chapter 1"</ref> is the fourth planet of the [[Sol system]], and one of four terrestrial worlds. One of the first [[human]] [[Human colonies|interplanetary colonies]],<ref name="enc42">'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 42'' (2011)</ref> Mars is a major industrial center and one of the largest in the Sol system.<ref name="universe"/> Mars is home to the [[UNSC Navy]]'s primary shipyards<ref name="havesmoa">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-have-s-moa '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder: Have S'moa'']</ref> and the [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]s' headquarters in the city of [[Kenosha]], [[Tanais]].<ref name="universe"/>

Following the firing of the [[Halo Array]], an automated [[Juridical]] listening post remained hidden on Mars for over a hundred millennia.<ref name="catalog">[https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2959975_Query--Catalog.aspx#post2959975 '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Query: Catalog'']</ref>

In [[2080]], Mars was the first planet colonized by humanity<ref name="universe"/> in the first wave of [[Human colonies#Interplanetary age|interplanetary colonization]] in the late 21st century.<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 44''</ref> Following its colonization—largely driven by corporations eager to break free from the restrictions of Earth's gravity and international law—Mars quickly became a hub of industry and state-of-the-art scientific research. Advancements were made particularly in the areas of [[nanotechnology|nano-]] and biotechnologies; largely robotics-driven industrial manufacturing and spacecraft construction flourished, the latter most notably in the [[Argyre Planitia]].<ref name="enc42"/> Even before the planet was [[Terraforming|terraformed]], Mars was one of the largest industrial hubs in the [[Sol system]].<ref name="universe"/> With the advances in terraforming technology that accompanied this boom of technological development, Mars was transformed into a planet with near-Earth conditions, becoming home to many.<ref name="enc42"/>

On January 18, [[2524]], a telescope located on or orbiting Mars spotted an anomalous, evidently artificial object while observing the stellar cluster [[Wikipedia:NGC 2244|NGC 2244]]; while unknown to humans at the time, this was actually the Covenant planetoid station ''[[High Charity]]''.<ref>'''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''', ''"A new threat?" image''</ref><ref group="note">NGC 2244 is 5200 light-years away from Sol, meaning that the light from the cluster would have taken 5200 years to reach the telescope. ''High Charity'' was commissioned in [[648 BCE]], which implies that the holy city must have been significantly closer to Sol than NGC 2244, which the telescope was observing. This is also apparent by ''High Charity''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s silhouette being recognizable from the image, as it would otherwise be impossible to discern on the scale involved.</ref>

On [[2526|April 2, 2526]], UNSC forces working with [[ONI]] agents prevented an attack on [[New Harmony (city)|New Harmony]]. Two Insurrectionists, [[Christina Rice]] and [[James McCann]], were disguised as Army specialists and were stealing [[M4093 Hyperion nuclear delivery system|nuclear weapons]] for a possible attack.<ref>'''Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn''', ''Part 1''</ref>

During the Covenant's [[Battle of Earth|assault]] in the Sol system in late [[2552]], Mars was attacked by the Covenant following the arrival of the [[Prophet of Truth|High Prophet of Truth]]'s [[Truth's fleet|fleet]].<ref name="universe"/> Mars was the site of a large-scale engagement called the [[Battle of Mare Erythraeum]], set on the fields of [[Mare Erythraeum]]. There, [[James Ackerson|Colonel James Ackerson]] and his [[UNSC Army]] forces combated against the [[Fleet of Furious Redemption]]'s ground forces, commanded by [[Lepidus|Jiralhanae Chieftain Lepidus]]. The UNSC lost the battle and Ackerson was taken prisoner.<ref>'''[[Halo: Uprising]]''', ''[[Halo: Uprising Issue 1|Issue 1]]''</ref> While the UNSC resistance was crushed, the human population centers on Mars survived the Covenant assault relatively intact.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/humans '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Humans'']</ref> The Martian defense on the planet is credited for delaying Covenant forces from pressing their invasion on Earth.<ref name="universe"/>

After the Human-Covenant War, an ONI surgical and research facility and a [[Spartan|UNSC Spartan]] base were established on Mars, which [[SPARTAN-IV Augmentation Program|augmented]] and housed the [[SPARTAN-IV program|SPARTAN-IV supersoldiers]].<ref>'''Halo: New Blood''', ''Chapter 14''</ref><ref>'''Halo: New Blood''', ''Chapter 18''</ref> As the UNSC continued to rebuild in the years following the war, the orbital shipyards located on and around Mars remained its primary shipyards.<ref name="havesmoa"/>

==Locations==

*[[Wikipedia:Eos Chasma|Eos Chasma]]

**[[Misriah Armory]]

===Forerunner locations===

===Orbital installations===

==Notable residents==

*Terraforming has transformed the surface of Mars from a former barren and uninhabitable environment into an Earth-like world,<ref>'''[[Halo: Arms Race]]'''</ref><ref name="enc294">'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 294''</ref> despite its still having a red-orange color when seen from space in ''Halo: Uprising''. The ''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]'' contradicts this, saying that Mars is now "as blue and green as Earth."

*In an interview with [[Robert McLees (ship designer)|Dr. Robert McLees]], a Marine suggested that [[Wikipedia:Olympus Mons|Olympus Mons]] on Mars has been made suitable for snowboarding.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/projects/halo3/content.aspx?link=h3carbine '''Bungie.net''': ''Type-51 Carbine'']</ref>

File:Nightfall - Eos Chasma.jpg|Eos Chasm, home to a Misriah Armory facility