Interplanetary Relations

Marzion IX is an industrial powerhouse within the Marz Union, itself a premier producer within the Alliance. Basic necessities and raw materials flow out of the planet, from fusible helium and FABREP atmospheres from the gas giant, to heavy metals carved from its core and orbital rings. Such capacity inspires both gratitude and envy, though attitudes differ across the Alliance:

• Earth is often seen to give Marzion worlds the benefit of the doubt due to their track record of safety and obeying Alliance law – but there are tensions, too, stemming from the Marzionite disregard for the environmental consequences of their actions. Nothing worries an Earthling more than an unheeded risk to the balance of a planet.
• Broadly speaking, the scientists of Geostation Kessler love to break things (if they think they can learn something from the process); the people of Marzion IX do not. Despite this difference in basic philosophy, the citizens of both planets find plenty of common ground as regards their work and daily lives – and both populations take pride in being aerial rather than earthbound.
• The Sultonia terraforming project saw much early investment in the form of FABREP systems and raw materials from Marzion IX – a debt that might never be repaid, which chafes the reciprocal impulses of the Sultonians and goes over the heads of the Niners.
• Viront Z85 is Marzion IX’s clearest and oldest rival – the precursors to the former’s modern corporations were in direct competition with the Marz Union for planetary investments, after all. The two planets have specialised as polar opposites: Marzion produces while Viront consumes, or, if you prefer, Marzion extracts while Viront refines.