OCEAN OF STORMS 

July 20, 1969: The Apollo 11 Lunar Module guidance system suffers a fatal mishap, and the Eagle impacts on the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin are dead, and Collins returns to Earth in the Command Module.  

October 3, 1969: Alexey Leonev sets the Lunnly Korabi down on Mare Crisium and plants the Soviet flag on the Moon. Footage of the mission is carried live on TV, and the Western world is shocked. 

October 8, 1969: President Robert Kennedy orders NASA to abandon the Moon shot and put all efforts into landing astronauts on Mars. 

April 11, 1972: Viking 3 lander detects strong concentrations of the highly-valuable Rhenium on Mars. Word leaks out, and a full-scale “Gold Rush” on Mars ensues. 

1979: Hundreds of people live and work on the surface of Mars and in orbit. Industrial mining is happening at a dozen sites, Spacecraft make the 11-month trip bringing Rhenium and other minerals back to Earth, and people and supplies to Mars. Landers explore the moons of Mars, and probes investigate the Asteroid Belt. Things are generally peaceful, with mining companies laying down the law more than countries are able. But occasionally flareups happen, and discontent is always brewing under the surface. 

1980: Miscalculations by aggressive US and Soviet generals lead to a limited nuclear exchange before the US President and Soviet Premier can put a stop to them. Tens of millions are dead, and a billion people face starvation after a devastating "nuclear winter”. Supply ships from Earth to Mars dry up almost immediately. 

1985: Those on and near Mars have switched from mining to a subsistence economy, finding their own water and oxygen and growing their own food. Data has become a valuable fourth resource for the colonists. Barter has mostly replaced money, and salvaging and repurposing existing equipment is the order of the day. 

The Mars radiation belt has caused a certain percentage of people to develop various paranormal powers. Most keep it a secret; some use it to their advantage. 

You are the crew of a ship cobbled together from an OTV (Orbital Transfer Vehicle), some external cargo modules, and powered by an old Soviet nuclear core which may or may not be leaking. Your ship is able to travel around Mars orbit to the various space colonies and even to the moons Deimos and Phobos, but not land on the surface. It’s cramped and difficult to run, but it’s yours. 

People refer to you as “scavengers”, but you prefer the loftier title “salvage experts”. Orbital space is a permanent scrap heap for the adventurous to make their barter. You even take the occasional passenger, although that hasn’t always worked out well for some reason. 

Why did you come to Mars? 
What is your specialty? 
What do you dream of? 
What do you need right now? 
How did you last job go? 

Areas on Mars surface: 

Isidis Planatia: Partial underground facility with too many people living there for the resources they have. 

Syrtis Major: They were studying cellular Martian lifeforms when a virus ran through the camp and killed them all. No one goes near. 

Special Robot Traverse Zone: Designed as a human “no-go” zone so semiautonomous heavy industrial robots could do their work unimpeded. Some have developed system bugs, which makes the area dangerous.  

Chryse Planitia: Lots of aqua farmed food has led to corruption here. Trust is low, with retaliatory stabbings and beatings common. 

Oxia Palus: Bit of a survivalists camp, but they will take about anything for scrap and salvage. 

Huo Hsing Vallis quadrangle: They have survived through the efforts of a wily leader who has created a cult following. 

Selected locations in Mars orbit:  

Skylab-M: The official US presence in orbit, with a dozen living modules, light industrial resources and home of the Mars Consul General. One of the only video links to Earth is here. 

Kosmos 997: The official Soviet/Eastern bloc presence in orbit, with living quarters and multiple docking bays. A way station (and spying location) between the surface and orbit. The best data center in orbit, they keep the Kilobits flying, albeit slowly. 

Freeport Phoenix: Closest thing to a “shopping mall” in orbit, with a score of lashed together living modules and empty fuel tanks doubling as storefronts for the various and sundry. A common stop for ships in between orbit and the surface. Freeport runs as a loose collective, but everyone is always looking to make a barter behind their neighbor’s back. A massive solar array powers the thing, but makes for a dicey time getting in and out with your ship. 

Climax-LTV: A mining-defense company still runs this station, and they keep things running pretty close to the old days. Except there are vegetables growing in every extra space in the station now. Here they can not only fix your ship, but even build you a new one. Sort of. 

Croatan (originally Shuguang-1): Abandoned Chinese space station taken over and expanded by anarchist dropouts and criminals from Mars, calling themselves The Believers. They get high on hydroponic weed and homemade psychedelics, but they can come up with about any medicine or weird electronic device you might need. 

Almaz 5 Space Station: Sometime during the nuclear war on Earth, this unmanned station was put into "defence mode", activating its radar-aimed 23mm autocannon. There's bound to be some valuable scrap and data inside, but no one wants to get close enough to find out.  

Eagle 2 (destroyed): Remnants of a U.S. orbital weapons platform that fell victim to a suicide hunter-killer satellite. A very dangerous area to fly around, but the possibility of salvaging that 1-megawatt carbon-dioxide laser... 

Fortesque Collector: Originally an unmanned way station for ore awaiting transport to Earth, it was "adopted" by unemployed miners who rigged up a power unit and some CO2 scrubbers. It's now home to them, and they like it that way. Hard-working and suspicious by nature, they keep tabs on what's happening on the surface.  

Valuables: 

Battered Orlan EVA suit, the left forearm covered with notes written in Cyrillic 
Strobe light goggles for brainwave synchronization 
Old US Air Force flight jacket with an Apollo patch 
Portable Sony cassette player and a box of punk tapes 
Dazzler flashlight running on hard-to-find batteries 
EPROM writer for copying memory chips 
Chinese rebreather bag that “burns” incense for inhaling 
Space Invaders hacked to play on a CRT monitor with a light pen 
Cache of canned peaches in syrup