Marsbase Sara

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Named for and styled after the base of the same name in the original Macross, Marsbase Sara is the only place other than the Gnarlycurl itself (and hence the only fixed location) where you can get things 'waved with the Seibertron type strain of handwavium. (Amongst other things, this strain allows for reliable spaceframes with the narrow pylons favored by the Trekkies.) It's also the place to go if you want robot pilots, but definitely not the place to go if you have ideas of stealing a robot, especially after the Crystal Osaka Incident. The UN Spacy Mars Force, ZION Mobile Infantry, and Brave Knights (who trade off on ATC duty) respond very quickly and notably poorly to joyriders, let alone more serious criminals.

Several pilots from various factions give lessons and a (stylized and ceremonial, for the most part) Upright Mode Special Vehicle Pilot licensing process - essentially a proficiency test in driving a humaniform mecha without destroying the surroundings. Owning a mecha nearly guarantees an automatic pass unless the owner is truly untalented, but the metal card is valid ID in most places that ask for ID at all without requiring their own.

Layout

The original settlement is a bunker-style building with a big bay door that leads down a ramp to the underground mecha bay, with five high-but-not-that-high-ceilinged levels in the center of the wide spiral ramp, numbered from the top down. The new expansion dome only has the surface and one sub-level complete as of 2013, and those have an -EX added to the level number.

Tourism

Aside from the mecha and piloting lessons, there are the usual complement of eateries and tourist ferries to the Pyramids and Great Face, and a nearby outcrop features a "mysterious fist imprint" in the solid stone. Honest tour guides will admit that it's known to have been made by Wave Convoy, rather than being a preexisting feature to be held up as evidence for still-hidden natives, at least after getting a few oohs and ahs.

One noteable restaurant is The White Dragon, a free-standing "open air" establishment located on Level 1-EX (the surface level of the transparent-carbon dome). The White Dragon is a high-quality place with decoration along traditional Chinese lines. The food (both authentic-Chinese and Chinese-diaspora styles) is excellent and the atmosphere generally calm and friendly; even when half the regulars tend to show up in their flight suits for a drink after patrol, it's not too rowdy for a family meal. Karaoke nights are Wednesday and Friday; the rest of the week, music is generally canned and in keeping with the theme. Professional groups, even some of the better known ones, have been known to do weekend shows, and accredited members of the Musician's Aid Society can usually swing a gig for the asking as long as they only expect to be paid from the stage's tip box.

Another is Excelion's High Test Pit Stop on Level 5. Catering to machine or mostly-machine life forms, Excelion's has a wide variety of liquid and solid fuels, as well as biological foods ranging from thin nutrient slurry to (sadly expensive, due to the scarcity of cattle so far from Earth) triple decker cheeeburgers, and lubricants ranging from Heineken mini-keg "borg-size beer" to fish oil to Hephaestan Black 'Wave. It also opens directly off the floor level of the main mecha bay, and has a similarly tall ceiling and mecha "barstool" scissor-lifts adjustable from six to twenty feet high. It looks vaguely like the "cafe" from the first episode of Gunbuster II: Daibuster. The flamboyant proprietor is a high-percentage cyborg who built a cyber-rigged secondary frame for himself styled after the Transformers character from whom he takes his name. The service is in all ways excellent, but regulars tend to be a bit possessive. Completely uncybered/non-pilot patrons who drop by are likely to be considered "wannabes" even if the staff remains just as courteous.