Breakers
Breakers are
fugitives that have chosen to ignore the contracts that they consigned
themselves to in a desperate attempt to live a free life. They see themselves
as escaped slaves or justify their actions in light of cruel treatment and misleading
promises, but the corporations paint a much different picture. To them the Contracted are good citizens and the
breakers, criminals.
Corporations have become a law
unto themselves. Lawbreakers therefore are disloyal, the lowest of the low because
they broke contract. There are many ways to break contract, running away is
just the most obvious. Most contracts include provisions and clauses enough to
shift planetary gravity if they were still on paper. To the corporations a
contract is the basis of all civilization. If they neglect to mention that most
contract laborers shipped in from nearby worlds are given the most dangerous
jobs, charged for their space travel and housing, and have next to nothing left
after paying what they owe, it is a Tracted’s
fault for not reading more closely.
The Contracted do have their rebels
and rabble-rousers but the promise of a better life for towing the line is
enough to keep many placated within their own ranks. The Corporations are also
adept at twisting ideas with propaganda. Progenitor Workers, those born and
raised on-world, often get preferential treatment and relatively higher wages. Progens are constantly told that they
could lose their elevated positions to the influx of lower paid workers coming
from abroad. This rivalry helps keep divisions between Drops, or off-world Tracted, and Progens. The Corporations don’t
want the various peons banding together against their masters. Instead the work
crews fight amongst themselves over imaginary differences.
Breaking
your contract by yourself is rarely successful. Enforcers catch them quickly
and drag them back to their positions a little beat up and with a harsher new
contract in place. Contract Breakers band together, pool their skills, and
improve the chances of success before breaking if they have any hope of
success. Having a plan and the respect of the other breakers is a good place to
start. Muscle, medical skills, diplomacy, agility, and sometimes plain old
shifty street smarts are all huge assets. These ragtag groups are equipped with
stolen equipment from their work postings and any items of worth they pick up
along the way. What they lack in equipment and resources they can make up for
with ingenuity and sheer desperation. Most importantly, they have their best
chance at freedom when they rely on each other.
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