A very rare shot of Belter stations backdropped against an unknown nebula. This image states implicitly to everyone that the Belters are focused on not only surviving in the belt. . . but expanding and growing as they see fit. Stay tuned to the DataNet for further data-sifts as we locate further information about the Belters, their possible motives, and plans.
The Belters - a loose collection of independent traders, prospectors, pirates, and privateers - share a common belief: that freedom from tyranny is the right of all humanity. Belters are a rough-hewn, unruly bunch of borderline anarchists. Led by unlikely hero Orion Sholes, the Belters pilot an odd mix of captured and jury-rigged equipment: the "Junkyard Armada."
IDEOLOGY STATEMENT
“Live free or die” sums up the Belter ideology well. They refuse to live their lives on anyone's terms but their own, and will fight to the death to preserve their individuality and freedom. In addition to their rugged individualism, the Belters' primary motivations are survival and personal enrichment.
BACKGROUND
The "Belters" - a catchall nickname for the more-lawless segment of human society - first appeared shortly after the FML uprisings on Mars. FML cells tended to spin off into new splinter groups under the latest political leader to rise in the labor pool; after Martian independence was declared in 2068, these groups merged and split several times.
By 2075, Martian prospectors were plying their trade in the Asteroid Belt, an experiment that paid handsome dividends after the 2079 Belt Conflict. Martian prospectors were indirectly involved in the inter-corporate Belt Conflict, and backed the claim that Earth law did not apply in space (particularly in regard to Free Martians). Free Martians seized a handful of orbital stations in the aftermath of the conflict (claiming "salvage rights.") Although most of the stations were in turn reclaimed by corporate security forces, these squatters were the first named "Belters."
Around the turn of the 21st and 22nd Centuries the number of Belter stations gradually grew, as a wave of new construction led corporations to simply abandon the oldest stations; Martian prospectors and squatters simply moved into the abandoned stations.
In 2113, a deep depression hit Luna as most of the corporate interests that colonized the Moon relocated to the new space platforms. The bulk of the population that relocated were white collar executives, and the wealthy and influential citizens of Luna. This left some blue collar workers and lower management to work the remaining industry (along with prospectors, service workers, con men, criminals and so on). Non-corporate employees had no financial way off the Moon, although the corporations did offer lift-off to contracted employees (said contracts amounting to years of indentured servitude).
Unsurprisingly, the schism between the “have's” and “have not's” led to political agitation and revolution. May 2115 saw the Lunar Declaration of Independence, which was immediately accepted by Mars and ignored by the UN. This was followed by the destruction of Lunar-orbit stations and a dud nuke launch against Earth. Coalition forces responded by attempting a Lunar invasion, which ignited a bloodbath. Taking advantage of Coalition force transfers to Luna, Crimson Shield attacked GigaCorp facilities on Io, and an intercorporate asteroid-hopping war bubbled up in the Belt. A two-year, three-front war raged between Coalition, Lunar, and Corporate forces -- on the Moon, in the Belt, and in the Jovian Moons. The Lunars were aided by Martian partisans, mercenaries, and privateers.
In 2117, the UN recognized the Luna Free State and the Iron Coalition negotiated a peace (which granted Luna sovereign rights over most of the Moon, with the exception of the Free Zones, craters left open to any landers and policed by the Coalition).
Shortly after, Luna and Mars signed mutual defense treaties and started feeding supplies, a trickle of money, and technical assistance to Belt enclaves in exchange for ore and He3. The Belters began small-scale piracy operations in the Belt and along the Mass Conveyor routes, snatching ore in transit and diverting it to Mars or Luna (“mass transit piracy”) or riding asteroids long enough to mine out rich deposits (so-called “vampire piracy”).
Some Belter groups also seeded their corporate and military enemies with short-term and long-term spies, taking advantage of a long standing corporate and Coalition offer to accept contractors willing to sign on for long tours. Some “moles” began feeding information back to their home groups almost immediately, while others worked their way into positions of power in order to launch sabotage programs; some such moles remained inactivate for more than a decade.
In the late 2120s, Martian media pirates began uploading radical political, artistic, information, and entertainment programs, and created the core of what would become a Mars-Luna-Belt media exchange. Early triumphs of the Mars "pirate stations" include an upload of the GigaCorp-Crimson Shield battle over the Solar Aleph, and eventually the Crimson Shield holodata of their initial Aleph probe. Pirate stations also routinely release real-life raiding and combat recordings, which turn out to be very popular. This sort of exposure led many Belters to mount media pods on their ships in hopes of attracting fans and followers.
After the 2140 Earth Disaster, Luna and Mars opened their borders to any Earth refugees and even launched rescue operations, recovering hundreds of survivors. (The corporations rescued thousands more, at a draconian price, typically a lifetime of indentured servitude.) The Disaster left Mars and Luna the primary agricultural suppliers in the System, which gave them tremendous bargaining power, but also made them targets for conquest.
In late 2141, a Belt prospector ship ran the Coalition blockade of the Solar Aleph. The ship claimed to be a Martian government contract prospector, a claim Mars belatedly backed up (establishing Belter Aleph-transit rights). A Lunar ship followed suit in the new year, and both Mars and Luna started issuing Aleph permits to independent prospectors, scouts, traders, and adventurers, a maneuver the Coalition had little choice but to allow or risk a massive famine after the agricombines cut off food shipments. GigaCorp was furious over the newcomers to interstellar travel, decrying the Belters as anarchists, socialists, or libertarians, but, suddenly dependant on Martian food, were also forced to accept the situation. The BIOS consider the Belters genetic flotsam, and are not as dependant on Martian food, but see no way of containing them and are content to let the Belters kill themselves off in space, as the "anarchistic stalegenes are bound to do.”
The opening of interstellar space has created a new phenomenon among Belters: Tycoons. Some Belters have made it back to Solar space with huge fuel loads or ships stuffed with mineral wealth, making them instantly rich. The Tycoons reinvest most of their profits into new expeditions and head out to polish off rich claims or find new deposits, and after a few turnarounds can afford to retire or back others willing to take the risks. Tycoons are a new social group among the Belters and it's hard to say how they will fit in over the long term.
Such an influx of material is a huge headache for GigaCorp, which wants to monopolize mineral markets and control prices. GigaCorp had hoped to eliminate competition with the death of Crimson Group and inevitable absorption of the smaller corporations, but the Belters are used to hanging on by their fingernails, and have dug into GigaCorp's side.
ADDITIONAL INTEL
Politically, Belters are radical. They largely reject corporate life, governmental interference, and any attempt at external control. Social groups are based on genetic and adopted family, making most Belter groups essentially small tribes. To a Belter, everything is personal: relationships, ownership, deals, and debts.
Virtually all Belters live by The Code:
- A distress call must always be answered.
- The strongest claim resides with the man with the most guns. Never jump a claim you can't defend.
- Never renege on a bet or cheat in a deal.
- Always come to the aid of another Belter against the other factions.
- Ownership is 100% of the law: Ownership is based on superior firepower.
INTER-CIV RELATIONS
Belters are in fact not a true political entity, they are a loose collection of political groups, colonies and individuals who band together out of mutual interest. Belters frequently unite to do battle with the other factions. The Belters despise the other factions and consider all of them authoritarian entities out to crush individual liberty.
NOTABLE PERSONALITIES