The Flotilla is made up of thousands of ships and stations that swarm around The Yard, the planet they once called home. Even the elders have forgotten why the war started, or why it ended in such apocalyptic violence, but it is now impossible to sustain life on the surface. Radiation, unnatural weather, and military traps set centuries ago await anyone that leaves their place among the stars and journeys to the warzone below. That doesn’t stop them.

A few have made rudimentary mineral extraction operations elsewhere in the system, but by far the cheapest and easiest way to get new resources is to drop down to the planet and scavenge. Several ships will join together and form scavenger syndicates and work teams to pull the scrap from The Yard, employing defenders, mechanics, and good old junk hunters. Life has been an eternal cycle from the Yard to the Flotilla for countless generations.

Ship to ship combat is seen as not only dishonorable, but foolish. Each ship is ancient, barely operational, and irreplaceable. Every ship that is lost deprives their entire people and all future generations of a place to live. Any Junker that destroys another ship is doomed to a fate worse than death.

While violence is taboo in space, it is enthusiastically embraced once you hit the dirt. Skirmishes, piracy, and standoffs are commonplace, and loot might change hands several times before it manages to break orbit. Occasionally something of high value will be detected on the planet, and usually by multiple ships at the same time. Depending on the size of the haul, dozens of ships might suddenly surge to the surface, racing to claim it with guns blazing.

It is unknown if the Junkers have always had some level of radiation resistance, or if it was a feature that appeared later. In either case, their dark and discolored surface veins seem to get more prominent, and even begin to glow after spending a significant amount of time on the planet. The longest living scavengers and raiders can usually be identified by the thick, nearly black veins covering their faces, glowing brightly in the dark corridors of their ships.

Not every Junker makes a living by fighting over scraps on a long-dead planet, however. Keeping the Flotilla in the sky requires millions of skilled engineers, inventors, and maintenance laborers. Medics, cooks, caretakers, and even dome ship farmers fulfill the needs of the people. All the parts of any healthy society are found crammed into the tiny hallways and ancient promenades of the Flotilla’s quiltwork of orbital homes.

The Junker life is ruled by rust, dust, and jet fuel. Glory might be claiming that big find, helping your family up there in the stars, or your next hot meal. Whether it’s raiders or a busted seal on your ship, you’ll have to fight to keep it.