The Outer Ring

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On the outskirts of the star system of the aleph_cluster, skirting the borders of Red Space and far beyond any of the system's jump gates or regular traffic is the Outer Ring. This place is home to a rag tag motley of near-lawless worlds with no overarching government or oversight, and pirate warlords interested in their own lots.

For as long as the Aleph system has been a nexus for trade, commerce, ideas, and people, it too has been home to an underbelly in the farthest reaches - preying on merchant caravans and lone travellers, or getting on with minding their own business without anybody telling them what to do.

The Outer Ring's population cannot be accurately surveyed, as there's no service or government willing to head in and count everyone's heads. That said, it is possible to find both humans, and aliens local, from the next system over, or from somewhere else entirely. Most of the system's 'permanent' population of outcasts, drifters, miscreants, and rabble rousers live inside of the remnants of asteroid mining space stations. Others prefer to live inside their own spacecraft, hiding away from any potential trouble their neighbours could cause.

Legitimate employment opportunities within the Outer Ring are scarce. Most employment from without involves venturing into unknown parts of the Outer Ring, looking for a supposed treasure, digging up a stash, or finding ancient ruins. Within the system, most employment opportunities boil down to crime and punishment¹⁾. Occasionally, less than ethical corporations recruit their disposable and plausibly deniable wetworkers from these parts, with varying success.