The Scatter
Overview
“The Scatter” is the informal name for the hundreds of smaller mining platforms, processing facilities, and habitats spread across the asteroid belt beyond the major stations. No single governance, no consistent communication, no coordinated policy – just isolated communities of workers doing dangerous jobs in the dark.
Categories of Scatter Sites
- Company platforms: Corporate-owned extraction sites, typically 20-200 workers
- Independent claims: Small mining operations, 5-50 people
- Processing stations: Ore refinement, often isolated
- Service posts: Repair depots, relay stations, emergency caches
- Grey sites: Illegal salvage operations, unlicensed manufacturing
Population and Scale
The combined Scatter population is roughly 200,000 people distributed across thousands of sites. Some are permanent, most are rotating. Communication between sites is expensive and monitored.
Hazards
The Scatter has the highest death rates in the belt. Safety equipment oversight is at its weakest. Help is always hours or days away. Most “accidents” occur here, and investigations are rare.
For workers, assignment to a Scatter site is either a stepping stone – for those building skills – or a death sentence. For independents, it’s freedom at the cost of security.
History
The Scatter developed as extraction expanded beyond the major asteroid bodies. Corporate platforms established in the 2130s-2150s provided the original infrastructure. Independent operators moved into marginal claims in the 2160s-2170s. The current patchwork reflects decades of unplanned development.
Atmosphere
The defining quality of the Scatter is silence. Millions of kilometers of nothing between you and the next human presence. Equipment sounds are magnified by emptiness: your suit, your platform, nothing else. The darkness between asteroids is particular – stars visible but cold, offering no comfort. When something breaks and help is days away, fear has a taste.
The relief of seeing another light, another signal, another human presence – that never gets old.