Scrappers are the inhabitants of Earth—those who survived the Starfall events. Bound by survival and anger at being left behind, they fled underground to avoid the lethal effects of Starfall. Most of these groups live in underground shelters that were built during the long period between Mayday Omega's discovery and when it crashed into Earth. The founders of these facilities knew that not everyone would be allowed onto the space stations that were being constructed, so they took matters into their own hands. Though some of these facilities failed, killing the humans within, several did survive the impacts and the difficult conditions since.
Not long after impact, the effects of the Starfall radiation wreaked its havoc, resulting in massive aging of the inhabitants of these structures. Due to the interference from atmospheric disturbances, Scrappers did not have contact with the space stations for the first year and a half. It came as quite a surprise to parties on both ends of the call that the other had survived. There were pleas from the Scrappers to be brought to space to live with the rest of humanity, away from the danger of Starfall, but those pleas have fallen on deaf ears so far.
Excuses of it being too dangerous are often given, when in truth, it's more a question of corporate greed. The total number of Scrapper factions is unknown, as many are secretive. Most Scrappers only live about 30–40 years before dying of the aging effects of Starfall. They are a stern but joyous people who take trading very seriously, as this is how they survive.
However, their celebrations are legendary, reveling in the real value of life because theirs go by so quickly. Parties are known to last days, and even small events such as marriage pairing ceremonies are cause for celebration. Music, in particular, has grown in cultural popularity with the Scrappers, who have created new instruments from humanity's leftovers and written many new songs about their hardships and triumphs.
The Scrappers' main goal is to reverse the effects of Starfall and make Earth's surface safe once again for humanity. For many, the next nearest goal is revenge on the corporate overlords who keep them from joining their brethren in space by controlling all the wealth. The Scrappers deal with the corporations and other factions only because it's required for survival. Scrappers are far and away the masters of mining Starfall, as they are surrounded by it all the time. They use homemade protective suits to mine the material and trade it for other necessities from those in space.
