Confederacy of Jacks

To be a jack is to be stuck in a limbo of sorts. They have a fairly broad skill base that takes years to develop, but their knowledge is often too specialized to seek new careers, but not advanced enough to truly let them become an expert. This plight is all according to design, allowing owners to keep labor cheap without having to train new workers as often. With a lack of mobility available, the aristocracy can keep the populace in a rigid hierarchy. But some jacks managed to pull away from society after the Black Fog War. After betrayal from their unions and conscription by the government, these jaded workers had the perfect window of opportunity to disappear from the registers. They let their old identities die, killing debts and obligations (as well as any unsavory personal histories) and reinvented themselves the the post-war chaos.   Trading their skills amongst each other, jacks from different disciplines formed a secret sub-society within the cities. They compete with street gangs for territory, and use their positions in factories to hire on their own members and muscle out rivals. Part way between a gang and a new nation, the Confederacy of Jacks formed in the cracks of society. With their new identities, they infiltrated back into society, taking up positions that would let them steal raw materials and other necessary resources. Now, they take over condemned and abandoned places, rebuilding them as secret pockets of their new society away from the eye of the government.