Terminus Fleet

Debt does not end with death.   The New Economic Block, contrary to popular belief, doesn't believe in waste for waste's own sake. If things must be wasted, they will be wasted properly. Keen eyes, a bright mind, and crushing debt give every person intrinsic worth and a spot on the ledger. For most members of the Block, they are born massively in debt and die owing the state more than just their lives. Most members of the Block are lucky, their 'retirement' funds tallied up against their final death-debt, and if their debt is below a certain amount they are allowed the peace of quickly-administered euthanasia (for a price). About 10% of the population wish to live their lives on their own terms. Perhaps they craved the finer things in life, or perhaps they bet on the wrong horse, or took a risky promotion. They lived their life on their own terms regardless, and now the NEB owns their death.   Just at the moment of brain failure they are stabilized (at great cost). The useless parts of their bodies are discarded, and what remains are installed in sarcophagi or powerful life-support ACEs. Then they are sent to the Terminus Fleet, to work off their astronomical debt in service to the Block.  They are not zombies:  they are living, trapped forever in their ACE bodies, their living impulses overridden by powerful programs.  Each Terminus ACE may slowly, methodically butcher you alive while mentally wailing at the thought.   The Terminus Fleet, the Fleet of the Damned, is primarily run by Blocks, Stocks and Bonds. They guard the far borders of NEB space, sometimes against pirates or neo-humanity but more often against foul aliens. Without the need for petty things like life support or recreational facilities, the Terminus Fleet can theoretically operate for hundreds of years with little need for resupply. Their most powerful ship, the Xanadu, is specifically designed to build and maintain the entirety of the fleet- especially to recoup losses. Just about the only logistical line maintained by the Fleet with the NEB is the steady influx of new debt-recruits.   Rumors have it the Xanadu is controlled by a captured and enslaved AI patterned off of a historical warrior. The NEB simply claim they have the fleet firmly under Corporate control. It has also been rumored that three whole battlegroups of the Terminus Fleet have been routed and captured by the Torque. The NEB rejects these baseless rumors.   Some argue that the Terminus Fleet is a pointless cruelty. The accountants of the Block argue otherwise: the greatest cruelty is writ in red ink on the corporate ledger.