Traditional Science Fiction stories will tell you tales of the justified side of things. They'll tell you about the heroes protecting the galaxy, or the young rebels fighting against an unjust government. Traditional Sci-Fi stories stay away from the dark, though. In those stories, yes, things may get grim at times, but it never gets dirty. You don't typically see those paragons of morality getting down and dirt and doing something genuinely wrong. Sci-Fi doesn't let you look into the grimy, festering holes of the scum and villainy in the galaxy, murders and thieves, rapists and drug dealers, or the goddamn insane pigs and vigilantes trying to bring them in. It's a scary world out there, and people will do what they want.

Imagine a world with Space Age Technology. Faster Than Light travel and communications, advancing medical technology, advanced weapons and defensive technology, androids and robots, cybernetic augmentations, and as much as 10% of the population having superpowers passed down from thier advent generations ago. And just imagine, all of those things used for evil. Maniacs with fire powers and a plasma based hand grenade senselessly murdering train fulls of people, or some idiot and his bastard children having a drug trade across the stars. The kidnappers and the corrupt all wallowing in their filth. And that's the world of Underbelly.

So... Anyone interested?

Im interested for sure.

Definitely interested.

Sure, let's see what's up with this.

This looks nice! Interested.

Gonna wait for a few more til I get the OOC up.

I'm up for it, though it's my first foray into roleplaying in over a year.

That said, the question that first comes to my mind is "What is 'evil' here?" Do people use all of their powers for evil because evil is awesome, or are you saying people are generally amoral in their decision-making, and it just looks evil to us?

Do people IC register what they do as evil, even? Or is genocide just your average news story, not worth mourning in the slightest unless you're a psychotic vigilante?

And what's the focus of this? What are the characters we're playing as trying to accomplish, if we're trying to do anything? Truth be told, a single-thread RP is rarely fun for me unless it's got a clear goal for the characters to try to reach, even if it's just a MacGuffin, because it's a reason why protagonists don't just go on their merry way and enjoy their own story completely separately from other characters.

I can get behind this idea, definitely interested.

I'll keep my eye on this. Would like to know more, and yes, you have piqued my interest.

Apologies for such a late response, I've been extremely busy today.

That said, the question that first comes to my mind is "What is 'evil' here?" Do people use all of their powers for evil because evil is awesome, or are you saying people are generally amoral in their decision-making, and it just looks evil to us?

Do people IC register what they do as evil, even? Or is genocide just your average news story, not worth mourning in the slightest unless you're a psychotic vigilante?

Allow me to offer you an analogy- Imagine the worst neighborhood in a city you've ever heard of. Some place plagued with gangs and crime, some place so scary that even the cops don't like thinking about it. The people in it aren't evil for the sake of evil, or necessarily amoral. People do bad things for many reason, be it wanting power or money, greed, revenge, having a bad background, anything.

To answer IC response, once again, return to the analogy of the terrible neighborhood. Imagine that neighborhood, except it expands across a few solar systems. Somewhere, somehow, there will be at least once depraved bastard who thinks genocide is a perfectly moral thing. On the other side of the same coin, there will be those who realize what they do is wrong, but keep doing it anyway out of necessity. As for public response, people generally try to put it out of thier minds. Politicians will make a show out of some kind of effort to improve economy there, or brings jobs and clean up to that sector of the galaxy, when in reality they simply say those things to scrounge of extra votes. There was a time when the place would make the news, but now such terrible things happen so often there, nothing except the most monstrous activities ever make galactic news.

And what's the focus of this? What are the characters we're playing as trying to accomplish, if we're trying to do anything? Truth be told, a single-thread RP is rarely fun for me unless it's got a clear goal for the characters to try to reach, even if it's just a MacGuffin, because it's a reason why protagonists don't just go on their merry way and enjoy their own story completely separately from other characters.

Every character will be advised to have their own goal, but there will be two main plots that will intersect with each other at various points.
The first is the pursuit of the legend of one of the greatest criminals of all time. Their ill gotten gains and the secret of their power are all said to be hidden somewhere in the galaxy, and it's up to the scum of the universe to find it. There will be plenty of back stabs and shootings and a generous amount of homicide and explosions in the hunt for the fabled treasure.
Of course, characters may also choose to pursue an alternate interest, partaking in the crime of the century. A genius man has been going around the seedy part of the galaxy, taking on anyone that will help him in his plan- Stealing everything in the Governments federal reserve, then making off with it through use of the fastest space faring vessel in the Government's hands.

I'm interested.

Interested! Most definitely.

Question: How bad to our characters have to be to survive? Could I get by palming bribes and turning a blind eye to violence, or would I have to indulge in some puppy kicking to get by?

I'd assume honest work is everywhere, but people find it more lucrative to be hooligans. There's no short of someone pissing someone off, so bounty boards would be overflowing; people finding it more worthwhile to attack and rob the weak than going toe to toe with dangerous criminals.
Being the 'good guy' would be mostly thankless in the grand spectrum, but certainly not without its benefits.

Count me in, then. Will people be expected to organize themselves into "teams" on different ships, and compete with one another, then?

This has potential.

Count me in, then. Will people be expected to organize themselves into "teams" on different ships, and compete with one another, then?

Well, your character is expected to do whatever they think is best for them, whether that be organizing themselves onto a team, going it alone, or simply murdering people because why not?

Interested! Most definitely.

Question: How bad to our characters have to be to survive? Could I get by palming bribes and turning a blind eye to violence, or would I have to indulge in some puppy kicking to get by?

Accepting bribes is most definitely okay.

Anyway, OOC should be up sometime either Sunday or Monday. I apologize for how late that is, but this has been a rather busy week for me.

hello am here for show interest

I am very tempted to play either as the head of a mercenary group or a bounty hunter. I guess until the OOC is launched I have plenty of time to think.

Interested. I'm thinking an alien crime boss/drug dealer. Willing to be an antagonist for all you bounty hunter and mercenary scum.