Death on wheels

This is a short excerpt from my sixth Starshatter book titled Final Liberation. Beware, there be spoilers ahead! @Katsuakira translated this blog in Japanese - you can read it here! 

Mack wasted no time while they were in Japan. The well-known among other “sanctioned criminals” biker, convinced the Kyushu Alliance to join them on Avern’a. The violent street racing group from Japan, was to take on the massive, raving bands of alien thugs on vehicles. These Resuzoku, or “racing tribes” how the Terrans called them, were not a proper SMC but a local gathering of rowdy persons, young men and women who felt about authority the same as their close “cousins”, the space bikers. However, they were a local, modern Japanese cultural phenomena; instead of moving over to the colonies, prowl the Fringe space like The Crows for example, they remained earthbound. Now, he was told, Mack spent a considerable amount of his share of the loot the Dead Comet Legion gave him, to buy and equip these rowdy street racers with various small arms. By the looks of it, Mack not only provided the already decently armed group with automatic weaponry, but also plenty of hand-held anti-material missile launchers and RPG’s.

The resuzoku caused trouble by constantly racing with each other, brawling, property damage, and even road accidents. That gained them ill will and bad “optics” in the eyes of everyday Japanese citizens, who, after that devastating invasion wanted nothing else but peace and quiet. Instead of clamping down on them hard, the local Japanese government made a deal with these anarchists. The resuzoku would be given control of the old, rarely used, rural parts of Japanese road & tunnel network. Since most of the population had long since moved to find employment in the big cities, the government faced the grim prospect of witnessing once prospering village areas turn into deserts. Without traffic, railways and bus lines closed many of their stations, laid off the locals who’d been under their employ for decades. The rural infrastructure was in danger of being conquered by nature – already many small roads were overgrown with vegetation, tunnels and bridges crumbled. Here the resuzoku would move their operation and, instead of causing damage, being an inconvenience in the big cities, they’d have freedom here. They could race each other with impunity there, brawl to death if they wanted to, but in return, the resuzoku were to maintain said roads. This kind of a deal was typical for the frugal, and incredibly prudent Japanese government – not only did the racers have their violent freedom, but since they had to spend money to fix any damage to the roads, said youths had to start businesses or find part-time employment. Ingenious! 

Anit’za poked Mack’s brain for hours in that izakaya, long after the racers had left, his crewmate still explained some of the most intricate details. Since the racers were mostly mechanics by default, a host of vehicle modification & repair shops, roadside restaurants and drive-inns, sprang around the whole length of these rural roads. That in turn energized the local economy, re-vitalizing many of the small, distant farming villages. The farmers could now sell their extra produce feeding the resuzoku, whose presence created more jobs for the locals, some of whom also engaged in rural tourism. Government officials brokered deals between villagers and racers, making sure there was a well-known schedule of all road “activities”. That same deal gave a hefty boost to the tourist industry; not only there were aliens who came to live a life of a Terran farmer, they could securely observe (from a distance of course) the brutal car and bike races. Now, Mack said that after a couple decades of easy living, the resuzoku felt bored, they wanted to do something grand but Earth was too safe for them. 

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To those who still dream of the good old days when science fiction was still fun and not chalk full cancerous SJW crap, I say - give my Starshatter series a chance! They are available on Amazon both in Kindle and paperback format. Those of you who are willing and able, can support me on Patreon or Subscribestar.