Pirates

**Pirates** are an enemy faction within the Lactea region. They are a term used to define the various gangs of criminals that commit attacks on ships or colonies. The current leader of the pirate faction is Blind Jack

## Origins

### Early Days

After the Quantum Thrust Engine became widespread, the human race rapidly became mobilized in space. Quantum Thrust Engines were now placed within all spaceworthy vessels, leading to an trade based economy that relies heavily on imports and exports between the Eight Colonies. Obtaining a ship was easy for most, and due to the early economic success of the new trade systems, many people experienced an increase of wealth. Companies began creating weaponized spaceships, otherwise known as Starfighters, which were available to both the Military and private buyers. Quickly, gangs and criminal organizations began purchasing large amounts of affordable starfighters, effectively forming militias. Many of these militias began attacking and extorting trade routes in order to steal supplies, money, or ships. As they years went by, the Confederacy became less and less effective at dealing with the large numbers of pirate gangs, Piracy was one of the main reasons for the low approval of the Confederate government at the time of the Volk Rebellion.

### Imperial Period

After the successful takeover of Lactea by the Volk Empire, the imperial fleets utilized their new weapon, the Mechamon, to police the space routes. The pirate starfighters were usually no match for even a small group of Mechamon, and the rate of piracy fell drastically. Although the Empire did a good job of reducing the number of pirate gangs, they were unable to fully eradicate piracy from Lactea.

### Lactea Conflict

During the Lactea Conflict, piracy rates were up again, due to the Imperial Fleet having distracted by the Free Colony League's offensive. Imperial resources were poured into areas where the FCL was active, forcing the Empire to withdraw many of their forces from anti-piracy outposts. During the Battle of the White Duke, the Free Colony League captured an entire Mechadex shipment, however the majority of the shipment was lost during the battle. These devices would be captured by pirates and distributed to the various gangs in Lactea. Towards the end of the Lactea Conflict, many of the pirate groups, as well as other criminals were utilizing Mechamon.

## Organization

### One to lead them

Despite seeming like an unorganized rabble of criminals, the pirate faction was somewhat cohesive in terms of organization. They had a governing body that was made up of several pirate leaders and one king. The king was determined by the size and strength of the individual gangs. The King could be challenged at any time by any of the other pirates for the title of Pirate King, although usually the challenger was quickly defeated. The Pirate King has the power to set the rules that which the other pirates are to conduct themselves by, as well as overall goals for the pirates as a whole, but did not directly have control over the other pirate leaders. The leaders then controlled smaller gangs, who in turn were in charge of small squads. due to the set up of the pirate faction, infighting was common as different groups challenged their senior pirate members for better positions. Fighting and betrayal over loot was common as well.