Galactic Pirates

The Galactic Pirates are a major faction in Naev.

The Facts

Piracy and the Empire

Once the undisputed governmental body in the galaxy, the Empire placed high emphasis on security and stability. Crime, such as it was, found itself contained on the surfaces of individual planets, and even then it was fought with considerable efficiency.

But the Empire is only a shadow of its former self. The cancer that first began to corrupt it following the end of the Golden Age made the mighty arm of Imperial law brittle, and the Incident shattered it. Now, the Empire only manages to maintain law and order within its core systems. The Great Houses look after their own, with varying degrees of success. In the remaining inhabited star systems, there is only that law which the locals enforce on themselves. This has prompted manufacturers of combat ships and space-capable weaponry to move onto the civilian market.

It comes as no surprise that illegal elements have capitalized on these developments.

The Pirate Clans

A Pirate Clan is a collective of organized crime. Each clan is loyal to a Clan Chief, who directs operations to maximize the gains of the clan. Though there is no set system of ranks among the regular pirates, they usually establish some sort of pecking order to put each pirate in their place.

A pirate who belongs to a clan is subject to severe peer pressure and inhibition of personal freedom, but the benefits are worth it. As pirates are outlawed almost everywhere else, their only chance to lay low, sell their loot or buy new supplies is with the clan worlds, and clan worlds are open only to clanspeople. What's more, a Pirate can feel reasonably secure when on a clan world; any pirate who turns on another pirate will be ruthlessly dealt with by the rest of the Clan.

A pirate clan can hardly be called a unity, considering they are bound by fear rather moreso than trust, and this is what prevents the pirates from expanding their territory through the galaxy. But their cohesion nevertheless allows clans to mount a serious fighting force if need be. Clans often have heavily armed combat ships at their disposal, which is one of the reasons why their clan worlds have never been wiped out by the Empire or one of the Great Houses. It will take exceptional effort to end piracy in the galaxy, and even more to unite the pirates under one rule.