Faction:Pirates - Revision history

swright at 16:21, 21 December 2007

2007-12-21T16:21:29Z

swright: /* Sundry Pirate Origins */

2007-12-21T16:19:21Z

‎Sundry Pirate Origins

Erk: /* Pirates */

2007-12-21T05:50:50Z

‎Pirates

Erk: Done the main part.

2007-12-21T05:49:54Z

Done the main part.

Erk: /* Various Pirate Origins */

2007-12-21T05:30:27Z

‎Various Pirate Origins

Erk: Lots of touchups, more to come

2007-12-21T05:28:53Z

Lots of touchups, more to come

Show changes

Ctv: First draft, needs to be proofed and edited for hyperlinking to other relevant wiki pages

2007-03-05T19:51:36Z

First draft, needs to be proofed and edited for hyperlinking to other relevant wiki pages

Show changes

Salvager Aeron: /* Pirate Factions */

2007-01-03T03:08:40Z

‎Pirate Factions

Salvager Aeron: /* Pirate Factions */

2006-12-20T07:58:41Z

‎Pirate Factions

kbi at 07:03, 14 August 2005

2005-08-14T07:03:25Z

New page

{{parent_link|parent=[[Factions]]}}
----
__NOTOC__
==Pirate Factions==
{{Faction Datasheet|
|name=Pirate Factions
|species=''fixme''
|homeworld=''fixme''
|capital=''fixme''
}}
''Need desc. Do all pirates belong to humanity? Is it a human meme? What are the different pirate groups?'' {{Fixme}}

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The history of many of the pirates seen in the UTCS era is closely tied to the history of the [[Terminology:Sundered|Sundered]] and the fates of numerous fallen and less prosperous civilizations. Roughly classed, there are three tiers of groups generally deemed pirates.
 *  '''''Organised'' Criminal Enterprise''':  Organized crime is generally only somewhat organized and somewhat about crime. These groups include such as House Blythe and the Tribe of Eliana, described later in this article.
-* '''Opportunists''': The socially or economically downtrodden, most numerous of the pirate groups, enter piracy for a number of reasons. Some seek  to leech from the more wealthy. Others are willing to be used as pawns or intermediaries by groups looking for some level of deniability. Pirates in this class often come from or are funded by such powers as [[Faction:Leage_of_Independant_Human_Worlds|LIHW]] or [[Faction:Forsaken|Forsaken]] worlds, or indirectly from the organised crime syndicates.
+* '''Opportunists''': The socially or economically downtrodden, most numerous of the pirate groups, enter piracy for a number of reasons. Some seek  to leech from the more wealthy. Others are willing to be used as pawns or intermediaries by groups looking for some level of deniability. Pirates in this class often come from or are funded by such powers as [[Faction:League of Independant Human Worlds|LIHW]] or [[Faction:Forsaken|Forsaken]] worlds, or indirectly from the organised crime syndicates.
 * '''Neo-Barbarians''': [[terminology:Sundered|Neo-Barbarians]] who’ve been given or sold spacecraft - usually through less than above-board transactions - often become pirates.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The history of many of the pirates seen in the UTCS era is closely tied to the history of the [[Terminology:Sundered|Sundered]] and the fates of numerous fallen and less prosperous civilizations. Roughly classed, there are three tiers of groups generally deemed pirates.
 *  '''''Organised'' Criminal Enterprise''':  Organized crime is generally only somewhat organized and somewhat about crime. These groups include such as House Blythe and the Tribe of Eliana, described later in this article.
-* '''Opportunists''': The socially or economically downtrodden, most numerous of the pirate groups, enter piracy for a number of reasons. Some seek  to leech from the more wealthy. Others are willing to be used as pawns or intermediaries by groups looking for some level of deniability. Pirates in this class often come from or are funded by such powers as [[Faction:Leage of Independant Human Worlds|LIHW]] or [[Faction:Forsaken|Forsaken]] worlds, or indirectly from the organised crime syndicates.
+* '''Opportunists''': The socially or economically downtrodden, most numerous of the pirate groups, enter piracy for a number of reasons. Some seek  to leech from the more wealthy. Others are willing to be used as pawns or intermediaries by groups looking for some level of deniability. Pirates in this class often come from or are funded by such powers as [[Faction:Leage_of_Independant_Human_Worlds|LIHW]] or [[Faction:Forsaken|Forsaken]] worlds, or indirectly from the organised crime syndicates.
 * '''Neo-Barbarians''': [[terminology:Sundered|Neo-Barbarians]] who’ve been given or sold spacecraft - usually through less than above-board transactions - often become pirates.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 =Pirates=
-Space is a big place. Long-distance shipping and trade is a necessity for survival and a source of great wealth; however, the vast scale of the coldest sea makes it impossible to maintain constant protection of the shipping lanes. Pirates are the opportunists that have developed to take advantage of the great unpoliced divide, preying on merchants and stealing their cargo. Though a ragtag band in general, there are factions and organisations of varying coherency within pirate culture.
+Space is a big place. Long-distance shipping and trade is a necessity for survival and a source of great wealth; however, the vast scale of the coldest sea makes it impossible to maintain constant protection of the shipping lanes. Pirates are, as a rule of thumb, the opportunists that have developed to take advantage of the great unpoliced divide, preying on merchants and stealing their [[cargo]]. Though a ragtag band in general, there are factions and organisations of varying coherency within pirate culture.
 ==Sundry Pirate Origins==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 Space is a big place. Long-distance shipping and trade is a necessity for survival and a source of great wealth; however, the vast scale of the coldest sea makes it impossible to maintain constant protection of the shipping lanes. Pirates are the opportunists that have developed to take advantage of the great unpoliced divide, preying on merchants and stealing their cargo. Though a ragtag band in general, there are factions and organisations of varying coherency within pirate culture.
-=Sundry Pirate Origins=
+==Sundry Pirate Origins==
 The history of many of the pirates seen in the UTCS era is closely tied to the history of the [[Terminology:Sundered|Sundered]] and the fates of numerous fallen and less prosperous civilizations. Roughly classed, there are three tiers of groups generally deemed pirates.
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 Along with the arms dealers of Tribe of Eliana, House Blythe is considered to be one of the most respectable of the criminal groups operating within human space, with a public face, a reputation for honesty in deals that it makes (albeit a keen, hungry, and ruthless eye for advantage in anything not covered by agreement), and an avoidance of more objectionable forms of illicit activities. Their good reputation stems in part from their belief that they are far superior to any common pirates – that they are a civilized organization that happens to operate under their own code of laws, and not those of the [[Faction:Confederation of Inhabited Worlds|Confederation]].
-==The Tribe of Eliana==
+===The Tribe of Eliana===
-An odd tale to be sure – the tribe of Eliana is so called because every member of the group is a clone of the sole survivor, the eponymous Eliana, of an otherwise failed colony. Their homeworld rendered uninhabitable by the internal conflicts that broke out during the nano-plague, the Elianas took up sparse residence on the other worlds, moons, and worldlets of their system. While there had been significant orbital infrastructure surrounding their colony, produced on grand scale before the nano-plague, much of it had been damaged or destroyed. Significant portions of the Elianas’ efforts for several generations focused entirely upon salvage operations performed on the remnants of the orbital infrastructure so that items of value could be retrieved before the chunks in question decayed in orbit and burned up in the atmosphere. Their salvage expertise would eventually become their trademark, as their post FTL acquisition undertakings were primarily of the salvage variety. They became involved in many Ancient artifact hunts, but became truly notorious for their “valkyrie” role in stripping wrecks of all valuable systems and subunits. Their criminal tinge comes from their willingness to sell what was formerly anyone’s to whomsoever is willing to pay for it (species notwithstanding), whether it be insured cargo or military grade weaponry. It is the weaponry trade that has proved to be the most profitable for the impoverished Elianas, with many disreputable groups finding them the only, if very expensive, potential suppliers of arms generally not available to civilians. Policing of the Elianas have proved of limited utility, as, while deals may be brokered in their home system, such deals are made by individuals, not the government of the Elianas, so responsibility is more difficult to sanction in accordance with the gravity of offense. Moreover, while the deals may or may not take place in their home system, the actual transfer of goods rarely does, so concentrating efforts at policing the home system of the Elianas (though not originally known as such, the Elianas came to call it Gehenna, but, as there already existed another system of that name in Confederation, the official name became Yesteryear) has not proved remarkably fruitful.
+An odd tale to be sure – the Tribe of Eliana is so called because every member of the group is a clone of the sole survivor, the eponymous Eliana, of an otherwise failed colony. Their homeworld rendered uninhabitable by the internal conflicts that broke out during the [[Terminology:Nano-Plague|nano-plague]], the Elianas took up sparse residence on the other worlds, moons, and worldlets of their system. While there had been significant orbital infrastructure surrounding their colony, produced on grand scale before the nano-plague, much of it had been damaged or destroyed. Significant portions of the Elianas’ efforts for several generations focused entirely upon salvage operations performed on the remnants of the orbital infrastructure so that items of value could be retrieved before the chunks in question decayed in orbit and burned up in the atmosphere.
-Elianas outside of Yesteryear often have a quasi-nomadic existence, moving from salvage operation to artifact dig to mining operation, etc. There are no permenant Elianas settlements larger than outposts outside of Yesteryear. However, there are a number of Elianas outposts in otherwise lawless or unpatrolled systems, as local aggressive groups tend to leave them alone, as they are often a source of business partners for either the acquisition of, or disposal of, goods of questionably transferred ownership. The Elianas themselves, however, are not generally considered dangerous unless provoked or interrupted, and the Elianas’ government receives such a substancial portion of its revenue from kickbacks and taxation of questionable earnings that it has no practical choice but to decline to enforce all aspects of LIHW law on its citizens. Such enforcement would be all the more difficult due to the culture of sisterhood which defines their unique existence.
+Their salvage expertise would eventually become their trademark, as their post-[[Terminology:Jump|FTL]] acquisition undertakings were primarily of the salvage variety. They became involved in many [[Species:Ancients|Ancient]] [[Cargo:Ancient Artifacts|artifact]] hunts, but became truly notorious for their “valkyrie” role in stripping wrecks of all valuable systems and subunits. Their criminal tinge comes from their willingness to sell what was formerly anyone’s to whomsoever is willing to pay for it (species notwithstanding), whether it be insured cargo or military grade [[Weapons|weaponry]]. It is the weaponry trade that has proved to be the most profitable for the impoverished Elianas, with many disreputable groups finding them the only, if very expensive, potential suppliers of arms generally not available to civilians.
 ==The Order of the Dynast Shrub==
-The origins of the name of this group are lost to history but generally believed to stem from a mistranslation of some older parable or idiom. Starting out as a local family of robber-barons expanding from a business selling fusionable fuels and antimatter to passing starships, upon expanding outward from their home system, one branch of the family took to collaborating with elements of various criminal organizations with roots centuries old. The influx of new blood and even murkier ethics moved the investment strategies out of fuels and into the sorts of operations that wouldn’t put them into direct competition with House Blythe or the CMT – namely, operations considered too disreputable for the merely greedy, such as human slavery, vendetta by proxy, kidnapping, etc. The Order thus overlaps the first and second tiers of pirates, being at heart a group of violent thugs, but being in practice a group of very wealthy thugs hiding behind their shell corporations. The Order is known to have engaged in gang-wars with other smaller criminal enterprises, absorbing them, or making them its vassals. Thus, the Order, along with subordinate groups, though it is internally fragmented, through luck and sheer callous brutality, has become one of the larger and more powerful criminal enterprises in humans space, large enough to negotiate with the Ulnish pirate cartels for “gentlemen’s agreements” as to what constitutes “invasions of territory.”
+The origins of the name of this group are lost to history but generally believed to stem from a mistranslation of some older parable or idiom. They started out as a local family of robber-barons expanding from a business selling fusionable fuels and antimatter to passing starships. Upon expanding outward from their home system, one branch of the family took to collaborating with elements of various criminal organizations with centuries-old roots. The influx of new blood and even murkier ethics moved the investment strategies out of fuels and into the sorts of operations that wouldn’t put them into direct competition with House Blythe or the [[Terminology:Cherryh Mercantile Trust|CMT]] – namely, operations considered too disreputable for the merely greedy, such as human slavery, vendetta by proxy, kidnapping, and more.
 ==Uln Pirate Cartels==
 Though there are several of them, they are loosly organized and fight internally more as violent siblings than as bitter rivals, coming to actual exchanges of fire only when major assumptions need to be revisited or on the demise of a powerful leader. They can thus be treated as one entity, as they will consider the actions of any outsider in similar fashion even if the actions did not take place in their particular territory.
-The Uln pirate cartels are part and parcel of Uln culture. Uln culture expects corruption. It is deemed natural and appropriate that laws will be circumvented, and a sign of personal power that one is in a position to do so without being punished. The Uln pirate cartels intermix their shipping with that of the Ulnish merchants trading with all of their allies as well as within the Uln borders themselves. Membership in merchant or pirate groups is fluid, and the same Uln may pass back and forth easily between the low ranks of both groups, albeit the loyalty required for the nepotistic cronyism inherent in Uln leadership succession requires few such flip-flops if one wishes to advance. Be that as it may, the fluid low-level membership makes interdicting “known” members of the pirate cartels at the border nearly impossible without squeezing trade to a standstill – which none of the major powers is willing to do, as it would prelude their access to the Ancient artifacts on the Uln homeworld.
+The [[Species:Uln|Uln]] pirate cartels are part and parcel of [[Faction:Uln|Uln culture]]: Uln culture expects corruption. It is deemed natural and appropriate that laws will be circumvented, and a sign of personal power that one is in a position to do so without being punished. The Uln pirate cartels intermix their shipping with that of the Ulnish merchants, trading with all of their allies as well as within the Uln borders themselves. Membership in merchant or pirate groups is fluid, and the same Uln may pass back and forth easily between the low ranks of both groups, albeit the loyalty required for the nepotistic cronyism inherent in Uln leadership succession requires few such flip-flops if one wishes to advance. Be that as it may, the fluid low-level membership makes interdicting “known” members of the pirate cartels at the border nearly impossible without squeezing trade to a standstill – which none of the major powers is willing to do, as it would prelude their access to the [[cargo:Ancient Artifacts|Ancient artifacts]] on the Uln homeworld.
-Oddly enough, those at the most risk of Uln pirate attack are those seeking to trade with the Uln, as the Cartels believe they have been disrespected and slighted of their traditional cut of commerce by the arrangements made between non-Uln traders and the Ingatwa and ranks of royals. Fortunately, if they are particularly well armed for a pirate group, they are not, in the grand scheme of things, a decided menace outside the Uln borders, as they are generally outmatched by Confederation, Aeran, or Rlaan responses. The Ulnish Cartels have proved more problematic for the less well-off Shmrn, but remain an aggravation and annoyance rather than a threat.
+Oddly enough, those at the most risk of Uln pirate attack are those seeking to trade with the Uln, as the Cartels believe they have been disrespected and slighted of their traditional cut of commerce by the arrangements made between non-Uln traders and the Ingatwa and ranks of royals. Fortunately, if they are particularly well armed for a pirate group, they are not, in the grand scheme of things, a decided menace outside the Uln borders, as they are generally outmatched by [[Faction:Confederation of Inhabited Worlds|Confederation]], [[Faction:Aeran|Aeran]], or [[Faction:Rlaan|Rlaan]] responses. The Ulnish Cartels have proved more problematic for the less well-off [[Faction:Shmrn|Shmrn]], but remain an aggravation and annoyance rather than a threat.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 Space is a big place. Long-distance shipping and trade is a necessity for survival and a source of great wealth; however, the vast scale of the coldest sea makes it impossible to maintain constant protection of the shipping lanes. Pirates are the opportunists that have developed to take advantage of the great unpoliced divide, preying on merchants and stealing their cargo. Though a ragtag band in general, there are factions and organisations of varying coherency within pirate culture.
-=Various Pirate Origins=
+=Sundry Pirate Origins=
 The history of many of the pirates seen in the UTCS era is closely tied to the history of the [[Terminology:Sundered|Sundered]] and the fates of numerous fallen and less prosperous civilizations. Roughly classed, there are three tiers of groups generally deemed pirates.
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 Though not technically pirates, a fourth grouping should be mentioned: the so-called "kleptocracies". In these degenerate governments, corruption, bribery and extortion are so normal that effective highway robbery by the local police or military forces is commonplace. While the actions of these governments are sometimes clearly acts of piracy, they would assuredly bristle at being called pirates.
 First tier Organised crime syndicates are both the least and most dangerous, as they are uninterested in random acts of violence – just economic gain – and their visible position requires some modicum of discretion. They are arms dealers, loan sharks, extortionists, traffickers in forbidden goods, and not above killing the odd fellow, but only if he’s proven bad for business.  They are, most importantly, reasonable in that they can be dealt with via credits more often than guns. When crossed, however, their resources tend to be the most extensive and widespread of the pirates, giving them the potential to be extraordinarily deadly and relentless.
 Second tier opportunists, seeking to profit from theft, destruction, or illegal activities, are local phenomena, cropping up in places of poverty or insufficient oversight. They are generally the most well-to-do of some system or systems’ gangs, rich enough to outfit themselves with spacecraft in the first place, but insufficiently wealthy or powerful to become organized competitors to the first tier. They thrive in systems welcoming, tolerant, or impotent to act concerning their presence.
@@ Line 28: / Line 30: @@
 Less benign are the true pirate groups operating out of [[Faction:League of Independant Human Worlds|LIHW]] worlds; pirates are rarely based anywhere else, the major powers being rather better at scrubbing bases of operation out of their own systems, but with FTL capability may be found far from their home systems.
 Finally and much more rare, there are the so-called "Neo-Barbarian" groups. Most of these groups have more in common with organised crime syndicates than with opportunistic pirates, though their origin as [[Terminology:Sundered|Sundered colonies]] tends to limit their range to areas much closer to [[Terminology:Sol|Sol]] sector. Neo-Barbs are frequently the most unpleasant of pirate encounters, as they are generally more interested in acquiring one’s ship than one’s cargo.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:08, 3 January 2007
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	That's all for now, please correct any variances with the storyline.		That's all for now, please correct any variances with the storyline.
−	'' ~~{{Fixme}}~~	+	''

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 {{Faction Datasheet|
 |name=Pirate Factions
-|species=''fixme''
+|species=''Human''
-|homeworld=''fixme''
+|homeworld=''Most human inhabited worlds.''
-|capital=''fixme''
+|capital=''None''
 }}
-''Need desc.  Do all pirates belong to humanity?  Is it a human meme?  What are the different pirate groups?'' {{Fixme}}
+''Space pirating began soon after Humans encountered other sentient beings cruising the dark ocean of space.  These early explorers decided that it was in there best interest to eradicate all other species they met.  This soon proved impossible and they had to sign treaties that put them at a disadvantage.  One of the most important treaty they were forced to sign, was the Confederation Non-Agression Pact, it limited the number of armed vessels the confederacy could maintain.  It soon became apparent that the early Confederation of Inhabited Worlds (or Confed)could not withstand the constant onslaught of the other factions without more armed vessels.  Thus letters of marquee and reprisal were issued against all such factions.  This allowed merchants to form a merchant marine and effectively defend their cargo.  Naturally, these privateers found that when nearby sectors were cleared of enemy factions, it was easier to prey on vessels of other factions including the early Confederation's weak supply ships.  Another source for pirates, were (and still are)merchant vessels run by smugglers or other factions that the Confederation has outlawed.  It is sometimes easier for a pilot that has a bounty on his head (for exhample, the leader of Proles' Fist, "Troika" (Dmitri Koenig) for belonging to the Intersteller Socialist Organization or ISO) to use piracy to fund his exploits.