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Pirate Group pt2

R

Rine

Inactive Member
Wes said:
Rine said:
Still interested in doing the pirate thing, and heres my thoughts so far:

First off, the most likely method i can think of for the pirates to get a military class ship (anything less than that is pointless, since it wont be able to stand up to military forces if it comes to blows on occasion) would be for the group to start off as a crew going AWOL, in a mutiny or something similar on a ship.

So far, the most likely candidate for a ship seems to be:
https://stararmy.com/starships/qns/isfb/isfb.html
Due to the low crew number (30 prime crew allows for a more likely candidate for most of the bridge/medical/tech crew to be in on the coup, with only a few having to be spaced during the process).

If this sounds reasonable so far, what is the next step?
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They're going to have to get a new computer, since the current one will remain loyal to the Star Army and will kill them/blow up the ship if they mutiny while it's operational. Another option would be to get a Qel'noran ship directly from the Qel'noran (ask Zack/Tasuki Uso) for either money/supplies or for the purpose of disrupting imperial activity (since the rogue Qel'noran are still technically at war with Yamatai).

Another option is to buy a civilianized warship and upgrade it back to military status, I suppose.

This discussion ought to be on the forums, lol.
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And thus, it is.

My thoughts on the computer issue is...well, I am quite sure that Yamatai Military AI has been cracked before by hackers, if nothing but just out of boredom. Shouldn't be too hard to buy a program off the black market to override the computer during the process of the mutiny.
 
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Are you kidding? It would be virtually impossible for a non-corperate or goverment entity to have the funds and resources to aquire equipment even near to what you'd need to take a whack at some of the computer systems here. There isn't much you can do to fool the computer that won't result in them fighting back (and winning... my characters should know a little about that... poor Wazu)
 
Yamatai Military AI has been cracked before by hackers, if nothing but just out of boredom.
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At this point, no one has ever succeeded. If there were someone who could, it'd be one of the upper-level people in Kessaku Electronics Systems, who designed the AIs.
 
Hmm, and high level bribes are a bit high end for a pirate group, not to mention the fact that it would be more likely to reveal the plan than to get results.

At the same time, simply purchasing a ship leads to its own problems: Theres no immediate crew, and unless the rebels you purchase it from are really covert, it leaves quite the trail. I dont intend for the group to be utterly covert, but they sort of need to in order to at least get started, so they are not crushed before the organization is solidified.
 
My thoughts on the computer issue is...well, I am quite sure that Yamatai Military AI has been cracked before by hackers, if nothing but just out of boredom. Shouldn't be too hard to buy a program off the black market to override the computer during the process of the mutiny.
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Sounded pretty arrogant to me, since both your points weren't solid, but they've already answered so I'll move on to the next post.

First of all, if your group isn't covert, you'd have tons of Star Army personnel on the look-out for you. And even if you are covert, SAINT would probably find out about you sooner or later. What you need is some corporate or governmental backing, but it'd be hard to tell who'd be willing to go against the Star Army, and you'd probably need to RP something like that out.
 
Like i said above, i don't intend for them to be purely covert, just at start. Its a lot easier to quash a plan to start some piracy than it is to quash an active group that has constantly changing bases and cell-based leadership.

On the idea of backing: Probably a good idea, rebel groups would be the obvious supporters, but then again, they are generally more idealogical than pirates, having some goal in mind. The group I envision would be in it for the profit, not to overthrow a government. A business would be more likely, especially military suppliers, after all, any equipment/ships they damage has to be purchased from someone.
 
Rebel groups don't have the resources to help you out and KFY and NC are really the only real ship producers, good luck getting either of them to help you.
 
What about the rogue Qel'noran, Zack?

Remember, a crew doesn't always have to be volunteers. :P

With the Star Army so strained with all the wars it is fighting (especially vs. the SMX), now is a better time than over for pirates to operate. Plus, on the OOC side, we've got more cargo ship designs than ever before. Pirates could also raid non-Empire ships like Elysian ones from Veritas, Nepleslian ones, and even SMX ones.
 
Here's a crazy idea:

Why don't the pirates work for Star Army? They'd be pirateers, flying the Jolly Roger flag while secretly working for the Empire. While the Empire is powerful, its hands are tied diplomatically. Having someone to carry out high-risk missions with plausible deniability would be really useful.

I know there's always SAINT. But you don't want SAINT agents getting caught acting against the best interests of the Empire's client states. That would be disastrous diplomatically and politically.
 
The Yamatai Star Army is the only ones they want to attack probably because most of the pirates see them as the biggest risk. you know what they say High risk High reward.
 
Actually attacking the Star Army directly would be akin to suicide for the pirates. The only tactic i see working within the empire is hit and run against minor worlds. The most lucrative targets would be those outside the Empire, especially low tech planets you can raid for supplies, get a nice little racket going. Visit every month or so, pick up your 'tax' and buzz the planet and blow up a few things to convince them you still have guns.

The privateer idea would work quite well, of course, you would still end up having to have non-regular star army ships, given the AI issue brought up earlier. Their opponents would be rather suspicious of a former star army military ship claiming to be pirates if it takes so much trouble to make a ship's AI switch loyalties.
 
If this ever happens, if you so ever think as looking at Fenyar, I'll have to destroy you. (Not like you'd die in this place anyway. <_<) (Yeah I editied it for north american viewers.)

Watch out! I'll delta End you! I mean it!! *preps wrist blade*
 
I think it would be rather feasable to gut a Star Army ship's computer system. I mean, if they have a centralized harddrive system, then you could just wipe it and reinstall Windows 5k, or whatever version they happen to be using by then...

And, btw everyone, if a pirate group starts off small, the Star Army won't pay half a lick of attention to 'em; they've got more important worries than a single small ship raiding the odd cargo ship. They'd almost certainly relegate the job of hunting them down to local authorities and ignore them otherwise. Major militaries don't get involved in such petty stuff most of the time.
 
Yangfan said:
Why don't the pirates work for Star Army? They'd be pirateers, flying the Jolly Roger flag while secretly working for the Empire.
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They're called privateers, and it is feasible.

Lots of good ideas here. The main points seem to be:
  • Pirates can't afford to buy ships outright, in general. No surprise here; many pirates are mutineers or people who captured a ship and took off with it.
  • Pirates aren't going to have a ship with a SA AI or equivalent. Think Oberon as being a more likely hull type.
  • Once you have a ship, you have to find a crew. Maybe you have enough (unlikely without a ship AI),
  • Pirate groups will survive by staying below government radar, and leaving mainline army vessels/bases/etc. alone. Decentralized leadership is a must for longevity.
  • Covert corporate or government backing will help things a lot.
  • Pirates could raid planets as well as ships to obtain supplies. As stated, fringe worlds or ones without good ties to large governments would be the best.
  • I can't agree with the "high risk high reward" generalization. Any risk that results in the SA noticing you enough to send a warship after you is too much risk. The whole goal is to maximize reward and minimize risk while ensuring survival.
  • Not all pirate activity is going to be pillaging and looting. You have to be able to fence the stuff off. Here's where Fenyar (for example) would come in; sell some of them "liberated" gear in exchange for food, medicine, and other supplies. (Note: I've always been suspicious of squirrels.)
You may be able to wipe down a SA computer system in theory, but it's going to be a hugely difficult chain of events to get there (insert copious quantities of "lol", "roflmao", and "yaright" here). First, you have to capture the ship, and prevent it from scuttling itself. Then you have to shut it down completely, engines, batteries, the works. Then you have to take the computers apart and reset/reinstall them one by one. You have to do all this without a drydock, in pressure suits, and before the SA comes by and blows you away. There's probably a bunch of things that I left out, too. Big job; better RP it out. FAR better to get a civilian ship and outfit it with weapons (which don't have to be that great; you're beating up civilian ships, remember?).

Almost certainly, there will be more than one pirate group. Turf will have to be decided somehow.
 
The privateer angle works really well, no matter what government sponsors it. You steal the goods from the mercantile transports, and then sell it on the black market to various elements, even rebels or high end criminal organizations for supplies. After all, what does Yamatai care if you promote criminals or rebels in their enemy states, just an easier conquest for them, and a slate to be wiped clean after they conquer.
 
Cora said:
I'm not against that notion, though the ties on Fenyar would have to be rped for explination. <_<
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Definitely. Can't have the pirate adventures be just pillaging and looting; that would be unbalanced, and would let the players get too comfy. ^_^
 
I think I kind of argued with Uso about this in another thread regarding the Fenyaro and economic abuse. I don't see how the Fenyar, without some help, would be able to tell apart the difference between Mr. Honest Merchant and Mr. Joe Pirate selling hot property. So it might be a means of laundering your money by filtering it through a low tech world that still uses hard currency and then changing it to Imperial credit.
 
Haven't gotten any real approval from any admins yet for this plot, but i suppose anyone interested should shoot me a char concept.

By the way: I was intending for this to be a good change in gears from the plots that seem to proliferate around here, meaning these will be the nasty sort of pirates, not the swashbuckling robin hoods you see so often. We will space prisoners to get cooperation, blow up farms to get supplies, rob banks, etc.
 
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