Space Pirates of the High Warp!!!!

What is it to be a pirate? In the simplest of terms, it is to do as follows: Pirates rob ships in space for personal profit. Many of the pirates of the galaxy operate from the protection of the areas of space either affected by Warp activity or as yet unexplored. These are desperate beings who are unwelcome on most civilized worlds, and can sell their ill-gotten gains only through the rogue worlds of the galaxy.

Pirate attacks can take many forms, some pirates take only cargo, freeing the ship and its crew to travel on safely, some destroy the ship, offering membership to those able-bodied crewmen who will accept it, killing the rest (or if it is one of the more honourable pirate captains, freeing them on the nearest inhabitable planet that he can approach safely), others take all aboard and sell them into slavery, killing those they deem to make unsatisfactory slaves. Still others kill all aboard so that the crime will go unreported.

Privateers, on the other hand, raid on the space lanes under a letter of marque from some government, and in the systems of that government they are considered legal. In the systems of all other governments whose ships and territories they raid they are considered to be pirates and outlaws.

Both pirates and privateers rely heavily on ship handling and navigation to locate their targets. They often wait along space lanes for days or even weeks before locating a victim which is weak and slow enough for them to make a capture. Both pirates and privateers will make raids upon frontier worlds if they see a rich enough prize to be had and/or a weak garrison.

Pirates and privateers both attract the outcasts, the disinherited, and the disenchanted amongst the people of the many worlds and races of known space. You will find strong warriors, cunning tacticians, sharp-eyed gunners, and shrewd captains right alongside brigands, murderers, canivers, and scum, all brought together by the lure of riches to be had.

Pirates and privateers also work closely with smugglers and slavers and during times of thin pickings on the space lanes you will find them taking up both of these trades themselves.

Pirates thrive in the breakdown of peace, when conflicts are growing and governments are preoccupied; additionally, pirates flourish in the aftermath of war, a period in which most governments are in turmoil. During the height of war, pirates scurry away from the wave of violence and superior firepower that threatens them, while in times of widespread peace, space patrols and policing actions keep piracy at bay (although in remote regions, far from organized police forces, raiding is a continuous problem).

Pirates and privateers live by a harsh set of laws, or Articles, known as the Pirate's Law or the Pirate's Articles. These are strictly and visciously enforced to the letter.

Article one

Every man shall obey civil command; the captain shall have on full share and a half in all prizes. The Master, Engineer, Gunnery Officer, and Boarding Captain shall have one share and quarter.

Article two

If any man shall offer to run away, or keep any secret from the Company, he shall be maroon'd with one bottle of Water, one food packet, one small Arm, and one clip.

Article three

If any Man shall steal any Thing in the Company to the value of 100 credits, he shall be Maroon'd or shot.

Article four

If at any Time we should meet at another Marooner (that is, Pirate) that man shall sign his Articles without Consent of our Company, shall suffer such Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think fit.

Article five

That a man that shall strike another, whilst these Articles are in force, shall receive Moses's Law (that is 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare Back.

Article six

That Man that shall not keep his Arms clean, fit for an Engagement, or neglect his Business, shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such other Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think fit.

Article seven

If any man shall lose a joint in time of Engagement, shall have 4000 credits: if a limb, 8000.

Article eight

If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer Death.