[CP5670]

Yeah but unlike on Earth the military can leap in to help ships under attack from pirates almost instantly. The pirates would probably have lots of scraps with military ships which resulted in them running away.
If the pirates saw an easy way to cripple the military in their system they probably would do it so that for a few days they could get away with murder.

I doubt that the military would get involved in these kinds of petty issues though; if a convoy called for help after being attacked by pirate gangs, it is much more likely that local police would be dispatched instead. While it is true that the pirates might go after some very weak parts of the military to complement future operations, the chances of an "easy way" even to exist are dwindlingly small when you think of the differences in technology and the fact that the pirates will only have 20 or so members at the most, probably none of which are well trained for combat.

There are still, AFAIK, mercenaries that fight in Afrcian wars, or act as bodyguards for rich & unscrupulus people, or for drugs barons in South America.

It's quite feasible an FS2 drugs baron could operate from, say, a small asteroid base, and have a hired band of ex pilots / refugees / mercs... after all, the last 2 wars would have left quite a few salvage opportunites, not to mention the decommissioned FS1 ships.

That sounds fine; the only thing I am saying is that these mercenary bands would not try to take on military units, and a pilot in the GTVA navy would not encounter such guys during missions.

I may be biased, being from the US, but AlQuadea?(I can't spell)

Well I wouldn't really call those guys pirates, seeing as they are not after money and are putting in a higher religious cause to gain millions of followers; this is the typical religious terrorist band.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by CP5670
I doubt that the military would get involved in these kinds of petty issues though; if a convoy called for help after being attacked by pirate gangs, it is much more likely that local police would be dispatched instead. While it is true that the pirates might go after some very weak parts of the military to complement future operations, the chances of an "easy way" even to exist are dwindlingly small when you think of the differences in technology and the fact that the pirates will only have 20 or so members at the most, probably none of which are well trained for combat.

It depends on the set up of the GTVA. It may be that the military are also resposible for police actions too. There is no data in either direction from FS1 or FS2.
 I agree with you fully that the chances of the pirates getting a chance to cripple the navy in a certain sector is very small. If they did get the chance though that is the sort of time you`d see pirates attack a military target. Otherwise it isn`t worth it.

Also be aware that like in I-war II pirates can actually be a front for something else.

[tems]

as far as becoming a pirate, like has been said it's just down to capitalism/greed.
would a gtva pilot ever encounter pirates?
i would assume that there is some sort of police force in gtva space but maybe a pilot could still encounter pirates but not quite in a head on confrontation.
perhaps just chancin upon pirates attacking a ship and then being ordered to disable the pirate ship before they can get away.

actually now i think about it in columbia the F.A.R.C rebels regularly clash with the army and a lot of their funding comes from illegal activities, also the IRA ,who also take on soldiers but not in an all out attack , make quite a bit of wong by pushing drugs and extortion.
two pirate like activities.

fs pirates prolly wouldn't ever directly attack the military but maybe if small numbers of fighters came across them they wouldn't back down

[Hippo]

there was pirates in silent threat, and they openly attacked once they were discovered

[Riven]

the russian maffia are aleged to have a nuclear sub, yet you don't see the military doing much about that!

[karajorma]

What can you do? Blow it up? You have to wait until it's in port and storm it.

Besides it's a RUSSIAN sub. They're probably waiting for the crew to die of radiation poisoning. Without trained techs to run the ship properly it's only a matter of time.

[penguin]

Originally posted by Riven
the russian maffia are aleged to have a nuclear sub, yet you don't see the military doing much about that!

If it was hanging around outside New York Harbor I'll bet you would.  Or London, or Sydney, or Tokyo...

[Blue Lion]

You don't know, maybe there is one

[Flipside]

Actually, pirates are perfectly possible in FS2, as long as they could either take out communications in some way or jam them. The only thing to remember is that no pirate in existence is going to risk his life for cargo, they are going to try and leave pronto when the GTVA turn up

[Megadude]

Pirates are possible.  They will be in the outer, rim worlds where GTVA presence is limited.  It would be especially likely if the GTVA was involved in war somewhere else.

[Flipside]

Hmmmmmm.... I think I'll have to post about Twisted Infinities in here once it's up and ruinning again

Flipside

[Righteous1]

Its plausible there would be pirates for any number of reasons.  Most probably get disallusioned with NTF, GTVA, etc. and choose to go it alone or join a band.

As far as ships, I'd expect them to refurbish FS1 era ships up to corvette class.  Weapons though could be scavenged from battle areas or raids on GTVA remote cargo depots.

Oh, Heya CP5670!  

[Thor]

Aslong as a campaign/mission can explain their pressence realistically, then they are fine.  
Derelict's pirates were hired by a corporation, whille mine (see new thread in the Freespace General, (some one tell me how to link to it :doh: )) are those same pirates (The campaign's set in the Derelict timeline) that escaped the Shivans and GTVA.

In terms of ships, I agree with Righteous1, nothing above corvette, unless you have a really, really good reason.  Fighters can could possibly be as good as the beginning of the FS2 campaign, but nothing ultra new.

[Black Wolf]

Originally posted by Thor
Derelict's pirates were hired by a corporation, whille mine (see new thread in the Freespace General, (some one tell me how to link to it :doh: )) are those same pirates

And TIs are, well, like Flipside said - when F2S is back up and running again .

Originally posted by Thor
In terms of ships, I agree with Righteous1, nothing above corvette, unless you have a really, really good reason.  Fighters can could possibly be as good as the beginning of the FS2 campaign, but nothing ultra new. [/B]

Even a corvette seems a bit much for pirates to have - the Deimos was pitched as Ultra Modern in the FS2 tech room.

[Thor]

Even a corvette seems a bit much for pirates to have - the Deimos was pitched as Ultra Modern in the FS2 tech room.

Tue enough.  My Pirates use civie ships like science cruisers and gas miners outfitted with a few beams.  They are incredibly weak and don't stand a chance against reall capital ships, they are more than capable of destryoing Triton's, argoes and other typical pirate targets.  That seams a bit more likely, as it is cheaper and quicker to steal/buy a beam cannon off a derelict cruiser than it is to try and make the whole thing spaceworthy.  That seems like the Pirate way to do things.  Arghh!:headz:

Thor, Check out my post on my new campaign!  Feedback Please!  Shameless self plug here:rolleyes:

[Megadude]

If this is set sufficiently far into the future, any ship is possible.

[Hippo]

remember, this isn't like starwars where you can drop out of hyperspace anywhere... subspace can only take you from system to system, or to a destroyer or base, so if pirates started taking destroyers, who couldn't notice?

[CP5670]

remember, this isn't like starwars where you can drop out of hyperspace anywhere... subspace can only take you from system to system, or to a destroyer or base, so if pirates started taking destroyers, who couldn't notice?

Well, since the end of FS1 they have known how to track ships through subspace. The pirates probably could not get their hands on AWACS radar jamming ships either since those are a pretty recent invention (mid-FS2 campaign) and all the ones manufactured so far would be owned by the military.

Oh, Heya CP5670!

R1! It has been over a year since we last met; great to see you around here. How are things going?

[Black Wolf]

Originally posted by Hippo
remember, this isn't like starwars where you can drop out of hyperspace anywhere... subspace can only take you from system to system, or to a destroyer or base, so if pirates started taking destroyers, who couldn't notice?

Intra system jumps can go from any point within a system to any other point, though they aren't pinpoint accurate, which is why freighters and convoys never jump exactly to a node (well, that's the consensus anyway, though it's not canon).

[Flipside]

Also, remember that Piracy isn't just about docking with enemy ships and jumping though the docking hatch with a cutlass in your teeth
A lot of Pirates simply bribed or co-erced trade captains into handing over their goods, now, this isn't going to work on a Military ship, but with civilian traders, they are going to be more concerned with not dying

Flipside