Who are the 'Pirates?'

[Gurachn]

According to HBS they seem like a unified and cohesive entity.

Is there anything in the lore to support such a thing?
I know the yakuza play a part in the Kurita sphere, but I haven't read anything to suggest they have any influence outside there, or any interaction with organized crime elsewhere?

Whats the scoop, lore hounds?

 

[Packrat]

No, there's no monolithic "pirate" organization. There are certainly some very large pirate operations that are basically small nations, but given the sheer size of space we're talking about, even their influence is rather localized.

The singular "pirate faction" is purely for the purposes of the game; HBS evidently didn't want to include multiple local pirate groups, though whether that's for what they felt was ease of playability or if it was simply out of scope, they've never said.

 

[Timaeus]

According to HBS they seem like a unified and cohesive entity.

Nah, like Packrat said they're not unified and cohesive in lore. Just here for gameplay purposes only so that the player doesn't have to track dozens of micro rep factions.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I think several pirate faction's are just listed simply as 'Pirate' to keep things simple.

Think of it like 'Planetary Government'. There are several planetary governments, but missions just use that generic tag for ease. Pirates are similar.

 

[Gurachn]

The label 'Pirates' seems a bit of a misnomer. The image it carries of raggedy, violent, space buccaneers doesn't jibe with the types of missions they give. Ones focused on economic control, and data collection, recovering spies, etc...

I think a better model is that of a loose collection of underworld concerns - smugglers, data thieves, gun runners, terrorists, who might sometimes cooperate/share info due to their shared antipathy to the local authorities.

A better name for this collective would perhaps be something like the "Syndicates".

 

[Mabberton]

You can probably include mercenaries doing a little raiding to pay the bills or working for unspecified, non-House clients (mega-companies, other independent worlds, etc.) in the "pirate" mix as well.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Essentially any 'group' of individuals without a major affiliation in or near The Periphery

 

[Hobbes__]

Essentially any 'group' of individuals without a major affiliation in or near The Periphery

Coming up next: BattleTech 2 - Pirates of the Aurigan

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Coming up next: BattleTech 2 - Pirates of the Aurigan

I'd play that sequel

Or how about... Battletech 2: The search for Curley's Lostech.

 

[Brother Diogenes]

Note that there are occasions where pirates have worked together. Consider the case of the Taurian world of Illiushin, so famed and beloved for its dairy industry - particularly a staggering array of cheeses - that the pirates of the region have informally declared the world off-limits, so as not to disrupt its exports. One group coming into the region didn't get the memo and launched a quick raid on the planet. Soon after, they were aggressively dismantled by the other pirates in a series of retaliatory attacks.

So even the pirates of the Periphery will join hands for a worthy enough cause.

 

[Dmon]

Note that there are occasions where pirates have worked together. Consider the case of the Taurian world of Illiushin, so famed and beloved for its dairy industry - particularly a staggering array of cheeses - that the pirates of the region have informally declared the world off-limits, so as not to disrupt its exports. One group coming into the region didn't get the memo and launched a quick raid on the planet. Soon after, they were aggressively dismantled by the other pirates in a series of retaliatory attacks.

So even the pirates of the Periphery will join hands for a worthy enough cause.

Such a cheesy story line that.

 

[Gurachn]

I noted a comment on Battletech Reddit on the subject that I thought was interesting, regarding the large quantity of LOStech found in the Black market shops...

<aronnax512: The pirate faction is primarily a front for Comstar efforts to degrade and destabilize the inner sphere and the black market is how they finance those operations.>
​

Any comments on this assertion?

 

[Packrat]

I noted a comment on Battletech Reddit on the subject that I thought was interesting, regarding the large quantity of LOStech found in the Black market shops...

<aronnax512: The pirate faction is primarily a front for Comstar efforts to degrade and destabilize the inner sphere and the black market is how they finance those operations.>
​

Any comments on this assertion?

Sounds like someone's headcanon to me. ComStar did clandestinely support pirate organizations to keep the Successor States off-kilter, but it was done by supporting real pirates with materiel, money, and information on where they could operate from, not by establishing a secret ComStar faction masquerading as pirates. Further, they didn't need to finance it by selling anything because they were already raking in obscene amounts of money through their monopoly on HPG services, and they definitely weren't going to be selling lostech. To my knowledge, the only time ComStar ever just gave out lostech was to the Draconis Combine during the War of 3039, after lostech recovery had already begun earlier that decade.

Also, the "ComStar supporting pirates" thing was primarily on the other side of the Inner Sphere, initiated to destabilize the situation between the Lyran Commonwealth and Draconis Combine.

 

[Gurachn]

Sounds like someone's headcanon to me. ComStar did clandestinely support pirate organizations to keep the Successor States off-kilter, but it was done by supporting real pirates with materiel, money, and information on where they could operate from, not by establishing a secret ComStar faction masquerading as pirates. Further, they didn't need to finance it by selling anything because they were already raking in obscene amounts of money through their monopoly on HPG services, and they definitely weren't going to be selling lostech. To my knowledge, the only time ComStar ever just gave out lostech was to the Draconis Combine during the War of 3039, after lostech recovery had already begun earlier that decade.

Also, the "ComStar supporting pirates" thing was primarily on the other side of the Inner Sphere, initiated to destabilize the situation between the Lyran Commonwealth and Draconis Combine.

Hmm... that sounds exactly like something a Comstar agitprop mole would say...