Pirates at the Rukbat system, a historic hotbed of pirate activity, are worried about the future of the system, since there has been little combat recently to train new pirates.
Traders and science ships in the area have long since known to avoid the system, and as a result the last major fighting in the system occurred over 98 years ago in 2154.
Elder pirates blame this trend for the decline of the largest fleet in the system, a band of elite pirates known as the “Scarred Veterans,” which has grown smaller over time as the old, experienced pirates die out.
“Us pirates were a force to be reckoned with, back in the day,” Captain Ultravioletbeard of the Black Earl told Xenonion. “But the new generation isn’t going out to do any piracy, they’re just sitting around in the system waiting for people to come to them. After raiding for 40 years, we’ve earned the right to park our ships here forever. But they haven’t.”
Image: Pirates of the “Scarred Veteran” fleets often blame “Young Blood” pirates for not going out and looking for raiding opportunities.
Most of the younger pirates in the system, serve in the “Young Blood” fleet, which has remained in orbit around an asteroid for decades. They are reluctant to leave the Rukbat system to conduct piracy, claiming that times are harder for pirates throughout the galaxy as constantly-growing empires begin securing trade routes.
Private Milan Eel of the Soylent Green told Xenonion: “You used to be able to get a successful raid with a fleet of four Raiders your parents gave you. Now you need at least a Galleon, and even that might not be enough. It’s no wonder pirates aren’t leaving their home system.”
In addition, the Xenonion sentry array has also observed that pirates have been having difficulty rebuilding their fleets when ships are destroyed. Although pirate officials are tight-lipped about their financial situation, this points to a significant supply problem within the pirate community.
This problem could have a relatively simple solution, however. Initial survey results of the TNS Arpad, a science ship on passive stance that wandered into the system and was promptly destroyed, showed that many asteroids in the system were promising mining candidates. It is unclear, however, why the pirates have not exploited these resources by building mining stations.
Dr. Phoebe Strickland, an anthropologist specializing in pirate studies at the University of Ulm on Earth, concluded: “We’re kind of thankful they haven’t realized all the minerals they’re sitting on, to be honest. Oh… and please don’t publish this quote, by the way. If they’re reading, they might start mining them, and I really don’t want to be the person who told the pirates how to get minerals to build new ships.”
