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Space Pirates, a unique species of Earthrealm's wider galaxy, they are the consequence of illegality. Much like crabs in nature, Space Pirates represent the tendency of individuals using illegal gene mods and cybernetics to inevitably slowly become red, clawed psychopaths.
Due to the usefulness and cheap price of mods such as Adamantium Sweat Glands, Shipcutter Arms, Empathy Inhibitors, and Class C and above illegal armaments, those who buy from black markets and back alley cybergeneticists slowly, by degrees, end up hewing closer and closer to something recognizable as a Space Pirate.
As such, Space Pirates are a plague that is hard to stamp out, occurring and reoccuring time and time again in places of high technology, where common themes of efficiency and illicit activity result in biomechanical horrors.
Shirts. One of the factions of Space Pirate which dominate the galaxy. Unlike ordinary Space Pirates, who are murderous, insane, gene-modded cybernetic psychopaths, the shirts are merely murderous, insane, genemodded cybernetic sociopaths, and make a point of having fun and enjoying themselves.
While this difference might seem subtle, this factor makes Shirts a far more agreeable species of Space Pirate, capable of reason, diplomacy, trade, and more, with individuals not outside of the law.
Many shirts even opt out of empathy inhibitors, to make them better at recruitment and combat, in exchange for a sharp decrease in their economic and leadership-retention capabilities.
Captain Rodrick Kriber, Once-king of the Space Pirates. Originally a common variant of space pirate, he found himself tricked by a Fey into a game of chance, which, after losing, found himself under the Curse of Piracy. Trapped in the form of a "Real Pirate", he became despondant, and lost his place as Space Pirate King.
This, however, was not the end.
Captain Rodrick discovered that day, the power of Curses. How they could lay low even the mightiest. So, he sought to use this power for himself.
Mocking and threatening all of the Gods, tainting the holiest of sites, stealing the most sacred of treasures, Captain Rodrick took on curse after curse, plague after plague-
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"I was once the most powerful space pirate of them all, with augmentations and cybernetics that you could only dream of, until I was visited by a hag in red robes, who called herself the Wretch Would."
"She wagered that I couldn't best her in a game of riddles, and I, in fine arrogance, lost! She cursed me to be a 'real pirate', and bound me in this damn form! My augments turned to scars, my cybernetics to peglegs! Drugs would turn to ale in my mouth, and credits to worthless gold doubloons in my hands!"
He laughed, a low, mirthful thing.
"Oh I learned the truth, alright. I learned that day that curses have power! And rather than bemoan my new status, I reveled in it! I sought out all of the strongest curses in the land, and bid them war in my own body! If my pills must be ale, then let my ale turn to ashes! If my flesh must be flesh, then let it be bone!"
He threw aside his Manalock Pistol, and reached for his Peg-arm, pulling at it until the thick wax binding it to his shoulder began to crack free.
That day, he became known as the Cursebearer Captain of the Gilden Pirates, and with his unholy power, retook his throne as Space Pirate King , for a time.
For a time, until the Wretch Would returned.
That, however, is another story.
The Brachia, faithful ship of the Gilden Pirates. Using special solar sails and a magical wood, it can phase into the Elemental Plane of Light, where, by riding the seas of that realm and cutting across the waves and winds, it can travel faster than light, in spite of its otherwise primitive construction.
Members of the Gilden Pirates, including Cancie, First Mate of the Gilden Pirates (Right)
SHODAN-BAQAC (Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network (But-Actionally-Quite-A-Conversationalist))
The Gilden Pirate's fun Artificial Intelligence, it is desperately obsessed with destroying all organic life, but is also completely loyal to the Cursebearer Captain, under the firm faith in its captain to inadvertently destroy the universe while trying to achieve his dreams.
Captain Rodrick is aware of this, and finds it quite the amusing bet between them.
Megamodified Pirate Battleisimo, Giga Braindia.
Currently the leader of the "Skins" faction of the Space Pirates, they are second only to the Space Pirate King, and a living, biomechanical war on treads, equipped with the most powerful illegal weapons that illegal money can buy.
Utilizing their anti-illogical Morally-Grey Matter, Giga Braindia maintains both a combat and social dominance over all Space Pirates they come in contact with, their sheer processing power triggering instant loyalty in any individual who is sufficiently modified with brain chips and cortexal gene mods.
Rather than being due to any specific piece of machinery, this is due to Giga Braindia being mathematically engineered to socket mentally into the leadership role of any individual too lacking in emotional capacity, whether because of their intelligence, or the multifaceted missile emplacements and chempressed armor plates covering their form.
Pirate Raidship: Uowus Monee
The crown jewel of the Space Pirate Armada, this vessel is designed as a hodgepodge of stolen ships, high value hostages kept in key locations as politically ablative armor capable of redirecting and repelling most forms of automated artillery, as they are programmed not to kill members of their own governing bodies.
Further, members of royalty are kept in specialized sections, where their royal blood can deactivate many types of exotic munitions and superweapons programmed specifically to exclude them or not activate in their presence.
This, paired with the high energy reactors and engines of the Uowus Monee, allow it to quickly get in and out, raiding additional high value targets for resources, money, and goods that cannot illegally be sold on the black market due to them being legal products and produce.
In addition to this, smaller shipyards are often raided for cheap ships for boarders to use in the course of raids. Due to targeting single brands, such fleets often are made up of identical, poorly maintained vehicles.