Freebooter

Description

A pretty word for "pirate." They live dangerous, but profitable, lives and are usually willing to do business with the lowest-bid mercenary to reach their goal. While many are well-established nomadic merchants, some are known as infamous thieves and smugglers.

Like Independents, Freebooter stations aren’t aligned to either of the two major powers. However, unlike Independents, they lack any semblance of central authority and functional administration. Expect anarchic lawlessness, loose notions of private property, and some utterly bizarre fashions. What is dangerous and deranged to outsiders, is simply freedom to ‘booters.

Although a menace, the major powers mostly avoid direct conflict with Freebooter entities, since the latter are disproportionately well-armed. And sometimes these ruffians even prove useful. All sorts of interesting (and sometimes less-than-legal) items can be traded on the Freebooter exchanges. These merchants care little for laws or political stripes, and rather more for hard credits.

First-time visitors to Freebooter stations should be wary; even basic amenities are in short supply here. Rations can only be had from the “government center” by way of bribes; nobody is mad enough to run public shuttle services to these places and security is virtually non-existent. There’s little to discourage the ruthless from preying on the weak and vulnerable. In other words, come ready or not at all.

Introduction

Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.

~ Ancient Terran Freebooter manifesto

Since the Catastrophe, the Consortium and the Gaule Protectorate have each been doing what they can to bring stations, left out in the cold by the destructive forces unleashed during those dark days, back into the fold. There are, however, those who show zero desire to be brought back, embracing instead the wild and unpredictable nature of life on the fringes of known space. Allow us to introduce the Freebooters.

In the far reaches of chartered space lie stations that seemed to thrive on the initial radio silence that followed the Catastrophe. Many of these stations were forced to get by without the help of the established governments, embracing instead a very necessary ‘survival of the fittest’ type philosophy in order to endure. The resulting cultures that formed over time are now deemed too wild and uncontrollable an entity for either the Gaule or the Consortium to consider bringing under their yokes.

Stations that have adopted the ‘Freebooter’ status as their affiliation prefer to survive the rigors of space on their own terms, and enforce what laws may be necessary (if at all) through violence and harsh consequence more often than not.

Most Freebooter stations lie in the fringes of colonized space. One notable exception to this is the station known as Cane’s Legacy that resides within the Bernard’s Star [sic] system. While Cane’s Legacy is relatively closer to the central occupied regions, at least in comparison to many other Freebooter stations, it still politely and firmly maintains its less than lawful affiliation. It does so somewhat smugly by way of various powerful armaments that had been salvaged from a number of battle cruisers during early settlement and subsequently retrofitted directly onto the external housing of the station itself. These armaments serve quite effectively as the intergalactic version of a ‘No Cold Callers’ sign.

It should be noted that Freebooters are not wholly unapproachable. On the contrary, since a more widespread contact has been established, Freebooters have been known to trade with others on a regular basis. The only stipulation is that they not sense any weakness in their dealings. Any perceived lack of strength will often translate to them simply taking anything they decide does not need to be paid for. It should also be noted that Freebooters often have a very loose definition of what constitutes ‘weakness’…

I’ve had my fair share of dealings with the Freebooters. They’re not all bad, some of them even have hearts of gold. Though in all likelihood, they probably stole those from someone else.

Maya Von ChristovaBenevolent Dynamics

Stations

Station System Level
Caen Stronghold Barnard's Star 11
Sirius Jump Gate Sirius 13
The House of Congo Sirius 13
Heinlein Stronghold Sirius 14

Additional information from the storyline

Pompano, the concierge in the Inn The Mermaid at København, wears a huge floppy pirate hat (A Rude Awakening; X Marks Our Shot).

The pirate ship the Revenge had Captain Drake, navigational officer LeTestu, and first mate Doughty (X Marks Our Shot).

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