When people from the core worlds imagine Space Pirates they often imagine brutal criminals who are prone to murder, rapine and torture who spent their ill gotten gains on drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, sex robots and so forth in seedy bars or a horde of wannabe dictators who raid to build up resources to cease control of. Another narrative makes some of them out as the sad robin hood figures stepping up to support far flung colonies on the fringes of society or tragic figures forced one way or another into a life of crime trying to keep alive in a hostile galaxy. All of which have at least a shred of truth to them, but one thing that they often leave out is that piracy is often just another job which has a lot in common with freelance freighter crews. Life support systems needed to be maintained, food needs to be prepared, pay needs to be delivered, books need to be managed and some measure of discipline needs to be enforced. Admittedly those who routinely show up drunk or don't get along with their crew mates are far more likely to be blown out an airlock aboard a pirate ship, but this was hardly necessary.





This lady is a fairly typical of space pirate officers. She's clad in a simple utility uniform with flexible magnetic soled sock-shoes which a standard shipboard fabricator can spit out as well as a similar basic armor vest and cup made from the same machine in case of shrapnel or a crewmember (not so much of a problem in the established pirate crews but it's at least considered worthwhile to make the point clear) or a prisoner decides to lash out for whatever reason. For said same reason she rarely goes anywhere without her sidearm. The job is generally hands on and for this reasons she usually has a tablet on hand to interface with local computers and help out with engineering work, as well as doing EVAs and helping out in boarding operations.







Many pirates are simply in it until there's a big enough haul that they can get off with a small fortune and set themselves and their families up either for life/a few decades, start a business or live it up for a few years. Officers are usually those that hang on for a crew for a long time. They know their way around the ship as well as managing a crew. A fair number have formal training of some sort, but many others are groomed for leadership in pirate crews. The ambition that a good deal of pirate officers of them aspire to is one day having a ship of their own and in time either gaining position of power and prominence in the Pirate Kingdoms or possibly becoming a warlord in their own right and carving out their own new state on the frontier of human space. The number of individuals who aspire to such prominence is vastly larger than those with the combination of skill, bravery, caution, audacity, bluster, charisma, foresight and luck to pull it off.

