Tortuga Raiders

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Introduction

The tortugan raiders, or simply the tortugans are the largest unified band of pirates out there.

Even though they are technically unified, that does not extend to working together.

Pirate bands are as numerous as they are easy to deal with, the only truly worrisome force is the one based in Tortuga.

History

The First Pirate

On the verges of colonised space, law and order becomes more of a suggestion than a demand, promising colonies and prosperous starports become hives of corruption and shady dealing as humanity turns inwards in an eternal power struggle. Not all games however can be solved with charisma and pragmatism alone. Murder and Violence has been commonplace for as long as humans walked the Earth, and being in the stars definitely wasn’t going to shake this long embedded tradition.

In the year 2124 Kradal Miseht, now renowned as the “Crimson Lady”, was the first recorded human to be charged with Piracy within the SolGov courts. Although this wasn’t much of a surprise seeing that Kradal didn’t even turn up to the trial. Her campaign of looting and terror brought her much fame within the rebellious colonies, and many a youth and aspiring captain headed for the Tortuga sector, despite the many warnings, to join the growing faction.

On the break of 2137, only twelve hours after new years celebrations had ceased, ‘Operation Cyngus’ was launched. A full SolGov taskforce was dispatched to locate, engage and defeat Kradal’s Fleet, A roaming armada, the Crimson Flotilla. Each ship was coated in a distinctive coating of crimson paint and far better armed than any vessel at the time. At the centre of it all was it’s flagship, the Grim Cutlass. A powerful and nimble frigate custom assembled from the wrecks of numerous patrol ships and civilian hulls, said to possess a powerful artifact from a long forgotten race of aliens.

Two hours of brutal warfare ensued, the longest naval engagement in galactic history to date. With both sides taking massive losses, a last desperate effort from SolGov was launched. A boarding party going directly onto the Grim Cutlass. It is uncertain what exactly happened as whatever artifact the Cutlass possessed must have malfunctioned or activated as the vessel vanished without any detectable traces.

Operation Cygnus was declared a De-Facto success by SolGov officials and the remaining members of the Flotilla scattered into space. Although rumor has it not all of the ships have been destroyed.

The Contested Zone

Word of the Crimson Flotilla's valiant battle against SolGov spread like wildfire among distant colonies and rebellious youth. The Tortuga sector had been all but abandoned after the battle with SolGov and neither side returned to lay claim to the system. Until 2148 that is.

Fourteen vessels entered the Tortuga System, each of them recorded to have been salvaged from drydocks over twenty years ago. Within hours the first reports of missing freighters arrived at SolGov command, a fleet of junk vessels listed as the aggressors. However with tensions rising with distant colonies, SolGov command are forced to disregard a handful of missing ships and only issue an advisory notice.

The now far more financially stable pirate fleet set up shop within Tortuga and took the name for their band as ‘The Tortuga Raiders’. Quickly expanded their operations from just Tortuga to the surrounding systems, carving out their own little territory within the SolGov empire. Quickly capturing the resupply outpost in Sebacien from the minimal defensive assets, before moving onto the next system of Beylix, which served as an ore refinery. From here the offensive continued onward, with both Muir and Sion falling in minutes to the pirate forces.

Once the cluster around Tortuga had been seized, momentum among pirate forces died out rapidly, instead performing the occasional incursion into the more defended territories to prey on freighters and transports.

The ‘capital’ sector of Tortuga quickly saw construction of a large starbase out of looted scrap, metals and starship hulls referred to as the Tortugan Conclave. Contained within were not only many logistical systems needed to manage their sector of space, but also vast meeting chambers where captains of many ships could communicate in a more diplomatic manner than that of a duel. The Centre of the chamber was always reserved for Kradal as the de facto leader and founder of the faction. Unfortunately however Kradal hadn't returned and as such never attended.

The Splinter

In an ironic twist of fate, the years of stagnation within the Raiders had sowed discontent. In the year 2203, the more outspoken captains took their fleets, and anyone who would follow them and left the Conclave, heading to multiple of the captured sectors and claiming it as their own. In total, three prominent splinter groups emerged.

Each headed by their own special brand of lunatic: SKRAL's Skyravens, Eats-The-Eyes' Hunters and The Index

The Unification

On the 100th anniversary of the prosecution of the Crimson Lady, motion alarms went off all across the Tortugan Conclave, the core of the meeting chambers. Yet when the first response teams arrived, they did not find the Crimson Lady, but a figure. Not man nor machine, Not god or Beast stood within. Trigger happy pirates aimed their weapons, yet all of them misfired. Melee strikes seemed to simply bounce off. With a single wave of their hand, the figure subdued the team. It said it’s first words to the stunned team.

“Gather the Captains. All of them. The Crimson Lady has returned.”

Within the hour, fleets from every splinter, (with the notable absence of the Ensemble) had arrived, each shouting their own colourful display of language as the figure stood within the centre of the chamber. With another wave of their hand, silence befell the gathered captains. And then the figures made their declaration.

What was said remains the closest guarded secret of the entire Tortugan Faction, although it is known that all the splinters united under this figure, the ‘Great Pirate Khan’ as they would come to be known.

While the splinters do retain some elements of their individuality, they all appear to be fiendishly loyal to the Khan. Each of the Former splinter leads now form the inner circle of the Khan, with a handful of new additions from the Index.

Subfactions

The Tortugan raiders used to have a multitude of subfactions, which still somewhat carries over, even with the Khan's reign.

Here are some of the bigger players

SKRAL’s Skyravens

The Skyravens are a faction headed by an IPC called SKRAL-488, Who has gone as far as to delete empathy from their systems.
His followers also follow in this practice, whether it be by wiping parts of their systems, or using sulphuric acid to scorch a part of their brains.
The Skyravens only live to kill people, they are true maniacs who only wish to murder. Unsurprisingly, only a few of their members live long lives.

Skyraven combat tactics are just as insane as they, favouring ramming and boarding actions, Skyraven boarding parties overdose themselves on combat drugs and stimulants, usually only taken down by enemy fire or the same drugs they had just previously taken. 
In rare cases, these boarders may overdose so hard they forget which side they are on.
They also have an unique relationship with The Draconic Empire, often engaging the Empire despite the overwhelming odds against them, simply to enjoy the thrill of the challenge.

Eats-The-Eyes' Hunters

The Hunters are a band lead by the lizard Eats-The-Eyes, they only have Lizardpeople in their ranks and prefer boarding actions.
Unlike the Skyravens they do not do this out of pure bloodlust, but out of perceived respect towards ancient customs, as such they use low tech equipment, like hatchets, spears and bows in combat.

The Hunters aren't slouches when it comes to naval combat either, though they prefer to utilize asteroids. Whether it be by ramming them into enemies or attaching them to their ships as jerry-rigged armour.
It is also to be noted that Draconian Empire vessels that respect these traditions are usually left alone, or in other words The Militarist subfaction.

The Index

The index consists of all crews that wish to stay relatively independent, they are mostly a Non-Aggressions Pact, though if anyone wishes to specifically hunt the index, they will find themselves crushed by superior numbers.

Due to their even more independent nature, there is no unifying doctrine in the index, only what works. They also are relatively accepting of diplomacy, though only as far as the Khan allows it.

The Great Khan

The legendary lord of pirates, The Crimson lady, Kradal Mishet. who originally terrorized The Sion cluster and whose ship held a mysterious artifact in it.
When the original raiders were finally tracked down and crushed by SolGov, in the middle of the battle her capital ship "The Grim cutlass" warped away, due to the artifact.

Yet now she has returned, though not in a recognizable form. Now she is a hive mind of skeletal pirates, and the leader of Tortuga.

Faction Relations

SolGov

The tortugans are primarily anarchists and as such despise the imperialist SolGov.
Infact, many are specifically on the run from the Solar Government.
Meanwhile SolGov sees the pirates as an useful nuisance to tie down NanoTrasen with, but nothing more.

Dominion of Light

Due to them being based in entirely separate sectors, most tortugans do not encounter DoL on a regular basis.
Exception is The Great Khan who ambushes DoL exploration vessels on a regular basis.
The Khan does not hold any specific spite to the Dominion, he only sees them as easy marks.
The Dominion on the other hand despises and fears the Khan and by extension the rest of Tortuga.

Draconic Empire

The Tortugans in general stay away from Draconic Empire vessels, with the exception of The Skyravens since even merchant ships are decently armed.
The Draconic Empire on the other hand sees most Tortugans as easy kills and solid practice for new recruits.
Exception to this are the Skyravens who the Tortugans respect to a degree as warriors.

NanoTrasen

Historically NanoTrasen has been at the mercy of the rest of the Federation when it comes to handling Tortuga.
In recent times that has been flipped on it's head due to NanoTrasen's newfound access to military vessels.
The Tortugan raiders often have a similar relationship to NanoTrasen as they have with SolGov, with members being on the run from NT.

Syndicate

The Tortugans are nominally allied with The Syndicate, but it is a somewhat fragile relationship due to the conflicting interests between them.
The Syndicate used to see them as an useful method of damaging supply lines, but due to increased NanoTrasen presence on shipping lanes that is no longer the case.
Infact, it is entirely likely that the alliance will be called off sooner or later, and The Syndicate will seize the resource rich Sion cluster.
The only reason they haven't done so yet, is because The Great Khan may yet pose a threat to The Federation