pirates of the carribean, and other spots

>From what I understand, some of these pirate 
rings are very well trained and intel'd. Now, they 
only need light infantry weapons since they're 
counting on stealth, surprise, or maybe an 
inside man to take the ship. And they don't 
often target huge ships, but a 40' sailboat can 
still be worth $500,000 USD. 

And in many of the third world regions, I'd 
assume the distinction between pirate and 
coast gaurd might be... somewhat fuzzy.

I know the USCG can take on anything they are 
likely to encounter (which makes sense) but if 
they suddenly had to escort and protect US 
shipping (all merchant shipping) from one end 
of the globe to the other due to a war, would 
they be able to do a really good job of this? 
They probably don't have the numbers. 

The GZGverse has this kind of problem - space 
is big, freighting diverse, destinations many. 
Privateers and Pirates can hit anywhere. Do I 
think the NAC CG will be able to defend their 
ports and key inner colony systems? Oh yes! 
Will they be able to stop most piracy even in 
smaller colonies? Probably. Once we get out 
into new colonies, outposts, and research 
outposts, we're into other territory. And we are 
talking about the biggest coast gaurd/military 
out there. Will the PAU be able to prevent any 
piracy on system fringes? I have my doubts. Will 
the IC? 

Let us examine briefly the different types of Op 
we can expect to see:

1) Ship Seizure - for the ship and/or its assets 
(done by pirates and privateers). Sometimes 
ships will be kept and used by capturing nation 
or force, sometimes sold in black market (re-
registered elsewhere with a different ID unit.
Where: System fringes just before or after jump, 
outrim colonies, research stations, and 
outposts. You have to be someplace you can 
get away with the ship. Occasionally attempted 
by "inside job" in more patrolled space where 
getting the ship away is done by deception 
rather than speed. 

2) Cargo Seizure - smash-n-grab. Much faster, 
less risky (no longer term commitment to 
prizing the captured ship). done by both 
pirates and Privateers. Where: Very populous 
systems (where the thieves can get lost 
quickly), in-port (ports are busy), system edges 
on the way to jump or the way back, and in the 
further out systems (small colonies, outposts, 
research installations, etc). Speed depends on 
the size of cargo being taken and its value. 

3) Destruction of ship and cargo - This is more 
of a military action than a privateer action. But 
again is undertaken by raiders or saboteurs in 
such a way as to give them some chance of 
escape. 

4) Kidnapping - Putting the bag on some or all 
of a list of valuable people on a ship. Done 
often in-port or in a busy system where the 
kidnappers can disappear, or on the outskirts 
where the ship has some chance to get away. 
Often an inside job. 

The degree of organization and intel required 
for some of these ops would suggest data 
intrusion on shipping computers or social 
engineering of shipping company people or 
suborning of ship's crew. Promises of stupid 
amounts of wealth or blackmail work well here, 
as always. Privateers may have the benefit of 
professionally collected intel and scouting 
resources and possibly access to government 
"cracker teams". 

Ship entry teams will be light infantry (possibly 
in hardshell armour if the atmosphere or lack 
thereof requires it). Only in the event where the 
ship must be taken in transit is a heavily armed 
(ie small CV or DD) sized raider required. 
otherwise, pinnaces, launches, and ship's boats 
can likely be used. 

So Magic, feel like doing up some work for 
www.stargrunt.ca on the NAC CG? Maybe some 
description of cutters and small ships and some 
comments on boarding parties and harbour 
defense teams? You're our domain expert! :) 

Tomb
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Thomas Barclay
Instructor, CST 6304 (TCP/IP programming for the Internet)
kaladorn@fox.nstn.ca 
http://fox.nstn.ca/~kaladorn/CST6304
http://stargrunt.ca/tb/CST6304
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