Space Pirate

Space Pirate

A person or being engaging in piracy [1] and doing it beyond the celestial shores of a planet is termed  space pirate. The term is very old fashioned as the need to distinguish a pirate by the environment is no longer there.

(The term is also part of a Galactic Chronicles Series Novel. Space Pirate, Eric Olafson)

[1] Piracy is typically an act of robbery or criminal violence in space. The term can include acts committed on the planet surface, in or against space stations and in space. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel). The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents.

Piracy is the name of a specific crime under Union laws. Union laws makes no distinction between piracy and privateering, which is authorized by national authorities and therefore a legitimate form of war-like activity by non-state actors. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates.

Pirates engaging in these criminal activities inside Union Space are hunted by Union Law Enforcement agencies and the Fleet and outside Union Space exclusively by the Fleet (where permitted). It is estimated that over 5000 individual pirate ships operate in Freespace and Open Space, there are very few pirate incidents inside Union Borders and usually dealt with very quickly and very harshly. The Dai Than Pirates are considered Pirates rather than National Enemies due to their attack pattern (they do not attack to conquer or overthrow).