The Pirate War Thread - Vector Thrust

So, as of late, I've been putting together the plans for a fanfic campaign set to happen in the VT universe on a set of islands in a subtropical backwater of the world. Nothing too much more than pseudo missions and an exercise in world building, but hey, I need something to keep my creative juices flowing.

So the basic setup is as follows:

The player is a mercenary for a PMC called Iris AirSea Solutions, pretty generic, right? They specialize in escorting merchant convoys and naval security in low intensity hot zones. One of Iris's favorite clients is the Shipping State, an island city state of similar ilk to Singapore, specializing in high tech manufacture, trade, and of course as a third party in the handling of ANGEL components being sent to and from various suppliers and customers around the world.

The player operates from the DEMV Durer, a ZLTOBAR carrier. One of a number of vessels of the sort in the region, the Durer uses zero length launch and arrestor cable recovery to operate specially modified naval variants of the J-35s and J-37s (I know, a bit of a stretch, they were initially F-18s and A-4s, but I liked the idea of using something more exotic) in small compliments of 4 to 8.

In the same region is an agricultural penal colony which has become overrun by various sorts of outlaws. Over the years, it has become a small tribal society whose business is that of low intensity and unconventional naval warfare with a penchant for piracy. Finding employ as privateers, spies and mercenaries from around the world, destroying the nascent nation would be ill advised, due to its powerful, if disreputable clientele. Generally, it is agreed that attacks on the Pirate Nation's home island are taboo, but un-commissioned attacks on shipping in international waters are free game for retribution.

Another rising regional power is the Hydrate Confederation. It is a large plutocracy lashing together a collection of islands which had formerly belonged to a fallen nation called the Island Kingdom. The Confederation has discovered an economical method for extracting methane from the plentiful offshore gas hydrate deposits near these islands, establishing legitimacy through the economic opportunity it provides to the former citizens of the Island Nation and through military strength by way of its aggressive pursuit of a policy of PMC naturalization, whereby it grants PMCs various benefits if they decide to permanently relocate and settle in the Confederation's capital.

The Island Kingdom, once one of the region's more significant powers, fell to an anti-royalist revolt arising from economic turmoil caused by the nation's terrible fiscal policy. One of the few powers to ever seriously attempt to destroy the Pirate Nation, the Kingdom's management in almost all things was hopelessly inept, foiling every attempt by the region's most resource and population rich powers from ever achieving anything of note. Its military fell to pieces after the revolt, with most of its pieces carved up, sold or stolen. Some of the nobility were killed in the uprising, while most fled. Some are now part of the Confederation, others live in exile in the Shipping State, and yet others are rumored to have taken up residence within the Pirate Nation, amid rumors that the sudden collapse of the Kingdom was not solely the fault of the inept nobility but the machinations of a certain band of wealthy businessmen and a traitorous wing of the aristocracy. Though never a reliable trade partner, the Island Nation's relationship with the Shipping State were never bad.

More to follow...