Unreviewed Tempest Swarm - Pirate Fleet

[Corvo Anattolius]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: An unaffiliated NPC group of pirates anyone can grab and use either as opposition or allies.
• Image Credit: Star Citizen Kraken

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Fleet Name: Tempest Swarm
• Classification: Pirate Fleet
• Affiliation: None, Independent Raiders
• Fleet Symbol: A splitting fork of lightning
• Description: A modest pirate fleet consisting of a pocket carrier, a corvette, their fighters, and a freighter that maintains its civilian guise.

SOCIAL INFORMATION

• Headquarters: While the Fleet has no official headquarters, they frequent pirate friendly shadowports across the galaxy.
• Ports of Call: Tortuga Station, Port Maw, The Pit, Shadowport Rexus, Point Nadir, The Wheel, Port Avalon, Port Nowhere, & Others.
• Goals: Make credits by raiding and piracy.
• Reputation: Like most pirate crew, Tempest Swarm doesn’t advertise themselves. To the wider public, all that marked their appearance to the wider galaxy were a few more ships quietly disappearing along the hyperlanes, not an unheard occurrence after the dissolution of several galactic powers and the planeshift causing major disruptions across the space lanes. To other pirate bands and criminal organizations, the crew soon proved themselves, growing steadily as a place one could make a name for themselves, if not a fortune.

COMPOSITION INFORMATION

• Fleet Size: Medium
• Lead Ship: Hornet-class Carrier - Tempest
  • Malignos Fighters - 2 Squadrons
  • Umbaran Attack Starfighters - 1 Squadron
  • Valiant-class Combat Transport - 1 Squadron
    
• Composition:
  • Keres Corvette - Storm Bringer
  • T60 Freighter

MEMBERS
Captain Krazz-Volta, a Karkarodon who uses his natural ferocity to stay in charge of the group and guide attacks from aboard the Tempest. He’s torn more than one challenger asunder with his bare claws and teeth, leaving a gory reminder of the price to challenge his authority.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
[ Include a description of the fleet's history. Who started it, how and why it was formed, modus operandi, any events tied into its creation and existence, prior allegiances, notable battles, etc. ]
A pirate crew that seeks to raid under-defended shipping and ground locations. Their preferred method of attack is to lay in wait in an unpatrolled system for cargo ships to transition through before attacking in a fighter swarm while using the Storm Bringer to reinforce and act as a hammer. Once their target is disabled, boarding craft move in to secure the loot. Valuable cargo is then transferred over to the groups’ civilian freighter or the corvette to be stored or moved to be sold somewhere the shipping labels won’t be closely looked at. The group prefers to stake out a system up to several days at a time, hitting multiple targets until they believe the risk of discovery by security forces or people searching for the missing ships is too high. Sly in planning and aggressive in attack, the Tempest Swarm might lure local security in by pretending to hit their own freighter or by making slashing attacks against a nearby system and allowing a call for help to go out before striking at a responder’s base. Their freighter is also used to get in close to targets, hiding ships and boarders in its cargo hold or behind its sensor shadow to pass close to a target before launching a surprise attack.

The Tempest itself, the pirate gang’s carrier, is rarely put in danger, its fighters or escort ships scouting when needed, or with it hanging back during a raid using its baffled ion engines to keep a low profile. The carrier houses two outsized squadrons of Malignos fighters, a cheep fighter that serves as their main workhorse. Their ion cannons working to disable prey. Veteran pilots may be given the chance to fly one of the heavy attack Umbran fighters, with their heavier weapons, sabotage drones, and better defenses. The carrier’s last squadron is given over to boarding craft, which can cut into a subdued target or land raiders in a planet’s atmosphere where the real work of raiding and plundering can begin. The raiders are almost treated as cannon fodder, trusted to provide their own weapons and gear beyond a cheap blaster pistol. Those who survive a few raids might be looked at for positions on one of the ships, or as a potential pilot if they have the aptitude.

Provided the score, and the split, is acceptable, Tempest Swarm is more than willing to work with or higher out fighter support to other crews.