The pirate situation in Ashburton has been
ongoing since the end of the Jihad, but in the last three years it has
escalated considerably. The pirates have been better armed, better coordinated
and definitely becoming more bold in their attacks. Unfortunately, due to their
lack of mobility and years of operating on a shoestring budget under the auspices
of ineffective governments, the Ashburton Defence Force has been unable to
effectively deal with the situation.
While the various pirate groups do not act
as a single organisation, it is clear that they share intelligence and
coordinate operations. They have divided the planet up into a number of different
territories based on each band’s capabilities. While usually their targets are
confined to ocean-going vessels and costal ports, there have been attacks on
overland shipping and other inland targets. In recent years, the pirates have
become so bold as to attack such high profile targets as the Batman ports
themselves.
The pirate bands are armed with a mixture
of equipment, bur primarily are focused on hovercraft, VTOLs and surface naval
vessels, supplemented by small infantry forces. They are known to use battle
armour, and some unconfirmed reports suggest that they may have BattleMechs. However,
these are more likely modified Industrial designs. Much of this equipment has
only begun appearing in the last three years, suggesting an external backer.
The most likely candidate is the Regulan Fiefs, given Ashburton’s precarious
position in the narrow ‘neck’ of the League between them and the Wolf Empire.
While the pirates do not enjoy any popular
support, it is clear that they are well supplied with local, on the ground
intelligence. Their attacks are often very precisely targeted, going after
specific cargoes or shipments that they have been presumably directed to by
insider intelligence. Given that the planet has only begun to emerge from years
of economic chaos, it is likely that they run off a network of paid-off
informants. Given some of the issues that the ADF has had in past with dealing with
the pirates, it is possible that there are informants within their ranks as
well.
It is possible that there is one other area
providing support for the pirates. The ReMonarchist party had advocated a
return to the rule of the Wainright family, and have bene headed up by a scion
of the family for decades. The party was marginalised by Prime Minister McNally’s
Progress Party, and left holding only two federal seats and having no real
power in the house of representatives. A member of the Wainright family were
among a group of pirates captured by the ADF, only to be subsequently released
during a targeted breakout.
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