Belt Pirates

Belt Pirates
Formed 2596
Disbanded 3052
Affiliation Pirate
Parent Command Independent

The Belt Pirates was one of the oldest bandit kingdoms in the Periphery.

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

The Belt Pirates formed in the aftermath of the Reunification War when refugees and survivors of the bitter conflict, particularly those from rebel units that supported the defeated Rim Provisional Government, refused to lay down their arms against the Star League and fled to the lightly populated Star's End system, avoiding persecution at the hands of the Republic's restored ruling family.[1][2] Star's End, which had been colonized in the 2330s and was officially part of the Rim Worlds Republic by 2338,[3] featured one habitable planet named Novo Cressidas which was shielded by a ring of asteroids and rocked by frequent ion storms that made orbital navigation hazardous.[4] Because of the dangers transiting the system, it became an ideal base of operations for space marauders. Over the generations, piracy became a way of life, and the Belt Pirates maintained a steady stream of scavenger raids on both the Lyran Commonwealth and Draconis Combine.[2][5]

The inhabitants of Star's End enjoyed a relatively prosperous existence over the next couple centuries mining rich lanthanum and germanium deposits, and despite whatever reputation the Belt Pirates had built up, the system was still considered respectable enough for First Lord and Director-General Simon Cameron to make his unscheduled visit to the mining asteroid of New Silesia on 17 February 2751.[6] His famously tragic death set off a series of events that resulted in the Amaris Civil War and the dissolution of the Star League; at around the same time, the asteroid belt's minerals had become depleted and those who could leave fled to the Inner Sphere or pushed out deeper into the Periphery, leaving the Belt Pirates in control of the system.[1]

Succession Wars[edit]

Following the war that removed The Usurper in 2779, Amaris loyalists dispersed throughout the Periphery and many of them ended up on the asteroids of Star's End, joining the hardened descendants of the Reunification War refugees in their shared animosity toward the Star League. The arrival of these fresh recruits enabled the Belt Pirates to expand their raids, becoming one of the most notorious pirate nations in the early years of the Succession Wars amid the vicious fighting between the Great Houses.[7][8]

The pirates had inherited a large orbital dry dock complex built in the latter half of the twenty-seventh century that had been used by the navies of the Rim Worlds Army and Star League Defense Force on multiple occasions,[9][10] which included hidden zero-G graving docks and hangers capable of assembling JumpShips and many of their components.[1] As supplies of replacement parts slowed to a trickle, the pirates began confining their activities to neighboring systems with their priority being the capture of valuable machinery and spare parts for their vessels.[5] The seven leaders of the Belt Pirates recognized that their livelihood depended on the technical expertise to address malfunctioning equipment and keep their ships in working order, and turned the asteroid belt into a haven of sorts for technicians with the skills to build and repair JumpShips and Dropships.[1]

The Belt Pirates lent their services to both the Draconis Combine and Lyran Commonwealth during the Succession Wars, though only the use of their shipyards was considered reliable.[1] Enlisting their aid to fight came with a high cost and they had a reputation of breaking contracts when persuaded with the right incentives. Still, neither House made any serious effort to crush them because their raids served as convenient distractions.[5][8]

In the mid-twenty-ninth century, massive deposits of germanium were found under Novo Cressidas' southern ice cap. In the following decades, vast underground mining and industrial complexes were rumored to stretch from there all the way to the equator, with signs suggesting a major center of hyperdrive ship construction.[4] In the 3030s, the Belt Pirates began limited trade with some of the Houses, acquiring food and luxury items in exchange for germanium.[8]

Sometime in the 3010s, the Fifth Galedon Regulars undertook a successful campaign against the Belt Pirates. They had been stationed along the Periphery for a hundred years fighting against pirates and bandit kingdoms.[11]

Clan Invasion[edit]

During the initial Clan Invasion, scattered Belt Pirates units ran into advanced elements of Clan Wolf. The first group was destroyed easily, while another retreated back to Star's End's asteroid belt and disappeared. With the normal hazards of navigating through asteroids combined with sensor scans showing batteries of laser turrets and minefields, Clan Wolf judged the pirates neither honorable nor dangerous enough to fight and chose to bypass the system on their push toward the Inner Sphere.[1][8][12]

Other battered pirate bands and mercenary units that suffered at the hands of the Clans reinforced the Belt Pirates, and occasionally between 3050 and 3052 they would fervently strike back by raiding Clan-held worlds. The defending garrisons had little trouble fending them off and most of the pirates were obliterated, but these raids were enough of a distraction that Clan Wolf dispatched several clusters of solahma troops to deal with them. Although they could not penetrate the defenses of the asteroid belt, they dealt enough damage to force the Belt Pirates to curtail operations. Their leader, Morgan Fletcher II, declared a temporary moratorium on raiding and ordered her remaining fighters to study the invaders' battle tactics.[1][8]

Shortly after the Battle of Tukayyid, Susie Morgraine-Ryan arrived in Star's End with about two companies of MechWarriors following their escape from a Clan Jade Falcon attack on Götterdämmerung. Fletcher and Morgraine-Ryan formed an alliance in their shared hatred for the Clans and renamed their combined forces the New Belt Pirates.[1][8][12]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Belt Pirates
Pirate Queen Morgan Fletcher 3025[5]
Pirate Queen Morgan Fletcher II 3052[8]

Composition History[edit]

3025[edit]

Belt Pirates (1 Battalion)[5]

  • CO: Morgan Fletcher

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 144
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Periphery, 2nd Edition, p. 80
  3. ↑ The Periphery, p. 18
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Periphery, p. 144
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 The Periphery, p. 143
  6. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 20
  7. ↑ Handbook: Major Periphery States, pp. 37, 42
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 The Periphery, 2nd Edition, p. 82
  9. ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 108
  10. ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 132
  11. ↑ The Galtor Campaign, p. 55
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Field Manual: Periphery, p. 129

Bibliography[edit]

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