Piracy: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Covenant|UNSC|HCW|Post}}

{{Quote|Arrrrr. We be ready for [[Boarding|boardin']], matey.|[[Black Box]]}}<ref>'''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''', ''Page 217''</ref>

Traditionally, pirates are remembered as raiders who prowled the seas of [[Earth]], hijacking merchant shipping. But the important point is that they did it on the ''water'' - when humanity broke free of the constraints of Earth's atmosphere, it was almost inevitable that space piracy would become the new lucrative threat to shipping. By the 24th century, space piracy was widespread enough for the UNSC to adopt the [[UNSC Convention on Admiralty Law of 2315]], which authorizes the summary execution of pirates by the forces of an officially recognized government.<ref name="law"/> The budding threat of piracy in space also contributed to the creation of the [[Colonial Military Administration]] in [[2310]], one of its main functions being the protection of colonial vessels from raiders as humanity began [[human colonies|interstellar expansion]].<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 69'' (2011)</ref> This laid the foundation for the [[Unified Earth Government]]'s military presence in the [[Outer Colonies]]; the very involvement which would later provoke the colonists' ire and contribute to the sparking of the [[Insurrection]].<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 356''</ref>

Space piracy is not restricted to humanity alone. The [[Kig-Yar]] had a long seafaring history on [[Eayn|their homeworld]], and when they became a space-faring race, piracy flourished in their [[Y'Deio system|system]] as pirate factions raided merchant shipping. When the [[Covenant]] discovered the Kig-Yar, these pirate bands joined Eayn's government's militia to fend off the Covenant intruders. In order to survive, these same pirates became privateers in the service of the [[Ministry of Tranquility]]. In theory, these privateers patrolled Covenant space on an exploratory mission. In practice, it was little more than an excuse for the Kig-Yar to salvage whatever they could.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 93''</ref> Piracy remained heavily ingrained in Kig-Yar culture, as all their great folk heroes were famous pirates, representing freedom to those Kig-Yar in the service of the Covenant. Each Kig-Yar chick hopes to be a pirate when they grow up.<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 147''</ref>

Notable Kig-Yar pirates include [[Sav Fel]]<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 383''</ref>, [[Krith]]<ref>'''Halo Wars: Genesis'''</ref>, and the [[Kig-Yar pirate queen|pirate queen]] of [[Ven III]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 12|Issue #12]]''</ref>

Before the dissolution of the Covenant, the Banished started off as little more than raiders and [[Piracy|pirates]],<ref name="log foundry">'''Halo Wars 2''', ''Phoenix Logs - Foundry''</ref> conducting surgical raids against the Covenant and other targets while scavenging for resources and gathering mercenaries to their cause.<ref name="log outpost"/><ref name="a new enemy"/>

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