Pirates, where?

[Baltar]

The problem is that this is a Catch 22 situation. Without the anti-pirate capships in Sigma 13, you have a pirate gunboat (usually with the super-turrets rather than faction ones) up against a trading vessel, which is just as big a mismatch as BH Cruiser vs pirate gunboat. Just be glad there isn't an official GMG faction yet, or you'd get just as much hassle in Sigma 13 as you do in House space.

There's no Catch 22. And you cannot compare a gunboat to a battle cruiser. First, transports don't use up 100% of their bats when their shields go down. You can regen shields about 3 or 4 times before we can get to your hull ... so a Trader can last a long time before he's in trouble ... long enough for help to arrive or to get away. Second, Bounty Hunters in battle cruisers melt a Pirate's gunboat like a hot knife through butter. My gunboat typically runs from a fight with a battle cruiser with a sliver of hull left and no bats or bots to speak of ... all in a couple of minutes. So please spare me the comparison ... its not the same.

Now ... if the Bounty Hunters would come into Sigma 13 with a cruiser or a destroyer ... your point would be valid. But the Bounty Hunters I've seen parked in front of Yanagi ... 90% of the time, they've been in battle cruisers. For a comparison ... a battle cruiser against a gunboat is like a destroyer against a transport ... something that's forbidden.

Ok ... now with regard to the GMG. First, GMG are enemies of Rheinland ... so those trade vessels coming FROM New Berlin are not exactly gonna be seen as friendly since they are supporting Rheinland by purchasing their diamonds and selling them to Kusari ... and then bringing Niobium back to Rheinland. So GMG would likely welcome the Pirates to cut down on Rheinland's trade. Second ... GMG don't care about pirates. They're a corporation ... and my Pirate does not bother the GMG.

OH ... to all you Bounty Hunters out there. The Junkers don't hire you guys to hunt Pirates. Its a bit OORP ... so don't come around Yanagi trying to claim you're hunting me at the request of the Junkers ... who are my allies by the way. Get in the role play folks and stop trying to loophole support for your PVP whoredom.