I'd received word of pirate activity in the California system so; I flew over there in my Guardian to investigate, once I reached the California -> Magellan Jump Gate it became apparent that I had chosen the wrong ship as there I encountered Discordant.Melodies, an Outcast-aligned Lane Hacker Gunship. As I wasn't immediately fired upon, I scanned the ship and found that... hostages had been taken! (1, 2) Because I was flying my Guardian; I didn't demand the release of the hostages but, I was able to tractor in the escape pods of a civilian and two Liberty Police officers, at which point the Outcast fired on me, asking that I surrender them to him. With my bats/bots running low and my guns barely scratching the gunship's shielding; I fled to Planet Manhattan and released the pilots into medical care before getting into my Liberty Gunboat, the Scottsdale so that I could rescue the hostages. ((Discordant.Melodies allowed me to do so, after I asked him for permission))
I found Discordant.Melodies around 5k from Mactan Base and declared my intentions. During the battle that ensued; a trader named Term arrived from the direction of the Leeds Jump Hole, and the gunship moved to engage him with me on his tail. Regretfully; I was unable to save the transport, as the gunship's firepower proved too much for its hull to take. ((Term wasn't asked for any credits but; in my opinion, he was "in the wrong place, at the right time" and don't think Discordant.Melodies is deserving of a sanction.))
Eventually; after bringing the gunship near destruction, the hostages were released into my custody but, before I was able to bring the pirate to justice for the destruction of Term's transport, Discordant.Melodies had jumped to Vespucci. After this, I returned to Planet Manhattan with the hostages. (3)