Pirates

For all of history, whenever there has been something worth wanting there have been people willing to go to any lengths to take it for themselves. Space travel is no exception, and despite numerous attempts to crack down from Cooperation members, piracy is rife and profitable within the galaxy.

Profitable piratical affairs naturally include the core piratical pillars of theft, smuggling, and murder, but with a wealth of information transmitted into the void so regularly, information trading and muscling in on high paying jobs are both highly lucrative pasttimes. It's quite common for one group of pirates to find an attractive pay-out only for multiple other pirate groups to land shuttles and argue (sometimes bloodily) over who gets to take the contract.

Though every pirate is a law unto themself, and every pirate ship is a law unto itself, and the captain on board, pirates have found it necessary to band together lest they be rooted out and dealt with one by one. As such, the Galactic Pirate Code is upheld by most pirates, and breaking it - while common - is a good way to get yourself left to asphyxiate in space next time you get in trouble with a Fjenician Phalanx Cruiser.

The Galactic Pirate Code consists of Five Tenets:

Parlay (pirates that come into conflict can try to talk their differences out)
Ask me no questions I will tell you no lies (if you're buying goods don't ask where they came from, if you're paying for a job don't ask how it was done)
The enemy of my enemy is a great distraction (there is always another side to take in any conflict)
Dead tongues betray no secrets (so don't turn fellow pirates into authorities, or you'll be considered better dead)
Fresh blood fooled is better than old blood ruled (new pirates are to be encouraged, even when they screw up, else you get stuck in your ways)

While pirates hold (loosely) to these tenets, attempts to organise pirates further have thus far all failed due to the immediate oneupmanship and infighting that inevitably occurs. Some Captains have been known to gather large fleets together under their banner, but to call that truly “organised” would be a grave misunderstanding.