Warning: Long (apologies)
Currently I am GMing for a Pirate TE campaign. "Mad" Rodrik Bonny was the NPC captain of the "Last Chance". Enter some of the PCs... Skyler is the human child he found, who has since grown into a stunning beauty and effective pirate in her own right. Indeed, she even replaces the former first mate Arno Benny, a Heavy Engineer who often wants perhaps more than his fair share. Still, Arno seems to accept the promotion with good grace...perhaps too good for a pirate.
Right outside the Hegemony, the relations and long line of the Ingaldi (The nobles of the Kalshari) continue their exile. Enter Cahira, roughly 157th in line to the title of Ingaldi herself.From a precoucious child, she has grown into a skilled pilot for her people. Even if she has an unfortunate tendency to send her own ships into spins just to "make the stars dance." She also grows restless with the exile, and wishes she could strike back at the Hegemony. Tales of pirates frustrating even the mighty Thorgons brings a pleased green glow to her skin.
In the Terran Empire itself, a young Fex V'croa (sp?) doesn't believe the tales of humans treating Fex like second class citizens. He follows in his father's paws and joins the Imperial Navy. Thanks to a lifetime around weapons (His mother is a weapon's designer) he becomes a rising star gunner... hampered only by the tendency of some Empire officals to favor humans first. He discovers that some of his mother's 'rejected' designs have some how made it on Vice Admiral Victor Cromwell anyways. Confused, he brings this up... only to find the Empire is willing to accuse his mother of espionage rather than pay her the now considerable due for her work. Rather than simply try to get out of this outfit, he spouts meaningless words of loyality for the empire and dismay for his mother's betrayal... but secretly, this is NOT a happy cat.
Vice Admiral Cromwell is a young and cruel officer in charge of bringing the pirates of this sector to heel. His chief thorn is Bonny. A new ship, an Orca class (Yup, borrowed the design from another thread) is built to do everything pirates can do, but better. Cromwell is first going to use it against the pirates in battle, but then he gets a better idea... to use it as bait.
Back to Cahira....staying at a dome pocked planet where many nobles are gathering, they are ready should the Thorgon's cross in. To their surprise, it is a fleet of the Terran Empire that approaches. At first offering to 'help' these renegade Kalshari, when the Ingaldi does not immediately agree to be 'escorted', Cromwell's ship and a few others begin attacking the plaent. Fortunately, Cahira was already boarding her ship (She didn't trust this odd offer of help from the start)... and many others get up in the air as well. Once deeper in space, she launches a shuttle with a copy of the Ingaldi's transmission, hoping to lead the ships away from the real one. It works, but when a master gunner in Cromwell's ship blows out the back of her shuttle...she's ready to die!
Enter some fairly good piloting by Skyler as Rodrick brings the Last Chance to the fray. He doesn't know what's in the shuttle, but if the Imperial Navy wants it, so does he. The Kalshari get away with minimum losses, and Cahira ends up being rescued by the likable madman, and joins the crew.
In the mean time, a certain Imperial crew with a fex in it recieves word that 'officially' these Kalshairi were pirates. Cromwell is frustrated, the deal he had cut with the Thorgons for their assistance in clearing out pirates in the netrual zone has gone to put because he could not deliver the Ingaldi to them as he promised. V'croa is disgusted by the lies, and his own part in the attack on an the colony of exiles. He's also confused as a clearly top secret ship soon becomes the talk of the town.
Mean while, the "Last Chance" is on it's last legs... fearing "it's luck may run out" Bonny hears tale from Arno of a top secret ship that is state of the art about to be moved, and decides it's time to get the crew a new home. Insured by his own engineer as well as some rumors abroad (Unknown to him, carefully leaked) he decides to go for it.
Which is just what Cromwell and Arno wanted and planned for. As the Last Chance makes it's hook up to the Orca... there is an explosion in its engine room... cutting off power. A life pod goes out, as Arno heads to the Constellation, the ship of his NEW boss, Vice Admiral Cromwell.
The Last Chance has just run out of luck. Bonny offers to 'surrender' himself... buying time for Skyler and Cahira to slip out of an air dock in space suits to try to commendeer and start up the Orca now cabled to the Last Chance so they can save the crew. For a brief moment, a certain Fex gunner has both ladies in his sights (And the GM began to wonder if one player was going to blow away the characters of two others) he fires...blowing open a hatch for them to get in to. He's unsure how he'll get out of here though to join them.
The Orca starts up, breaks free, and fires at the Constellation, taking it off guard for the first time. The explosions and unexpected fire gives a certain Rodrik Bonny a chance to break free long enough to stumble onto a certain Gunner. Both rush towards the Constellation's escape shuttle, but there's only one time to get through the door. Deciding his luck has run out, Rodrick shoves V'Croa ("Tell Skyler Bonny sent you!") through, and then races to turn the lower guns on the constellation itself.
And so V'Croa ends up in the hands of Pirates (Who he joins) and Skyler retrieves as much of the old crew as she can ... the explosion in the lower parts of the Constellation tells her what Rodrik has done to delay their foes. She orders Cahira to fly them out of there now!
With Rodrik dead, Skyler takes the name Bonny as her own to honor the fallen father figure. As for the stolen Orca ship? They dub it Bonny's Pride.
While he finally killed "Mad" Rodrick Bonny, Cromwell has lost a state of the art experimental ship, and gained Arno. Who is made a Captain of the Imperial Navy and given a ship of his own... 30 coins of silver no longer enough for most acts of betrayal.
Both recieve a coded and seemingly untracable transmission a week later from Captain Skyler...it's a simple black spot.