[TML] an interesting story somewhat related to this thing we do

[Michael Jenkins]

On 24/09/2007, Glenn M. Goffin <gmgoffin at yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://tinyurl.com/33rqx3

What a fascinating article, thanks for that Glenn.

Some offhand observations:

1. Most of the pirate crew are just hired hands, recruited among
people in desperate circumstances.

2. They tracked the target ship courtesy of a crewman onboard it, who
was recruited in the first place by the question "Are you happy?". Had
the crewman answered yes, he wouldn't have been recruited.

3. Someone else, often an organised crime gang, arranged for another
freighter to meet the hijacked ship and remove the target cargo.

4. The pirate "captain" who recruited the crew originally worked as
any other legitimate crewman, learning the trade, rising through the
ranks, making contacts. He's the agent used by the crime gangs behind
the whole deal.

5. Anti-piracy patrols were effective in keeping pirate attacks out of
the patrolled area - they chose unpatrolled areas to board the target
ship.

6. Even legitimate crew in this area have multiple identities, making
betrayal easier to get away with afterwards.

If you have piracy in YTU, there's some good source material here.

Of course, in Traveller, the ships themselves are extremely valuable
too, so if you have some way of forging a new identity for the ship,
there's another source of income.

I note that some pirates motivations also included the thrill of the job!

The biggest differences I see between Traveller and real-world piracy
are due to the ease with which someone can approach undetected and
board another vessel, and what type of vessel will serve the pirate
crew in this operation.

The use of at least one crew member on the target vessel could help
piracy succeed in Traveller despite these obstacles.

You can apply this info as you wish in YTU, and as I see it, it will
depend on the nature of YTU whether piracy's possible or not, I don't
see it as an absolute given either way.

-- 
Regards,
Michael Jenkins
--
No person should call themselves free,
While they are enslaved by fear, or greed, or hate.
--