Pirate Faction

The Pirate Faction is composed of NPCs. They comprise most of the planes which are encountered in combat and are regularly targeted by. On the Influence Boards, Skylands are under control of the Pirate Faction or the Hidden Fleet by default, with Captain Remy as the default Governor.

Planes
Pirates will fly anything with wings, to put it bluntly, though they are best known for their use of the G01D-F15H. Scouting Balloons are also common.

Game description
The following text appears at Pirate controlled skylands when you click Faction in the Embassy:
 * Sadly, [this skyland] is flying the flag of the Black Faction. It's that, or risk death. About them:


 * There is nothing admirable about these guys. They will shoot you down to take your stuff, or just for fun. Every day their ranks seem to swell with even more ne'er-do-wells. I'd watch out that you don't cross them.


 * I have no idea how you'd join this faction. Maybe go raid a skyland?

Influence
At the start of the round, the pirates had taken to running their own automated influence, along with the Hidden Fleet, and serve as an NPC opponent in the influence wars. Technically, their "capital" is Tortuga (if the black name on the map is any indication, as per the coloured names for faction capitals), though they cannot be joined there.

More recently, their influence movements have stopped completely, much like the Fleet's. Rumour has it that their influence runners have stumbled across a gigantic stash of 'nip on a remote skyland, and are too busy partying to actually do any pirating. All the other pirates, of course, care too much about short term profit to consider the long-term benefits of occupying a skyland.

Like the Hidden Fleet, if the Pirates seize a skyland, all other faction influence numbers on that skyland (barring the Fleet's) are reduced to zero. Similarly, if any player faction recaptures that skyland, all Pirate and Fleet influence is reduced to zero. Pirate activities tended to favour highly active skylands - that is, those with a high mood, which meant they focused on attacking skylands that flipped regularly, and of course the Capitals.

A notable Pirate conquest prior to their sudden retreat was the Tower of Islo. Fortunately, the Azure League were able to reclaim control of their capital. They came close to capturing Lhasa on several occasions, and all the factions have had to deal with the aftermath.