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Pirate Holdings

📐 Design-only. No PirateHolding model is committed yet; this page is the player-facing target spec. Canonical decision in ADR-0047. Raid mechanics in ../../SYSTEMS/pirate-holding-raid.md.

A Pirate Holding is any pirate-controlled site in the universe — from a couple of fast frigates lurking in an open Frontier sector with mines around them, to a fortified multi-planet complex hiding behind the gateway of a Bubble formation. Holdings are pre-seeded at galaxy generation. The Frontier zone of every player-owned region carries 9–17 of them, distributed across three tiers and many compositional shapes. They give the dangerous half of the universe a real face — pirates who live somewhere, defend something, and react when you come for them.

Holdings are not raid instances or scripted content. They are persistent places. Pirates eat and sleep at the holding, defenses regenerate organically over time, named captains can be killed and slowly replaced, and a player who clears every defense layer can claim the holding for themselves — keeping its planets, stations, and infrastructure as personal real estate. Lose interest in a captured holding, and the universe will reclaim it: a new pirate captain moves in, the recovery clock starts ticking, and within a couple of months, your old conquest is back to being someone else's problem.

Three tiers, full compositional spectrum

Each holding has a tier (which governs scale, difficulty, and recovery rate) and a composition profile (which determines what physical pieces are actually present at the site). Two holdings of the same tier can look completely different — one Camp might be three pirates parked in an open sector with mines, another might be a small pirate-owned trading post with no planet. Variety is the design intent.

Camp (5–10 per Standard region)

Soloable mid-game content. A Camp is the universe's "minor pirate presence" — discoverable on routine Frontier exploration, clearable in an hour or two by a competent pilot, but resisting hit-and-run because defenses recover fast (~25%/day). A Camp's composition rolls one of six profiles:

Composition What's there Flavor
Hideout (25%) 1 captain + 2 enforcers, sector drones + mines, no station, no planet Pure NPC + sector-defense presence in an open Frontier or Dead-End sector. The default.
Trading post (20%) 1 pirate-owned station (Class 2–3), 1 captain + 1–2 enforcers parked, no planet A pirate fence or supply hub. Buy/sell illicit at modest prices; clearing it shuts down a local black-market node.
Haven planet (20%) 1 planet with L1–L2 citadel + planet defenses, 1 captain + 2–3 enforcers living there, no station A planet alone — pirates dug in, no commerce. Citadel siege required.
Combined small (15%) 1 station + 1 planet (L1), both close, modest mixed defenses Small operating base. Two-target raid.
Roving fleet (10%) 2–3 parked + patrolling NPC ships, no infrastructure at all Mobile crew, no fixed home. Defeat the ships, the Camp is gone.
Fortified empty (10%) 2–3 sectors of mines + drones + sometimes parked ships, no infrastructure Deterrent perimeter. Pirates expect to be attacked here and are dug in defensively.

Outpost (3–5 per Standard region)

Top-rank soloable, team-friendly content. Outposts are typically formation-anchored (Tunnel, small Bubble, Blister, Escape Hatch) — the topology gives the pirates a real defensive bonus. ~10%/day defense recovery means a session of focused raiding can stick across a few days, but you can't take weeks off. Composition rolls:

Composition What's there Flavor
Fortress planet (30%) 1 planet with L3 citadel + 1 orbital platform, 50% chance of 1 small station, 1 captain + 4 enforcers The pirate's fortified home.
Pirate dock cluster (25%) 1–2 stations (Class 3–4), no planet, heavy sector defenses, 1 captain + 5–6 enforcers Shipyard / repair / black-market complex.
Mixed outpost (25%) 1 station + 1 planet (L2–L3), formation-anchored (Bubble or Tunnel), 1 captain + 4 enforcers Mid-tier operating base — variety on top of solid topology.
Defended formation (20%) Formation interior empty of stations/planets — just sector defenses + heavy NPC presence (1 captain + 5 enforcers + 2–3 parked patrol ships) The defensive value IS the topology. Bubble gateway is the hard part.

Stronghold (1–2 per Standard region)

Team-required (4-player canonical). Strongholds are always Bubble or Dead-End Bubble anchored, always multi-component, always include named pirate Lords (not just captains), and recover at only ~3%/day. A multi-week campaign for a coordinated team. Composition rolls:

Composition What's there Flavor
Fortress complex (50%) 2 stations (Class 3–4) + 2 planets with L4 citadels and orbital platforms + heavy sector defenses + Lord + 2–3 captains + 8 enforcers The canonical stronghold.
Citadel state (30%) 1 station + 1 large planet (L5 citadel + orbital platforms + rail guns) + heavy sector defenses + Lord + 2 captains + 8 enforcers One immense fortified planet plus support.
Trade nexus (20%) 3 stations (Class 3–5) + 1 planet (L3 citadel) + black-market specialty + maximum sector defense + Lord + 3 captains + 6 enforcers A pirate commercial empire. The Lord is typically a Shadow-Syndicate-aligned figure with a personal name and history.

The ecosystem responds

ARIA pre-warns players approaching a sector with a pirate holding ≥ Outpost or a Roving Fleet, scaled by player rank — see ../gameplay/aria-companion.md#aria-narration-hooks-event-catalog entries P-F4 (encounter pre-warn) and P-A4 (owned-holding abandonment 7-day warning). Camps remain silent — they're discovery content.

Pirate holdings aren't static. Per ADR-0048, each region runs a self-regulating pirate ecosystem on a weekly cycle:

  • Suppression: every holding you (or anyone in the region) clear lowers the regional pirate target for 30 days. Sustained clearing pushes the population down toward a 20% floor; back off for a month and the modifier recovers.
  • Spread: existing holdings spawn daughter holdings nearby on the weekly tick — a Stronghold can seed a Camp 5 hops away, a Camp can seed another Camp 1–3 hops away. Lineage is auditable via parent_holding_id. Pirates spread out from their nests like a virus.
  • Evolution: a holding left untouched at full strength promotes upward — a Camp at full health for 30 days has a 20% chance per weekly tick to become an Outpost; an Outpost at full health for 60 days has a 10% chance to become a Stronghold (requires Bubble or Dead-End Bubble formation backing). Ignore them, they get worse.
  • Cleansed regions: clear every pirate holding in a region and keep it empty for 7 days, the region enters Cleansed state. Regrowth target drops by 50% for 30 days. Top-3 attackers (by recent kill weight) earn a Pirate Hunter — {region_name} medal.
  • Caps: even at full unsuppressed equilibrium, a region's pirate population is bounded at 1.5× baseline. Growth produces more danger, not chaos.

The full ecosystem mechanics — population scoring, target computation, daughter spawning, evolution thresholds, telemetry — live in ../../SYSTEMS/pirate-ecosystem.md.

The intuition: knock one down, another spawns somewhere else later that night. Leave them alone, they grow stronger. Clear a whole region, you buy yourself a month of relative peace before they regrow from a single seed.

Discovery flow

Holdings start hidden. A player learns about them through three composing channels:

  • Per-player warp knowledge (per ADR-0045). A Warp Jumper scan or a sector visit reveals the formation topology (for Outposts and Strongholds). A Camp on an open Frontier sector reveals on first visit. Once revealed, the holding's name appears in the player's regional map.
  • Bounty Board contracts. Federation, Frontier Coalition, and (for some Strongholds) Astral Mining issue Holding Clear Contracts that pay credits and reputation for taking down known pirate sites. The contract surface lists the holding's name, tier, composition profile (intel cost extra), and reward — first commander or team to sign in claims the contract; the contract resets to open if they fail or abandon.
  • Faction intel surface. At sufficient faction reputation (Frontier Coalition Friendly+ or Federation Trusted+), an Intel Market exposes purchasable info on holdings — confirmation of existence (free at discovery), crew composition + citadel levels (mid-cost), full defense manifest + named-captain bio (high-cost), insider turncoat intel (highest cost, with a delivery delay).

Intel and recon

Before assaulting a non-trivial holding, a player can buy or scout intel:

Intel tier Cost Reveal Time cost
Tier 0 free Holding exists; tier; rough name At discovery
Tier 1 5,000 cr Crew composition (NPC count, ranks) + citadel levels 2-turn research window
Tier 2 25,000 cr Full defense manifest (drones, mines, ship loadouts) + named captain bio + bounty value 4-turn research window
Tier 3 50,000 cr Insider turncoat intel — interior layout, weakest gateway, current crew morale, recent conflicts 6-turn cost + 1-hour real-time delivery delay

Player-side scouting alternatives: - Probe reconnaissance (Warp Jumper scan): 5 turns + 2,000 cr; reveals sector topology, not interior defenses. - Close-range visual scan (dock at gateway, don't enter): 0 turns; visible to pirates — they get a notification and gain a +1 alert tier on first hour of subsequent assault. - Decoy infiltration (non-combat ship): 20 turns; if undetected (skill check), full Tier-2 intel free. If detected, a pirate squad sorties.

Gating

Minimum requirements to attempt a holding (all must hold):

  • Military rank ≥ Commander (5,000 rank points; ~75–100 hours into a player's arc per ./player-journey.md). Holdings are not first-week content.
  • Personal reputation ≥ −100 (Neutral or above). A player with personal rep below Neutral can still attempt but receives no faction reward.
  • Ship class ≥ Defender (combat-viable hull). Solo Camp clears can be attempted in lighter ships at the player's own risk.
  • Equipment: a Tractor Beam OR Quantum Jump module, for escape and gap-closing.
  • Faction standing: cannot be HATED by the contract-issuing faction. A Federation contract requires TF rep ≥ Unfriendly.

Stronghold-tier specifically also requires: - A team of at least 2 active players (4 canonical). Solo-Stronghold attempts succeed only at top-rank Admiral+ tier with optimal builds; the design assumes team play.

ARIA narration

ARIA is the player's running commentary on holdings — discovery, intel suggestions, mid-raid status, post-capture celebration. Sample dialogue:

Discovery moment:

"I've flagged the Carrion Court in our threat database — Dead-End Bubble topology, so you'll walk linearly into every sector with no shortcuts for the defenders. They're tough, but predictable. Want me to scout their current alert level?"

Pre-raid prep:

"You're signing up for a live operation. Federation intel: three Pirate Interceptors docked in the main bay, citadel at Level 2, roughly a dozen personnel rotating shifts. They've got mines in the outer ring — I'd recommend EMP charges or a Tractor module to defuse remotely. The captain — Zar-Thul, Outer Reach — is a tactical pilot. He'll try to isolate you. Stick with your team."

Mid-raid:

"First layer breached. Citadel defenses still at full. Two more sectors before the inner ring. Crew morale in the sleeping quarters is dropping — some are running."

"Your hull is at 34%. I'm detecting a Pirate Fast Courier prepping for sortie in the next sector. You should pull back to —" (player's choice cuts off)

"Your team-mate's ship is down. I'm calculating escape-pod vectors... they'll clear the formation in T+30 seconds. You have time to complete the raid or extract. Your choice."

On successful capture:

"The Carrion Court is yours. I've logged the claim with the Federation. You're now a holding commander — that's the third one in this region's history. The crew quarters are yours: 47 colonists are ready to staff it if you want steady income, or you can leave it abandoned as a forward base. What'll it be?"

On defeat:

"Your ship is destroyed. Ejecting now. The Carrion Court remains under pirate control — and they're re-fortifying. You took their citadel down to Level 1 before going under, though. Next time, you'll start at an advantage. Federation flagged this as a partial success — 25,000 cr bounty refund, contract resets to open. The pirate captain? Furious. Your standing with the Fringe Alliance ticked up +50 — they respect guts. Come back when you're ready."

Failure consequences

A player destroyed during a raid:

  • Ship lost — escape pod auto-generated; player ejected to nearest safe sector. Insurance pays out per the standard policy if held; PvE pirate combat carries no insurance penalty.
  • No personal-reputation penalty. Dying to pirates in a known pirate site is the cost of the attempt, not a moral failing. Reputation stays clean.
  • Cargo loss. Any cargo aboard the destroyed ship drops as a Cargo Wreck in the destruction sector — recoverable per the standard salvage rules; opportunists may strip it.
  • Pirate vendetta. Surviving pirates may place a vendetta bounty (5,000 cr base, scaling with the player's rank) via the Fringe Alliance. The bounty is automatic, posted within 24 hours, visible on the bounty board for 72 hours.
  • Per-holding cooldown (Outpost and Stronghold only): the specific holding is locked for 24 hours of re-attempt by that player. Other holdings are open. Camp tier has no cooldown — re-attempt freely.
  • Partial credit (if the player cleared 1+ defense layers): the contract issuer pays a partial bounty refund (25% of contract value) on the next dock to a friendly station.

Crucially: damage progress survives. Defenses you destroyed remain destroyed (subject to the per-tier recovery rate). NPCs you killed remain KIA on the standard 7-day cooldown. A failed raid that took out half a stronghold's drones is a real step toward eventual capture — you just have to come back before pirates rebuild.

Reward tiers

A successful capture delivers, scaled by tier:

Camp capture

  • The holding row + any planets/stations within (typical: 0–1 station, 0–1 planet, modest infrastructure).
  • Loot from the cleared sectors: 2,000–8,000 cr in stolen trade goods.
  • Captain's stash: 5,000–15,000 cr.
  • Faction rep: +10 contract-issuing faction; −50 Pirates.
  • Rank points: ~100.

Outpost capture

  • The holding + planets (L2–L3 citadels) + 1–2 stations.
  • Loot: 8,000–25,000 cr.
  • Captain's stash: 15,000–40,000 cr + 1 rare equipment blueprint.
  • Faction rep: +25 contract-issuing faction; +5 to adjacent friendly factions; −100 Pirates.
  • Rank points: ~400 (split across team if team raid).
  • Optional encounter: 5–15 NPC prisoners to rescue (+50 rep with rescue-recipient faction; unlock 3 free colonist recruitment slots).

Stronghold capture

  • The holding + the Bubble formation as personal territory + 1–3 planets (L3–L5) + 2–3 stations.
  • Loot: 25,000–75,000 cr.
  • Lord's treasure: 50,000–250,000 cr + multiple rare equipment blueprints.
  • Faction rep: +50 contract-issuing faction; +15 to adjacent friendly factions; −250 Pirates.
  • Rank points: ~1,000 (split across team).
  • Permanent ownership until abandonment. The Bubble gateway becomes player-defended territory.
  • Named notoriety: kill-board entry; ARIA memory hook ("you're known in the Frontier Cluster for taking strongholds"); leaderboard entry for first capture of that specific stronghold.

Medals (per ../gameplay/medals.md)

  • Stronghold Commander — 3 captures across any tier mix.
  • Naval Supremacy — captures across all three tiers.
  • First Conqueror — {holding name} — first player to capture a specific holding (one-time, permanent leaderboard entry per holding).

Abandonment narrative

Captured holdings stay yours until you stop visiting:

  • Days 1–14 of player ownership: full income, full functionality, full prestige.
  • Days 15–21: morale drops; colonist upkeep increases; warning broadcast on the realtime bus.
  • Days 22–29: colonists begin evacuating; income drops to 0; docked ships at risk.
  • Day 30+: a fresh pirate operator takes over. Defenses re-populate at 50% strength (anti-grief — the player who took it once shouldn't face full defenses on quick re-conquest); after 90 days untouched, defenses recover to 100%.

In-fiction: "The Carrion Court fell back under pirate control last week. The crew you scattered regrouped with fresh recruits from the Outer Rim. The colonists you brought are long gone. But the stronghold's wounds are still there — if you come back, it'll be an easier second take."

Endgame role

Holdings are mid-to-late-game content sitting at the boundary between solo progression and team-coordinated activities. Three captures is the rough "you're a commander of note" milestone. Capture across all three tiers establishes a player as a regional military presence. Players (and teams) accumulating Stronghold-tier holdings begin to control regional trade corridors — which feeds region politics, inter-team rivalries, and the broader endgame loop documented in ../gameplay/player-journey.md.

Spectator and community angles

  • Realtime broadcast: when a Stronghold raid begins, a notification fires region-wide. Watching teams may coordinate interference if the rules permit.
  • Leaderboard: top players ranked by holdings_captured, fastest clear times, hardest tier taken.
  • First Conqueror entries: permanent kill-board records for the first capture of each named holding. These compose ARIA's "you're known for…" memory hooks.
  • Pirate revenge: the realtime narrative gives surviving pirates room to retaliate. A captain who survived a player's failed raid may band with neighboring pirates and counter-raid the player's home holdings or starting region. Dynamic counter-play, not scripted.