Pirates and police
Pirates
Section titled “Pirates”
Out in normal flight, away from a station, pirates may come for you. Shoot them down with your lasers (Space, or hold Fire) for a bounty. Your shields take hits first and recharge; what gets through wears the hull and may wear a ship part (see Damage, power and getting stranded). A hit may also knock out your drive’s charge, so fleeing by supercruise or jump isn’t always quick.
Security and danger
Section titled “Security and danger”Space grows more dangerous the further you go from Sol. Pirates out there are tougher, hit harder, come in pairs more often and pay bigger bounties. Security decides how soon the police arrive to help:
| Distance from Sol | Security | Police arrive in |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 ly | High | About 8 s |
| 30 to 90 ly | Medium | About 18 s |
| 90 to 100 ly | Low | About 35 s |
| Beyond 100 ly | Lawless | Never |
There’s no difficulty setting: everyone shares one galaxy, and how hard it gets is where you choose to fly.
Being wanted
Section titled “Being wanted”Shoot a trader or the police and you’re wanted in that system for ten minutes. The police will engage you.
Your combat rank
Section titled “Your combat rank”Pirate bounties and machine sites build your combat rank, which brings bigger contracts: pirate hunts, machine site contracts, Harvester hunts and wanted aces. See Ranks and records. The Kestrel and the Mastiff are built for this work, and a Gunner in your crew adds to your guns.