Corsair / CRSRS

The Corsairs are one of the largest criminal faction in the Sirius Sector. Being a faction stretched out for a living, they are known for attacks and raids on various transports and bases, as well as the trading of Artifacts.

While their ancestors were from the sleeper ship Hispania like the Outcasts, the two factions despise one another. This is because both parties suspect the other for sabotaging the ship during the journey.

The Corsairs are one of the largest criminal faction in the Sirius Sector. Being a faction stretched out for a living, they are known for attacks and raids on various transports and bases, as well as the trading of Artifacts.

While their ancestors were from the sleeper ship Hispania like the Outcasts, the two factions despise one another. This is because both parties suspect the other for sabotaging the ship during the journey.

History

The ancestors of the Corsairs that had set adrift from the crippled Hispania made landing on Crete shortly after the other Houses arrived in the Sirius Sector.

Scratching out a living, the Corsairs managed a bleak existence for four centuries. Eventually they developed a strong self-identity, isolated from the rest of the Houses. In 450 AS, that insular world changed. An exploratory expedition headed by Franz Schulman — financed by Daumann and the Rheinland government — stumbled into the system while mapping the far reaches of the Walker Nebula. The local inhabitants, sensing a historic opportunity, attacked the landing party en masse, killing all save Schulman, whom they took hostage to gain control of the mother ship Schiller in orbit above the planet.

No one is entirely sure who first nicknamed them the “Corsairs,” recalling the ancient pirate clans of the Mediterranean, but the name came into popular use among the Houses sometime around 500 AS. The Corsairs began attacking unprotected outposts and ships, plundering whatever supplies and equipment they could lay their hands on, before escaping through one of their secret Jump Holes. The systematic expansion of the Houses into the Omega Border Worlds further fueled the Corsair movement, dramatically increasing the quantity and variety of accessible goods.

The final chapter began in the sixth century AS, when an enterprising, well-armed Liberty freelancer named Jim Brown made his way to Omicron Gamma. He brought various Consumer Goods to trade, but the Corsairs could offer little but Artifacts. A year later, he returned. Those trinkets were all the rage with the elite of Manhattan. He saw a great business opportunity if they could set up a viable trade route to Liberty. The Corsairs were on their way. They grew rapidly in size and sophistication as they built up the Artifact trade.

The primary smuggling route goes through Sigma-19, where Artifacts are traded with the Hogosha onboard the Hawaii. They have also opened up a route into Rheinland via the Yanagi Junker base in Sigma-13. Meanwhile, the Corsairs have also created routes through Bretonia in order to reach the Junker Trafalgar Base in the New London.

The Corsairs view themselves as a sovereign nation in their own right, and have highly trained and professional military space and ground forces. While the Corsairs have no battleships, they consider their elite pilots their space navy, and their light raiders their irregular navy. Titan Very Heavy Fighters are used to protect the homeworld and fight Bounty Hunters and Hessians in the nearby Edge Worlds. Centurion Heavy Fighters are used to fight the Hessians and mount raids in the Border Worlds, while the irregulars fly the Legionnaire Light Fighters in the Bretonia and Kusari systems.

Corsairs tend to use Neutron and Pulse weapons with Positron Shields. Notably, the Titan Very Heavy Fighter boasts a slightly improved power rating and armor than the Sabre used by the Outcasts, but it does not turn as quickly, leaving it vulnerable to quicker craft in dogfights.

—> http://freelancer.wikia.com/wiki/Corsair