Editing Pirates of the Baltic Sea (section)

==Organizations==

===Dead Zone===

Taking their name from the huge dead area of Baltic Sea’s seafloor, this radical environmentalist group is literally up in arms about the deteriorating state of the sea, and they believe that the ship for non-violent resistance sailed and sunk a long time ago.
What makes Dead Zone different from other groups of ecoterrorists is that they are led by a person of vision and intellect.

“Contemporary and historical examples show that the victor of an insurgency, whether it is the insurgent or the occupier, wins the struggle because they are better able to gain the solidarity and support of the population and the international community.” –Ahto

No one knows who Ahto truly is. He is generally assumed to be a man, for the name is that of an old Finnish sea god. Ahto’s messages and manifestos appear regularly on the net, on pirate radios, sometimes even in the middle of a corporate-sponsored news broadcast when the Dead Zone hackers have a good day. In the broadcasts, Ahto’s voice is androgynous and the only image is Dead Zone’s logo of a yellowed skull peeking from the waves. Some suspect that Ahto is actually several people, others suspect a strong AI.

Ahto’s public messages are a part of Dead Zone’s war strategy. Countering corporate propaganda and raising awareness. But what is more interesting to Buccaneers is Dead Zone’s more direct methods. They fight an asymmetric warfare to make individual or ongoing actions of the corporations and governments that cause harm to Baltic Sea too costly and risky. This has included strikes against shipping and coastal installations, and even sabotage of the Baltic Sea oil pipeline – but never in a fashion that would have caused a leak. By Ahto’s decree, these strikes must be performed with military precision. No harm to innocents, no significant environmental damage, and preferably minimal loss of life.

Dead Zone has strict recruitment protocols to weed out corporate spies and too radical or unethical members, so although they are popular, their actual number is assumed to be small. Therefore they often hire Buccaneers to perform strikes for them, but they will only hire groups with a reputation of dependability and capability of doing a clean job.

===Raiders of Thule===

One of the fiercest rivals of the Buccaneers. Not as numerous as the Buccaneers, they make up for that with armament, skill and brutality.
Some Estonian scholars believe that the island of Saaremaa – or Ösel, as the Swedes call it – was the location of the historic Ultima Thule. That is where the raiders have their base, and that is where they take their name from.

As it often happens with particularly brutal criminal groups, the Raiders formed when a large number of trained soldiers were let go at once. In their case, the Baltic states decided that it would not be cost effective to update their aging fleets as the rapid increases in technology would leave the new ships outdated too in short order, and the constant upgrades were becoming an enormous drain on the budget. Instead, they started purchasing services from Triton, a mercenary corporation providing services of naval military kind. The fleets were decommissioned and a huge number of Navy people got the boot. Many drifted to other occupations or unemployment. Others gathered together and decided to put their skills in naval warfare to use, forming the Raiders.

Just like the Buccaneers are generally allowed to operate by Åland, Sweden and Finland, Raiders of Thule are ignored by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In their case it is not a case of silent support but one of plain old fashioned corruption, whether of monetary or political kind. The Raiders leave shipping of the Baltic states in peace and provide generous support for far right parties in the governments of the states, and in return they have a secure base of operations in Saaremaa.

Raiders tend to be mercilessly effective in their attacks, often leaving no survivors. Unlike the Buccaneers, they have no code of conduct. They also see the Buccaneers as competition and do not hesitate to try and eliminate any Buccaneer crew should the opportunity arise. Most Buccaneers loathe the Raiders of Thule, but engaging the Raiders in battle is risky even in the best of circumstances. They are all navy trained, well armed, and completely ruthless in battle.

===Guild of the Victual Brothers===

''Mare Nostrum Balticum''

In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic, and the Victual Brothers held Gotland. They were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy.

The present day Guild is a relatively recent arrival to the Baltic. It was founded as a mercenary corporation by Captain Evert Kron, a former Captain of the Swedish Navy. In large part as a response to the Buccaneers. A right wing ultra-nationalist, Captain Kron longs for the lost glory days of Mare Nostrum Balticum or "Our Baltic Sea" when Sweden dominated the Baltic. He dislikes the government’s stance of neutrality and Swedish Navy’s status as a small defensive fleet. In his opinion, the result has been that Sweden has become too reliant on outsiders such as the Buccaneers to act as a buffer and deterrent to other groups such as the Raiders of Thule. He does not have a high opinion of Buccaneers either, considering them foreign rabble. If Kron got to decide, Åland would be annexed and the Buccaneers driven out.

But Kron is not in a position to decide, so he left the Navy and formed his own fleet. As a native of Gotland, he based the fleet there and took for them the historic name of Victual Brothers. A bigot, Kron only hires men of Swedish ethnicity, most of whom share his right-wing leaning. They hire themselves out as naval security detachments for Swedish corporations and their allies, but never to their competitors. They do take assigments to harass the shipping of those competitors, and other kinds of corporate black ops. They have also been offering their services to the Swedish Navy, but the Navy has so far been reluctant to hire them for anything.

The assignments of Victual Brothers sometimes bring them into conflict with the Buccaneers. In fact, Victual Brothers go out of their way to harass the Buccaneers if they come across them. Victual Brothers have taken on the motto of Mare Nostrum Balticum. They consider the Baltic theirs, and would see the other groups driven off or destroyed.

The vessels of Victual Brothers are almost exclusively CB90-type fast assault craft, mostly decommissioned Navy craft. This makes the Victual Brothers a genuine threat for Buccaneers. Unlike the Raiders of Thule, most Victual Brothers are not as skilled as true Naval military, but CB90 is an exceptionally fast and agile boat that can execute extremely sharp turns at high speed, decelerate from top speed to a full stop in 2.5 boat lengths, and adjust both its pitch and roll angle while under way. Its light weight, shallow draught, and twin water jets allow it to operate at speeds of up to 40 knots (74 km/h). It can also carry and deploy 18 fully equipped men in addition to its three person crew. CB90 is also well armed, with three .50 cal machine guns, a grenade launcher, and even depth charges. It is also versatile and easy to modify. Victual Brothers have at least one command and control vessel, a few with armor and upgraded engines to compensate for the added weight, and some with troop carrying capacity exchanged for bunks, pantry and auxiliary fuel tanks to provide extended operating time. The vessels of Victual Brothers can match most Buccaneer craft, and they usually carry marines, outnumbering the Buccaneer crew. Any clash with them is a threat. Which is why there is prestige in managing to beat them.

===Sea Devils===

Boat Club Sea Devils, or Meripirut in Finnish, is sometimes called a biker gang on boats, and that is not an inaccurate description. Mostly younger people who like fast boats, they are not above financing their hobby with illicit activities such as smuggling and sale of illegal goods. They normally avoid piracy though, for Finnish authorities do not tolerate them the way Ålandic authorities tolerate Buccaneers, so Sea Devils try to stay below the radar. In smuggling, they are occasional trading partners and occasional competitors to the Buccaneers.
Sea Devils are also an occasional nuisance to Buccaneers. They consider the Archipelago Sea to be their turf, including Åland Archipelago. That means that they are not only encountered at sea every now and then, they can also show up in Mariehamn. And they have a habit of issuing challenges to Buccaneer crews. Generally not violent ones, but Sea Devils are fond of playing chicken with or trying to race Buccaneer vessels, and at port the challenge can be anything from a drinking contest to a brawl. When you are on a job or trying to mind your own business this can get infuriating, for Sea Devils rarely take no for an answer. Still, the relationship between them and the Buccaneers is more of a friendly rivalry than a hostile one.

===Black Dog Security===

Black Dogs are a private security company operating out of Tricity in Poland. They are one of the largest Polish security companies, operating both on land and at sea. They do not compare in power to global mercenary corporations like Triton, and there are other companies of similar size in Poland, but what makes Black Dogs notable is their hatred of Buccaneers. This hatred is known to originate from Celina Nowak, the company CEO. The exact details are not known for her personal information is a highly kept corporate secret, but rumors say that she lost someone important to her in one of the early clashes with the Buccaneers. Depending on the rumor, this could have been a parent, a lover or a child.

But even though the CEO might be the origin of the Black Dogs’ hatred, there have been enough clashes between them and the Buccaneers that the feeling has not only trickled down to the lower ranks, it has become mutual. Black Dogs have an official discount for jobs specifically targeting Buccaneers and they are often acting as security on board corporate vessels, and in an engagement between them and the Buccaneers, quarter is rarely asked or given.

===Captains’ Table===

Buccaneers enjoy plenty of freedom. Their services are vital to Åland’s economy, so the government allows them to get away with quite a bit, within limits. But there are limits. And in addition to Ålandic authorities, the Buccaneers need to tread carefully with Swedish and Finnish governments. To a degree the same is true of all the governments in the Baltic region, but those have a much higher threshold to take aggressive action against Buccaneers in their home port, especially with much greater threats like the Raiders of Thule around. Generally it is much simpler to just increase their patrols if the actions of the Buccaneers become a nuisance.

Still, the position of the Buccaneers is not secure. One too bloodthirsty crew or a corporate false flag operation could ruin their carefully cultivated reputation and relationships. Even early on it was obvious that some kind of internal policing would be necessary. That is how the Captains’ Table formed. It is something of a Buccaneer Parliament. Every captain of an accepted Buccaneer crew has a vote when the Captains’ Table gathers, and a single majority decides the vote. And only the Captains’ Table can accept a new crew into their ranks. One cannot just sail into Åland and start Buccaneering. Newcomers need to present themselves and be accepted.

In practice, it would be impractical for all the captains to gather for every single matter, so the Captains’ Table gathers rarely. Most of the day to day decisions are handled by the Admiralty.

====Admiralty====

Captains’ Table votes into position five Admirals, who have the right to act and make decisions on the Table’s behalf. Usually the Admirals are semi-retired Buccaneer captains whose best days at sea are behind them but who possess experience and cunning in spades. Admirals deal with the authorities and the media. They also arbitrate disputes between Buccaneer crews. Anyone with a grievance with another crew can bring the matter before the Admiralty. And it is the Admirals who police the actions of Buccaneers. They have a right to issue commands and pass judgement. And if necessary, other Buccaneers enforce their decisions. Any crew who decides to just ignore an Admiral will soon find three other crews on their doorstep.

Admirals serve until they choose to retire, unless they are voted out by the Captains’ Table. This is rare but has happened. Captains’ Table can also overturn a decision of the Admiralty. This is just as rare as voting out an Admiral, and usually one follows the other.
For all their authority, Admirals do not interfere with the affairs of Buccaneer crews unless they have to. The two most common ways to end up facing the Admiralty’s judgement are arbitration and breaking the Buccaneers’ Code.

Some might think that it would be a simple matter to evade the judgement of the Admiralty simply by fleeing Åland. But the Admiralty has a powerful tool in their arsenal. The Black Mark. A crew can be tried in absentia if they refuse to face judgement, and that nearly always results in being Blackmarked. Black Mark is an effective death sentence. It marks the crew as a target for elimination for all Buccaneer crews. There is a lot of prestige in being the crew to take out a Blackmarked crew, and the crew that does so gets to keep all the Blackmarked crew’s surviving assets. Announcing a Black Mark always results in a race as the Buccaneers rush after the target.

No Blackmarked crew has survived. Some have tried to seek refuge with the traditional enemies of the Buccaneers, such as the Raiders of Thule or the corporations, but those groups are dangerous in their own right and have little reason to feel sympathy for fugitive Buccaneers, so this has never ended well. Fleeing the Baltic for good might be the only way to survive, and even that may not help. There is a tale of a crew who abandoned the Baltic and fled to mainland Europe. Only to get gunned down in Belgrade a year later by another crew who had followed them to the mainland and tracked them down.

====The current Admirals====

=====Captain Almstedt, Johannes Almstedt=====

At close to seventy, Captain Almstedt is the oldest of the Admirals but still shrewd, and shows no signs of planning to retire. An Ålandic native who turned from fishery to smuggling, he gets along well with local people and authorities, and spends a lot of time smoothing things over after some minor incident. Captain Almstedt has a bushy gray beard but he has lost most of his hair and always has a woolen cap on his bald head. Almstedt’s crew has retired and his ship, Magne, has not left port in years.

=====Captain Empress, Alexandra Romanov=====

Romanov apparently is the Russian captain’s actual surname, and since her first name is that of the last Russian Empress, she got the nickname swiftly. Even at past fifty, her blonde hair that she keeps in a ponytail has yet to show any gray, and she is still considered a “Look, but don’t touch” kind of woman. She used to captain the former Russian missile boat Rasputin, but now the captain is her daughter Anastasia, or Captain Princess.

=====Captain Falk, Helena Falk=====

Captain Falk is easily the most well known of the Admirals. Stories of her past exploits still get told in the bars. The stories say that in her youth she brawled, drank and womanized – she prefers other women – harder than most men, and pulled off some really daring heists and escapes in the Baltic. But fast life took its toll. After a close call, her left side is covered in scars and her left arm, leg and eye are cybernetic replacements. Or as she says: “Got a hook, peg leg and eye patch. All I need is a parrot.” Close to sixty now and her hair gone gray, she has slowed down the pace quite a bit. Captain Falk still enjoys an occasional drink, flirts casually with pretty women, and sometimes takes her ship Falcon out to sea, but mainly she focuses on her duties as an Admiral.

=====Captain Jester, Jesper Lykke=====

In his youth, the Danish Captain’s curly red hair, handsome face and leanly muscular body turned eyes, and he still looks sexy at past sixty and with his hair gone gray. However, Captain Jester is asexual and no one gets invited to his bed. Calling him Captain Whatawaste is a sure way to piss him off. But as long as one is not trying to hit on him, he is known to be very good company, with an endless repertoire of stories. He is nearly always busy, though. Easily the most diplomatic of the Admirals, Captain Jester is not just an Admiral, he is one of the 30 members of Lagting – the elected Parliament of Åland. When he is not handling government or Buccaneer business, he is away from Åland, meeting the representatives and media of one or another nation of the Baltic Sea region, reassuring them that the Buccaneers are freedom fighters, not bloodthirsty criminals. He has been quite successful in this. So successful that corporate hit teams have targeted him on a few occasions. Captain Jester always has a crew of Buccaneers around for protection.

=====Captain Dread, Markus Umar=====

Captain Dread is a Finn. Do not say the words “A Finn? But you’re black!” That would result in bodily harm. He may still have his ancestral Nigerian surname, but every member of his family he has ever known was born in Finland and he does not tolerate people who would deny his heritage. He got his name from his hair. He keeps it in dreadlocks.

Captain Dread is the youngest of the Admirals, being in his late forties. Funnily, it was his greatest victory that effectively ended his career at sea and got him elected as an Admiral. In a clash with a corporate sponsored pirate hunter, Captain Dread lost his original ship but then he and his crew boarded and captured the pirate hunter, a 250 ton stealth missile boat. The ship is among the most dangerous the Buccaneers have, but needs a large crew and has significant operating costs, so it only leaves port if the Buccaneers are facing a serious threat.   

===Buccaneers’ Code===

Usually referred to as just the Code. It is very simple, not so much a legal system as it is a code of conduct. But the Admiralty enforces it ruthlessly, and breaking it will land the crew responsible in boiling water. If the code was broken by accident, the best thing to do is usually to be honest and subject to the Admiralty’s judgement. It may result in loss of assets and privileges, and public humiliation. But it is possible to recover from that, which will not be the case if the crew gets a Black Mark.

Rules of the Code: <Br/>
No sexual assault or other torture <Br/>
No slavery <Br/>
No harming noncombatants <Br/>
No lethal violence against other Buccaneers <Br/>
Do not bring the governments of Åland, Sweden or Finland to anger <Br/>
Do not raid civilian settlements on the coasts, with the exception of corporate facilities <Br/>

There is not a rule against targeting civilian shipping. That would have been too dicey, for corporations sometimes use freelancers, and their craft are technically civilian, even if the civilians are cybered up and armed to the teeth. But anyone who sees that as a loophole to target fishing vessels will find out that the Admirals can and will judge you just because they don’t like you, and the Captains’ Table is likely to side with them. As a general rule, trying to be a rules lawyer with the Code is a very bad idea.