Somewhere out past Sector 9, near the weird ass Pulsar that various roving bands of pirates call home whilst nestled in the bones of old military bases, there's a Trade Union pilot who prowls around like a bird of prey.
Callsign Gatekeeper, they're easily the best pilot in the unsectored regions where the Trade Union hasn't managed to set up shop. Pirates know better than to fuck with him on their own, he'll fly right past you so long as you're not attacking unarmed civilians. Every now and then, one of the Pirates will rise up the ranks and start getting damn good compared to his peers. Amongst the Pirates here, they call Ace pilots "Skullheads", owed to the rarely minted medallion that the Pirate Lords will give their favorite pilots.
Increasingly for these pirates, it is a mark of death. It started last year when Gatekeeper came into the unsectored regions, blasting apart the most well fortified bases and killing scores of seasoned pilots who'd fought the Trade Union back during the last big War over the sector. But once all of the best of the best were ruined? He started hovering like a fucking ghost. It's like he's toying with those poor bastards.
There's a lot of ideas as-to why he does this, but few hold any water. The best of the best when it comes to Pirates are at best mid-tier when it comes to the skill arc of pilots in the rest of the Territories... it's like he's waiting for something. It's enough of an anomaly that some hotshot reporter went out and interviewed him, but the guy came back all fucked up in the head.
What the reporter told me over drinks has a weird resonance with me, I don't dare find out why it sounds true but the reporter's reaction adds a certain credibility. "He just sees us all as numbers", rambled the man, "He's doing some kind of long game to accumulate rare components only found on Skullhead ships", which is stupid. Those "rare parts" can be bought cheaply if you know who to ask. But apparently, the guy doesn't talk very much. But, the reporter added this detail...
"His gear score is too low to take on the Trade Union ships, so he's grinding pirates for Exp and set bonuses"
If there's a god in this universe, they've made a shit-tier clone of Diablo.