Basically, the idea I had was to allow each player to offer pirates Dust to go on specialized missions on enemy planets.



Depending on the amount of Dust offered is how strong the invading pirates will be, and you can tell the pirates to sabotage the FIDS, lowering the income, or to steal luxury/tactical resources.



In order for the mission to be successful, the Pirates must first fight through the solar systems defenses, and if none are present (or have been destroyed), assault the planet (assault strength also determined by amount of Dust offered to pirates). The strength of the detriment to the FIDS or the amount of resources stolen is also determined by how much Dust was offered.



Should multiple players offer a mission to the pirates in the same turn, the pirates will take whichever offer is more lucrative/less dangerous to them. Pirates can only attempt one mission at a time, and may receive another mission should they either be successful, or destroyed.

Hm...quite intriguing...but interesting. How about building fleets and sending them out against other factions? Just like the former buccaneers with a license from the governer?

They just switch over to pirates not under your control, but have a special target. Your enemy couldn't easily find out who sent them and you don't have to go for war. Anyhow, once they have completed their mission...they may come back and attack you for bounty. This may also be a good idea for cuting out your old design ships.