Meanwhile, a merchant vessel makes it's way across the galaxy, climbing it's way towards the GBE in hopes of selling a cargo of exotic fruits, precious metals and tiny desk engineers (heh). The captain is at the helm, having a friendly debate on the ethics of handshaking as a way of greeting new races.
Abruptly, the lights flicker and the conversation ceases. The humming of the FTL winds down, and the console starts beeping. A big red "Critical failure" light starts strobing, and the captain's heart skips a beat.
Suddenly a medium sized frigate jumps into view outside the port window of the ship. It's weapons were still smoking and it's engines were hot. It's shields sparked to life and turrets omminously rotated to face the ship. The ship sent a transmission.
"This is Captain Ewerd of the Pirate Lord Gibber. Your ship's cargo is now ours. You have 5 minutes to respond or we will take it by force."
The merchant has a civilian vessel, and thus lacks any weaponry besides point defence systems. However the pirates weapons were hot when they arived, which means they had already been in combat, and are moderately weakened. A military patrol boat has a good chance against the pirates, provided the pirates don't detect it early and flee.
