u/ImperioRealk

I’ve had enough of the Vigor Syndicate. We used to be on good terms, but for some reason, my reputation plummeted to -25 unexpectedly. Now they’re hunting my traders and they even took down a unique ship of mine. I’m furious.

I’m currently launching a full-scale invasion with 10 Asgards and 100 Katanas as escorts. I want to tear down every single station those pirates own, but I’m hitting a wall with the AI. Since I've focused mostly on the economic side of the game, I’m a bit of a combat novice.

My Katanas are acting like kamikazes. No matter what orders I give them—Follow, Defend, or Intercept—the AI eventually dives headfirst into the station’s turrets and gets vaporized. How can I keep my escorts safe while my Asgards do the heavy lifting?

I’m playing a strictly vanilla game, no mods. Any tactical advice to stop the 'suicide runs' and effectively dismantle VIG?

Have you ever stopped to think about the life of the NPCs we hire? We see them as stars and skill bars, but their professional reality is borderline dystopian. Take the Captains. Sure, if you’re a 4-star veteran, I might pay you 1M or 5M credits to join my crew. It sounds like a lot until you realize I’m handing you the keys to an Osaka and ordering you to park 11km away from a Xenon Wharf.

You’re essentially a high-priced gladiator. If I mess up a command, you’re vaporized in a 40-million-credit fireball. And let’s be honest: that 5M I paid you is "pocket change" compared to the massive empire I’m building over your head. But the Marines... that’s where it gets dark. Your "boss" spots a Kyushuu or a massive construction ship.

Your job? To get shoved into a tiny, unshielded metal coffin (the boarding pod) and be shot toward a hostile ship through a hail of turret fire. If you don't get disintegrated in the vacuum, you have to breach the hull and fight room-to-room against who knows what—from elite Terran marines to cold, calculating Xenon AI.

And here’s the kicker: If you survive and successfully capture the ship, I’m the one who pocketed 15M or 20M credits just by clicking "Sell Ship" at the nearest shipyard. You? You just stand there in the hangar, ready for the next suicide mission, probably for the same salary while I’m laughing all the way to the bank in my luxury penthouse.

We aren't just fleet commanders; we are intergalactic oligarchs. We treat human (and alien) lives as disposable batteries to fuel our path to becoming billionaires. Does anyone else feel like the "villain" of the story sometimes, or is the profit just too good to care?