Dockson's Degenerates

Dockson’s Degenerates were a group of criminals (commonly classified as “Space Pirates”) that ravaged various colonies in search of items to either sell or hoard for wealth. The founding members were a particularly upset delivery crew that worked for the Bauxite Cartels. While they were one of many groups made up of non-union employees, they took it upon themselves to change their lives for the better. Therefore, instead of delivering their supply, they hijacked the tracking system on their ship and sold what product they had. Other groups soon followed suit (and the original crew) to grow their coalition.

Naturally, this led to an increase in intergalactic policing forces to combat this sudden surge of semi-organized crime. While a quarter of the crew were jailed and convicted, a decently large portion remained free (possibly due to an ever-growing membership). However, a few years after their debut, the Degenerates were raided at their base on Gerdos. The attack seemingly wiped out enough members, including Dockson himself, to disband the group altogether. This would not be the case.

Dockson’s Degenerates would reassemble with what little they had left and follow a new leader: Kuzon of the Cosmos. Under this newfound leadership, the Degenerates did not stop at taking items, but included humans and other species in the mix for trade. Rather than hiding from authorities, they outright attacked locations on various moons. At their peak, they maintained a formidable fleet of battle-ready spacecrafts capable of destroying a small moon. The pirates became an army. With their size and impact, they accumulated enough skilled members to help instigate the Fragmentation of the Calanthites.

Even as civilization crumbled around them, Kuzon could not be stopped. He developed into an unavoidable force that starved for more possessions and power without ever being satisfied. And so, the leaders of the Solar System turned to drastic measures to purge this blight from the galaxy.

-Excerpt from The Bane of Known Space by V. Proslou