Piracy is the act of capturing, or 'capping', of NPC ships by the player. There are two types of capture - claiming and boarding.

Pilots of fighters and other small ships will sometimes bail out when fired on; then, the ship may be claimed by the player.

Capital ships, corvettes and TM-class vessels must be boarded with Marines to be captured.

There are several reasons for a player to engage in piracy:

Some of the most powerful or unique ships in their class are not sold or rewarded to the player, and thus can only be obtained via capture. Popular targets include:

* Pirate Kestrel (M5)
* Paranid Hyperion Vanguard (M6+)
* Xenon I (M2+)
* ATF Valhalla (M2+)
* Goner Aran (M1)
* Terran Atmospheric Lifter (TL)

Capturing a ship leaves the cargo hold intact (for most item types). Some rare items, such as the Incendiary Bomb Launcher or the Jump Beacon, can be easier to obtain via capturing, rather than destroying the carrying ship and hoping the cargo survives.

Captured ships, especially larger ones, can sell for a large amount of credits.

Some Plots involve capturing ships.