I've decided they're Sons of Mars using a decommissioned ship broadcasting a fake ID, and they're working for Eskandari. I've also gone with not having them fight, just come on board and take some stuff (which is why our heroes' cargo has to be hidden). So it isn't just rainbows & sunshine, the pirate leader goes around looking for hollow walls. (He doesn't find any, of course.)
Though it occurs to me that the security types on the station will have talked to the pirates, so there being no food aid on the ship (which a small amount of research would show is the one that brought the aid people to C4) might trip a wire. Plot hole, or place to add more tension? That could be one of the impetuses (impeti?) that gets Blackwell et al to poke their cover harder.
(I still haven't figured out what Blackwell's story is. He's probably been there a good 20 years, unless he was the original guy on the scene who helped the coup. But Hikaru's father or grandfather had some sort of run-in with him. Maybe he's an ex-Hessian who was kicked out for some sort of corruption, then went to Blackwaterthe Sons of Mars.)
no subject
Though it occurs to me that the security types on the station will have talked to the pirates, so there being no food aid on the ship (which a small amount of research would show is the one that brought the aid people to C4) might trip a wire. Plot hole, or place to add more tension? That could be one of the impetuses (impeti?) that gets Blackwell et al to poke their cover harder.
(I still haven't figured out what Blackwell's story is. He's probably been there a good 20 years, unless he was the original guy on the scene who helped the coup. But Hikaru's father or grandfather had some sort of run-in with him. Maybe he's an ex-Hessian who was kicked out for some sort of corruption, then went to
Blackwaterthe Sons of Mars.)