Hello, forums! Welcome to Star Theory, where we dedicate far too much time and effort into over-analysing the game of Star Conflict, it’s background (such as it is) and the people who play it. For the first in what I hope will become a series of articles, I ask the following question: did Dynamis become the Privateers?
To explain what I’m talking about, let me give you guys some background as to my own head-canon, and a little history of the actual game.
Dynamis was a Federation Corp who were big in the early days of Sector Conquest. They became notorious (or perhaps “infamous”) for mass recruiting and focusing on tier 2 matches while other corporations looked toward T3 and T4. They were so successful they spawned a child Corp, Dynamo. Ultimately, DYN vanished. I don’t recall exactly why, but the fall of Dynamis was pretty much the end of Federation dominance in Sector Conquest; the map evened out considerably before turning into the Jericholand scenario we’ve seen recently.
In universe, my personal theory is that Dynamis was a Corp that went all out on a “win-big-or-die” scheme, seeking to grab as much Precursor-tech as they could and use that to pay off their debts and become a Mega-power within the Federation and beyond. Ultimately, or so my head-canon goes, Dynamis was able to make considerable gains, but denied where it mattered. Jericho and Empire Corps denied most of the Precursor sites, while more specialist Fed Corps managed to grab some of the precious Precursor-tech from under DYN’s nose. Beaten to the punch, Dynamis lost a lot of support back home, and when the Federal Banks called in the loans, Dyn folded. While I was musing on this a brilliant epiphany popped into my head: the fall of Dynamis in the real world coincides quite nicely with the appearance of the pirates!
Sound crazy? Here’s a fun fact… nosing about the forums and the internet in general suggests that the last ‘official’ activity within Dynamis was late May / early June. There were still a few pilots flying the Dynamis / Dynamo flags, but by this point the Corp had pretty much ceased to function. By July 2nd, we had an announcement about the Pirate DLC. And who were leading the charge? The Privateers. Their ships were most prominently displayed and their faction was the first to be discussed. Moreover, read the news blurb:
** Our special correspondent reports a new daring attack on a merchant convoy by a group of unidentified ships. Remember, this is the third incident in the last month. At the moment, very little is known, but our sources in the research fleet command claim that the unknown attackers were piloting modified ships! Could this be true? Hear all about this incident and other news - in our evening edition! **
Special Edition of the “Federation Bulletin” dated 4613.07.02
“Third incident in the last month.” You mean the month where Dynamis was either floundering, or had already come apart at the seams? You mean the month where the CEO had bailed and the officers were jumping ship? You mean the month where, if this theory is true, where the Dynamis pilots would be starting to realise their paychecks were bouncing and nobody was answering their angry e-mails?
Next, consider the hardware on show: Back when DYN was active we only had four Tiers, and all evidence points to Dynamis primarily flying Tier 2. What are the Privateers flying? Primarily, they fly T2.
“But Jasan, most of the Pirate ships are Tier 3!” You are right, but their hulls are not.
Compare the Reaper to the Alligator, and the similarities are immediately apparent. Both have identical engine layout, both have a protruding “chin” and a sagging underbelly. Both have two bulbous elements on the flanks and both have thin “wings” placed into a circular, possibly rotating mount (the Reaper’s are rotated 90o).
Do the same with the Sai: the only Interceptor that shares its thin, angular fuselage is the Swift (technically a Tier 1 Interceptor, but the Swift Mk II is an iconic T2 CovOps). Both the Sai and the Swift have their weapons mounted on the back of the hull atop the engine mounts, both are two-seater craft and both have near identical engines (the Sai has two extra ones).
The last ship, the Joker, appears to be a stripped down Wolf-M. What is probably the most used gunship in T3? The Wolf-M! This is Dynamis trying to sneak high-end toys into lower-tier battles!
In universe, this is also a highly plausible explanation. With Dynamis bankrupt, the Federation would be faced with a horde of angry pilots who are well-trained, well-equipped and out for blood. If these pilots turned to piracy in significant numbers, they would effectively become a fourth faction - one that would likely see the Federation as their first target. Unable to fight them, the Federation instead bought them out, giving them free reign to pillage Jericho and Empire holdings and allowing their ill-gotten gains to be sold in Federation space, so long as they didn’t attack the Feds themselves. That is, in general terms, the definition of “Privateer”.
I know it’s never going to get any official traction, but I rather like the idea that the Dynamis Corporation never actually died; they just struck their colours!
Next Week: “Sweet Rolls” - harmless pastry, or sinister narcotic?
P.S.: For anyone interested, here is my original “eulogy” for Dynamis, which is where my head-canon about the Corp came from.
[http://forum.star-conflict.com/index.php?/topic/19388-what-is-your-opinion-on-dynamis/?p=210388](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/19388-what-is-your-opinion-on-dynamis/?p=210388)
