Fleet of the First Light

Alongside seeking riches across the stars, the space pirates are also notorious bounty hunters and mercenaries-for-hire. Their ultimate rival, the Kraken, is something of a Moby-Dick to them: a hunt without any apparent end and in seeming futility. However, aside from their undercover Firstborn Captain, the Fleet is not truly aware of EUB nor the greater Omnicosm as a whole; to them, the Kraken is simply a massive pain in the ass—doubly so for its pesky Scylla and Charybdis. Captain Dark Matter, in being allied with the Order, has sought to rid of the Kraken for as long as it has roamed the Universe, leading to the Kraken's indiscriminate hostility toward all spacecraft (not just starcraft). As the Kraken frequents the Endless Blue, the planet is something of a central hub for the Fleet; they have no headquarters.  

The Fleet circumnavigates the Argo Navis (called the Ghost Ship or the Flying Dutchman by those outside the Order, for what's etched into its phantasmal hull). Sighting it is regarded as a bad omen for the Fleet, albeit a very fascinating one. Curiously, the Ghost Ship has tailed after the Fleet for unknown reasons in the past, sometimes even joining its formations as if it belonged there. Fleet members have also been allowed to board the ghostly vessel, although there has been scarce exploration beyond that; the Ghost Ship denies entry below its desks, and the ship swiftly siphons away life energy upon physical contact. The Fleet similarly avoids Davy Jones's Locker and Cetus, both equally dangerous for different reasons (fighting Cetus is a death wish, and it's not interested in non-Order Starlyngs, anyway).

The pinnacle of the Fleet's goals is to attain the Aught. The Aught has just as many monikers as it does hearsay; no Starlyng has any true idea about what it looks like or does. The prevailing rumor is that the Aught has the power to create from nothing without consequence—thus making it exceptional to the Cosmic Law... and all the more fascinating to the Firstborns. They Fleet, however, is continually foiled in the efforts by a figure they've dubbed Blackjack.

• CAPTAIN: While the Captain of Captains is Dark Matter (that is, he is THE Captain), there exist several other Captains that oversee their own subdivsions of the Fleet. Captains are typically elected into their position by the rest of their Crew and likely would have already held favor with/proven themselves to Captain Dark Matter.

  
  The obligations of a Captain match their authority: they are responsible for their starships and everything aboard them, and held far more accountable for their actions. Captains have the final say in most decisions, including destinations and when to engage or disengage enemies. (This does not make them excempt from the council or criticism of their crew; they can, in fact, be mutinied for ruling with an iron fist.) They are generally the ones at the helm, and are thus skilled navigators and trained in all things starship (most are engineers; designing one's starship after achieving their rank is seen as a "rite of passage").

  Captains are also required to keep a voyage log to be later preserved by Dark Matter. Inventory and the distribution of gains are within the Captain's purview, although all Fleets report to Dark Matter for their ultimate shares.

• FIRST MATE: First Mates are second-in-command to the Captain, whom they wholly answer to and are typically greatly trusted by, behaving as their confidant. They are the voice of reason, and a First Mate's advocacy plays a large role in what decisions the Captain makes. Hand-in-hand, First Mates act as the Captain's spokesman and, when needed, entirely in their stead. Inversely, the First Mate is also the crew's mouthpiece (and are perhaps trusted even more because of it). In short, no Captain remains one without support of their First Mate, and the same goes for a First Mate that can't counterbalance their Captain.
  
  

  Enforcement, whether it be positive or negative, is another main duty of a First Mate. They direct the ranks below them on orders of the Captain, and will often work alongside the Crew as a "floater". First Mates are required to be just as versed in "all things starship" as the Captain. They will pilot when the Captain doesn't.

• CREW: This umbrella rank refers to all the roles that make everything work: lesser pilots, navigators, and engineers; starswains (boatswains) and starwrights (shipwrights); doctors, cooks, repairmen—and everything else contributes to a functioning starship! Much of the Crew is trained and specialized in what they do, and are thus dedicated fully to their designated post. Crew members are promoted by the Captain (upon consultation with the First Mate) from the Swabbie rank once they've received enough training. 
  
  ("Crew" can also refer to everyone on a starship, particular all bodies below the Captain. This "crew" is not capitalized.)

• SWABBIE: Newcomers to the Fleet who have yet to prove themselves (sea)worthy! Though largely tasked with fulfilling menial tasks around the ship, Swabbies must have some starship know-how to even be recruited by a Captain, although exceptions have been made. Swabbies chiefly continue their training under another senior Crew member, accrue on-field experience as they do. More often than not, Swabbies are considering "promising" when they show interest in what a starship's Crew might lack. 
  
  Musikers (the Fleet version of Bards) and other entertainers (such as those from the Triple Threat) are also among the Swabbies, though they are frequently by-hire, temporary, and/or disinterested in ranking higher.