Tactics

In their endless quest for plunder, air pirate gangs employ strategies found to be most helpful in tracking, capturing, and looting aircraft. Through experience and a great deal of trial and error, Don Karnage's Air Pirates have developed their own tricks of the pirate trade. Several of the Air Pirates' methods are nothing more than age-old pirate tactics adapted to modern circumstances, but they share a single, fundamental purpose: maximizing profit while minimizing the chances of escape, casualties, or complications.

Before the Air Pirates can capture a target, they must first locate it. Never a person who underestimates the value of a reliable snitch, Don Karnage habitually fishes for bits and pieces of information on potential plundering opportunities through his first mate Gibber. Sometimes this process is as easy as opening up a newspaper and spotting an article on a museum shipment worth stealing or a famous celebrity to hold for ransom. In other cases, bribery and espionage can reveal the route and destination of a priceless cargo, but not without significantly greater expense and risk — Karnage views paid informants themselves as a liability.

Of course, the prevailing strategy is the simplest: the Air Pirates take to the skies, lurking along the shipping lanes and pouncing on whoever happens along. With any luck, a treasury plane or Khan Industries transport packed with merchandise falls right into their clutches. On the other hand, all Karnage and his men may gain for their trouble is a worthless shipment of produce, chemicals, air mail, or even worse, livestock. Throughout such excursions, the pirates monitor radio frequencies, hoping to overhear pilots transmitting course corrections, flight plan updates, and current positions. Careless slips of tongue may cost unwitting cargo flyers and their clients a great deal, as Karnage quickly reacts to news of aircraft in the vicinity.

Ambushes are a favorite tactic of the Air Pirates, usually prepared well in advance of a target plane's arrival. The most basic ambush involves a squadron of pirates led by Karnage diving out of the sun, guns blazing, taking advantage of the victim's surprise to "box in" his aircraft with their fighters and force it down. The pirates may also try stealth, tailing a plane for miles before moving in for the kill. They may also jump pilots in mountain passes, using the territory and the target plane's own engine noise to mask their approach until they are right on top of the bewildered aviator. With enough cloud cover, the Air Pirates can simply creep up on the plane in the Iron Vulture, launching fighters once in range or lowering the airship directly upon their quarry. Sneak attacks work best when conditions are favorable and Karnage knows exactly when and where an intended target will show up.

Capturing armed aircraft such as Khan Industries planes requires more careful planning, as well as cooperation and teamwork (rarely seen among air pirates without a strong leader). Pirate fighters harass the target plane from above, trading shots with the defending gun crews until the plane's pilot, under pressure, makes the mistake of ducking into the clouds to lose his pursuers — and flies right into the waiting mouth of the Iron Vulture. Crash nets bring the careening plane to a rough but safe landing on the Vulture's deck, after which the captured flight crew faces a platoon of gun-toting pirates surrounding their "catch of the day."

Whenever possible, the Air Pirates prey on seaplanes and amphibious aircraft over open water, as crash landings on water are far less likely to seriously damage the aircraft and its cargo (as long as the downed plane doesn't sink, that is). A pirate might fire warning shots at an airplane if her pilot refuses to give up, or knock out one of the plane's engines. If the seaplane is taking off, the pirates may strafe the plane, or one of the wingmen may "thump" the aircraft, bringing his fighter down repeatedly on top of the plane to prevent it from getting airborne. A plucky pilot who holds his nerve can turn the tables and ditch his assailant in the ocean.

If forcing a plane down is not feasible for some reason (mountainous terrain, the plane is badly damaged, etc.), or if Don Karnage only wants to steal a specific item or two, the Air Pirates can conduct a midair boarding operation. A hazardous process requiring the utmost coordination and skill, midair boarding — if carried out correctly — proves to be the quickest way for the Air Pirates to loot a cargo transport. After disabling one of the plane's engines with concentrated fire, the pirates move their fighters alongside the vessel and ensnare its wings using grappling hooks. Scrambling down cables or rope ladders, the pirates make a dramatic entrance, subdue the plane's occupants, and abscond with the loot — blowing up the plane's remaining engines to ensure a clean getaway.

On occasion, rather than pursuing and ambushing vessels, the Air Pirates trap them instead. Preferring drama to practicality, Don Karnage engineers many of these traps on a grand scale — such as placing a set of mirrors between two peaks to baffle pilots, or luring pirate-hunting naval destroyers into minefields. The Air Pirates' traps are typically most effective when newly sprung. Repeated instances of vanishing airplanes along a certain route will surely attract the attention of the Air Police, forcing the pirates to abandon the trap site after just a few successful captures.

The aforementioned tactics are quite elaborate — and there are tactics even more elaborate than these — but many times the Air Pirates completely forgo fancy techniques, blasting a plane with mass firepower and head-on attack runs; intending to disable the plane's radio and controls, shoot its propellers off, or else punch the fuselage and wings so full of holes that the craft is no longer airworthy. Brutal attacks such as these provide the lowest gains for the Air Pirates in terms of plunder; they are reserved for hostile forces and irritating opponents, regardless of whether or not they are carrying any cargo. Defenseless against such vicious assaults, many pilots would gladly surrender.

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