Activities

Collectively, the Air Pirates are wanted for an assortment of crimes, misdemeanors, and offenses against international and maritime law. The lengthy list of charges brought against Don Karnage and his pirate band, compiled by the Air Police in accordance with the governments of Usland and other nations, includes such felonies as skyjacking, grand larceny, destruction of private property, interference with free trade, possession of contraband, sabotage, smuggling, kidnapping, air attack, and attempted murder.

The Air Pirates seek to get rich by any means, preferably through the illegal practice of waylaying and plundering cargo planes. If fortunate, the Air Pirates seize shipments of gold bars, silver, and precious gems; valuable paintings and sculptures; antique furniture; or cold, hard cash. Plundered booty is stashed in the treasure chambers of Pirate Island for safe keeping until Karnage gets around to fencing the goods through underground channels. To the pirates' dismay, however, cargo pilots usually carry wares and materials of common value, much more difficult to trade. Nevertheless, worth is ultimately in the eye of the beholder — Don Karnage, that is, who sooner or later finds an ingenious (or not so ingenious) use for seemingly useless items.

	A team of pirate "plane-nappers" making off with the day's catch.

Theft satisfies the Air Pirates' needs for fuel, ammunition, and other essentials. Several oil tankers disappear at sea each year without a trace — hijacked by Air Pirates for the gasoline that keeps the Iron Vulture and their CT-37 fighter planes in the air. Food and drink, carried as either cargo or consumables aboard air freighters, are acquired in much the same manner. The pirates consider captured aircraft an excellent source of repair materials. Using aerial hooks and cables, teams of Air Pirates often snatch parked civilian planes for spare parts, resale, or use in sabotage and infiltration missions. When salvaged supplies are in abundance, Don Karnage runs a lucrative side business selling scrap metal and weapons wholesale.

Eager to hold cowering innocents at swordpoint, the Air Pirates often find that people are the most valuable commodity of all. High-profile public figures, wealthy sophisticates (or their heirs), financial moguls — anyone whom the Air Pirates perceive as weak, helpless, and rich becomes a prime target for abduction. The pirates love a good kidnapping, and Karnage practically salivates over the prospect of ransoming rich captives for a "reasonably enormous" fortune. Unfortunately, the few people the pirates imprison are ordinary civilians, the crews and/or passengers of captured aircraft. Forced to perform servile chores such as washing laundry during their confinement, prisoners may be held indefinitely for purposes of interrogation, bargaining, or security, only to eventually escape.

When ransom attempts fail (as they so often do), Don Karnage resorts to more traditional wealth-seeking pirate activities, such as the time-honored art of treasure hunting. A casual student of ancient history, Karnage harbors a fascination with tales of legendary golden treasures and jewel-encrusted relics, which he esteems not so much for their historical significance as for their monetary value. Periodically, Karnage leads his Air Pirates across the globe in search of lost treasures and buried fortunes. Seldom do the pirates profit from these ventures — on the contrary, the trail of mayhem and destruction Karnage's men leave in their wake has convinced police, on behalf of archeological societies worldwide, to add "mishandling of historical artifacts" to the pirates' list of offenses.

Even the most lavish of ancient treasures pale in comparison to the riches awaiting the Air Pirates in the harbor city of Cape Suzette. Long captivated by the splendor of Usland's most famous coastal city, Don Karnage would have plundered Cape Suzette years ago were it not for the cliff guns and defense fighters protecting the city from pirate attack. Rather than jeopardize the Iron Vulture, his entire crew, and his own hide in some ill-advised show of bravado — unless the odds are in his favor — Karnage puts his criminal genius to work devising ways to counteract Cape Suzette's defenses. Most invasion attempts have proven futile, with the exception of the infamous "lightning gun" incident and a few close calls for the Cape Suzette cannon gunners, whom Don Karnage reportedly hates with a "passion fruit" (sic).

The perfect disguises...? for sneaking into Cape Suzette.

The Air Pirates continually make their presence known in Cape Suzette through periodic skirmishes with the cliff guns and raids on air and sea traffic near the city. Most of Cape Suzette's inhabitants maintain that no pirates have ever gotten past the cliff guns — at least not while the cannons were still operative. A few, however, suspect that some of the more unusual crimes and disappearances along the Cape Suzette waterfront may be the work of small pirate bands who somehow slip into the city unnoticed (or unreported). No official evidence exists to support these allegations, but the authorities rule nothing out when it comes to the Air Pirates.

The Usland government has posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of Don Karnage. Without Karnage's leadership holding the pirates together, police contend, the remainder of his crew will surely disintegrate into chaos and thus be easily apprehended also. The destruction of the Iron Vulture or the discovery of Pirate Island by authorities would have similarly catastrophic consequences for the pirates, forcing them to take desperate action. When that happens, it would be only a matter of time for the Air Police to finally bring the "Plundering Wonder" and his minions to justice.