Spoils Spoils Spoils

The distribution of spoils was always a contentious issue.

After every battle, the side that controlled the battlefield received the opportunity to pick up a lot of valuable loot.

What was interesting was that the party that asserted control of a wreckage-filled battlefield was not always the winner.

For example, in the case of deep raids, the attackers could only stay in a hostile star system for a limited amount of time before they needed to leave. If they lingered too long in order to pick up all of the valuable scrap, enemy reinforcements might drop in and corner the greedy raiders!

Third parties might also be the final beneficiaries of a battle. If two pirate outfits smashed each other apart, the authorities might arrive at the end and defeat the exhausted victors with ease!