Using pirate vessels would be a good idea if it were not for the point i have brought up before. If they have indeed destroyed the pirate base then where would we come from? This would make it more likely that the Hegemony would scout out near systems, and thus would probably find our base of operations sooner.
I think the rebel idea does have more merrit in this case. But where we would get the ships is something I don’t have the answer to.
Personally I also want to reinforce the idea for starting near the Ibroan gate, and working our way through the system as suggested earlier by various officers.