The question of what to do with surrendered ships varies according to circumstance. Generally speaking, in a declared condition of war, or inter-political-entity conflict, the survivors are prisoners of war and their safety is guaranteed by the modern equivalent of the ancient Geneva Convention. Sorry I don’t recall the name. I was always more interested in romantic, military history than in current military law.
However, a pirate is not at war. He is a criminal and since piracy almost invariably involves bloodshed, it still carries a death sentence. Therefore, a known pirate will be sentenced to death or readjustment if captured and has a) no right to live b) every incentive to break his parole of surrender. He therefore poses an unpredictable but high risk to TSN personnel and USFP citizens. Execution is considered acceptable.
Covert operations are executed without sanction of the normal rules of war and frequently involve a requirement that intelligence not fall into enemy hands because of the extreme danger that would pose either to USFP citizens’s or the TSN’s ability to achieve its strategic goals. It was a shock the first time I faced this situation. I and other crew members very nearly mutinied over the issue but the situation was clear that thousands of USFP lives were in the balance against dozens of enemy combatants.
If this level of cold calculation is beyond you then I suggest you avoid covert work. Outside those two situation, to the best of my knowledge, I would refuse to participate in such a war crime, but I have yet to be presented with that situation.
Conrad Matsiyan | Eng | CTR
Lt. Jr. | TSN Lancer | 4DIV | 2FLT