If I were a pirate, I'd probably hang with the CODE. They are not mindless PvPers, they are intelligent pirates. They need to present a credible enough threat that for the person (or persons, with wings going live) that they pull over believes neither fighting nor running is a viable strategy. They don't want a fair fight - they don't want a fight at all! They want you to cooperate, maybe negotiate but always in the end pay up. If you're looking like a serious threat or a competitor of course they'll try and run you off - piracy pays poorly enough that they don't want anyone else eating at their table and letting a BH hang around to maybe jump one of them and wipe out the profits of several hours piracy with a repair bill or insurance payment when they DO have friends nearby and can convince the hunter to leave working together just doesn't make sense. You need to remember that they are in this for the money. Every tactic they employ is aimed at maximizing their revenue from piracy.