Why are there system authority ships in unpopulated systems?

[markgritter]

I'm hanging out in an unpopulated system and drop into a USS to pick up some Prototype Tech. A few seconds later, a System Authority ship pops in as well and scans me. I don't get a fine (because there isn't any government) but where did this guy come from? He didn't have a minor faction listed.

Is this a bug, or working as intended?

(I'm also annoyed that ships which offer alternate missions don't seem to come from the faction that benefits from the alternate. That seems so simple to get right, and then if I respond to their offer with laser bursts the correct faction suffers...)

 

[Chainmail]

Because the NPCs are a dice roll on a random encounter table, rather than anything that makes sense. Yet another "room" without walls or a floor in the house that Dave built.

 

[Kyudos]

Well, why not? You could make up any number of reasons - they've been chasing some pirates that were harassing their home system. They've gon rogue and are looking for someone to kill. They are after the tech you are there to steal...