The Ravenband

Overview
The Ravenband is one of many bandit conglomerates that exist in the Twenty-Seventh Quadrant, a section of space that existed at the edge of Collective space. They exist alongside other bandit crews on a particular planet known as Varalan, which is ruled by a corrupt government that permits the bandit crews to exist and hides their existence from the Collective-remnant peacekeepers who work for the Stellar Republic of Nevynar, a Collective-remnant republic, so long as they provide a share of the plunder they acquire from raiding nearby planets and systems.

Story
The planet of Varalan is well-known for its leisure and hotspot for criminal activity, but in part due to the lavish wages paid to the government by the bandits, they are able to bribe officials and peacekeepers regarding its lenient laws to look the other way, as a nearby republic formed from the regional capital of the Quadrant claims Varalan and its star system as its own. This relationship only exists in part because the Varalanian officials are able to make a profit in keeping the bandits around than they would not otherwise -- they retain a portion of the earnings generated from other malicious practices, which includes oppressing the citizens of the planet (and the bandits are no stranger to being hired for this purpose, if they don't do it on their own accord). The Ravenband is a bit of an underdog compared to other bandit clans, and there is a saying that "No one expects much of the Ravens" due to various inadequacies contributed to the group, or perhaps that their morals are more tame then that of other bandit clans.

Nonetheless, they have a high degree of ambition owing to their lowly status, and decide to venture into a star system which records indicate have not been touched by any other crew, nor has it been patrolled by Peacekeepers. They travel to this system and find that it has been deserted, and the sole habitable planet was ravaged by forces unknown. Upon investigation for anything of value, they discover a tablet in the ruins of a city that none of the crewmembers can read, and they travel offplanet not finding much else of note. As soon as they leave the planet, they are tailed by Peacekeeper forces, who believe they have caused the destruction and narrowly escape them while taking substantial damage in the process. (It is later revealed that the perpetrator of the destruction was the Peacekeeper force themselves, who were aware of the anomaly on the planet that the Ravenband just escaped with, but won't know that the Band took the anomaly until much later, leading to a dichotomy where the Band possesses the anomaly but don’t know what it’s for, and the Peacekeepers seek out the anomaly but don’t know what it is) Once they return to Varalan to bring news of the destruction, it seems that the news has preceded them, as well as the belief that they caused the destruction. The government orders them detained, their ship scuttled, and their belongings confiscated -- after a few days in prison, they manage to break out, recover few posessions (but one of them being the tablet), and steal a ship to jump as far away from the Twenty-Seventh Quadrant as possible, unknowingly traveling into uncharted space several hundred light years away from any known star systems. There, they start to quest to find a new home in the galaxy, and make a few new friends, enemies, and discoveries in the process that delve into a mystery well beyond their humble beginnings as system raiders and take them on a journey across the known and unknown alike.