There was one major problem with the new dominant system of travel, however. With such predictability came opportunists. People who had been cast out of the cities, left in search of their own fortune, or were forgotten altogether quickly formed small camps all across the land, mostly atop high elevations along busy air-freight routes. These encampments became home to air pirates, raiders, who preyed upon defenseless cargo craft moving important shipments from place to place. They shot down planes, captured their cargo, and sold it on the black market-- it was a remarkably profitable business, for those who dared take part.

In retaliation to this new threat, some fortune-minded citizens formed their own private air forces. Granted, some saw more money in protecting precious cargo than stealing it, but others had more holistic goals. Pilots for these small bands of well-meaning combat pilots developed an almost folk-heroic reputation to the people of the world; airborne defenders of peace and civilization.

 

As the years have pushed onward, however, the lines between good and bad have become increasingly gray. Some of these private flying forces exist solely to milk profits from those who can’t afford to lose more planes. Some raider groups tout messages of their own virtuosity, likening themselves to Robin Hoods, of sorts. Some air forces maintain their lily-white motivations, some raiders continue to spread values of death and destruction. Human beings, after all, are creatures of many passions, and no one group can be entirely predictable.