Creslyn: Pirate hunting missions are a pain in the ass, but you can complete them. You just need to give yourself a lot of time (forget the hard versions of them).
When you attack a pirate they will (if you're stronger) run for a planet to land on. If you can't kill them before they reach it, prepare to spend the next month having them take off, land next turn and repair damage, repeat.
Eventually however they will take off and try to flee (perhaps it actually tracks their bank balance for repairs? no idea) and that's when you can kill them.
So if you have plenty of time and a decent ship (and lots of patience) pirate hunting is not too hard to complete.
Huh, wow. Sounds like a real pain. Then again, it would be pretty satisfying to be rid of them. But are they auto-replaced, or can you really kill them all (or at least faster than they respawn)?
Creslyn: Pirate hunting missions are a pain in the ass, but you can complete them. You just need to give yourself a lot of time (forget the hard versions of them).
When you attack a pirate they will (if you're stronger) run for a planet to land on. If you can't kill them before they reach it, prepare to spend the next month having them take off, land next turn and repair damage, repeat.
Eventually however they will take off and try to flee (perhaps it actually tracks their bank balance for repairs? no idea) and that's when you can kill them.
So if you have plenty of time and a decent ship (and lots of patience) pirate hunting is not too hard to complete.
I've noticed that if you watch where they flee to (look for the text over the portal), you can go the same place and they'll be right there, and not that far ahead of you. Of course, they may or may not be close to a planet...
If you radio for assistance, and someone else puts in the coup de grace, I assume you still get the credit for completing the quest?