Privateering was a trick Earthlings had played long ago—of course, while this collusion between officials and bandits had a long history, it was far from outdated. In fact, before Norman came to power, some nations that called themselves modern still used such methods.
Issuing Letters of Marque to interstellar pirates in its capacity as Chair of the Star Sea Community and one of the permanent member states sounded rather incredible, but it was indeed legal.
Not only was it legal, the other side could even claim the moral high ground. After all, the universe was full of "righteous bandits," and everyone's moral bottom line was remarkably flexible—especially since the Devan Group was a notoriously vile corporation. Everyone loved robbing bastards who ran companies.
The Sweepers led by Stakar could be considered the benchmark for "chivalrous outlaws" in the universe. What was a chivalrous outlaw? Someone who robbed you while being utterly convinced that you deserved it, robbing you not only with complete justification, but with ruthless efficiency.
With his rallying cry, good and bad pirates alike sprang into action across the universe. Though they did not yet have Letters of Marque, how could pirates possibly resist such a large-scale chance to grab things for free?
The shipping routes departing Knowhere became the most dangerous trade routes in the universe. Stakar might honestly limit himself to attacking Devan Group Transport Ships, but the pirates taking advantage of the chaos certainly would not.
For a time, any ship intending to enter Knowhere for business, or carrying goods out from there, faced indiscriminate robbery.
Thanos and The Collector's alliance had partly been intended to exploit the relatively small number of ships in the Osborn Group fleet. If Harry immediately dispatched his already limited remaining fleet to intercept those transport convoys, Thanos would promptly