Question regarding piracy

[Tenacity]

Ok, I'm a big noob when it comes to pirating, despite having several pirate characters in the past. "Bloodsail" (my rogue GB) only asked for rum when pirating and usually ran at the first sign of resistance. Katsumoto (my blood dragon) mostly patrolled chugoku stopping anyone that came through that space without hesitation.

Both characters no longer exist, but I have a new pirate I'm working with... Visas. I fly a falcata, and the pretense of my character is that she is the leader of a religious cult bent on 'purifying' anyone who doesnt see the nomads as gods. Now, of course I must demand cargo or money (usually the latter, as a 'donation') before I can blow someone up.

Earlier tonight, we stopped a transport in new berlin. I fired an inferno to drop his shields and show him we meant business, while my partners used train CD's to keep him from running, and killed the nearby trade lane.

Now, we were repeatedly told by this trader that "You cant shoot at me until you ask for cargo!". Was he right?

It seems to me that warning shots, dropping someone's shields (we didnt even damage his hull, i just kept the inferno shots going to render his shields inoperable) in this case, are perfectly fine before making a demand. We had no intentions of destroying his ship before asking for cargo/money, and did not do more than a minute amount of damage to his hull (passively while keeping his shields down, his hull bar wasnt even scratched).

So who was in the right/wrong here? Are pirates allowed to drain someone's shields before making demands?

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