any junker openly using harvesters as a threat isnt a junker at all. The harvesters do not "work for us", they are merely allies.
That's like a gaian saying "OMG Bretonians if you shoot me I'll have the corsairs invade!" - not gonna happen.
It's even more out of line when the junker is not factionalised - if he's just some no-name smuggler, he's not likely to get support from anyone, much less the harvesters who have their own agenda to carry out.
Anyways, what happened today is I logged onto JU-Midgard to check out omega 15 for 'threats', and there's this bounty hunter in a BH gunship at max range named domino something. I ask him what his business is for being in junker 'territory', and he says he's got a few junker pilots in his hold that he wants a 'ransom' for.
At the time we had four harvester units and an explorer, plus myself with a corsair gunboat, in omega 15. Needless to say this guy was severely outnumbered. I told him that I'd pay him a small amount in exchange for the junker pilots and he'd be "allowed to leave". We met up by the omega 41 jump hole, made the transaction, no big deal.
He jumped to omega 41, and was immediately pursued by harvester 17 (scorn's cruiser, I think). Now, in private chat, I told harvester 17 that i wanted that Gunship destroyed after I had the junker pilots safely in my hold - no bounty hunter is going to run around with junker prisoners if I've got anything to say about it. i didnt directly engage the bounty hunter, but I did "sick" the harvesters on him, and they were more than happy to oblige - they really hate bounty hunters anyways.
A junker will never openly use the harvesters as a threat, but that doesnt mean a well-established junker wont privately try to get them to go after specific targets during their "harvesting" sprees.
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