Do too many factions have capital ships?

[Laerethe]

The Corsairs and the Outcasts are funded by smuggling and pirating. This is significantly lower than what the Houses can bring in through taxes and corporate resources. Plus, the Corsairs and the Outcasts have a much lower population. They don't have the manpower to sustain a military as strong as the Houses.

What is that based on? Assumptions? Remember that just because the Houses make more, that doesn't mean that the Corsairs/Outcasts don't make enough to support a fleet.

As for the Corsairs owning the Osiris, it's not really that weird, but the argument supporting it is a weak one. It would be very unlikely that the Order, a faction dedicated to stopping the Nomads and the spread of Nomad technology, would ally with the Corsairs, a ruthless pirate faction that would kill another human without hesitation and makes the vast majority of its money through Nomad artifact smuggling. The only reason the alliance happened was because the Order needed Tripoli Shipyard, but there were plenty of other alliance choices for the Order to make if it really had to.

The Order needed the help of the Corsairs; they were too weak and didn't have the resources to build a fleet capable of resisting the alien threat. On pain of human extermination, they allied with the Corsairs. Also remember that the Corsairs were under threat; living in such close proximity to the Nomad worlds is a risky business.

Besides, its not really relevant that they could have gone somewhere else; the lore is the lore and is not debatable.