Yeah, was going to say I could destroy the capship without pirate reaction, and each individual escort pirate ship didn't react when I attacked or destroyed their buddies, either.
Since the object is to destroy the capship (and all the rest of them) there should be a contingency for taking on the fleet.
I like that it lets me get weapons from a closer pirate base instead of going all the way down to the other. It seems, though, like I didn't give it all of the units of weapons that I was supposed to at the end.