And they're also all armed with state of the art weapons and defensive systems. Sure, sometimes the vessels are meant to engage in humanitarian aid or shuttling dignitaries, but largely they're scientific vessels. The Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire, the United Federation of Planets each is made up of many worlds all acting together, either compelled to do so through empire or welcomed to do so through republic, and the collective efforts yield technology and fleets and a force which can't really be matched by any disorganized or smaller forces.Įach Federation vessel is basically a scientific vessel at heart, filled to the brim with cutting-edge technology, sensors, scientists and engineers at the tops of their fields, gathering massive amounts of data and engaging in experimentation. One of the arguments of Star Trek, be it explicit or implicit, is that cooperation is largely superior to individual effort. Their philosophy about putting personal profits above all else and only being willing to follow rules so long as following those rules works in favor of their personal profit means that Ferengi can and do engage in piracy, smuggling, and other similar acts.

Piracy is definitely a thing, and the Ferengi are a good example of this.

Star trek orion pirates prestige