Cortian Amalgam

The loose coalition of Cortian polities on the homeworld of Corta, its outlier posts/colonies in the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, in the Terzan 7 "young" globular cluster.
Only 2 planets circle the star Khula: a small hot Mercury-like planet in a close orbit and a large brown dwarf/gas giant, Orge, in a loose binary with Khula. Corta is Orge's largest satellite and in the habitable zone produced via primitive fusion. The few resources are deep inside Orge; this is the reason the society is based on raiding and slavery to survive. The Terzan cluster has just enough metals to induce the Cortians to explore outward; neighboring bodies were mined almost to the point of structural collapse.
They were then visited by interstellar aliens. After friendly overtures, these aliens were betrayed, captured, their ship confiscated, the crew enslaved. Corta learned how to build starships from the captured ship(s); they turned their attentions to interstellar piracy and slavery.