The Chief of Police on Earth had finally managed to capture Cankie on trumped-up charges and had him shipped off in a fleet supply freighter, with instructions that he never sets foot on any planet again! Crankie had a hard time in the beginning but managed to overcome the problems he was faced with. When the freighter was attacked and taken over by pirates, Crankie was freed and he met up with the pirate captain, Martin West, who was to become one of his best friends. The pirate ship headed back to the pirate base, Tortuga, where Crankie settled himself after it became known who he really was. He became very popular at the base, especially with a certain lady. Crankie, having become one of the leaders amongst the pirates organised a few raids and finally convinced Martin they should carry out a raid in the Heshny Galaxy. The first raid went off successfully and they managed to hi-jack several ships which they could add to their pirate fleet. Crankie made contact with his old buddy in the Milky Way Galaxy, Alexei, and finally, the two met up again. Together they made plans for Crankie to meet up with his friends from Earth and a grand secret meeting took place, bringing Crankie up to speed on all his business interests and restructuring some of the facets of his organisation. He also managed to bring his super fast and beautiful space ship the Solar Plexus to Tortuga and used it to further his interests there. The Japanese President of Tortuga, Makatura, asked Crankie to arrange assistance for his home planet 'Nga which was under attack by a rogue nation, the Ribaldese, from a neighbouring planet that was determined to destroy "Nga. Crankie planned the whole operation and with the willing participation of the hundreds of pirates with all their fighting ships, they attacked the rogue planet and virtually destroyed it! The pirates, as payment for their participation, pillaged the planet and came away with rich booty. The Police Chief of Earth and the GASS (Galactic Secret Service) determined that Crankie was responsible for the massacre on Ribald. He was named the 'Butcher of Ribald' and a hefty price was placed on his head. While the Chinese were making preparations Crankie and Martin West carried out various daring raids and this ended up in catastrophe, with Martin being killed, blasted to space dust by a heavy cruiser. Crankie took this loss very hard and blamed himself for what happened. His lady friend Eleza tried everything to comfort him and even called in Alexei's help. Crankie tried to hold himself together and arranged several raids. He even made contact with Marood Hubool of the mysterious mystical planet Xanatanka who gave him guidance and support, but it was all to no avail. He planned a daring raid and things suddenly went horribly wrong when his ex-wife Emily betrayed him to the GASS. The whole operation was a complete disaster! Crankie was distraught and fell apart, turning to strong drink and even Eleza and Alexei's help and support couldn't console him for all the deaths he was responsible for. Taking a space capsule Crankie headed off straight to a fleet cruiser and handed himself over, to the amazement of the captain of the cruiser who had dealings with Crankie in the past. Crankie was sentenced to life imprisonment at the high-security penitentiary Hellkatrazz on the planet Walmer from which no prisoner had ever escaped, and the Police Chief of Earth, when he was told about it, went totally off his head, having to be put in a straight jacket while running around madly in circles and repeatedly screaming Crankie's name! The Dark Force which was ever vigilant also took note of the situation and realised that a powerful new enemy was being groomed which would eventually be a real danger to it.