First post, be gentle.

I've been playing the BETA now for a few hours and have noticed some strange things concerning both pirates as a faction, and the TEC Rebel research called Pirate Mercenaries. Firstly, it seems that on a map containing more than one pirate base, should any of the bases be taken out, the pirate faction is considered dead even though several bases remain, is this intended? Secondly, the research, Pirate Mercenaries, will also stop working entirely should the pirate faction be eliminated, is this intended?

Thank you for your time!