Raiders is the colloquial term for nomadic outlaws that terrorize the outlands of the post-Arkfall world. Raiders will pillage frontier towns, killing, or enslaving the local populations. They are granted a savage bravado by their large numbers, drug-addled delusions, and fanatical devotion to their leaders. Raiders have been known to seize petrohol refineries and then force the workers to continue production so the fuel can be used for bartering. They have also been known to attack Ark Hunters in a bid to steal their salvage. Some have completely given in to savagery and begun engaging in cannibalism. Raiders traditionally operate in interspecies units, and human Raiders often have some level of cybernetic enhancements. However, a unique sub-group, the Spirit Riders, consist entirely of Irathients, and have a well-documented hatred of humans.
During his travels, Ark Hunter Joshua Nolan encounters a Spirit Rider, and is forced to kill him in self-defense. He subsequently adopts the Raider's daughter, Irisa, to atone for killing her father.
Raiders led by a Gulanee warlord named Dy'Dekuso terrorized the Madera and Sausalito areas, even going so far as to attack an Earth Republic stratocarrier, the EMS New Freedom.
Spirit Riders led by a man named Sukar ambush Nolan and Irisa outside of Defiance, attempting to rob them of their Arkfall salvage. They injure Irisa in the ensuing scuffle, though she and Nolan are still able to escape.