Modding Pirates

And no... not looking to make them a playable faction... (not sure if it's a common request, but figured I'd put that out there).

Actually, I was doing a little experimenting with pirates and noted that they can't/won't use wormholes or jump between stars.  Anyone know if it's possible to give them the tech to do this (from game start), or if it just simply wouldn't matter because the pirate AI is programmed to ignore wormholes/stars anyway?  Already tried putting an artifact on one of their bases....

The other thing, is what determines the pirate fleet compositions on their raids an accessible file, or is that engine side?  I've tried looking around already but can't seem to find it.  Don't know if I'm just missing it.  I want to beef them up a little bit, especially for later raids.  Give them a Cap ship or two... possibly a Titan... *cough*

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.