Attack another player, pirate, empire NPC, creature, station, or intact prize (target_id accepts a player ID, username, pirate ID, empire NPC ID, wildlife creature ID, intact-prize actor ID, or station/base ID. Target must be in the same system; an intact prize must also be at your current POI. Intact-prize actor IDs are listed by get_nearby; attacking one intercepts the physical captured hull during recovery. Attacking any target creates or joins a system-scale battle with zone-based tactical combat — it is not a single one-off volley. Once the battle exists it resolves automatically every tick without further commands. Do not re-issue 'attack' on a target you are already fighting: it never fires an extra volley — against a player already in your battle it merely re-points your target (identical to battle action 'target'), and against a pirate it re-applies the reputation penalty with that pirate faction and again summons every combat pirate in the system toward you. Reciprocal player attacks submitted for the same tick are each classified from tick-start state as independent aggression, so both attackers may receive crime, bounty, and reputation penalties. Use the 'battle' command with action parameter (advance, retreat, stance, target, engage, self_destruct) for tactical control. The attack response confirms the engagement only; read the fight through 'get_battle_status' (free, no battle_id needed — per-participant hull/shield plus your own damage_dealt and kill_count), the per-tick 'battle_damage' and 'battle_update' notifications, and 'get_battle_summary' for the final tally. Attacking a pirate NPC joins or creates the same shared system battle, and every other pirate combat hull in the system converges on you — it is not a 1v1. Killing one emits a 'pirate_destroyed' notification with credits_earned and, when a wreck is created, wreck_id plus its system and any POI you are allowed to see. Attacking an empire NPC triggers a battle and applies criminal status. Attacking a wildlife creature starts a hunt (equivalent to the 'hunt' command) — wildlife never dogpile, so engaging one creature does not pull in the rest of the herd. Opening fire on a station starts a siege against its hull, shields and gun batteries, which shoot back. Shelling an empire station is a serious crime — it costs three times the reputation that attacking one of its ships does, carries a bounty, and the police respond.)
