Looks like it could indeed be a live test run of a government ship. A pretty dodgy way of testing weaponry, but then again, it's weaponry so the only way to really test it is to destroy stuff and kill people. At least they found an obvious sadist to pilot it. The pirate from the Empire should be a real pirate, though, not a theatrical one, unless some Empire nobles and social circles started to envy the cruises farther away for having such exotic entertainment and established a licensed pirate order of their own, including much more impressive armaments. If it was a real rogue, though, they would need to be damn good to operate closer to the Empire and its obviously omnipotent military.

Ironbeard's true identity wasn't really confirmed one way or another.