Torpedoes

Coming
In Hard
The Grub Buster
broke out of hyperspace
high above the planet
Aloha, bits of armor and
shielding peeling away
as it did. The surface far
below was a blue, watery
jewel set in the black
velvet of the surrounding
space, but Yazmin
Moideen didn’t have any
time to waste wondering
at the vision.
“Corky!” she shouted
at the intercom, “What’s
our status?” She fought
with the controls while
waiting for the response,
trying to wrestle the
Betafort back under
control. Never easily
manageable under the
best of circumstances,
with the amount of
damage the ship had
taken, it certainly wasn’t
going to cooperate with
her now.
“Odin’s Blood!”
Corky’s curse burst in
her ear. “We’ve really
made a mess of this one,
Captain. Seems like only
you and me are still
around to complain to
the management about
the decaying state of our
accommodations.”
30
Hibernia Freehold
The Hibernia Freehold was founded long
ago by a large number of Irish people trying
to return to the traditional values that
had been a part of their people’s history in
Ireland. The Freehold’s first planet (and
now its capital) was the temperate, green
world named Eire. Although the Freehold
now encompasses several planets, Eire remains
the heart of it all.
The main doctrine of the Hibernians is
that of freedom and tolerance. Within
the Freehold’s domain, all are
free to do whatever they
please, as long as they
don’t infringe upon the
rights of others to do
the same. While the
Freehold was originally
founded by an
ark full of Irish, it
soon became a
home to likeminded
individuals
from all across the
Terran section of the
Milky Way. Persecuted
people flocked from all over
to join the freehold and enjoy the
liberties it offered.
Hibernia was soon overflowing with
stubborn wills and sharp minds. The freehold
became the Terran center of fine arts
and hard thinking. Unfortunately, with so
many strong-willed people in the same
place, some disagreements were bound to
occur. As a result, Hibernia formed a conscript
police force in which all citizens had
to serve for at least two years. This had the
dual effect of giving the Hibernians a substantial
police force and also ensuring that
every citizen played a part in the Freehold’s
government for at least a small part of his
or her life.
The Hibernians also poured a good portion
of their resources into educating their
children as well as those of the other provinces.
The Hibernian schools are among the
best across the board, and they teach just
about everything. As a result, Hibernian
colleges draw some of the finest Terran
minds around to their classrooms and research
facilities.
The Call to Arms
Still, the Hibernians were aware from the
start that there would be those that would
seek to infringe upon their freedoms. As
such, they mobilized a portion of their police
force into a military capable of
defending their Freehold from
exterior threats. The Freedom
Fighters, as they
are known to this day,
are far from the
finest soldiers ever
seen. They tend to be
a little too independent-minded
to
make good grunts,
but as individuals,
their bravery cannot
be exceeded.
The valiant efforts of
these stalwart men and
women managed to defend
the Freehold from the
Hatchlings that sought to kill them all. Although
many of the Freedom Fighters lost
their lives in the Terran-Hatchling War,
they each sold them gladly to defend those
ideals which they held most dear. In the
end, the destruction was fairly extensive
throughout the Freehold, but Eire, at least,
survived nearly intact, thanks entirely to
the people that proudly called it home.
The Post-War Depression
Since the war, the Hibernians have come
on hard times. Money is scarce these days
for funding art or research. Resources are
primarily concentrated on restoring the
Freehold’s shattered economy. As in every
society, art and science come in a distant
second behind more vital matters like food
and shelter.