Hilda
It had taken them almost two weeks to tow the cruiser back to the Grimm Hearth System. In that time Hilda had poured through the logs on every system the ship had been in, and any mention of the so called Fabian Order of Drala. She had watched countless videos of the prisoners to try and learn something that she was missing.
Whatever it was, the crew of the cruiser were refusing to mention or didn’t know. Hilda believed they didn’t know much more than she did. The main command deck had been destroyed in the attack, taking much of the senior staff, and those that had survived had taken their own lives.
Whatever the truth was, she wasn’t going to find it in the logs, or on her ship. Their best bet was the Halesworth system, but there were several other systems in the Bastian and Furia Sector that the ship can be to multiple times. The minor system of Halesworth was the most clear system to have answers.
The cruiser fetched a handsome price when they reached the Grimm Hearth System. System-lord Ironstone had offered almost twenty million for the ship. A Furse ship was a valuable starship to own in Commonwealth space, and a System-lord on the edge of the Commonwealth was always looking to expand their fleet.
They had heard disturbing news for Hilda when they arrived in the system. King Oswald was to be married. Hilda knew it was only a matter of time, but she had hope it would never come. Still it was not welcome news.
Hilda gave the crew a little R and R while she met with the System-lord, and unloaded most of the prisoners. She kept several dozen of the higher ranking members in case they needed them. They also unloaded much of the cargo they had taken from the cruiser and sold on the world of Grimm Hearth.
The Furse had once conquered the system. Many Furse still called it home, and the System-lord Ironstone and his family could trace their clan back to those very invaders. They had sworn loyalty to the King of Daxholm before the formation of the Commonwealth of Drala.
The system wasn’t as large as the Bastian System. Five billion shattered across the system. Over two billion on the world of Grimm Hearth itself. The asteroid fields were rich in ores and three large mines gathered that ore for trade throughout the Commonwealth and outside, but there were other minor worlds like Storm Pike, and the standard things one found in a populated system of that size. Shipyards, space stations, and other defenses.
It had been the System-lord that told Hilda of the soon to be royal marriage. She had pretended it was welcome news, but she looked forward to heading back out into space, and checking out the Halesworth system and other systems to try and find answers.
System-lord Ironstone had paid a handsome price for the prisoners. No doubt most of them would be sold as thralls to regain those credits, and punish those who had preyed on the outer systems under his control.
