Quick facts:Hester Polaris
UPE Navy Commander Hester Polaris, namesake of the RSI Polaris Corvette and the inaugural vessel, UEES Polaris.
Hester Polaris, born into a family of explorers, enlisted in the Navy shortly after the formation of the United Planets of Earth (UPE) in 2523. Her first assignment was as a military liaison, where she managed terraforming operations. In 2530, during the Pallas Incident, she was selected for a hostage exchange with the Xi'an, an experience that earned her a commendation and led to her promotion to captain of the corvette-class vessel, the UEES Gilchrist. When the Tevarin War broke out in 2541, Polaris and her ship found themselves at the forefront of Humanity's first inter-species conflict, facing an enemy for which they were ill-prepared.
On August 12, 2543, the Gilchrist was ambushed by a Tevarin strike fleet during a routine patrol, as previous reconnaissance had incorrectly assessed the system as secure. Taken by surprise, Polaris and her crew encountered elite Tevarin boarders who had already infiltrated the ship by the time the main fleet engaged. While defending the bridge from these intruders, Polaris skillfully maneuvered her ship to counter the overwhelming Tevarin forces, using the environmental conditions of the system to her advantage. She even redirected her efforts to engage Tevarin vessels that had split off to attack local settlements.
Eyewitness accounts from the incident reveal how Polaris consistently put herself and her crew at risk to safeguard civilian lives. Ultimately, she managed to destroy three Tevarin capital ships before naval reinforcements arrived to repel the remaining enemy forces. Tragically, shortly after the battle, Commander Hester Polaris succumbed to injuries sustained during the boarding action. Her bravery in the face of adversity has immortalized her legacy, but it is her exceptional adaptability and effectiveness in asymmetric warfare that have established her as a legend among strategic scholars, prompting the engineers at RSI to honor her memory with a ship named in her honor.[1]
