The Free Brotherhood was a band of space pirates, travelling the human-settled sectors of the Galaxy aboard huge hyper-capable transport ships, guarded by numerous light warships. Although no match for standing military forces of developed star systems, the Free Brotherhood was strong enough to wreak havoc in a number of small, single-system star nations. Some Redoubtable-class battlecruisers of the Royal Manticoran Navy saw action against the Free Brotherhood centuries later. (JIR1)