I thought it had a very good start, grab and hold attention, What are the beasties? Who's are they? Why are they using the Irish as a test? Why do they want to use them on the spanish? A lot of why's that need answers. With cannons, Irish, and Spanish being mentioned, it could be set in the 1800's england time, but then again, a possible alt history story, so yeah, I think a good enough start to flesh out in several different directions.