A Process of Elimination

Book excerpt: Captain Raferty Hawkins, the Duke of Black Hallow and consort to Queen Alexis I, has two big challenges. There is a blood contract out on him and Killian O'Hare. The money is coming from the Aurora Empire, but the operators are near at hand in the Badlands. The second problem is less immediate but has greater consequences for the universe. The Goldenes Tor military is about to overthrow their emperor and enter the war in support of the Orion Confederation against the Aurora Empire. Such an event would mean defeat for the Zekes. The pirate leader decides to focus on the latter problem while letting his allies handle the former problem. His Badlands comrades are used to such situations as someone has been trying to kill them for the majority of their lives. Destiny Flores, Tactical, Baby Doll, and the two hit men, Shelby Pope and Jackson Kemper, make a formidable group regardless of the threat. Now they will search for the people who are administering the contract. Once found, they will be dealt with in the usual way such problems are handled in the Badlands: ruthless violence administered with vengeance. The blood contract is being funded by members of the peerage within the Aurora Empire. These elites know this is their best chance to get Hawkins and O'Hare before these two would-be contemporaries can become forces within Aurora upper society at the war's end. Queen Alexis intends to bring these instigators to justice. Unfortunately for the guilty peers involved, the punishment will not be the usual slap on the wrist reserved for members of the ruling class who stray outside of the law. Alexis loves her consort and has no intention of letting this slide. With the aid of media mogul David Van Drucker, Alex will dish out her own brand of justice. It will not be violent, but it will be just as effective in ending the threat. Meanwhile, Hawkins addresses the bigger problem. If Emperor Viktor Aurick is taken by the traitors within the Goldenes Tor Imperial Staff, the attack on the Aurora Empire would immediately follow. Despite knowing of the attack, the Royal Navy does not have the ships to defeat such a massive onslaught. The longer the emperor stays free, the longer the attack is delayed. The emperor turns to Hawkins for help in retrieving his throne. Hawkins searches for allies to bring to the cause. He is under no illusion that allies will join him to help create a better universe, but they will join for money or other favors that the emperor can grant. Hawkins directs the recruitment of the greedy, the needy, and anyone else with a warship and ordnance for this fight. Captains Killian O'Hare, Shane Delacruz, and Dylan Whitlock do their parts to achieve the goals of Pirate Flotilla One as ongoing missions are concluded and old scores are settled. This may be the last time such an occasion will present itself, and revenge cannot be put off until tomorrow. Old enemies become new allies as a threat that could take them all down must be defeated.