Smoke on the Wind

Pirate Flotilla One is doing well in the Badlands. A fourth squadron is about to be formed under the command of Llewellyn Terrant. Four new freighters will improve the flotilla's logistics capabilities. In concert with the Royal Navy Badlands Squadron, they continue to enforce Measure 200, the anti-slavery law, throughout the region. The pirate settlement on Agra 5 will be used by all squadrons and, for the first time, a permanent home is envisioned for all the pirate families. However, events in the war between the Aurora Empire and the Orion Confederation will impact Raferty Hawkins and his flotilla yet again. Hawkins learns of the death of a close friend in a costly defeat for the Royal Navy at Excandor. This defeat changes the immediate future for Raferty and his flotilla. Queen Alexis, monarch of the Aurora Empire, is tired of the incompetence and the losses. She issues a Call to Service that a peer is required to obey. That peer is Raferty Hawkins. His given mission is easy... and hard. All he has to do is win a victory over Orion forces. The Royal Navy has suffered many defeats but the most recent one at Excandor is the costliest on both a personal and a professional basis for Alexis. The Queen is tired of it and tasks her favorite pirate with reversing the trend. As a peer of the realm, Hawkins will command Royal Navy ships and personnel for the first time. He must produce and execute a plan that achieves the elusive win Queen Alexis wants. The two earlier forays into this war by Flot 1 had been for revenge against the OrCons for their destruction of the pirate settlement on Ulatar. It will be different this time. Raferty Hawkins, the Duke of Black Hallow, must answer a summons, but this is not flotilla business. He will let the ships in Flot 1 decide whether to support his mission. With or without them, he must go to the Aurora Empire. With help from his trusted friends and companions, Hawkins takes on his biggest task yet. After the battles are over, he will get an even greater mission, one that will last for a long, long time.


Genre: Science Fiction