The galaxy’s worst bounty hunter just might be its most relentless hero. Esper is a vigilante Samaritan with more moral fiber than business sense. Any bounty hunter worth the title knows three rules: Collect half the money up front. Never get emotionally attached. Don’t ask nosy questions. But with a heart of gold and her companion Kubu by her side, Esper sets out to make the galaxy a better place, preferably making enough money to pay for the fuel to get from one job to the next. But just because she’s not cut out to be ruthless doesn’t mean the galaxy is going to eat her alive. After all, Esper is also a wizard. Mission 1: Wayward Saint A runaway teen needs protection and Esper takes the job. But a simple rescue and recovery turns ugly when Esper finds herself in the middle of a custody battle with a vicious pirate who’s hired a bounty hunter of his own. Mission 2: Behind Blue Skies On the run from troubles of her own, Esper tries to lie low on a suspiciously Utopian colony planet. Unable to keep out of other people’s troubles, Esper gets a terrifying look into justice on a world where truth is a matter of who you know. Mission 3: House of the Orion Sun Esper’s mission to protect the galaxy’s most vulnerable takes a turn for the seedy when she tracks a trafficking victim. How long can she hold out when her morals are tested at every turn? Mission 4: Break the Chain Esper’s own dark past catches up with her when bounty-hunting wizards corner her. Esper has faced down the galaxy’s worst criminals. Now, she’s going to be forced to stand up to one of the galaxy’s most esteemed institutions—Convocation of Arcane Practitioners. Bonus Short Story: Least Dangerous Game Desperate times call for desperate measures. Esper is stranded on a remote colony world with no job, no terras, a starving megalodog, and a bored teen wizard. She can't afford to be picky about the jobs she takes. Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire follows the exploits of a pair of do-gooder bounty hunters who care more about saving the day than getting a payday. Mercy for Hire builds on the rich Black Ocean universe and introduces a colorful cast for new and returning readers alike. Fans of vigilante justice and heroes who exemplify the word will love this series. Grab your copy and support the cause of justice.

Meet the new boss, daughter of the old boss. It was a possibility she'd never considered and a friend she'd thought long gone. But when Tanny Rucker came to Esper for help overthrowing her father's criminal empire, it was an offer she couldn't refuse. Armed with Tanny's loyalists from her father's syndicate and the magical might Esper brings, the pair embark on a course to rewrite galactic history. To win, they might ruin countless innocent lives and even some of their friends. But convinced they're going to do more good, they press forward with their ambitious plan: to rid the galaxy of the Rucker Syndicate. Mission 13: The Girls Are Back in Town Esper and Tanny join forces to topple the Rucker Syndicate. Their first move, rescuing hostages so that no one can be forced to betray them. Mission 14: Stuck in the Astral With You To undermine the financial power of the Rucker Syndicate, Tanny and Esper go after their largest legitimate business front. Mission 15: Lair of the Dog When Tanny is forced to flee from battle, she brings her crew to the harshest, most unforgiving planet with a breathable atmosphere: Kubu's homeworld. Mission 16: Empathy for the Devil It's the final showdown for control of the Rucker Syndicate. What price will Tanny and Esper be forced to pay to realize their vision of a galaxy without its largest criminal empire? Bonus short story: Kubu's First Date When the opportunity arises to travel from his birth planet to his adoptive home, Kubu asks a friend to join him for the trip. But without a common culture to guide them, the two megalodogs fumble their way to a unique and unexpected idea for a first date. Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire follows the exploits of a pair of do-gooder bounty hunters who care more about saving the day than getting a payday. Mercy for Hire builds on the rich Black Ocean universe and introduces a colorful cast for new and returning readers alike. Fans of vigilante justice and heroes who exemplify the word will love this series. Grab your copy and support the cause of justice.

Almighty Ra looks down not from one sun but from all! Someone has taken an ancient Earth religion and rebranded it for the 26th Century. Multi-stellar, multi-species, the Cult of Ra has an answer for everything... Except a wizard who's sick of them preying on innocent people. Mission 5: Sunshine of Your Cult Still getting used to life without magic, Esper accepts a mission that seems easy enough on the surface. An actor is searching for a kidnapped co-worker. Just two little problems with that. The actor seems intent on tagging along, offering questionable "help" along the way. And his co-star is in the clutches of a deadly cult. Mission 6: Walk Like a Magician Now on a crusade to pull the Cult of Ra out of the galaxy by the roots, Esper and company find a arms manufacturer secretly funding the cult. But when taking on such a formidable foe without magic proves too much, Esper takes drastic measures to even the odds. Mission 7: Hotel Caledonia This could be the break Esper has been waiting for. A mysterious whistleblower looks to take down the Cult of Ra from the inside. He's willing to tell Esper everything. Her rendezvous aboard a luxury cruise ship goes horribly wrong when she meets her contact—at the scene of his murder. Mission 8: Eye of the Pharaoh The beating heart of the Cult of Ra is its founder, the self-styled pharaoh Ramesses XIII. And Esper knows where to find him. The cult flagship will be in orbit of a planet whose populace has converted to their religion. So, all Esper and her friends have to do it get to a planet full of zealots, sneak about their most powerful warship, and depose the pharaoh amid his most trusted guards and wizards. And they know Esper is coming. Bonus Short Story: Curriculum Vitae A top secret glimpse into Major Wesley Wesley's classified final mission with Omicron Squad. Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire follows the exploits of a pair of do-gooder bounty hunters who care more about saving the day than getting a payday. Mercy for Hire builds on the rich Black Ocean universe and introduces a colorful cast for new and returning readers alike. Fans of vigilante justice and heroes who exemplify the word will love this series. Grab your copy and support the cause of justice.

When a hero snaps, the galaxy pays. For years, Esper has been holding in her mind the knowledge of ancient demons. Ever since reading that forbidden tome, a darkness has dwelt, gnawing at the edges of her sanity and wheedling to gain control. When a mission to a blockaded planet goes awry, Esper finally can't hold back the darkness any longer. The darkness within gains an annoying conscience and the body of a powerful wizard. Multiple battles ensue. First, Esper must fight alongside her crew without letting on that she's no longer the Esper they once knew. But also there's an internal struggle going on for control, influence, and the fate of everyone Esper cares about. Who can hold back the darkness when its main enemy takes command of the fight? Mission 9: Ship With No Name On the planet Meyang, a plague breaks out. Earth Navy enforces a strict blockade. No one in; no one out. But that includes medical personnel. With a humanitarian crisis brewing among the rebels being quarantined, Esper and her crew step in. Launching a daring rescue mission, they break the blockade to save lives. Mission 10: No More Mr. Nice Girl Esper isn't playing around anymore. When her ship gets hijacked, it's time to see what a wizard can do when she's not worried about doing the right thing. Mission 11: Magic's Little Helper Tiffany feels like her magical training has fallen off. With Esper preoccupied and the universe no longer listening to her demands, she turns to an illicit, magic-boosting drug for a boost. But the worst time for Esper to discover that her apprentice is blasted on Starlight is when a team of wizard assassins is hot on her trail. Mission 12: Mortanian Rhapsody Something is horribly wrong with Esper. The dark powers she's tapped into have finally collected their due. Overcome by the darkness inside her, she's no longer the Esper everyone knew. To get her back to herself, Tiffany launches a daring mission to find the one person in the galaxy who might know how to help. Bonus Short Story: Our Little Secret Left to their own devices, Wesley and Kubu decide to try all the things that Esper would never have let them do if she were around. Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire follows the exploits of a pair of do-gooder bounty hunters who care more about saving the day than getting a payday. Mercy for Hire builds on the rich Black Ocean universe and introduces a colorful cast for new and returning readers alike. Fans of vigilante justice and heroes who exemplify the word will love this series. Grab your copy and support the cause of justice.

Science to build a starship. Wizardry to take it past light speed. A crew to give it a soul. The Mobius is a cobbled-together ship with a matching crew. Captain Carl Ramsey is an ex-Earth Navy pilot whose crew won’t let him fly his own ship. The pilot is his ex-wife, the mechanic is a drunk, and the chief of security is from a predatory species. Instead of a star-drive to travel through the astral space between worlds, the ship’s wizard does it by hand. Mission 1: Salvage Trouble A salvage mission turns into a rescue, and no good deed goes unpunished. With two refugees onboard, the Mobius crew is hounded by bounty hunters, border partols, and corporate enforcers. Mission 2: A Smuggler’s Conscience “Don’t open the package.” It’s the smuggler’s credo for good reason. When the Mobius crew takes a peek at their illicit cargo, the entire job takes an about-face. Mission 3: Poets and Piracy The Mobius crew gets caught in a turf war between a pirate fleet and a galactic criminal syndicate. The trick is getting everyone out alive (and maybe getting paid in the process). Mission 4: To Err is Azrin Sometimes you can’t go home again. When a job takes the crew to their security chief’s homeworld, she gets dragged into a familial power struggle. Can the rest of the crew bail her out of an old feud gone horribly wrong? Bonus Short Story: Guardian of the Plundered Tomes Mordecai The Brown has been on the run from the Convocation for decades. How does a respectable wizard with a wife and two kids end up crisscrossing the galaxy in the company of outlaws? Black Ocean is a science fantasy series set in the 26th century. Do you wish there had been a second season of Firefly? Do you love the irreverent fun of Guardians of the Galaxy? Have you ever wondered how Star Wars would have turned out if Luke and Obi-wan had ditched the rebellion to become smugglers with Han and Chewie? Then Black Ocean is the series for you! Pick up your copy and aim to misbehave with the crew of the Mobius!

The galaxy isn't ready for Mort and Chuck. A traveling con man poses as a vintage comedian, touring the galaxy with his wife and kids in tow. When he picks up a hitchhiking wizard desperate to flee Earth, they become a hilarious mixed family. Crime, comedy, and magical mayhem are in store. Mission 1: Know When to Run A prominent wizard makes a deadly mistake and runs out his welcome on Earth. A shady comedian with a family and his own starship decides that a wizard hitchhiker is a risk worth taking. Despite bounty hunters, crime syndicates, and magical law enforcement on their trail, he just may be right. Mission 2: Low Flyer Sometimes lying low means flying low. Chuck and Mort head to a dusty colony in border space, hoping to let their pursuers lose their trail. But old debts and the hijinks of Chuck's son Brad make sure this is anything but rest and relaxation. Mission 3: The Good Die Young Chuck books a gig on a missionary ship operating outside ARGO space. Surely they have to be beyond the reach of the Convocation here, right? As it turns out, wizards aren't the only threat in the galaxy, and beyond ARGO's smothering law and order, pirates operate with impunity. ...and missionary ships are unarmed. Mission 4: Lyin' Guys The missionary ship incident caught the attention of the Convocation all the way back on Earth. Now, suspecting they have Mort cornered, a hand-picked team of wizard-killers is sent to collect his skull. Brute force won't save them. There's nowhere to run. There's only one way out: lying like their lives depend on it. Bonus Short Story: Unfamiliar Customs Chuck Ramsey has never been able to say no to easy money. What could be easier than transporting a family of ratatoret to their new home? Black Ocean: Mirth & Mayhem follows a mismatched duo of itinerant comedian and outlaw wizard as they roam the galaxy trying to eke out a living and stay ahead of the consequences of their actions. Black Ocean: Mirth & Mayhem looks back at an earlier era in the Black Ocean universe, and returning readers will get to see how some of their favorite characters came to be. Fans of morally gray heroes and slick talking conmen will love this series. Grab your copy before someone else does.

They found a planet where none belonged. They should have left it alone. It is a planet like nothing the galaxy has seen. Found deep in the astral. Inhabited by creatures out of myth and legend. Formerly inhabited by a race far more advanced than anyone could have imagined. And now it's been discovered a bunch of reckless opportunists and enthusiastic amateurs. No one is prepared for what comes next. Mission 1: Shadow Planet Her family's company went bankrupt. With nothing but a failing mining station as severance pay, Director Fujita Hiroko moves to the edge of the galaxy to keep the station afloat. When the nearby planet vanishes with her and her survey team still on the surface, hopes of mining are quickly replaced by a more pressing goal: finding a way back to her station. Mission 2: Wizard Zero When a survey team unearths buildings on prospective mining planet, at first, it’s hailed as an archeological jackpot. But the ancient structures are more advanced than anyone’s seen. And the hedge against technology is a wizard. Mission 3: Shielded Sun With rival factions in orbit around Shadow Planet, the obvious threat was one another. When the defenses of an ancient alien outpost activate, trapping everyone in the star system, it becomes clear that there was more to worry about beneath the planet’s surface than in orbit around it. Mission 4: Prime Guardian The ancient solution to get magic and tech to coexist lies within an alien structure older than any race in the galaxy. Now, the balance of power threatens to tip. As factions reinforce their fleets for a war to claim the ultimate technological prize, Hiroko finds herself trapped between three races—one of them her own—in a quest where even victory promises disaster. Bonus Short Story: Tour of Darkness The galaxy's oldest historical site has become a tourist attraction. It also holds untold secrets that could shift the course of civilization. How far will one lone wizard go to protect the ancient technology that lies within? Black Ocean: Astral Prime hearkens back to location-based space sci-fi classics like Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Astral Prime builds on the rich Black Ocean universe, introducing a colorful cast of characters for new and returning readers alike. Come along for the ride as a minor outpost in the middle of nowhere becomes a key point of interstellar conflict.