Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire Series

The galaxy’s worst bounty hunter just might be its most relentless hero. Esper Richelieu is a wizard with a mission: To make the galaxy a better place one lost soul at a time. Donning the trappings of an interstellar bounty hunter, she delves into the galaxy’s underworld to search out those most in need of help. Whether it’s a teenage runaway or an actor kidnapped by cultists, the victim comes first. Money is an afterthought. That confuses a lot of clients. But sometimes the best way to get someone to accept the help they need is to convince them to pay for it.

Esper may dress the part. She has her own ship. She even carries a blaster - not that she ever uses it. But she violates the cardinal rule of the galaxy’s most cold-blooded profession: get paid. At least she's not alone. Her partner, Kubu, is an alien who gets mistaken for a dog. One is a wizard on the run from her past. The other is a lovable eating machine. Between them, they haven’t got a ruthless bone in their bodies. But when a client hires them, they’ll do whatever it takes to bring a target home safely. This time, it’s a teenage kidnapping victim.

Esper and Kubu take an outlaw vacation to a remote planet whose tiny colony seems idyllic. It’s far enough for the Convocation wizards dogging them to lose their trail. The plan is simple: Stay out of trouble, let the heat die down, and slink back quietly to civilized space. But these two aren’t good at keeping out of trouble. Before long, they’re exposed to the rotten core beneath this purported utopia. Bitter feuds lurk just below the surface. Feigned friendships mask deadly rivalries. Cliques control what passes for a government on the colony.

Core World problems... Rigel IV glistens beneath a giant, blue-white sun. Its vast surface is covered in tall cities shining like hope itself. Law enforcement protects the people. Or at least...most of the people. Because even core worlds have a seedy side. Esper finds a home of sorts among the endangered, the unprotected, the ones that the law turns a blind eye toward. And when one of her protectees gets kidnapped, Esper will stop at nothing to bring her home. Well, almost nothing. Because Esper’s work has pushed her to the edge of a moral precipice. 

The jig is up. The news is out. They finally found her. As Esper has tried to save the galaxy’s wayward children, she’s done it with the looming threat of the Convocation dogging her steps. She knows why they’re after her, even if she can’t remember the events. She’s shaken them across a dozen star systems. She’s bested their hunters the few times they’ve caught up. Now, Esper is about to face her greatest fear: the truth about what she’s done.

Sunshine of Your Cult is the fifth mission of Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire. It 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 listeners alike. Fans of vigilante justice and heroes who exemplify the word will love this series.

Esper tracks the Cult of Ra to an arms factory on a grimy colony world. With limited magical resources, they're reduced to doing their vigilante act the old-fashioned way. But when their best efforts fall short, Esper is forced to make an impossible choice. In the aftermath, Esper is going to have to reevaluate her priorities and rediscover what magic means to her. With her powers returned, so has the dark voice that haunts her day and night.

Esper has a rendezvous with a mysterious contact aboard an undersea luxury cruise ship, an exclusive submarine hotel for a cozy five-day getaway. She's going to get all the intel she needs to cut off the head of the Cult of Ra - at least that's the plan. When she first meets her contact, it's at the scene of his murder. Then someone sinks the cruise ship, trapping Esper and the other passengers with the killer. Now, Esper has to discover the killer's identity, recover any stolen intel the victim might have had on him, and keep the other passengers alive.

Esper made that promise. Now it's time to make good. The Cult of Ra has a flagship, and thanks to a turncoat in their ranks, Esper and her friends know where it's going to be. Better yet, they know that Pharaoh Ramesses XIII will be aboard. It's time to cut the head off the cult.

With the capture of the Eye of Ra, Esper and her friends discover that small problems have started looking too small. When a plague breaks out on the occupied planet of Meyang, she decides it's time to see what her new ship and crew are capable of. However, the situation is more complicated than they counted on. Not only does the occupying force not want them there, the azrin living on Meyang are none too keen on interference from outsiders. But never let it be said that Esper wasn't willing to help those who refused to be helped.

In the constant war against her darker side, Esper was forced to win a daily battle for control. One loss was all it took for the roles of warden and prisoner to switch. Now, with her friends as hostages, this new Esper relies on advice from her better half to keep up the illusion that this is still the Esper they know and love. When their newly acquired base of operations gets hijacked, Esper has to balance between maintaining her cover and doing what she knows it's going to take to get her ship back.

Leaving an apprentice unsupervised has never been a good idea. With Esper neglecting her duties as magical teacher, Tiffany takes her education into her own hands. Struggling with self-esteem and credibility with the universe, she resorts to trying a magical performance-enhancing drug. Of course, Esper has problems of her own. Unbeknownst to her, a crack squad of assassins is hot on her trail, and this time they're bringing twice the number of wizard-hunters along. It would be a great time for a fully-trained and capable apprentice to have her back. Wouldn't it?

Tiffany knows what happened. Esper has fallen to the darkness within her. Rather than fleeing to safety, she escapes the presence of Dark Esper to find a way to bring back the woman she thinks of as a mother. But before she can drag Esper down the road to redemption, she'll first have to wade into hell to find her. Meanwhile, Esper is being hunted by the latest in a long string of bounty hunters and assassins looking to collect the astronomical price on her head. What makes this one think she's got any better chance than all the rest that have tried and failed? 

Tanny and Esper may have grown apart, but they've joined forces to overthrow the Rucker Syndicate. Tanny's father has crossed too many lines, and now it's time for new leadership of the galaxy's most expansive criminal enterprise. But to topple a crime lord, they must first take away all the leverage that he might use against them; they need to get their loved ones out of harm's way before they become hostages and bargaining chips. But what if it was already too late? 

Tanny and Esper’s rebel syndicate needs to hit the Ruckers hard and where it hurts: in the finances. They decide on a target, one that most of the galaxy is blissfully unaware is owned by a vicious criminal gang: Friendli Foods. Purveyors of the Milky Way’s favorite junk foods, they make shipments to Earth on a megafreighter large enough to feed billions. Tanny has a plan to hijack it.

Home is where the bark is. Fleeing from an unwinnable battle, Tanny is forced to find a planet where she can take refuge from a syndicate with galaxy-spanning reach. The first planet that meets the bill is a wild, forbidden world, home to all manner of monsters. But she has an ace up her sleeve; one of her closest allies was born there. But even with the help of a local, can Tanny and her crew survive long enough to contact help?