Retribution live TODAY May 14!

   A funny thing happened when I went to check my email last night...
Wait, let's back this story up a bit. Okay, see, I've seen the pre-order thing for a bit, and a couple people came to me and said, "Hey, why don't you try it?" I wasn't keen about it since I'd be locked into a release date. If something went wrong I didn't want to get bit in the caboose. But after I sent it to Goodlifeguide I decided to give it a shot.
   And that was when the headache began. See, when I uploaded it, you have to choose a date 10 days after the final submission deadline for release. Um... no, that doesn't sound right. Okay, let me try to explain it again. Goodlifeguide said they were backed up and would get the book to me by May 19. I said okay so I had to set the final release date for 10 days after to accommodate that. (it's an Amazon thing)
   I was going to add the pre-order link to the blog (I hear it is on the fan group already) today. But low and behold last night (okay caught up to the story) I found Goodlifeguide had finished the reformatting early and sent it back to me last night.
  So, I went to upload it this morning, did so... and found out Amazon won't let me release it until May 14th! GRRR! Argth!!! (wringing hands) So, I dunno if I'll be trying this experiment again. I'll hold off on uploading the manuscript to Nook until Friday afternoon.

About:

The Xeno War devastated the Milky Way galaxy over 7 centuries ago. Worlds and entire star systems were gutted in this galactic war. A dark age descended upon the remaining hold out worlds.

But civilization is slowly returning to the Rho sector of the galaxy, and with it a renewal of hope and prosperity once more. Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons has done his best to sow the seeds of civilization, now he is busy as acting President tending to those seedlings as they sprout and begin to grow. With him is a dedicated group of individuals, some from his time before the Xeno War. Rear Admiral Subert has taken his place in Pyrax to oversee things there while Rear Admiral White wields their offensive fleet in the hopes of pushing back the barbarians. Admiral White has had a few successes and a few setbacks, but his small force has not only held its own, it has grown with each reinforcement into a powerful weapon.

Indignant and enraged by their setbacks and losses, the Horathian pirate Empire has finally marshaled its forces. As the Federation clings to life and renewed purpose, a pirate juggernaut is bearing down on it to crush it under its boot once and for all, and with it, any hope of civilization's renewal.

One way or another, Retribution awaits!

Here it is on Amazon for Pre-order

EDIT:
Here it is on Amazon:
Here it is on B&N:

I haven't put it up on Smashwords since the older books need to be edited and reformatted.

   When it goes live I will update this post with the links to each store. I don't know at this point if I will upload it to Smashwords or not. I've been holding off on putting my entire inventory there since the first 7 books have not been professionally edited or reformatted. (and that costs $$$$$)

Anyway...
   In other news, I'm up to 180 pages of Enemy of my Enemy. (Horatio Logan's Adventures 1) I am almost done chapter 6. (I skip around a lot) I shot myself in the foot a couple of times though so it took all day yesterday to clean up 1 mistake. Hopefully I got it all. (That's not related to when I rolled over my pinky toe with the shopping cart April 30th and messed it up. It stopped bleeding and the X-rays said it wasn't broken or dislocated. All better now.)
  Oh, I still haven't tried Space Engineers. (Sorry Jory!) I did try Mario Maker and I did watch Jurassic World. lol I still haven't seen The Force Awakens and some of the other movies I've got in my collection... including Deadpool which is coming today.
  And I did some character fan art for Pete Abram's Sluggyfreelance. I posted 1 image on my deviantart page. Eventually I'll do an entire strip or 2. If he likes it maybe he'll post it as filler when he needs a break. :)

EDIT: I ran into a screwy problem while writing yesterday. (May 13) I finished a 2 scenes in chapter 12 and went to save and the curser started to jump all over the manuscript and randomly deleted sentences and paragraphs. I freaked and got out without saving. I went back in and all my work was gone, 2+ pages. I'm frustrated and annoyed so I'm holding off on going back in. I dunno if the button got stuck or what? GRR.

That is all!

Retribution snippet 3

Hi,
  FYI: I made some retcons in Pirate Rage. So, you might notice them... once they get uploaded I mean. Minor bits here and there, and 1 thing probably everyone tripped over.
Also, as I mentioned in the comments, I just uploaded Retribution to Goodlifeguide.com. However they are backlogged, so I am not certain when I'll get it back.

On to the snippet! This is taking up in chapter 2 where the last snippet left off.

"Are they serious?" D'angelo demanded, eyes wide. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

"Are they ours?" Captain Bellerose demanded as she came onto the bridge. "You didn't respond, did you?"

The pilot shook his head vehemently no. He knew better; she'd have his balls if he'd had. "No, ma'am. We've had an automated IFF challenge, but we ignored it per your orders. This is from another ship though. It's too far out for our sensors to see it though," he reported with a grimace.

"A trader?" the captain asked as she took her seat. She grimaced as she took a look at her side monitor and then the plot. D'angelo was right; they had crappy civilian grade sensors so damn myopic they were nearly useless in a situation like the one they were finding themselves in.

She was a Horathian. Sure they were in a freighter, but her people were the hunters not the prey. Being interrogated set her on edge and her excess arrogance made her fume.

"No, ma'am," the rating replied carefully. He glanced at the others and then replayed the message.

The captain frowned as she listened. The inflection meant it wasn't human. There was a slight buzz that meant it was Veraxin or T'clock. That didn't make sense. Nor did what they said. federation? As if! The ship though … "Descartes," she murmured thoughtfully. She wracked her brain but nothing came up. "I don't recognize the name. You ran the war book?" She turned to the pilot turned bridge rating.

"Yes, ma’am, but its fifteen years out of date." He shook his head.

"Size?"

"Based on what comm picked up, they are talking to someone else. That means two ships, ma'am. They are still on the outer edge of our sensor envelope. Based on their speed, they appear to be too small to be tramp freighters. And well, the order to heave to …," the rating shrugged and pointed helplessly to the plot. "I think they've plotted an intercept course, ma'am. They'll link up with us short of the planetary orbit," he said.

"Damn it," she muttered, shaking her head. "Horath …"

"Fresh challenge coming in, ma'am. They are … transmitting their authority? It says they are a pair of warships of the federation, ma'am," Oswald said, turning and looking at the captain with wide frightened eyes. "What the hell, ma'am?"

"Did we just fly into some sort of other dimension?" the captain muttered. "Someone figure out what the hell is going on. Is this a prank?"

"I've been monitoring transmissions from the planet, ma'am. There is chatter about the federation. I can filter for it," Oswald said. He nervously licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear.

"Do so. Meanwhile, Angel, plot a course away from the planet and to the ET jump point."

"Ma'am?"

"You heard me. No way in hell am I going to allow us to be tamely boarded, if they are ours or anyone else's. No, this is fishy."

"Yes, ma'am." He frowned and pecked at his station for a few moments. When she cleared her throat, he realized he'd stalled long enough and looked up. "Course plotted."

"Then execute it. Minimum burn, let's see if they react. How they react I mean," she said. He nodded and fed the course change to the helm.

:::{)(}:::

"They changed course. They are running to the ET jump point," R'll reported an hour later.

"You can run but you can't hide. No response?" Captain Levinson demanded.

"No, sir."

"I know; I know you would have reported if there was one. Did they contact the planet?"

"No, sir. Not that we are aware. The geometry is off for us to pick up any signal traffic though."

"Query the planet. Maybe they think we're pirates or something."

"Aye aye, sir."

"Meanwhile," the captain said as he tapped at the computer. The plot shifted. "Helm, come to course 331 mark 31 and increase speed to one-half impulse. Comm, signal Loch to follow suit and stay on our flank."

"Issuing the order before the comm signal?" his XO and chief engineer asked from his repeater panel. "Something up, Skip?"

"I want to see if Troy's people are paying attention," the captain replied with a mild shrug. The XO snorted. "I'm headed to dinner. Keep me posted of any changes," the captain said as he exited the hot seat.

"Aye, sir. R'll has the bridge," the Veraxin said. By now the rating was used to being dumped in the watch. She was watch qualified as was everyone else on the ship. She was even considering mustanging to officer when they got back to civilization—if they got back. From the look of it, it wouldn't be anytime soon apparently.

:::{)(}:::

Retribution Snippet 2

I skipped ahead a bit;

Chapter 2

PO Blake Hale grinned as he saw the image of the planet on the view screens. The skipper had assented to putting it up where everyone could see it. It was a blue pearl, precious to them even if it had a hint and air of danger about her that belied a planet's normal innocence.

"Nightingale. A prettier planet I haven't seen me in a looong time," he drawled.

"We've been away for years but don't expect much to have changed. These hicks can't find their ass with their elbows."

"I don't care. I just want a fresh steak, bake potato, and a woman who can pretend to be loving for a whole evening," Blake drawled.

"Well look at you, a whole evening? You wouldn't last five minutes," Oswald said.

Blake scowled. "Wanna bet?"

"With what? Skipper is taking all our creds to get food and fuel so we can get on to the next stop."

"Frack," Blake muttered. His vision of liberty was rapidly fading.

"There goes your lady friend. Don't worry, I've got a good pic and you can always use your five fingers like you've been doin," Oswald tormented.

Blake held up his hand then dropped all but 1 telling finger in return. Oswald smirked back at him insufferably.

"We've got a healthy reserve even with the skipper skimping and saving with us on ballistic. Just getting the stink out of the air would be nice for a change," Oswald said.

"Fat chance on that. I know Bruno's trying but no way can he get the fish smell out. We're stuck with it until we get home."

"Joy," Oswald muttered. He tapped at his controls then frowned. "Hey, something odd here," he said.

"Odd?"

"As in out of place. There is an IFF orbiting the gas giant. Two of them. I just picked them up." Oswald wrinkled his nose. "It's too far to get a reading with our sensors though."

"Ships?"

"Possible. One probably, but what is the other? It's pretty low in the atmosphere..." he frowned as he pecked at his controls, working his fingers around the broken or sticky keys as best he could. When he finished his inquiry he hit the execute button then sat back and rubbed his fingers together to get some of the stickiness off. Angelo and his damn sugar kick he thought with a corner of his mind as the computer broke the IFF down further.

"Yeah," he grunted. "One's a tanker, the other one is get this, a gas refinery!"

"You don't say!" the PO said, now curious. "When the hell did they get the tech for something like that?"

"The tanker? I don't know."

"Anything more?"

"IFF says to quote 'inquire when we make orbit. Payment is expected.' Unquote," he said.

"Shit. Frack, no way can we afford it."

"I doubt it. Skipper wants enough fuel for one or two jumps. If this is refined... you think HE3?" He was referring to Helium 3. "Or Deuterium?"

"No fracking idea. It'd be nice though. Expensive I bet. I'll let the skipper know," the PO stated.

"Yeah, you do that," Oswald sighed. He leaned back and stretched as he watched Blake type out an email or log entry. Their ship had been in transit for a decade and a half. That was a hell of a long time to be away from home. He'd heard of longer voyages, and they'd damn near become one of those that never came back.

But the big gamble was about to pay off. Or would as soon as they got back to friendly space. Was the skipper planning to take them to Pyrax? It was possible; they'd gotten word that the Gather Fleet had been assembling a conquering fleet to sweep through the sector just before they'd left Horath.

It'd be nice if they'd already gotten to Nightingale. Then no bill, no worrying about exposure. But he doubted it. He frowned and then absently ran the calculations. He ran a second set when he realized he'd gone the southern route. That just made the frown deepen. It was possible, probable even. He just wasn't sure. It all depended on the fleet and which way her Commanders jumped and what star systems they had prioritized to take.

Either way they'd find out when they got into orbit in 2 weeks.

:::{)(}:::

Captain Levinson of the Horseshoe Crab class Frigate Descartes cursed the luck when his sensor watch reported the arrival of a new ship. The ship had jumped in from B443 so it had a questionable origin. He'd just started a new war game with Captain Yu on Loch, Descartes' sister ship in order to pass the time.

He was frustrated, he knew it. So was Troy. They knew the crew was frustrated by their situation too. But they didn't have a choice; they weren't going to abandon their post. Ever since they'd run down that Horathian fleet they'd learned to appreciate the duties of being on a picket... however boring it was when no one else was around.

Now the usual crap about actually liking the boredom over the brief moments of excitement came into his mind. He did his usual best to brush them aside.

"Skipper, we've been getting a lot of interference from the solar storms in the area. Our signals may not punch through right away. Not until we get clear of them at any rate," PO R'll reported.

"Do your best," the captain ordered. "Pass on our compliments and order them to heave to and prepare to be boarded once we've got an intercept course. I want to do this and get back to our war game," he growled. Yu had kicked his ass in the last 2 passes and it was dead even. He was determined to make it game and set, match on this go around, not a draw.

"Aye Aye Sir," the Veraxin rating replied. She tapped at her controls with her truehands and passed the order on to the civilian ship as well as their authority to pass on such orders.

"Let Loch know what we're doing. Tell them to tag along. We might as well refuel at Bertha before we go back to the games," Captain Levinson ordered. The tanker was the real reason he felt safe enough to play the war games in real life. And hell, if they broke something maybe it would get the navy to cough up the relief they'd been promised and regretfully delayed for so damn long he mused darkly.

"Aye Aye Sir."

:::{)(}:::

Retribution Snippet 1

Hi,
So, the editing is humming along nicely. Only 2 people left who haven't turned in their notes. As soon as I get Tim's feedback I'll be shipping the manuscript off to Rea. (yes despite the rants in some of the reviews on Amazon I am sticking with Rea) :)

Anyway, I thought it was time to post some snippets.
I have an Intro before Chapter 1 but I'm skipping it here since I just jotted it out. A little bit of intro for this though, the book starts off similarly to Pirate Rage. You'll see what I mean later on. But if you haven't read Tales of the Federation Reborn you might want to skip reading this and go pick up a copy first. ;)

Act I

Chapter 1

Petty Officer third Class Kelsea Travere slowed her pace and cocked her head as she noted the skipper was at the navigational station. She frowned thoughtfully. "Something wrong skipper?"

The Captain didn't look her way, just kept working at the console. When she was finished she plugged a chip in and then turned. "No, nothing is wrong."

"Um..."

"Captain something's going on with the computer," PO Blake Hale said from his post manning the ship's sensors. "I just lost all the log files... there is a script going on... do we have another virus?"

"Indeed we do," the captain said as she noted the 100 percent mark on the screen in front of her. She pulled the flash chip and then placed it on a chain. The chain went around her neck. "I just deleted our navigational data," she said.

"Um..."

"The only record I've kept is with me. And I've encrypted it," she said.

"We're only going to exit in Nightingale ma'am."

"That's not the only reason I'm doing it."

Blake frowned thoughtfully as Kelsea came over to relieve him. He rose from the chair and she slipped in his place.

"We're exiting hyper in a few minutes ma'am. Why did you do that? It might throw our heading off a bit since we no longer have the way markers behind us to compare too," Blake said carefully.

"My business," The captain said tightly, eyes narrowing.

Kelsea frowned as she put the arm of the chair down and then logged in to the computer. She checked the status board and nodded.

"Paranoid much ma'am?" Blake asked, not ready to let the subject go.

"Just being careful. I don't want our find to be taken from us," she stated.

"I like the sound of the 'us' there ma'am," Chief Faver stated as he came in to the compartment behind them.

Captain Bellerose eyed him, sizing up his loyalty. She wasn't certain if the chief or anyone else had made a copy of their log. She hadn't seen a copy mark in the file... but then again that was easy to delete. He hesitated then seemed to ignore her look as he went over to the electronic box connected to the helm station.

"A problem chief?" Kelsea asked.

"Some signal noise we're trying to run down and clean up. The software filters keep pointing to a hardware issue."

"Okay," Kelsea replied thoughtfully. The chief was hopefully on to something Marengo had the occasional filter issue from time to time that haunted the crew. More so now with their new additions to the ship's bridge network. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the chief hooked up his gear to test the data lines. It sucked that they'd run electrical lines not ODN. They hadn't had any spare ODN lines long enough for the project.

It also sucked that the lines ran through the ship's hatches. At least the chief had been smart enough to drape it rather than have it as a trip point. Only the tall people had to watch out for it.

But what interested her the most about his temporary distraction was that he was watching the skipper intently. And from the occasional look she managed to sneak to the skipper, she was also aware of the subterfuge going on.

"As you were people," the captain said. "I'll be in my wardroom," she said as she stalked out of the compartment without a backwards glance.

The chief seemed to exhale like air coming out of a balloon. Kelsea shook her head and then went back to refining the sensor data for the transition out of hyper.

:::{)(}:::

Kelsea's day wasn't quite over when she got off shift. She picked up her dinner, and then went to the compartment where the aliens were. She had a stable stomach, but the stench hit her right when she came through the airlock Doctor Cloutier had set up to prevent it from fumigating the ship.

"You're turn? Thank the gods, Maevus said, shaking her head as she got off the stool. She handed Kelsea a tablet and darted through the hatch before the other woman could say anything.

She juggled the tablet, her drink and plate until she got to the stool. She heard a soft moan but ignored it. She took a seat and started to read out loud in between bites.

It was all a part of the service apparently; the boss lady wanted everyone to get familiar with their prizes and to read to them. It wasn't quite out of a mommy complex, the doc insisted seeing humans in a nonthreatening light would help them with their interactions. And tone mattered apparently. So, hence the reading. It was also an attempt to keep the aliens sane, something that was a worry of the doctor.

They knew the aliens couldn't understand them, nor vice versa. The skipper had thought to set up the life support, harvested from a Gashg habitat, but she hadn't factored on the need to communicate with a species that didn't understand them in return. Doctor Cloutier had also overlooked the problem and he kept muttering about their universal translators.

Whatever. It didn't matter. An order was an order, so Kelsea stood her shift like everyone else. She refused to barter to cover other shifts for other people though, no matter what they offered her in return. She wasn't that much of a masochist thank you very much she thought acidly. She glanced at the clock and then took a sip of tepid water. There was a sputter in the tank. She glanced at it, then back down to the tablet.

She was so not amused when she realized she was reading Moby Dick.

:::{)(}:::

   Oh, BTW, I am switching up my next book. I decided to go with Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio's Adventures 1) over the Founding anthology book I'd planned on working on. I've been writing scenes off and on in EE, Gathering Storm, J5, and Shelby's Adventures for the past couple of days. After a bit of thought I figured I'd stick with what is fresh on my mind and roll with it. We'll see how it turns out.

Retribution Cover

Okay, here goes.
  I haven't had a lot of feedback on the cover yet from the betas. Just a couple of missives. I thought I'd put it here so everyone can get a peek.

  I had intended to do a scene with elements I bought from Renderosity, but again went with a bridge scene. (in this case a certain furry admiral's flag bridge) the 'windows' are nothing of the sort btw, just vid screens to look like windows. :) (Who would be silly enough to have a flag bridge or any other bridge on the outer hull where it is vulnerable??)

  The ships are a mix of my own and stuff from Renderosity and Daz 3D. The characters are all Daz3d. The set was made with Stonemason's Sci-fi kit 1-2 and his interior lab set. Sharp eyes will notice I borrowed elements from the Pirates Bane set as well. (I'm lazy) :)
  The rear admiral is the fuzzball with his back to the camera. In the foreground is Lieutenant Kelly Guadino his Neogorilla Intelligence officer, and Lieutenant Garfield, his TO. (yes I got lazy and used the tiger material) In the background are Lieutenant Jojo, Kyle, Alec, and the rest down below are various ratings and noncoms. :)

  Now that the cover art is done I'm catching up on my To-Do list one item at a time. I don't know if I'll hit them all, I doubt it, I never do. I'm feeling lost when I'm not in write mode, like I'm floundering around without purpose. It is hard for me to just kick back and relax I guess... though I should. I have a ton of movies to watch (Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are 2) plus a DVR that needs clearing out, plus Mike Kotcher's books to read, and other books to read... ugh. Then there are all the projects, Duncan and Jory have been assisting me with the Wiki, Mike Boos has been working on star system maps, (very cool ones, better than mine!) and Tom is waiting patiently for me to get my act together to re-start the website. Then there are all the other projects I've had on back burners. Character bios and images, ship images, Smashwords, Google books, the wiki, the 3d map I started, fixing books... buying and trying StarCraft II Nova... Mario Maker... finding a house...

  See? It's more work 'relaxing' than it is to write! ROFL

  Anyway, I am not sure if Mike Boos or one of the other Betas put the 'Galactic Sector Map' up on the wiki or Facebook group yet or not. The background was 'borrowed' from Galaxymap.org I think. I'm considering using it to map out the Tau and a few of the other sectors so they are rooted in 'reality'. The map gives a rough idea on what I intended for the galactic sectors and will play a larger role once I get into the bigger stage. The sectors are roughly aligned along the galactic arms. There are No Go areas that are marked.
  If he hasn't I think it is okay to post it now. I think. Maybe.... Ah heck, go for it Mike or Jory!'

  EDIT: I finally got around to uploading my books to Smashwords now that they are offering free ISBN's. I have 10 up so far. I am holding off on the rest until some are edited by Rea and reformatted by Goodlifeguide.com. That may take some time however. I'm trying to figure out their 'free' ISBN premier package now.

Shhh... be very vewry quiet...

Soren HamptonMarch 23, 2016 at 9:34 AM

Great time for new post. Dying to hear what is up with the new book

Ask and ye shall receive. ...Eventually. ;)

  Lol it seems like Elmer Fudd has been keeping the betas and everyone at bay for a while. Well, FYI, I finished the first rough draft of Retribution the other day. Spell check and stuff, my own edits... I'm about ready to hand it over to the betas.

  I'm debating the cover art, as well as my rather lengthy To-Do list I put off until I finish a book.  Let's see, I need to work on the Wiki, the website with Tom, the character art, ships, that SPACE ENGINEERS game Jory has started in the Engineer Universe... (check it out!)
Let's see, what else... get my books on Smashwords... Fix the stuff Amazon and others have nagged me about for Pirates Rage and Battle Lines...
Chores...clean the shower... and oven...(UGH!) :P

   I think I'm regretting finishing the book now! lol Unfortunately I'm up in the air on what to work on next since Tales of the Federation has bombed. (a few reviews might help folks!) Hmm...

Tales of the Federation Reborn Launches in 4...3...2...1...NOW!

That's right, GoodlifeGuide just got the manuscript back to me and I've just finished uploading it!

About:

   The Bismark Incident. El Diablo, Catch 22. These and 8 other stories expanding the universe of the Reborn Federation for the first time. See some of the darkness that inhabits the Horathian empire and the efforts the natives of Epsilon Triangula and Protodon went through to defend their homeworlds and their population centers. And the prices they paid for such defiance.

Then check out My Darling Caroline and the game changer lurking in its pages...

   In other words, a lot of the stories you've wondered about are finally fleshed out and ready for your viewing pleasure. And yeah, My Darling Caroline is going to be a big impact on things to come... (I had to keep it and The Bismark Incident under wraps in Pirate Rage!) Also, I was mean, I didn't have a snippet from Retribution ready and I sent the short stories out 1 at a time to the Betas. (you'll notice who did what at the top of each of them) So none of them got to see it. Well, I think Jory just did but that's another story...:)

I'll upload the links when the books are published.
EDIT:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C503VXA

Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tales-of-the-federation-reborn-1-chris-hechtl/1123460385?ean=2940157887957


   In other news, I received a text from my mom a couple hours ago. She's officially cancer free now. Woot Woot! She isn't sure about any future treatment, and she has to go through a lot of reconstructive surgery later this year, but we're ecstatic about that.

   Oh, and I'm starting to get back into my groove with Retribution. I finally hit my 10 page minimum goal 2 days running. Not a bad start to the week. I'm hip deep in the first battle... fun since it takes place in act 1...and it's just the first battle of many...

Tales of the Federation Reborn 1

Okay, sitrep:
   Mom is doing okay. The surgery went well, though the doc had to take more than we'd hoped. Being half Irish she's pig headed about taking any pain meds. (rolling eyes...so that's where I get that from!) We'll find out about the chemo (if any) sometime this weekend.

   I've been puttering around with the wiki Jory created this week. Minor entries mostly as I figure out what to do. If you have something to contribute to help thicken things up, (that is from my books) by all means, have at it. I'm going to be copying (and updating) entries in my tech manuals and bibles for a while as I try to add 1-2 entries a week.
Try. Heh. Right.

  My write schedule: Mike B. and I think a couple other people have asked me what my writing schedule is like. I've revised it a lot, it is extended into 2021, but I've recently revised it. I'm still going to shoot for 6 books a year, that's 1 every 2 months or so. I'd planned to do another anthology book after Tales of the Federation Reborn to ease into writing again. I've since rethought my priorities. I've pushed J5 back (since the plot needs to be reworked due to changes in the main story line) and I've decided to start Retribution....
   Retribution however is off to a rocky start. I'm having serious brain farts (don't stand downwind!) so I need to see if I shot myself in the foot right out of the gate. If I did at least I can fix it before I get too out of hand. :D

   Anyway, as to the latest book, Tales of the Federation Reborn 1. There are 11 stories in the book including the Bismark Incident, My Darling Caroline, Lone Wolf, El Diablo, Kittyhawk, and others. Loads of stuff tucked away in a couple of the stories... a lot of stuff that will have serious impact in the series soon enough. :D

  The betas (including Tom and Wayne the new guys! Hi!) are doing pretty good, though Thomas B. Needs to stay away (far away!) from adult tricycles...

Anyway, that's it for now. And NO, the 2 people in the cover are NOT wearing monkey masks. It's the closest I could get to a skull mask, okay? lol

EDIT: Sorry for any confusion. This book isn't out yet. It is the next book to be published and will come out by the middle to end of the month.

Pirate Rage Launch

Okay, let's try this again.
Sorry for the mix up folks. Goodlifeguide,com and I extend our sincerest apologies.

Anyway, Pirate Rage:

   Pieces of the Federation are starting to come together. Star systems are joining the alliance, if only in self defense against the Horathian Pirates. Civilization and the fruits of modern medicine, education, and industry are starting to take root all throughout the sector.

   But the Pirates will is indomitable where the Fleet is weakest. They have found just such a weak spot and they have unleashed their wrath onto the defenseless world and its population.

   The Fleet must break their grip on the member world then chase them across the sector to stop them from fleeing with their ill gotten gains. Stopping them seems all but impossible, but that isn't the only thing Fleet Admiral Irons and his people have to worry about.

   They also have to worry about the Pirate's Rage being inflicted on the helpless worlds they are sworn to protect...

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Rage-Federation-Reborn-Book-ebook/dp/B019NZR4HY/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450807817&sr=1-6

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pirate-rage-chris-hechtl/1123155337?ean=2940157763091
I am fixing the Nook version now that they are allowing me to do so.

If you have already downloaded it, try refreshing it or delete and re-download it. Again, sorry about the misstep folks!

Or as a famous guy says: "Dout!"

A funny thing happened as I was checking my email today...

   ... I was apparently being a 'cheeky monkey' (Grin) to Jory and up popped a email from a familiar sender, one highly anticipated. Goodlifeguide.com came through and I received Pirate Rage! All formatted and....
It's been uploaded. I just finished it. :)

 

So, without further ado, I am publishing Pirate Rage NOW.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

I'll put the links up in another blog post in the morning when they go hot.

EDIT:
I just found out about the highlight problem. I let Goodlifeguide.com know. They apologized and are working on the problem now. She said a new manuscript is on it's way.
So, sorry about fumbling the launch folks!

http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Rage-Federation-Reborn-Book-ebook/dp/B019NZR4HY/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450807817&sr=1-6

PR ch 1 snippet 3

Still in Chapter 1:

Admiral Von Berk stared, hands behind his back as the exercise commenced. He'd always been a stickler for doing things right, and today was no exception. He was the referee. The cruisers and destroyers were divided up more or less evenly.

His people hadn't taken their roles seriously, at least not at first. Those from the Gather Fleet had been contemptuous of the civilians. Those transfers from Home Fleet had more fleet training, but it had been in feel-good exercises that you tended to know the outcome in advance. Scripted deals to handle the politics of the fleet.

Oh, sometimes there had been upsets. Sometimes someone got a little too full of themselves and had broken ranks and won an engagement they had been projected to lose. The winner had received a brief spat of public recognition but privately those who had lost had sharpened their knives or put a black mark in their ledger. Even those not involved had marked them down as unacceptable.

That was changing however. The discovery of El Dorado had kick-started the next phase of the great plan. The discovery of a Federation Naval presence in their own backyard had also come as something of an unwelcome shock. When news of the losses their side had suffered reached the fleet, it had created a shake-up.

Now they were training more. Treating it less as a game, less as a chest pounding match, or an opportunity to put an upstart in his place. For those like him, he treated it seriously, as seriously as the life and death struggle it was supposed to be. His people had quickly learned that before they'd gotten past Garth that he meant business.

Their recent captures had carried news with them, news of more losses for the Horathian empire. The admiral and his staff had carefully gone over every report to tease out as much detail as they could. There had been a recent ship passing through with detailed news reports that had made the task easier.

It had been a bitter pill to swallow to see both Admiral Cartwright and Admiral Rico taken down. They'd seemed like amateurs, taken down so easily. Taken down by forces numerically inferior to their own. Forces that were outgunned but apparently far from outmatched. It had lent a certain appeal to renew the exercises with a fresh coat of realism, hence the current exercise in progress.

Maya was a sneaky devil. He'd signed off on her addition to his exercise plan just to see how his ships would react. It should be good he thought.

Apache was doing well, but loosing Jean Lafitte had cost her in points. Eliza's insistence on initially ignoring Adventure Galley and Calico Jack to focus on the tin cans had allowed her to take them out. Jean had also wounded Calico before she'd been taken down.

For this engagement, and to make things even, he'd signed off on Adventure Galley being rated as an HC so the two flagships were evenly matched. But Eliza's attritioning of the other side's tin cans might prove telling as the engagement commenced.

He smiled thinly as Adventure Galley and Calico Jack broke off, attempting to get clear to gain time for Calico Jack to lick her virtual wounds. Unfortunately for them they weren't keeping together as tightly as they could. As the minutes passed, the wounded light cruiser fell further and further behind.

Was it a bait? Or sacrifice? He wasn't sure. He watched as Eliza's two destroyers latched onto her from the rear. It was a stern chase, but with the prey already wounded, it wasn't a simple run as Cory had thought, he realized.

Captain Cory realized his error and his ship heaved to, slacking her speed in order to let her sister ship catch up. But the tin cans exchanged fire from long-range, crippling her further. He turned and made a note.

More virtual weapon fire began to rain back from Adventure Galley as she tried to drive the Nelson and Antelope off her division mate.

But then Apache was there, suddenly putting on a burst of speed to swoop in. She instantly drew the fire from the other two ships. But she was a heavy cruiser, designed to take such punishments. And while she did she thundered back, tearing into Calico Jack, rolling to put the ship between her and Adventure Galley's simulated fire.

Meanwhile the two tin cans had continued their attack on the already wounded light cruiser completely unmolested or contested. Something gave and the light cruiser's drive cut out. His eyes glittered. Her turrets went down after a moment. His eyes cut to the status board, and he nodded at what he saw. Calico Jack was a dead stick; she'd lost her fight for life.

Eliza smoothly covered for her two tin cans as they moved outside of Adventure Galley's engagement envelope. She now had three ships to his one. His was unwounded while her trio had various states of injuries. As he watched the simulated repairs began to take place, bringing the ships back up to … he tapped out an order and drew a line. There, he thought, eyes flicking to Eliza's image on the bridge. He'd cut her off at 80 percent. She'd have to make do with that. She also had fuel and ammunition problems he noted.

He wondered briefly if she realized them. Too many times people in sims forgot fuel and munitions during the engagement. Many times they totally ignored them. Unfortunately, some of the more politically connected officers had written backdoor programs to allow that to happen. It was unrealistic, and a trend he wanted to end.

As he wool gathered, Apache and her consorts regrouped and then swung back in to finish the job. The two tin cans were on either flank, with the Nelson Arrogant between Adventure Galley and the other ships. He frowned thoughtfully. Nelsons were geared as fleet defense ships, but Arrogant hadn't served as such. He wasn't sure if she could handle the task. Finally, he grunted. It didn't matter. She was a missile sponge; she'd soak up Adventure Galley's incoming fire while the others pounded their opponent into wreckage.

“Anytime now,” he muttered, checking the clock and then the plot. He wondered if Maya had gotten herself out of position. He also wondered which side she'd throw herself against.

His thoughts were cut off as the final engagement began. Was Maya holding off … he frowned, checking the plot. When he didn't see her on the plot, he scowled then caught himself. She had deliberately kept her two squadrons dark, shutting down the IFF so CIC wouldn't alert Eliza. Slowly he nodded. It sucked for him but …

He grinned as Adventure Galley staggered. But as she staggered, so too did Arrogant. The Nelson went adrift, out of the game. Two against one, everyone wounded, but …

He blinked in shock just like everyone else as the fighters came in. One moment it was the void; the next the two squadrons were coming in from opposite directions. They scissored across all three opponents, tearing into them with virtual missiles and energy weapons. With their shields already battered and most of their energy focused on keeping the shields up between themselves and the enemy they knew, the opposite shields were overloaded and went down in a series of sparks. He winced and hoped it was more simulated damage, explaining any real damage was going to be tough enough he thought.

But such thoughts occupied only a corner of his mind as the two squadrons did their job. Like piranha they tore into their much larger prey, and their bites added up. The Antelope went down immediately, then Adventure Galley, and finally Apache.

“I'm never going to hear the end of this I suppose,” the admiral said, smiling. The pilots were going to be crowing for weeks he thought. He shook his head. They had performed well, but they shouldn't get too much of a swelled head over the win. They'd taken down three wounded opponents engaged with each other. Try that with prey in good condition.

“Admiral, um, sir, the skipper would like a word,” a tech said.

“I'd say she does,” he said dryly.

“Sir, the captains of …”

He held up a restraining hand. “Fleet conference in a half hour. I expected better of the warships; they were sloppy. They'd better improve on their next outing or heads will definitely roll,” he growled. “Order all hands to clean up. Rick, kill the sim,” he ordered. His chief of staff nodded and followed his orders.

He'd have to find a way to put Maya's people in their place. Eventually, he thought. For now, he had a lot of griping to listen to and some critiques to hand out.

---<>))))