Hard Luck Hank

Hank is a thug. He knows he's a thug. He has no problem with that realization. In his view the galaxy has given him a gift: a mutation that allows him to withstand great deals of physical trauma. He puts his abilities to the best use possible and that isn't by being a scientist. Besides, the space station Belvaille doesn't need scientists. It is not, generally, a thinking person's locale. It is the remotest habitation in the entire Colmarian Confederation. There is literally no reason to be there.

Hank is getting married! The space station Belvaille has become home to a species of actors. The newest edition to the Post Colmarian Confederation are the Damakan race. As a species they are capable of “broadcast empathy”. Their acting skills are so powerful they are able to make people believe their portrayals are literally happening - even over remote transmission.

Garm trained her whole life as a member of the secretive Quadrad organization. Her planet is famous for its assassins and governmental manipulators. It’s whispered that behind every mysterious death lurks a Quadrad. But when Garm enters the wide galaxy, she finds her prestigious training entirely insufficient. Most Quadrad are abysmal failures, unable to cope in an advanced technological empire. The Quadrad are nothing but a very clever marketing campaign that has been going on for 20,000 years. But Garm is different.

Hank is fairly happy that his uncle was murdered. The man had been nothing but a source of endless sorrow and hardships since they first met. Nevertheless, Hank is forced to investigate the killing and comes to realize it is connected to a much larger collection of miseries than even his uncle could manage. This episode marks a huge shift for Hank as he ventures into unknown regions of the cosmos and is confronted with the harsh truths of his reality.

The royal family of a powerful empire are visiting Belvaille for an upcoming diplomatic summit. But their plans are somewhat interrupted when the galaxy’s premier assassin shows up and eliminates every single aristocrat. All except for one child who had been hidden. Hank is happy minding his own business. Of course, his business entails robbing, extorting, eating lots of food, and fighting. But compared with the rest of the criminals of his city, he’s practically a saint. However, Hank’s easy existence is interrupted by the chief of security.

The economy has taken a turn for the worse, and Hank is working as a part-time gravedigger (and more than part-time graverobber). Despite being an expert shoveler, it’s not his top career choice, and he’s anxious to take any "legitimate" criminal work that comes along. In that vein, he finds himself hired by a mysterious woman who wants him to recover an even more mysterious trunk that was stolen from her mansion.