Another Line in the Ledger

[Sayne]

Prologue

---

The Hollow Crown had its beginnings in the now-abandoned system of Kansas. Its founder, Hargrave Rowan, came of age during the wars Liberty waged against both the Hellfire Legion and the Insurgency. In those years, he carved out a life as a high-risk smuggler, running supplies to those fighting in the rebellion. Though he considered himself a freelancer rather than tied to any one cause, that distinction did little to spare him the attention of Liberty’s relentless war machine.

More than once, he found himself hunted by the Navy’s massive ships in orbit as he risked his life to deliver vital cargo to the surface of Veracruz. Eventually, he was declared an enemy of the state and marked as a kill-on-sight target whenever he appeared on radar. Rather than flee from the title, Hargrave leaned into it--embracing the role the Navy had painted for him: he began calling himself a Rogue. From his growing legend, others were drawn to him: like-minded smugglers and restless wanderers who took up daring, often suicidal, runs past blockades and embargoes for the sake of the oppressed.

As their reputation spread, it reached the ears of other smugglers--namely the Outcasts--who saw opportunity in the fledgling network’s talents. They began using the group to slip their contraband into Liberty space. It was during these runs that the Liberty Navy first recorded the name “Hollow Crown,” after spotting a ship marked with the symbol of a crown with its center cut out. The group itself referred to their members as “Ledgermen,” but the name “Hollow Crown” stuck, and so the Hollow Crown Ledgermen were born.

Although they operated as Rogues, Hargrave drew a line between survival and savagery. Early on, some members took to piracy against unsuspecting transports throughout Liberty and the Independent Worlds. Hargrave quickly put a stop to it, declaring that they were above such barbarism. Instead, he instructed his people to offer “protection” to convoys moving through Liberty space--protection that could be enforced by force if refused. Some left the group in protest, but those who did were the kind of violent opportunists Hargrave never missed.

As the Insurgency faltered and ultimately failed, the Hollow Crown shifted its operations from supplying the rebellion to running cargo for the Outcasts. Hargrave despised the Outcasts and their Cardamine trade, but their business provided much of the group’s income. Eventually, his contempt outweighed his pragmatism. He informed the Dons that the Hollow Crown would no longer traffic in Cardamine and would instead return to arms smuggling for factions across Liberty and the border worlds. The Outcasts saw it as an act of rebellion. Days later, Hargrave Rowan was gunned down on Rochester Base. He was fifty-two.

Leadership of the Hollow Crown fell briefly into chaos until Hargrave’s son, Blake Rowan, wrested control from would-be successors. A short but bloody struggle followed, leaving much of the old leadership dead. When the dust settled, Blake made one thing clear: the Hollow Crown would always be led by a Rowan--no one else.

Blake, the son of Hargrave and a rumored Libertonian aristocrat, proved as ambitious as his father, though far more calculating. He sought to continue his father’s legacy--minus the reckless public statements that had gotten the old man killed. Privately, he shares his father’s disdain for the Outcasts, but he keeps his opinions behind closed doors, quietly working toward the day he can free his people from their so-called “allies.”

His younger brother, Thomas, is far less restrained. Known for his temper and sharp tongue, he has nearly gotten himself killed more than once by speaking out of turn. Blake does what he can to rein him in, though his efforts rarely meet success.

The youngest Rowan, Sasha, is a ghost within the Hollow Crown. Few have seen her in years. Rumors persist that she quarreled with her father upon reaching adulthood and left Liberty altogether. The truth remains buried, and discussion of her within Hollow Crown circles is quietly--but firmly--discouraged.

---

I've lost people who meant the world to me...and I'm still doing just fine.

I'm coming for everything they said I couldn't have.