1796..A diminutive, Corsican-born French general has inherited a ragtag army and turned it into an unstoppable fighting force. Within months Napoleon's storm rolls across Italy and strikes a lethal blow against the Austrian empire. But dwhile soil of Piedmont and Tuscany run with blood, another battle takes shape on the mysterious Adriatic Sea. Alan Lewrie and his eighteen gun sloop, HMS Jester part of a squadron of four British warships, sail into the thick of it. But with England's allies falling, Napoleon busy rearranging the world map, and their squadron stretched dangeroulsy thin along the Croatian coast, the British squadron commander strikes a devil's bargain:enlisting the aid of Serbian pirates.