A reluctant hero will rise from the shadows and shake the pillars of power in the galaxy. Commander Michael Ezra is a pariah in the Outer Systems Alliance. Cold-blooded, detached and reckless, he's considered a danger to the crews that serve under him. The war against the alien Ravagers, however, is not going well, and Ezra is sent out one more time. He must prove his worth by undertaking what amounts to a suicide mission. But Ezra is a pawn in a much larger game, and the mission is not all it seems. As the Alliance prepares its assault against a hitherto unknown alien planet, unseen hands work to unfold a hidden agenda in the outer colonies. Estranged from his friends and distrusted by his crew, Ezra fights a lonely war, against both the enemy and his own superiors. Few know who he really is, or why he became that way, but he alone knows the dark fate that awaits them all. When the time comes, he could become mankind's greatest hope ... if he survives the hell they are about to be plunged into.