The war between the alien hydrogues and the faeros rages,
reducing suns to blackened shells-including one of the
fabled seven suns of the Ildiran Empire. Instead of
protecting themselves, the Ildirans engage in bloody civil
war and the many factions of humanity are bitterly divided.
Can mankind and Ildirans overcome their own internal
fighting to face a deadly new enemy that is ready to
annihilate them?
Newly ascended to the Ildiran throne, Mage-Imperator Jora'h
must quash the rebellion launched by his mad brother before
the hydrogues destroy what is left of the empire. Assailed
from all sides, Jora'h turns to his beloved half-human
daughter, dispatching her on a desperate mission to make
peace with the hydrogues.
Hope for humanity now rests with Jess Tamblyn, who
continues to seed worlds with the watery wentals, the
mortal enemies of the hydrogues. And on the ravaged planet
of Theroc, home to a telepathic worldforest, a dead man is
resurrected to prepare for the arrival of mysterious new
allies in the fight. But Chairman Basil Wenceslas's
vendetta against the free-spirited Roamers has blinded him
to a danger closer to home-the soldier machines that make
up the backbone of the Hansa fighting force. King Peter has
long suspected that the compies, built with the help of the
ancient Klikiss robots, cannot be trusted. Now the shocking
proof comes when the Klikiss launch their long-planned
extermination of all things flesh and blood. And in the
ensuing battle, humans and Ildirans alike will face their
darkest choices yet...