After the Battle of Ganymede, a vengeful Illurian Dominion is held in check only by the newest Imperial heroes, the psychic super soldiers known as FOSsils. Yet their utility is as much curse as blessing, and they find themselves treated as tools, albeit useful ones. Jane struggles with battling a faceless bureaucracy in order to preserve her team, while Paris challenges for his position as a member of the Schismatic Khajali. Salem's former identity is blasted away even as she is drawn into Imperial subterfuge from before her birth. Sand attempts to resolve how his killer's instinct affects him emotionally even as he is lauded as a hero for the slaughter in his wake. Into this storm, their mentor Clay fights to keep history from repeating itself. The machinations of those who hate the FOSsils in the Terran Empire are nothing compared to the vengeance desired by his old comrades: the FOSsil Remnants. The old soldier has weighed the options before him and decides to spend his life eliminating the threat of his one-time friends once and for all. Against this backdrop, the war becomes vividly personal for the Third Generation, as their families become targets, bringing it home to them and making the Dominion an enemy in the most visceral of ways. Yet they will have allies in the battles they face. The Scytheclaws answer their call, fighting alongside the FOSsils as bonded companions once more. From the depths of space, one of humanity's fiercest friends and the Empire's terrible foe returns from forgotten history - a rogue force summoned by the Last Reaver, bringing steel and fire, as well as a legacy even the Federation learned to fear. As the galaxy turns in its feverish dreams of conflict, the only question that remains is if the Third Generation can succeed against all odds, or if it is all a forlorn hope.