For eight hundred years, the Federation of Worlds has reigned supreme over the galaxy. Under its banner, eleven sentient races have put aside their quarrels to work towards their common prosperity. But now something stirs. A hundred worlds have broken free from the Federation fold. They have made no demands, no threats. There is no evidence that their movement is anything but benign. And yet the whispers have already begun. Whispers that the fires of revolution have been stoked. Whispers that war is coming. The planet Tellaria is the birthplace of the human race and the backbone of the Federation. Admiral Drogni Ortega leads the finest planetary fighting force the galaxy has ever known. But now he must confront an enemy unlike any he has faced before, a foe who wields ancient power infused with infinite malevolence...and is seemingly determined to exterminate all life from the face of the galaxy.