The tides of war have shifted, and humanity has the Galactic Union on the run. After a stunning victory at the Merc Guild shipyard of Golara, the leaders of the Four Horsemen mercenary units of Earth have decided it’s time to take back the colonies the Merc Guild has captured, and the Horsemen split up to liberate them. While the Merc Guild still has humanity outnumbered, Alexis Cromwell, the leader of the Winged Hussars, has incorporated the ships captured in Golara into her fleet, and she hopes the Humans can achieve local superiority across four systems with her new battleships and her Egleesius cruisers. And…if the attacks go well, the next target might even be…Earth, itself? But Peepo, the leader of the Merc Guild forces, didn’t get to her position by being stupid, and she continues not only to thwart the Humans, but also in her efforts to find the Hussars’ secret base in New Warsaw. If she can find it, she has a fleet ready to destroy it, and then the Humans will have nowhere left to run. The forces are on a collision course, with all sights set on Earth. A pale dawn is rising, and there’s only one question that remains—who will be left standing when the clock reaches noon?