When a ship emerges near the growing expanse of the Kingsport, the captain tells a chilling story—Deepers are among humans, across the galactic arm in the region Dash began his march to greatness. The enemy is not standing still. Bishops and Battle Princes attack across a massive front, leading fleets of Deeper craft that straddle the bridge between life and machine. Fighting over a span of light years that boggles the mind, Dash and his crew are drawn farther out in the big black than any human has ever gone——or so they thought, for a small beacon of humanity drifts, alone, frozen, and ancient, out where the light of days is older than the history of mankind. Capturing the object, a secret is revealed, and the war, and Dash, will never be the same, for his mission just got a lot harder, and the enemy has changed their face yet again. With the Kingsport and Anchors under withering fire, Dash will lead his fleet into the teeth of an enemy force that has been lying in wait for a million years, and they will stop at nothing to turn humans into biomechanical servants who drift among the stars, dreaming of a peace that will never come. Unless Dash can win. And he always wins.