The Verity are attacking, and no one is safe. Now at home in the Aquarian system, Dash and his team receive news from a dying ship. With thirty systems under their inhuman control, the newest enemy to free life in the galaxy seeks to engage and destroy the Messenger by any means necessary. The skyhooks are only the beginning of a secret plan to hide Dark Metal, but Dash, the Gentle Friends, and the rest of the Messenger's growing forces will find a way to fight back. Plunging into the swirling deep, Dash discovers an ancient plot to use drones, Dark Metal, and a device so advanced it is only known by one word: the Shroud. Join the Messenger and his team as they battle the Verity, strike out into the galaxy for new resources, and come ever closer to the truth about what the Unseen had planned for humanity all those years ago.