An exciting new special-ops adventure from the battle-tested vets who created the popular Starfist series Jorge Lavager, charismatic leader of the mysterious Union of Margelan, ferociously guards an agricultural research facility on the planet Atlas. What that facility conceals will prove whether Lavager is an idealist seeking to unify Atlas under a banner of freedom and prosperity-or a tyrant aiming to control all of Human Space. The Marines of Fourth Force Recon's second platoon are dispatched to Atlas to uncover the truth. They will have to sneak past state-of-the-art surveillance equipment barring unlawful entry to the planet and land in a desolate area miles from their target. And if they discover lethal new weapons instead of legitimate research, the thirty-six Marines are to seize the compound-guarded by merciless, armed-to-the-teeth soldiers-and destroy it. But what the recon team finds on Atlas sets off a chain of events that will force some hard decisions on the Marines . . . and end in a deadly surprise.

A bold new contingent—Force Recon—joins the explosive Starfist space epic of marines at war. A Confederation army is besieged on the planet Ravenette, cut off by and facing destruction at the hands of a dozen Secessionist Coalition worlds arrayed against it. The outnumbered and outgunned forces cling precariously to their foothold, dubbed “Bataan” by the desperate men in their fighting bunkers. Reinforcements are on the way, but will they arrive in time? And even if they do, can they match the well-led, highly motivated enemy determined to destroy them in battle? But the Confederation commander holds a wild card, an elite force armed only with what they carry on their backs and in their a small detachment of Marines who lightly go where others fear to tread, the Fourth Force Recon Company. For anyone else this mission would be suicide, but for these Marines, it’s just another day in the maelstrom.

Swift, silent, and deadly–they strike where no one else dares. Fear is the fastest-growing crop on Haulover, a newly colonized planet where someone–or something–is destroying isolated farmhouses. The unseen enemy strikes without warning, then disappears, leaving no stone standing, no trace of families or farm animals. When the Confederation receives a desperate plea for help, it’s time to send in the Marines. Impossible missions are a matter of course for Fourth Force Recon’s second platoon squads, and the situation at Haulover–with no witnesses and few clues–is no exception. But this assignment turns out to be even tougher and bloodier than usual because the devastation is a ploy–to lure the nine Marines into a trap, and to force them to bust the Confederation’s terrible secret wide open. And as for the Skinks lying in ambush on Haulover, they have no idea what trouble is . . . until they go up against a few good Marines.