After a cataclysmic interstellar war that came very close to exterminating humanity, the Daybreak Republic has risen from the ashes and embarked upon a mission to unite hundreds of human colony worlds under its banner, in hopes of preventing a second and final conflict that will complete the destruction of the human race. But not everyone agrees that the empire’s ends justify the means. Daybreak has never faced a peer power, but as the rebels along the Rim start to get organised –backed by shadowy figures who may lurk far closer to the core worlds – it is only a matter of time before the Yangtze Sector, perhaps the entire Daybreak Republic, is plunged back into war, a war that will leave the sector in ruins and spark further conflict elsewhere. In a desperate bid to prevent an explosion, Commander Leo Morningstar sets off to infiltrate the rebels and locate their bases before all hell can break loose, unaware that it may already be too late … And that the greatest danger is the one that lurks in plain sight.