Katherine O’Reilly and Rekkid Cor. Human and Arkari. Archaeologists with a story about an ancient derelict starship that few believe and a captain’s log that tells of an ancient genocidal war that no-one has ever heard of. But if no-one believes their story, then why are the authorities so keen to suppress it? Captain Michelle Chen of the Commonwealth Navy. Brave, cunning, merciless. Dangerous even. However she may be just the person her superiors have been looking for to start a war. Steven Harris. Secret agent with a conscience, who defied orders, ignored the chain of command and let his morals get in the way of his career. Quickchild. An AI of unknown origin and staggering power that does not know who it truly is. As the colonies of the human Commonwealth stand on the brink of war with the fanatic legions of the alien K’Soth Empire, these five individuals are drawn to the backward, arid planet of Maranos that stands between the two civilisations. As relations between human and alien deteriorate, Maranos is about to give up its ancient, terrifying secrets.

It is two years since the events of ‘Exiles, Book One of the Progenitor Trilogy’. Humiliated by defeat, the K’Soth Empire has finally collapsed into civil war amongst the noble houses and now the Commonwealth stands victorious over its old enemy. Vast swathes of territory have been liberated from the alien oppressors and humanity struggles with the post-war burden of restoring order and rebuilding. But another war is being fought in the shadows. Admiral Michelle Chen, heroine of the war against the Empire, has been recruited into Special Operations Command, a black ops outfit dedicated to intelligence gathering and covert warfare against the ancient, malevolent race known only as the Shapers. No-one has seen the Shapers and lived to tell about it. No-one except Caleb Isaacs, wayward freighter captain and washed up former navy pilot, who has just slipped through Chen’s fingers. Meanwhile, archaeologists Katherine O’Reilly and Rekkid Cor journey to the distant Hadar system, on the frontiers of human space, where the Commonwealth Navy have uncovered an ancient ship of unknown origin which, if rumour is to be believed, is killing the men sent to excavate it. The Arkari watch and wait. Deep in the galactic core, the Shapers are moving.

The Commonwealth stands on the brink. As war engulfs the worlds of man, the Shapers are poised to strike at the very heart of human civilisation. The men and women of the Commonwealth Navy now find themselves at the forefront of a desperate battle for the very survival of the species against an enemy whose weapons and technology far exceed their own. Whilst the conflict rages, the Arkari plot their revenge. Stunned by the Shapers’ savage assault on their worlds, they lick their wounds and shun the other races, instead focusing solely upon the task of striking back at the hated enemy. Meanwhile, thousands of light years away amidst the ruins of a dead planet, the relics of a long vanished race hold the clues to their own annihilation, and lead to the darkest secrets of both the Shapers and the Progenitors. The fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.