When a claimant to the Emperor's throne is announced, Shakbout knows that the past has trapped him again. He is the only person who can stop the process without risking a return to a devastating war in the Inhabited Systems.

The problem is that there are a lot of lifeforms who are ready to stop any attempt to do so. Shakbout, Asher, Lincoln and Hiral will have to fight every inch of the way to have any chance of success.

Soon, Shakbout finds himself travelling back to his past... and into the heart of a conspiracy that holds the horrifying truth about the spoils of war.