THE REBELS ESCAPE... Captain Jacob Mercer and the USS Phoenix barely escape with their lives from the Imperial ambush at Liberty Station over Earth, and soon find themselves orbiting the frontier world of Destiny, a desolate desert planet infested with pirate gangs. With critically unstable engines, Jake is forced to seek raw material for badly needed repairs before the ruthless Admiral Trajan tracks them down. A MYSTERY DEEPENS... As they negotiate with the pirates, Jake and his landing team are betrayed and captured by slavers while the Phoenix, under the command of the steely Commander Megan Po, faces off yet again with Admiral Trajan in orbit around Destiny. While toiling in the uranium mine Jake discovers that Trajan's and the Emperor's plans may go far beyond simply subjugating a rebellious Earth.AND SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE. But with the Captain stranded on the dusty planet below, Commander Po leads the Phoenix in one more deadly showdown with Admiral Trajan, and comes face to face with her most dreaded nightmare: sending people in her charge to die.