A Resource as Precious as Life. After years of conflicts the Human Confederacy is a thriving government, a beacon of civilization. Until an ether facility is destroyed out of the blue with no one taking credit for the destruction. Noah Markel is no stranger to battle and he believes this may not be as simple as an act of terrorism but rather an incursion. Their first contact with an alien race. One bent on crippling human space travel in preparation for something far worse than a border dispute.