Reports of an unexpected assassination attempt directed at Sarn nobles on Mycenae Ceti Four travel like lightning through frightened populations in ten star systems. Skywatch Command gambles on a risky containment strategy in the volatile aftermath. Captain Hunter and his new executive officer Commander Cochrane O'Malley are ordered to disrupt Imperial supply lines between the Kraken Nebula and the distant Rho Theta Star System as a prelude to a complete blockade of Dragonkind space.

What the Alliance doesn't know is the Sarn have already set a deadly trap for Hunter's forces. The mighty warship Krelex under the command of Vadac, Fifth Dragon of the Empire, waits at the edge of Alliance space. With it are reinforcements from a mysterious and lethal faction no Skywatch captain has ever encountered!

Before Hunter can put his plan in motion, Argent is suddenly contacted by the president of the Core Alliance himself. President Baines' daughter is missing. She was last seen on M-Ceti Four.

The same planet Proximan spies believe is the next target of a devastating new weapon called the World Burner.

The ticking clock is starting to sound a lot like the drums of war.