After four centuries of peace, the Cygnus Realm is rotting from within. Decadent and obsessed with pageantry and rank, the Messenger Corps is ripe with corruption, cowardice, and greed.
The Realm is now run by a pit of vipers. Their leader Darius Spann is a rare combination of vanity and ability—but only to a point. For Spann is a parade ground soldier who is only good at looking the part, rather than waging a galactic war against ancient enemies. For years, pilots who merely looked like soldiers were adequate. They filled the mechs. They filled roles. They supported Spann and his genetic offshoot of pure-blooded warriors known as the Superba. Spann's dream of absolute power ends with a single, crushing blow as a new enemy strikes at the Realm, leaving no survivors—followed by a mad dash to find fighters who can stand up in the old ways, using the mechs gifted to humanity by their oldest allies. Even in the midst of war, there is hope. On a backwater world, a young man will find that destiny has much more in store for him than a life of farming, and his enemies aren't always out there in the black, waiting to strike. His most lethal foes are the very people sworn to protect the Realm, for their failure has brought disaster to the known stars, one battle at a time. Can one young pilot save the Realm from itself? Fly with the Messenger as he connects with the past to win the future in a war for nothing less than all the stars.
