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Synopsis

A defected intelligence officer, responding to Admiral Yang Wen-li, broadcasts that the National Salvation Military Council carried out a coup at the behest of the Galactic Empire. Though tangible proof is absent, the announcement prompts former Rear Admiral Andrew Lynch to admit his part in destabilizing the Free Planets Alliance. A lethal exchange between Lynch and Admiral Dwight Greenhill ends the brief era of military rule. In the Imperial sphere, footage of Duke Otto von Braunschweig’s nuclear strike on Westerland leads to the breakup of the Lippstadt League. Marquis Reinhard von Lohengramm’s choice to permit the massacre for his own advantage drives a wedge between him and High Admiral Siegfried Kircheis, tainting their forthcoming triumph. Approaching absolute authority, Reinhard must contend with his personal shortcomings and the burdens of command. As civil conflict winds down on both fronts, irreversible losses remain. Yang Wen-li and Reinhard von Lohengramm find a grim comfort in recognizing across the galaxy an opponent who matches them in skill and resolve.