The Imperium, with sole control of this scarce resource, commands the fate of a thousand worlds. For generations, the Freedom Guard has pioneered the galaxy for the human race, colonizing planet after planet in exchange for an autonomy the Imperium promised but never granted. Now a civil war rages across the galaxy. The Freedom Guard, out-manned and out-gunned, tries desperately to break the Imperium's grip on the all-important water supply. The Imperium meanwhile has developed a devastating new weapon: a chemical compound that when triggered consumes the water of an entire world in seconds, killing every living thing in its wake.