Mankind's reunited planets now control a vital crossroads after forty years of fighting, one that secures their uneasy union. The doomsday weapon that can end the Slug war, and the mighty fleet that will carry it to the Slug homeworld, also lie within humanity's grasp - but all is far from won. Since the Slug Blitz orphaned Jason Wander, he has risen from infantry recruit to commander of Earth's garrisons on the emerging allied planets. But four decades of service have cost Jason not just his friends and family, but his innocence. Then an enemy counterstroke threatens to reverse the war and destroy mankind, Jason must finally confront not only his lifelong alien enemy but the reality of what he has become after a lifetime of conflict.