Their backwater planet is now the center of a war. Colonists of Montana are content with being ignored, overlooked within the sprawling systems that make up the Republic of Aligned Worlds. But when pirates attack their home, they become center stage in an intergalactic war. Montanan expat Promise Paen leads the Republic's defense units. All are determined to protect the Republic and the people of Montana, but for Promise, this mission is personal. The pirates attacking Montana are the very same rebels who killed her father years before. Meanwhile, the Republic's most bitter rival carefully monitors the situation in the Montana system. They have been waiting for the perfect time to attack, and that moment has finally arrived.