The survivors spitefully call them “Runners.” They escaped when the Hetarek, murdering or enslaving any humans they found, first seized the system. But, after nearly a generation, the Runners are returning to Earth. Bryan Howe leads Free Human Special Forces Detachment 8222. The twelve men and women, weathered by twenty-three homeless years of endless war, know failure but not surrender. They fight because they must, undaunted by the challenges of liberating Earth. The Hetarek rule their captives with an iron fist. The violently oppressed slaves hate their masters only slightly more than the Runners who left them behind. Still, Howe must unite and teach them to fight for a common purpose. Only by building an insurrection from nothing can one battle-weary team hope to free the planet. From light-years away, a dedicated team supports them, fighting a secret war within a war. Xander Gretter masterminded the operation. His relationship with the Ahai, humanity’s precarious allies, drives the joint mission to liberate Earth. Jean Costeaux, one of the few pilots still flying fighters from inside the cockpit, leaves the front line for the first time in his life to push deep into Hetarek space. Together, they share one goal: bring humanity home.