THE CLAN INVASION COMES TO A HEAD... In 2786, the elite Star League Army fled the Inner Sphere, abandoning the senseless bloodshed ordered by the Successor Lords. Now, almost three hundred years later, the Clans, heirs of the Star League Army, turn their eyes back upon their former home. Nothing will stop them from raising the Star League banner over Earth once again. For two years, the Clans BattleMech war machines have overwhelmed the armies of the corrupt Successor Lords. Now, at the gates of Earth the Clans must fight one final battle, a battle that will decide the fate of humanity for all time. For Star Colonel Aidan Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon the battle is more than a question of military conquest. It is an affirmation of the superiority of the Clan way, a way of life that he has sworn to uphold despite his fear that the noble crusade has fallen prey to the lust and ambition of its commanders.