"...it seems the respect of nations—as I believe we are finally learning now, can only be earned with the blood of brave men..." - Brigadier General Dimitri Vasilyev Within blackness dwells infinity. Across its stars - singularly notorious to all - War. Cadet Sergeant Elijah Larson serves aboard SCNE Dawnstar, Starship of the Confederated Nations of Earth, as the colonies of Mars burst into open rebellion. As the war rages, Larson casts down orbital thunder. Antimatter artillery fire pounds down the Martian fortresses below. Between barrages, orbital assault marines return with whispers of alien mercenaries, of horrors beyond reckoning, and the fleeting triumphs of the brave and the dead. During a routine supply run, the fleet is boarded. The storm assault breaks Larson's world. Captured and cast into the Martian fortress-prisons of the Noctis Labyrinthus, he and his comrades are placed under the captivity of Captain Arsia Vekt, a vengeful officer of the Martian Syndicate. In the shadows of a Martian fortress, Larson must choose: To Fight , or to Die - husked and nameless beneath the cold red sands of Noctis.