Lieutenant Kyle Hardlaw commands Alpha Black Zero, an elite commando unit of the Solgov federation, now standing trial in 2366. The charges: illegal assassinations of Solgov officials, carried out during a classified mission on a world seething with separatist rage. The tribunal convenes on Qahira — the planet once called Mars — where ultra-right groups have spent years stoking hostility against the federation. Each mission Hardlaw relives in court peels back another layer of a conspiracy built on treason and counter-espionage. His freedom rests on exposing the truth before the political machine buries it and silences his team for good.