The second year of the war reaches its breaking point.
Humanity remains fractured even as vicious bioengineered killing machines attack the United States on both coasts. In Manhattan, a devastating new bioweapon has finally hurt the alien invaders... but it is ravaging human troops too. And the man who masterminded the entire US war effort has vanished, presumed dead.
In Los Angeles, a bold new offensive hinges on the ASHUR pilots holding the line. Among them are two rookies fresh from training. One is a battle-hardened teenager certain she knows best, the other a veteran fighting to escape the stigma of a horrific choice. In the Carolinas, a grieving tank commander is pushed past his limit. And in Earth's orbit, the surviving crew of a dying weapons platform must gamble everything in the frozen dark of space -- all while political players twist every truth to seize and hold power.