The ancient menace, man's worst nightmare, has finally escaped from Lalonde, and in the process it has shattered the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbled to the horror have aquired godlike powers, but now follow a far from divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world. On planets and asteroids, individuals battle for survival against brutal forces. Governments teeter on the brink of anarchy, the Confederation Navy is dangerously over-stretched, and a dark messiah prepares to invoke his own version of the final night. In such desperate times the last thing the galaxy needs is a new and terrifyingly powerful weapon. Yet Dr Alkad Mzu is determined to retrieve the Alchemist - so she can complete her thirty-year-old vendetta to slay a star. But people on both sides had ideas on how to use the ultimate doomsday device.