In a distant future where the Chinese have seized control of the world and colonised the stars, a disgraced naval captain and a commando who knows secrets he should never have learned are picked to lead a suicide mission. Piloting a salvaged Mexica spacecraft to Xolotl, the asteroid stronghold of their enemies, they are armed with enough explosives to reduce the Mexica base to dust. But when they arrive to find dozens of Chinese prisoners destined to be used as human sacrifices, their suicide mission suddenly becomes a rescue operation. This is a clash of empires old and new.