Peace in the Human Sphere balances on a monomolecular knife's edge. A sudden, brutal flurry of financial and datasphere attacks from within the Nomad Nations has nearly brought the State Empire of Yu Jing to its knees. Survival and honor demand immediate retaliation that will tear the delicate fabric of the peace asunder. Agents of the inscrutable AI ALEPH rush to discover the identity and motives of the attacker, but the tangled labyrinth of Nomad society confounds them at every turn. only the best men and women of the Nations can untie this bloody knot. Unfortunately, they're busy. A tired, dirty little band of petty criminals is all that stands between the Motherships and disaster. But when a grave threat to the Human Sphere itself is revealed, maybe, just maybe, they will get their act together to save it all.