With her Andromedan Khanate scattered by the bureaucratic United Oversight for Democracy, Khair finds herself drawn into a personal war between Taivan, a fleeing Khanate General, and the powerful UOD pursuing him. But the General, once a Khanate victim and now its greatest champion, will take the war to UOD or die trying. As Khair joins Taivan's perilous crusade, she's electrocuted for acts of violence by Chip, a UOD parole officer operating as an inner voice in her mind. And, as Khair relies on her skills and tenuous allies to avoid Chip's punishments, it seems that the unwanted guest in her head has their own hidden agenda. As a new war with UOD dawns, Khair begins to question her General's methods, and can only wonder: can they defeat the enemy without becoming tyrants themselves?