A war of millions is fought by individuals. For sixteen years humanity and the alien Vyptellians have battled in space and on hundreds of planets in a distant corner of the galaxy. Tyko is a teenage space fighter pilot who has never known peace; insulated from the horrors of the battlefield, he'll learn war isn't a game. Sergeant Siengha is one of a handful to survive the war's first battle; surrounded and vastly outnumbered by a merciless enemy, it takes everything she knows to keep those around her alive and fighting. These are just two of the countless stories from the human side of the Vyptellian War. To those on the frontlines and their families at home, why the war began is unimportant, forgotten when the first shot was fired. What matters is the survival of the species. But after years of bloody conflict, the war's end is closer than anyone realizes.