After Micah Stone loses a fight with three thugs higher in his homeworld's social order he becomes a military man. First he serves on his homeworld until a cowardly commander orders him kicked out rather than face his own lack of honor. Next he joins the League Drop Marines where he learns the horrible truth about his former unit: it is dirty and it routinely commits atrocities no civilized society would condone or tolerate. Next Micah turns a blind-side surprise attack against the League forces on the protected world of Ceto into victory by leading the remnants of his unit to decimate an enemy starport. The League deems this too costly a victory and Micah ends up in a world of deadly shadows and unseen foes. Now he must face an entire planet full of enemies, rescue a group of hostages and save the lives of himself and his two friends or face a fate too horrible to contemplate Book One of the Stone Blade series.