Baron Lucius Giovanni has done the impossible: not only has he held the alien Chxor at bay, he has taken the fight to them and liberated human worlds. Yet humanity's implacable foe has drawn a line in the sand. They will hold Nova Roma at all costs... or see it a scorched ruin. Lucius must aid Nova Roma's Emperor and liberate his homeworld, but along the way he must also deal with old and new adversaries and with a conspiracy that seeks to usurp control of his fleet. Nova Roma's Emperor is going home, and Lucius will go beside him, for if he cannot overcome these obstacles, then humanity's last hope will be overcome and the Chxor will enslave and exterminate the remaining free worlds.