The Star Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven after a stunning sneak attack. The graduating class from Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navya (TM)s academy, are going straight from the classroom to the blazing reality of all-out war a " except for the midshipmen assigned to the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, that is. Theya (TM)re being assigned to the Talbott Cluster, a backwater far from the battle front. With a captain who may have seen too much of war and a station commander who isna (TM)t precisely noted for his brilliant and insightful command style, it isna (TM)t exactly what the students of Honor Harrington expected. But things arena (TM)t as simple a " or tranquil a " as they appear. Pirates, terrorists, genetic slavers, smuggled weapons, long-standing personal hatreds, and a vicious alliance of corporate greed, bureaucratic arrogance, and a corrupt local star nation with a powerful fleet, are all coming together, and only Hexapuma, her war-weary captain, and Honor Harringtona (TM)s students stand in the path.
They have only one thing to support and guide them: the tradition of Saganami. The tradition that sometimes a Queena (TM)s officera (TM)s duty is to face impossible odds . . . and die fighting.