Matt Dragoneaux the Vigilante hits the star lanes with a fleet of T'Chak Dreadnought warships, aiming to defeat a two million year-old military machine that runs the galaxy for the Anarchate, a ruthless commercial combine that says anarchy is profitable. To that end the Anarchate allows cloneslavery for people, both human and alien. Matt hates the cloneslave harvesters who kidnapped his parents and sisters when he was just 16. Now, with the support of his lifemate Eliana, the AI Mata Hari who resembles the WWI spy and the winged dragon BattleMind, he attacks the Anarchate. But the Anarchate battleglobes are led by an alien captain as sneaky and inventive as Matt. They fight each other with dueling antimatter beams, thermonuke assault sleds and Sun Glow beams that turn planets into miniature stars. Matt finds there is a cost to fighting a war—the lives of artificial intelligences with real emotions are at risk. As are Eliana and his fellow human pilots. Can he be more than a solo Vigilante? Can he ignite a crusade against cloneslavery? And can he lead a real war with pain and casualties? Or will hope, justice and freedom disappear from the galaxy?