Nate and his friends are given the chance of a lifetime, a six-mouth tour aboard the Alliance's newest battleship, ANS Dreadnought. She's the first in her class, and is the most powerful ship in the sector. Bigger and better protected than any ship before her, Dreadnought carries an arsenal of deadly weapons that can annihilate a small armada and can travel between the stars in a matter of days. There is no deadlier vessel in existence.
Two years at the Academy has tested Nate's flying, combat and technical skills to the limit. But nothing will come close to his greatest test. Captain Gaunt, one of the Alliance's most decorated officers plans to use Dreadnought to start a war, one that will engulf the region and cost many lives. As Dreadnought rolls out her guns to engage the very people Nate calls his friends, he has to make a decision. Does he stand by and let war spread through the sector, or will he lead the cadets in a mutiny against a beloved hero of the Alliance?