The bustling dockyards of the Hydraphur system are home to the mighty Imperial warfleets, which dock, rearm and repair in an endless cycle of war. Newly assigned Arbites officer, Shira Calpurnia, finds herself in the thick of the action when she investigates a series of assassination attempts. With the corruption and double-crosses of the Hydraphur elite dogging every step of her investigations, Calpurnia must survive the crossfire, and bring her faceless enemies to justice.