Kidahin, of the Eyloni, is on her first mission since her adulthood ceremony when her ship, Hunter's Moon, is attacked. The ship suffers major damage and the crew suffers the devastating loss of its Warleader. While making repairs at a nearby moon, Kidahin's youthful hubris gets her into trouble when she attempts to track a human: Chief Warrant Officer Del Marsch, a topnotch soldier and training officer.

Marsch, a hardened veteran, whose family has been senselessly murdered by the brutal Ni'zakhonii, suffers from extreme PTSD, with flashbacks powerful enough he can smell...