250 YEARS AGO, ASCALON BURNED ...Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr, King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders. But magic can be a double-edged sword - the Foefire burned both charr and human alike. While the charr corpses smoldered, the slain Ascalonians arose again, transformed by their king's rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm...forever. The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory. Centuries later, the descendants of Ascalon, exiled to the nation of Kryta, are besieged on all...

Far in the future, 60,000 light-years from Earth, a loose confederacy of Terran exiles is locked with the enigmatic Protoss and ruthless Zerg swarm. Each species struggles to ensure its own survival among the stars in a war that will herald the beginning of mankind's greatest chapter--or foretell its violent, bloody end.

Danny Liberty was a good reporter...too good. When his investigations struck too close to the heart of the corrupt Terran Confederacy, he faced a simple choice: continue his current series of exposes, or take a hazardous new assignment covering the Marines on the front...