She never intended to start a revolution, but she certainly didn't regret it either. Ritza Xi had little to live for. After inspiring the Qalidaris to rise up against League forces, Xi would have been fine going down fighting the next wave of invading Space Marines. Despite their initial success, however, the small band of desert fighters knew they were no match for the horde heading their way. To save the rebels, Xi and her friends needed to draw the Marines elsewhere. With a massive price on their heads, the only pilot the Kyan-Noa Three could trust to spirit them off Qalidar was a troubled smuggler indebted to a ruthless pirate overlord. His fee: Xi's help in transporting a massive load of potent narcotics to the hedonistic pleasure planet of Beru Sukka. When Xi is recognized in a lawless shantytown while setting up the Spice deal, what was supposed to be a routine, if morally repugnant, business transaction erupts into a high-stakes rescue mission with impossible odds. No longer does Xi just have government agents and Space Marines to worry about. She must now contend with the Beru Sukkan underworld, former terrorists, relentless bounty hunters, her tenuous grip on her own sanity, and a seemingly indestructible killer robot on the verge of sentience that no one, including its master, seems capable of stopping.