When an Earth outpost 16 light-years away is destroyed by an unknown alien force, a group of young United States Marine Corps Space Aviators find themselves on the front lines of an intergalactic battle in an attempt to save their home planet.
When an Earth outpost 16 light-years away is destroyed by an unknown alien force, a group of young United States Marine Corps Space Aviators find themselves on the front lines of an intergalactic battle to save their home planet.
When the USS Saratoga passes close to the planet where the Earth colonists were attacked, West goes AWOL and flies down to the planet in hopes that his girlfriend, Kylen, somehow survived.
Cooper and McQueen, both in Vitroes, face a difficult decision when the captain of a space cargo hauler decides to sacrifice has in Vitro cargo in order to save his ship after it comes under attack.
The members of the 58th are suspicious after a tough war veteran, who arrived on the Saratoga with orders to take them on a classified mission, changes the mission's objective once they're behind enemy lines.
In an effort to get west to help with an assassination plot, the young marine is told that high-ranking Earth officials knew about the aliens before the colonists were sent to Vesta Colony.
The members of the 58th turn on each other after they land on the planet Tartarus and encounter a Chig mind-altering weapon that wreaks havoc on the area of the brain that controls fear.
After the 58th captures an alien bomber,, McQueen suggests that it would help raise troop morale if they use the vessel to attack the aliens' home planet - a plan that goes horribly wrong.
When the 58th crash-lands on a moon deep in enemy territory and Shane, West, Damphouse, and Wang are captured by Silicates, West discovers that one of the other prisoners is Kylen
West's plan to lure Chig soldiers into an ambush works, but after he's rescued, no one believes him when he insists that the rest of the 58th is alive and needs to be rescued too
When the Marines are stranded in enemy territory on Christmas day, they receive a cryptic transmission which tells them how to "hitch a ride" back to safety on an incoming comet's orbit.
Wounded and alone in enemy territory, Hawkes struggles to stay alive as he recalls his past in Vitro education and how he was scheduled for termination because he asked too many questions.
After experiencing a vision of a soldier's death during a combat mission, Damphousse is investigated by a PsI Corps colonel who is convinced she possesses psychic powers.
Shane encounters an old boyfriend as both their divisions volunteer to help hunt down a powerful new Chig vessel which is rumored to be equipped with a cloaking device.
McQueen, a grounded ex-member of the elite fighter team The Angry Angels, insists that he be allowed to fly a dangerous mission to destroy the Chig's newest spacecraft.
West is upset when his younger brother, who has joined the Marines, shows up on the Saratoga under the command of an inexperienced gung-ho lieutenant.
The members of the 58th receive letters from home, some with good news, some with bad, while McQueen and Cooper are ordered to appear in a documentary on In Vitroes.
On a planet overrun with Chigs, the 58th encounters Major Cyril MacKendrick, the sole survivor of the 8th British Cavalry, and Wang encounters the Silicate who previously tortured him.
Suffering from combat fatigue, the 58th is granted liberty aboard the Baccus, a Rest and Recreational pleasure ship where it's said that anything can, and does, happen.
A mysterious mission the 58th is assigned to carry out, nearly turns to disaster when the Earth ship the Corps members are ordered to escort, suddenly locks onto their Hammerheads and opens fire.
The 58th struggles to survive on a desolate planet held by the Chig after the Saratoga must abandon the crew in order to launch an assault that could ultimately save millions of lives.
The 58th lands on the moon of the Chig's home planet and encounters an extraterrestrial creature which may be an unarmored Chig or an entirely different life form.
When peace talks on the Saratoga go awry, the 58th flies one last dangerous mission to save POWs trapped in transport carriers crippled by the enemy.