The ATLAS mechanized battle suits are the pinnacle of military technology, boasting awesome destructive power--but what is behind the armor is only human. Rade Galaal, elite soldier and ATLAS operator, has been tested--and broken--by savage battles and devastating losses. Now, an old enemy poses a new threat. The vile insectile aliens that once threatened Earth have regrouped to engineer a new apocalyptic assault on mankind, and the ATLAS mechs are called to defend the very survival of the human race. On the desolate, far-flung moons of Tau Ceti II, there will come a reckoning. Earth's adversaries are legion, and the planet's soldiers--for all of their rigorous training and amazing ordnance--are only flesh and blood. But they possess a defiant will to survive. Will Rade find the strength to reforge his shattered spirit and defeat the alien onslaught before all is lost?