Geary is convinced that the Syndics are planning to ambush the fleet and finish it off once and for all. Realizing the fleet's best (and only) chance is to do the unexpected, Geary takes the offensive and orders the fleet to the Sancere system. There, a multitude of possible routes home give the Alliance fleet a better chance of avoiding their pursuers--and an attack on the Sancere shipbuilding facilities could decimate the Syndic war effort.

Weary from endless combat, the officers and crew of the Alliance fleet can't see the sense in charging deeper into enemy territory--prompting a mutiny that divides them, and leaving Geary with the odds higher against him than ever before...