all magic has evolved into dark biodynamics. RT, short for Redder Torch, is on her way to Taltrix, the most prestigious space cruiser university in all three regions of colonized space. She's reuniting with her older brother Avi, and together they hope to find safety, far from the shadow of their father and his dangerous legacy.

Grave Torch, their father, is a notorious criminal held in a supermax prison after the Final Wars when he kidnapped his children and made a desperate claim: that RT was the unifier of the multiverse, a prophesized figure in the ancient tenets of dark biodynamic research. Since then, everyone has an opinion on RT-many of them hostile. Her only true ally is her brother, but his girlfriend's hidden agenda threatens to drive a wedge between them.

Every year, Taltrix students must prove themselves by running the gauntlet on the mercenary training planet Keplar Neptune. When RT steps into the gauntlet, the entire galaxy tunes in to watch. If she fails, she'll lose her powers-and her life. But if she survives, it will validate her father's prophecy, risking a resurgence of the wars that once tore the galaxy apart. RT must embrace her destiny while fighting to survive. But when her father rigs the gauntlet against her, will she prove her father right and ignite a new war, or will she find a way to forge her own path? The future of the galaxy hangs in the balance.