Counterattack

Victory is a trap, and Captain Ardel is flying straight into it. While the Alliance celebrates a string of easy victories, Captain Ardel knows the terrifying truth: the Votainions aren't being defeated—they are baiting a hook. Despite her warnings, the President is convinced the enemy is desperate for a truce and has appointed Ardel as the official envoy to negotiate peace. Forced into the heart of enemy territory, Ardel is burdened with a secret she never asked for: a half-human, half-Votainion child created by a top-secret program to serve as her interpreter. But on the other side of the negotiation table, Empress Nykostra is far from surrendering. Driven by eroding mental health and a singular obsession to reclaim her people's legendary homeworld, the Empress is marshaling her forces for a final, devastating blow. As the Votainion Chief Strategist plots a bloody coup to replace his mad queen, Ardel finds herself caught between a fracturing Empire and an oblivious Alliance. With the largest counterattack in history looming, she must find a way to survive the Empress's madness or watch the fledgling Alliance burn. The gambit has been played. The counterattack is coming.