December 2553. Less than a year after the end of the Covenant War, a string of violent incidents threatens the tenuous peace in human-held space, culminating in the assassination of UNSC fleet admiral Graselyn Tuwa and the abduction of her family.

It is a provocation so outrageous that the Office of Naval Intelligence must retaliate swiftly and ferociously--but only after its operatives identify her killer and rescue the hostages.