Charlie and his friends need to arm their ship, but they have a small problem—black market particle cannons cost a lot of money. And they don’t have any. Which leaves them only one option. They have to steal the guns from the Anguilar Empire. It’s a daring plan, but it backfires when Laranna is captured by the enemy and taken back to her homeworld of Strada, which has been conquered and garrisoned by the Empire. Charlie won’t abandon her and when he and Giblet crash land on Strada, they’re forced to team up with the local resistance fighters to free not only Laranna, but the whole planet. If they win, they’ll have struck the first meaningful blow in the war against the Anguilar. If they lose…not only are Charlie and his friends dead, but tens of thousands of innocent civilians could die in reprisal. Can a college student from Earth, taken to the stars by forces beyond his control, win the first victory in an interstellar war?