Precipice is dying. For weeks, the space port has been battered by hellish geomagnetic storms, the work of sinister goings-on within the nearby Blackstone Fortress - a vast, ineffable creation that looms in the darkness of the void. Fragile alliances between Precipice's xenos and human inhabitants crumble as the port's docking points are destroyed, eroding any hope of escape.

Amid this bedlam, opportunistic rogue trader Janus Draik remains coolly unaffected. As an apocalyptic tempest threatens the life of his crew, Draik bitterly ponders a letter he has received from his father, disowning him and stripping him of his rank, titles and inheritance. In a last-ditch attempt to restore his fortune, Draik unites the disparate adventurers of Precipice to delve even deeper into the mysteries of the Blackstone Fortress. Once there, he learns of a threat that could endanger not just his own future, but the Imperium as a whole. Draik must mend the brittle bonds of trust, loyalty and respect between the survivors to destroy this abominable intelligence and avert disaster.