The destruction of H.E. One and the Massacre at Philippa were only the opening salvos in the war for the Chimera Sector, and now Jericho and Masozi must race against time to execute the most significant Adjustment in the Sector's history since the conclusion of the Forge Wars two centuries earlier. But before they can take up arms in accordance with the First Right, they will need to submit to a tribunal conducted by their peers which will determine their readiness to play their part in putting an end to the chaos. If they fail, the situation will spiral out of control and the outcome may plunge the Sector a dark abyss from which it might never emerge. Even if they successfully navigate the tribunal, they will need to call on allies both new and old in order to stand a chance of discharging their duty. Battle lines will be drawn throughout the Sector, and everything Jericho and Masozi do while pursuing the Blanco Adjustment will have a widespread impact on shaping the forces which will compete for the Sector's future. Will it be enough to safeguard their fellow citizens' freedom, or will the erosive forces of tyranny succeed in destroying the very mechanisms which have provided for the Sector's unthinkable success after the wormhole's collapse?**

The planet Tracto has produced some of the greatest warriors in the Spineward Sectors, but few outsiders know the truth of living in the brutal, often barbaric, yet also strangely civilized society -- a society which seems perpetually frozen in the iron age. This is the tale of one of Tracto's greatest heroes, Nikomedes, and shows how he was forged into a peerless weapon of Men by the hellishly inhospitable world of his birth. For a native of Tracto, life is nothing if not a seemingly endless series of conflicts -- and no statement could be truer of Nikomedes' own life. Few have ever accomplished as much as he managed to do at a mere fourteen years of age, and fewer still would learn the true meaning of the words 'honor' and 'tradition.' Those are words which Nikomedes eventually comes to understand mean so much more than most will ever comprehend -- and, if used correctly, can even become weapons when wielded by one with the skill to do so and the character to abide by them. He will be tried and he will be tested at seemingly every turn, but throughout his incessant tribulations he will discover an incontrovertible truth: Life is a fight, and it only ends with death.