Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner have united two Great Houses of the Inner Sphere in a marriage that upsets the balance of power among the stars. Though some hope this may bring an end to centuries of war, Maximilian Liao of the Capellan Confederation has enlisted the aid of two highly placed Davion traitors to destroy Hanse Davion and the Federated Suns from both within and without. But in the distant star chambers of the Capellan March and Draconis Combine, the warlords of Maximilian Liao are honoring a different and more deadly vow: to wage an unholy war that threatens to rip apart the vulnerable worlds of the Federated Suns.