Benning Kidd is a Drone, the lowest class of humanity. She exists without memory, purpose, or more than the most basic awareness of herself and the world around her. An accident changes all that, and Benning becomes a Citizen of the Collective, the first Drone to do so in history. She is uniquely talented and unscrupulously driven, choosing a path of battle and glory that will take her from arena to arena and out among the stars themselves.

After seizing the battle frigate Merciless, Benning Kidd is finally captain of her own vessel, but her fate still seems to be out of her control. Bounty hunters swarm her at every opportunity, and she's only safe in the gladiatorial arenas of the Collective. Old enemies plague her, and new ones arise wherever she goes. To make matters worse, strange memories that aren't her own start cropping up in her thoughts. If Benning can't trust her own mind, then she can't trust anyone or anything!

Benning Kidd has been hunted since the day the System tried and failed to destroy her, turning her from a Drone into a Citizen in the process. Bounty hunters, vengeful enemies, and near-omnipotent Nobles have hounded her through the Collective. She's avoided them when she could and tried to convince them to leave her be when she couldn't. With the Fleet seeking her, intending to steal her hard-earned levels and rob her of her accomplishments, though, that's no longer an option.

When strength is not enough for survival in the Collective, cunning, skill, and ruthlessness must serve... Benning Kidd, the Stellar Marauder, criminal in every civilized system of the Collective, has faced the mighty Fleet...and won. Now, she faces an even more terrible foe: a member of the Nobility. Shielded by the System itself and armed with resources Benning can't even begin to imagine, Lauren Doheny is an impossible enemy to fight, even for the most ruthless woman in the Collective, especially when she unleashes her newest weapon, one that drains Benning's strength with each passing day.

To Benning Kidd, the best offense is leaving no one alive to attack you. It's time to make that philosophy a reality. Lauren Doheny, the Noble behind all the bounties, attacks, and plots against Benning, is dead. Unfortunately, Benning's struggles with the Nobility have just started. A coalition is forming against her, bringing together thousands of ships and an army of marines. Fleet admirals are gathering their forces and turning their eyes on Marauder's Rest.