With the Empire poised on the edge of war, Sten spearheads the Eternal Emperor's crackdown on the pirates and traitorous profiteers who are arming his enemies with vital war supplies. A trap is baited to lure the villains into a truel - a three-way duel. Only one thing stands in Sten's way: Venatora, the beautiful pirate queen he's grown to love. When it comes down to it, can he overcome loyalty and duty and pull the trigger?

Having fought his way from slave labor on a factory world to commander of the Eternal Emperor's bodyguard, the most dangerous weapons Sten has encountered in Prime World are the lies of Court politicians. When a bomb goes off, however, he discovers the danger and corruption behind Court intrigue.

The Eternal Emperor had returned at last from the dead, to pick up the pieces of his crumbling Empire. But even that great leader could not halt the Empire's decline alone. And so Sten - master spy, military strategist, and assassin - found himself appointed Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the Altaic Cluster, where a brewing civil war threatened the stability of the Empire itself. Quelling a civil war is nothing new for Sten, but as the war intensifies,...

Vulcan is a factory planet, centuries old, Company run, ugly as sin, and unfeeling as death. Vulcan breeds just two types of native - complacent or tough. Sten is tough.