The year is 2454. Three centuries of peace and a hard-won golden age have come to an abrupt end. The once steadfast leadership of the seven Hives is crumbling, soured by corruption and deception. Savagery and bloodlust, three-centuries suppressed, have been unleashed. The terrible truth is that centuries of peace were bought with a trickle of secret murders. The killings were mathematically planned, meticulously organised to preserve the balance - to ensure no faction could dominate. But now the secret is out, the balance has tipped, the Hives'' utopian fa-e has slipped. Just days ago, humanity stood at the pinnacle of civilization. Now everyone - Hives and Hiveless, Utopians and sensayers, emperors and convicts, warriors and saints - is preparing for war.
