The Andromeda investigates the site of a reported Nietzschean attack on a Commonwealth battleship, but find no debris and no sign that any conflict occurred there, much less the reported destruction of a High Guard vessel. Dylan is invited by the Nietzschean rulers of the planet to visit and accepts, but in his descent a solar storm hits the planet, causing his escorts to fall behind. Dylan must deal with the Nietzscheans in order to uncover the truth of what happened in orbit.