Cal Kestis has built a new life for himself with the crew of the Stinger Mantis. Together, Cal´s crew has brought down bounty hunters, defeated Inquisitors, and even evaded Darth Vader himself. More important, Merrin, Cere, Greez, and faithful droid BD-1 are the closest thing Cal has had to a family since the fall of the Jedi Order. Even as the galaxy´s future grows more uncertain by the day, with each blow struck against the Empire the Mantis crew grows more daring. On what should be a routine mission, they meet a stormtrooper determined to chart her own course with the help of Cal and the crew. In exchange for help starting a new life, the Imperial deserter brings word of a powerful, potentially invaluable tool for their fight against the Empire. And even better, she can help them get to it. The only catch-pursuing it will bring them into the path of one of the Empire´s most dangerous servants, the Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother. Can the Imperial deserter truly be trusted? And while Cal and his friends have survived run-ins with the Inquisitors before, how many times can they evade the Empire before their luck runs out?