A DANGEROUS NEW ENEMY APPROACHES… Two decades after the events that nearly brought the Successor States to the brink of all-out war, the Great Houses exist in an uneasy peace. But now, from out beyond the Periphery comes a new threat. A swift-moving military force of unknown origin. Nothing the Inner Sphere has can stop them. Their power, speed, and ferocity are unparalleled. Some of the finest warriors and ablest units have challenged them and been crushed. No force has faced them and won. They are the Clans! A military juggernaut whose sole reason for existence is battle. A race that selectively breeds itself for combat. Humanity’s only hope is an alliance of mortal enemies. The Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, interstellar empires at war for 300 years, must now stand side-by-side—or face certain destruction.

In this first book in a trilogy, the warring interstellar empires of the Inner Sphere face the greatest threat of their lives--an invasion by the technologically superior Clans. It falls to the leaders of the Five Successor States to save their people from ultimate destruction.

BACKS AGAINST THE WALL… Galatea. The Mercenary's Star. Even the most down on their luck units can find work here. Leading the newly-formed Gray Death Legion has been challenging for Grayson Death Carlyle, so when a job comes their way, he’s only too happy to take it. The mission: train the local resistance on the planet Verthandi to resist their Draconis Combine masters. But things do not go well almost from the moment the Legion arrives. Trapped on Verthandi and facing a superior force and a fractured populace, the men and women of the Legion find themselves in a situation that makes the campaign on Trellwan look like a walk in the park. And Grayson quickly learns repeating his past successes may not be so easy this time…

The success of the Battletech TV series, comic books, and toys has led to a huge demand for the Battletech books. In this second book of the trilogy, the Clans have wreaked destruction across the Inner Sphere, forcing the Five Successor Houses to accept an uneasy alliance.

Succeeding in their invasion campaign with the secret aid of ComStar, the BattleTech warriors are unaware of ComStar's ulterior motive to reunite the Inner Sphere worlds under its single rule. Original.