Uncompromising and fierce, Commissar Severina Raine has always served the Imperium with the utmost distinction. Attached to the Eleventh Antari Rifles, she instills order and courage in the face of utter horror. But horror take smany forms, and Rains's unshakeable faith is about to be put to the ultimate test. As the Chaos cult known as the Sighted sweeps through the Bale Stars and a shadow falls across its benighted worlds. In answer, a great campaign, led by the vaunted hero Lord-General Militant Alar Serek is under way to free the system from tyranny and enslavement, and the price of victory must be paid in blood. As Raine and the Antari become embroiled in the conflict, dark secrets are unearthed... Secrets that might cast a light onto Raine's own troubled past. Only by embracing her duty and staying true to her belief in the Imperium and the commissar's creed can she hope to survive this crucible, but even then, will that be enough?