Emperor's daughter Mercedes is the first woman ever admitted to the High Ground, the elite training academy of the Solar League ƒ ¢ ¢ ‚ ¬ ¢ „ ¢s Star Command, and she must graduate if she is to have any hope of taking the throne. Her classmate Tracy has more modest goals ƒ ¢ ¢ ‚ ¬ ¢ € �to rise to the rank of captain, and win fame and honor. But a civil war is coming and the political machinations of those who yearn for power threaten the young cadets. In a time of intrigue and alien invasion, they will be tested as they never thought possible.