In the future,
earth's warriors have
conquered the heavens.
But on a distant world,
Humanity is in chains ...
Many millennia ago, the human race was enslaved by the An -- a fearsome
alien people whose cruel empire once spanned the galaxies, until they
were defeated and consigned to oblivion. But a research mission to the
planet Ishtar has made a terrifying -- and fatal -- discovery: the
Ahanu, ancestors of the former masters, live on, far from the reach of
Earth -- born weapons and technology ... and tens of thousands of
captive human souls still bow to their iron will. Now Earth's
Interstellar Marine Expeditionary Unit must undertake a rescue operation
as improbable as it is essential to humankind's future, embarking on a
ten-year voyage to a hostile world to face an entrenched enemy driven by
dreams of past glory and intent once more on domination. For those who,
for countless generations, have known nothing but toil and subjugation
must be granted, at all costs, the precious gift entitled to all of
their star-traveling kind: freedom!