The Merk is restless, dissatisfied with Nexus's performance as champion and executioner since the massacre on Mars. The fallout from that incident is just beginning: Of the two Quatros responsible, Sinclair has disappeared, and Kreed is being tracked by two Gucci assassins hired by the Martian government. The Merk now psychically reaches out to Michana--the youngest daughter of the late General Loomis, bent on revenge.