Task Landager grew up on the rogue planet Atsalis, an isolated, militant society. As a teenager, life was simple, but everything changed when his planet suffered an environmental catastrophe. Fleeing into space, he is captured by privateers sanctioned by the powerful General Region Union to be sold into servitude. As his prison ship landed on a planet, he managed to escapes into to criminal underground and evades recapture. He makes a living smuggling stolen weapons from the GRU.
Eventually, the GRU starts taking note of their material attrition, and directs their Civil Protection and Defense Group to investigate. They find out their culprit is an Atsalisian, renowned for their covert skills. The CPDG attempts to catch Task, but they are outmanouvered, and Task ends uo escaping.
Elsewhere, the GRU detect unusual activity from their longstanding enemy, the Porcine Empire. GRU attempts at more specific electronic reconnaissance fail due to the Porcine's better computers and Electronic Counter-Intel. The GRU Intel branch attempts a bold strategy; Use the lone Atsalisian who had so far evaded everything the GRU could throw.
Task is located again by the CPDG, who implore him to help the GRU take on their mutual enemy, the Porcine. Task is hesitant, but finally agrees. He learns that the Porcine appear to have weaponized a space station, and GRU signal intelligence believe it can change the balance of power. SigInt also detected a central scientist that was critical to the project. Task is to find out what the station did, how, and to destroy and the scientist.
Task is inserted into Porcine space, close to their homeworld in a harrowing journey. On the way, Task detects deployment of the Porcine main fleet, the preparation of a major offensive. He continues, and manages to enter the station, and hunts down the researcher. To his suprise, the project lead was not a Porcine, but a GRU Canid named Devillion Dayt.
Dayt explains how he designed the station for FTL travel, but the Porcine weaponized it.Task convinces Dayt to flee with him back to GRU space, using the FTL feature of the space station.
In the Point Insertion Pulse Detonation Event, The two prepare to leave using a FTL test vehicle and an experimental computer BIS.Task activates the weapon, pointing it at the Porcine system's star, then flees to the test vehicle. When the station fires, it destroys the system and the Porcine fleet, while propelling the escapes into GRU space with extreme velocity.
During the escape, the engine, using a Aberrant Material with preternatural properties, suffered a sort of malfunction and Task had to access it to keep it operational. When it reactivated, it created another living entity, Exek.
Back in GRU space, Dayt is impressed into GRU research on a militarized planet with a rather slim budget and flimsy government support, working on FTL technology and other projects. The GRU did not expect Task to survive, and did not make plans regarding his return. They decide to station Task with Dayt as the scientist's handler, also giving him a post to develop and enhance system security.
Task requests and is given charge of Exek, who is still very young. Task begins to suspect Exek is Atsalisian, and does a genetic analysis. He learns, after much confusion, that Exek is his clone. The GRU becomes reprehensive about the FTL applications of Dayt's work, and wants him to begin focusing on smaller scale, military projects. Dev is frustrated by this, but uses the change to focus on upgrading the BIS computer into an intelligent mechanoid ANBIS.
As the years pass, Dayt and Anbis discover a Porcine research facility on a shattered planet, Turner 12c. They use the resources there to almost complete their new experimental FTL device. Returning to the GRU, Dayt recruits Task to help petition to build a test vehicle using an old battleship, gaining their interest. Dev also used the ship given, the "Mystic Trench", for smaller projects too, like autoloading gun batteries, enhanced FCR, Jamming, and other systems.
The GRU finds out about the Turner 12c facility, and is angered that Dayt did not inform them about it before using its resources for the FTL drive instead of other military projects. They freeze his funding and order him to turn over the project to the government. This in turn infuriates Dayt, who argues with Task. Task convinces Dayt that it is better to let the GRU see and deeply analyze his FTL engine, which will be frustrating now but may pay off in the future.
Dayt begins gathering his research to turn over and, on the way to his government office, he would have to give up Anbis, whom he considers his son. Dayt changes his mind and decides to take Anbis and the Mystic Trench to Turner 12c, beginning the Pulse Detonation Engine Mishap.
Dayt uses Anbis to get into the test facility and launch the ship, but Task detects them and uses the security forces to intercept them in high orbit. The light and fast security ships to disable the Mystic Trench's standard FTL engines, but the armored battleship protects the experimental engine. Anbis manages to activate and take control of the ships automated weapons, forcing Tasks security forces to keep their distance, waiting for GRU reinforcements.
With their ship unable to enter FTL, Dayt and Anbis are cut off from their escape. Tasks ships make several attempts to close in and board, knowing capturing Dayt will be easy ince aboard. Anbis manages to keep the ships from closing, but the ammo in the turrets begin to run low. Out of options, Dayt decides to activate the Experimental FTL device. Tasks ships flee to avoid being pulled with the Mystic Trench. The device activates, and the Mystic Trench appears to explode. Dayt and Anbis are presumed dead.
Task is admonished by the GRU for the loss of Dayt, but the government chooses to cover it up. Months after the incident, investigative journalists start looking into the explosion after scientists detect Gravitation Waves from it. They link Task to the event, which concerns the GRU since Task was not revealed to the public. The GRU quickly transfer Task to the nearest military base on a public system and create a fake backstory to mislead the Journalists. They form a new planetary defense battalion and assign him as a commander to support the story. Many of the battalions leaders are military loyalists who help collaborate the cover.
Exek grows up not directly remembering Dayt. His friends are the children of the loyalist leadership. He eventually pieces together from talking with his friends that he doesnt remember his mother. He starts snooping around his home for information.
He finds pictures and books from Dayt, but doesn't pay much attention to it. Exek finds Tasks journal and tries to read, but cannot. Task finds Exek, and disciplines him for going through his things. Exek appeals, stating he couldn't read anything anyway. Task explains it was the taking of the journal, not the reading, that he was disappointed with.
Later, Task considers that he and Exek are the last two Atsalisians, and that Exek can't even read his ethnic language. He explains to Exek, in brief, his life on Atsalis, a heavily censored version of events leading up to the PIPD event, and that Exek is a clone of Task.
Civil strife in the GRU grows. With the Porcine Empire destroyed, the GRU continues to expand the military with no external threat. The population demands reduced military spending to focus on domestic development, but the government does not concur. The GRU, lacking an equipped police force, deploys the military to quell a number of protests. Several years of this leads to a military coup. Task plays a pivitol role in supporting the coup by capturing and detaining several GRU leaders.
A year later, the military forms the All Allied Forces, which separates the military from government and provides planets with more autonomy. The civil pop applaud the change, which addressed a number of civil issues.
Task remains at his cover story post, as the AAF continues to censor the PDE mishap, although they do reveal details of the PIPD event. The AAF begins funding more work into the PDE engine, and ultimately find that the concept is workable, but employing a different design to accomplish it would be safer and more effective. Dayt had previously theorised at the revised design, but lack of GRU support meant he could not pursue it. The new engine was called the Continous Pulse Drive.