Book excerpt: When you don’t know which side to trust, go rogue. Matt Lowell is the hottest new recruit in the Universal Union’s select group of pilots. Their job—control the supremely powerful biochemical robotic avatars known as Mecha. Now, the Prime of Universal Union herself has offered him an unprecedented opportunity: return to Earth to train a new elite force for a covert mission that’s imperative to the future of the Union. When he and his team embark on their mission—on a border world that may be a target for the anarchical Corsairs—Matt finds that everything is not as it seems. The world is home to a dark secret that underlies the very foundation of the Union itself, and suddenly Matt doesn’t know which side he and his mighty Mecha should be fighting for—or against.