A month has passed since Captain Ben Gibson arranged for the return of the village's missing commandos, and relations between the Rangers and the local alien community have never been better. As the two sides work together to prepare for the arrival of a group of refugees, he and the Va'Shen priestess, Alacea, work on exploring their budding personal relationship.

But the story has been quite different for those incoming refugees, and their experiences with the human invaders have been very difficult. And when they arrive, they will bring more with them than hungry, homeless villagers. They will bring dark secrets, heartbreaking trauma and the dry tinder for an all-out insurgency.

All it will need is a spark.