An empire of genocidal artificial intelligences threatens to overwhelm humanity, held back only by the combined fleets of humanity's lone superpower, the Majesterium. The allied might of the dozens of human systems who owe fealty to the Star King have long stood as a unified bulwark against the Syntharchy...until now. The alliance threatens to unravel when a planned wedding is interrupted by the sudden disappearance of the betrothed princess. This sort of politics used to bore Captain E. Z. Sudden of the light freighter, "Jade Rose" until the most sought after woman in the galaxy falls into his lap. Not knowing who to trust, the pair set out on a journey to the darkest depths of space in search of the one man that can reunite the princess with her king before Civil war erupts and opens the door for a mechanical apocalypse.