The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto, when its telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system. El Cadaver has a variety of other problems that worrying about an alien ship doesn’t seem important, but in fact, it’s the most important thing that has happened to the human race in a million years. The first Formic War is about to begin.