A failed attempt to reach Arkyn and rescue D'avin sends Dutch and Johnny to Eulogy, a barter town for criminals, to find the technology capable of helping them reach the planet's surface. Meanwhile, on Arkyn, D'avin experiences visions as Khlyen attempts to turn him into a Level 6 soldier.
In order to get back inside Old Town the crew takes on a warrant to capture eight dangerous fugitives on Westerley, only to learn that one of the escapees has stolen a frightening chemical weapon created by the Company.
Dutch's team take an off-books warrant into the badlands to rescue a pair of Level 2 Killjoys, only to find an abandoned mine that hides a terrible secret. Pawter looks for a way to escape from Jelco's captivity at Spring Hill.
After Johnny extracts Pawter from the salt flats the team follows Khlyen's signal to Prodigy, a school for Westerley's gifted children, where they discover that some kids have mysteriously gone missing.
Johnny escorts Pawter home to Qresh to make a request of her powerful mother, only to find themselves trapped by a lethal attack. Khlyen's attempts to locate D'avin's parents has unforeseen consequences.
Dutch, John, and D'avin get a lead on the mysterious green plasma, sending them to a collector of rare items who lives a reclusive life inside an asteroid -- and who has an agenda of his own.
D'av's romantic endeavors leave Dutch's crew in possession of a dangerous Level Six agent, but their efforts to study and interrogate her are soon complicated. Johnny goes after an engineer inside Old Town who helped to build Jelco's wall.
Johnny's capture drives a wedge between him and Dutch, who calls on Pawter to rescue him from Jelco's prison -- accelerating the enemy's plans for Old Town. Dutch and D'avin go to the Scarback Monastery for help locating Dutch's doppelganger, Aneela.
Dutch's crew joins up with Pawter's crusade to take down the wall and eliminate Jelco. But their assault on Spring Hill does not go according to plan, leaving Dutch in the hands of an angry mob.
Khlyen arrives with an offer to help Dutch, John, and D'avin destroy all of the green plasma throughout the Quad, which will require them to break into a high-security archive and find the plasma's ancient source. While Dutch comes to terms with her relationship with Khlyen, Johnny tries to cope with a profound loss.
