By 1022 NE (New Era), which would have been 2366 CE (Current Era) in the Earth's old method of measuring the passage of time, Humankind had become an endangered species, living on the edge of civilized space without a place to call home. With fewer than an estimated seventy-five thousand Humans left in charted space, every life mattered. However, the few remaining extra-terrestrial refuges to which Humans had migrated to were continually threatened by rival species, natural disasters, and political in-fighting.

Fortunately, a new class of heroes had emerged to lead humanity into the future, the Order of the Vigilants. Unfortunately, one of the most promising up-and-coming Vigilant captains, Jack Finder, had been exiled due to a tragic happenstance. Outcast from Human space, he has spent years wandering the vast expanse of space, engaging in whatever kind of activities he could to support himself. Most of these were extra-legal, and all of them dangerous.

As our story begins, a young, naïve xenoarchaeologist who had just discovered an ancient artifact hires the disgraced Vigilant to assist her in finding the seven scepters of the legendary seven Apocryph queens, which are said to have mysterious powers. To accomplish this, the pair must brave alien worlds, evade roving pirates, and understand enigmatic clues left by a long-dead race, all while the whole of civilized space mysteriously crumbles around them.