Ariadne has been abandoned. 

As the UN reels from multiple Ascendancy attacks and cedes hundreds of lightyears of territory, Solar Operations Command has initiated a policy of "Strategic Sacrifice". Hundreds of colonies across the Outer Ring will be left to their fate as the UN Fleet desperately rallies.

With six hours to go until the provar arrive, VIPER must extract seven persons of interest from two cities on Ariadne. Except, with the planet on the brink of civil war, the arrival of the Ascendancy is the least of their worries…