As a brutal threat bears down upon the mining colony of Port Napier, Dan Dare whips the local detachment into a modest-but effective-defensive force. Together with the colonists who were unable to escape, they abandon the settlement to make a final stand in what will most assuredly be a battle of attrition. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the increasingly suspicious Peabody follows a hunch-and what she finds out may have finished the battle for Earth before its even begun!