The Rift have begun their invasion of the New Hope colony. They've shot down the 850-ft long transport Cairo which crashed in a mountain valley with CDR Rick Cassidy, GSGT Molly Pickford, and 50 female students from the New Hope Academy. The aliens have taken Southport and set their sights on their next target, New Cancun, as thousands of refugees pour into the western settlements.

Back on Earth, Rick’s family gathers at the family home to celebrate Kelly’s commissioning as a major in Colonial Security and to discuss Stellar Enterprise’s plans for the New Hope colony. Chloe tells her that she wants to go on to the colony earlier than planned to help manage the family businesses there. She’ll be going on the Australia with her sister Nicole, whose Ranger detachment will be going to the colony. Rick’s daughter Ciara is already on her way on the Asia and his sister Bridget is also on her way to the colony on the Marco Polo.

On the Rift flagship, General Osmu’a reviews the progress of his campaign to retake the planet and realizes that a warning message must have gone out before they had destroyed the humans' communications satellites. He had been counting on using the humans as a food source for his primitive and voracious Andoval mercenaries.

While preparing for an alien attack on New Cancun, Colonel Fox sends a recon shuttle to Southport to see what has been going on there. The Colonial Rangers set up defenses at the bridges the aliens must cross to reach New Cancun, while the evacuation of the settlement’s 8,000 inhabitants begins.

At the mountain valley crash site where the Cairo went down, Rick Cassidy and Molly Pickford begin to organize the survivors. Most of the crew and some of the academy staff members died in the crash. All of the female students and interns survived, but some are injured. Medical officer Major Maya Scott takes charge of the injured.