An attempt by the ExoFleet to covertly land e-frames on Mars to investigate a gigantic complex fails miserably, with most of the e-frames destroyed and pilots killed, because a spy tipped off the Neos to their arrival. That spy is Barca, who has Able Squad (the only survivors) captured, and proceeds to plot with Typhonus. The plan is to load a Neo ship, which Barca will claim to have captured, with explosives and then get it close enough to the Resolute II that it will be caught in the explosion. Hallas helps Able Squad escape, and the Neo ship destroys Barca's own ship rather than the Resolute II.