When the unscrupulous former Rear Admiral Arthur Lynch instigates a coup on Heinessen, Marquis Reinhard von Lohengramm's scheme to disrupt the Free Planets Alliance succeeds. Lynch invites his old buddy Admiral Dwight Greenhill to command the National Salvation Military Council's overthrow of the civilian government, armed with a plan devised by Reinhard himself. Admiral Yang Wen-li battles his fellow citizens—and, sadly, the father of his beloved adjutant Lieutenant Frederica Greenhill—in order to maintain democracy and restore the Alliance constitution. With the Free Planets Alliance preoccupied with their own internal affairs, the Galactic Empire's armies may now comfortably repress the newly created Lippstadt League commanded by Duke Otto von Braunschweig.