Newly built Bolo Mark XXXIV Unit R-0012-ZGY 'Ziggy' is sent to Delas with its equally inexperienced commander, Lieutenant David Orren. In part one of the story, Ziggy's transport Cannon Beach is destroyed by fire from one of his fellow Bolo under the orders of a reckless Commander. In part two, Orren's lifepod is found by young scavenger Jask. An injured officer, a Bolo stranded in space and a teenager must act to prevent a Kezdai armoured column from breaking the strained human defenses.