Six months into her mission to map the galaxy, the Rugger Guard reaches the eighth potential planet on her mission and launches the Rugger teams to explore it for possible colonization. Just as her crew sets up a base on the planet, the Rugger Guard is attacked by a fleet of the Galveston Empire. Aki and the Rugger teams' fresh combat training is put to the test when the Galveston fleet launches a Battle Machine during the assault.