Natalie Lyster was once an honorable soldier, having given years of service to the Galactic Alliance. But when a government conspiracy led to the death of a loved one, she went rogue. After years on the run, she now leads a criminal organization, working for the highest bidder. That bidder is the corrupt planetary union Czar. The job has taken Lyster and her crew to the planet Salacia. Their goal: excavate the zorbernite mineral from the slopes of the supervolcano Mount Ragnaroek and deliver it to the Czar military.

In their digging, they have found more than mineral...

While returning from a supply run, Lyster's ship is intercepted by a strike force led by Commander Tucker Greyson. The chase leads through the planet's atmosphere, where it becomes an aerial assault. The pursuit goes haywire, for a swarm of giant alien wasps emerge from the mountainside and bring down the spacecrafts.

Forced to travel on foot, Greyson and Lyster quickly learn the wasps are only the beginning of their problems. Man-eating raptors lurk behind every tree, ambushing everyone who gets too close; echoes of heavy footsteps reveal the presence of a larger predator hunting in the region; and heavy seismic activity from the mountainside warn of Mount Ragnaroek's impending fiery wrath. With time running out, the group must reach the main campsite and commandeer a spacecraft, or else perish in the hellish fires of Mount Ragnaroek.