While the four civilised races battle back the voracious Zulu and seek advantage over each other, a ghost from the past returns to the galaxy in the form of the manipulative Moraga. Already known for their dark crow-shaped attack drones and deadly traps, this race once thought long extinct, returns looking for vengeance. Using never-before-seen weapons, ships and tactics, the Moraga fall upon the other five races of the Sword of the Stars universe, who must now adapt to the ancient masters of space or be destroyed. Time is of the essence as world after world falls to the black winged ships that surge out of the dark like A Murder of Crows.