Nolan and Irisa are rescued from their underground confinement by two mysterious aliens, who leave them outside the mine. Nolan and Irissa head back to Defiance just in time to discover that enemy forces are marching on the town.

Once in the town, they find that the town itself has fallen on hard times following the collapse of the Gulanite mines, leaving it defenseless.

Meanwhile Datak, Stahma, and Rafe had been pursuing Rafe's ex-wife Pilar who kidnapped Alak and Christie seven months before. Christie had given birth to the baby, who has a human's complexion, but the beautiful pink eyes from her Castithan father. Unfortunately, things didn't go well for everyone as a Votanis Collective (VC) General named Rahm Tak showed up.

Rahm Tak hates humans and anyone who helps humans. This was brutally shown when he casually shot Quentin in the head. As expected, this sent Rafe into a mindless rage, and a short time later Rafe was filled full of bullets as he attempted to rescue Christie, Alak, and the Baby.

If loosing Rafe and Quentin wasn't enough, Rahm Tak forced Stahma to cut Christie's throat to prove her loyalty to the VC, and with that the McCawley storyline came to a conclusion worthy of Game of Thrones.