Bad Born Blood

On the distant planet Novus, where survivors of a lost Earth fight for dominance and power comes only through mechanical enhancement and loyalty to the empire, slum-born Luca dreams of nothing but joining the elite Accretian Imperial Guard. A devoted believer in the totalitarian regime that raised him, he starts questioning everything after befriending Ilay, a skeptical noble trainee who sees the cracks Luca never let himself notice. Luca has to decide whether to keep believing in the only purpose he's ever known, or face a truth that could destroy it.