The year is 3043, humans have conquered the universe, explored the galaxy, but now they have fallen prey to a formidable enemy: the Collectors. To the aliens, who apparently cannot be defeated by anything. After the hostile Collectors have taken numerous planets under "protection", the interstellar states and corporations finally muster up the courage to attack.
Three people get caught up in the whirlwind of events. Fredinald Zumi, a hostage of the Collectors, is released after years of captivity - before he realizes that even his escape is just another chess move by the invaders. Nuncius Civer Black is loyal to the church, but he doesn't take his morals too literally - but when he is sent back to the main planet of the church, he bets everything to find the truth. And finally, Clarissa Fairbanks, a former space pirate and pilot who receives a highly suspicious special assignment. All three discover that the Collector civilization, so foreign and terrifying to them, has been split apart. Together, on their adventurous journeys, they come to a solution that will hopefully lead to a new beginning for the galaxy: It's a secret operation called "Vade Retro".