The brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon is Armstrong Space Station, the "Silver Tower," the centerpiece of America's newest defense unit, the U.S. Space Defense Force. Commanded by Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, Silver Tower is the hub of a vast network of satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket boosters, and spaceplanes that gives the United States instantaneous and secure global information exchange and access to space.

The "high ground" of space now belongs to the United States of America...and that makes America's enemies very nervous.

Russian president Leonid Zevitin doesn't want to look up and see an American military space station flying overhead almost every night, and he's afraid that free global Internet access provided by the U.S. Space Defense Force will eventually weaken his grip on his people. He devises a plan to discredit the Space Defense Force by covertly attacking Silver Tower with sophisticated new anti-satellite weapons--including a mobile version of the Kavaznya laser--and at the same time convince the new U.S. president Joseph Gardner that the Space Defense Force is a threat to world peace and stability.

Gardner plays right into Zevitin's hands. The President's plans for an expanded Navy are stalled, and it's time to do something about it--even if it means destroying America's most popular and successful generals, Patrick McLanahan. He enlists the help of the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Stacy Anne Barbeau, to help discredit McLanahan and convince Congress to cut off funding for the space station.

Patrick is using Silver Tower's incredible surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities to assist the anti-insurgent forces in Iran, led by rebel leader Hesarak al-Kan Buzhazi, until a democratic government can be formed. But the more Patrick does to defeat the insurgents, the more Russia complains to the world that the space force is a threat to world peace. Soon Patrick's activities are so restricted that he can do nothing but watch helplessly as the pro-Islamist insurgent forces in Iran threaten to tear the entire region apart.

But while watching the growing crisis in Iran, Patrick detects a new threat--against Silver Tower and the globe-crossing Black Stallion spaceplanes. In an effort to destroy the threat, Patrick defies orders from the President and orders an attack, using a strike team led by Major Wayne "Whack" Macomber, the new leader of the Battle Force high-tech ground assault force.

Zevitin detects the plan and convinces Gardner to halt it...and when Gardner does so, Zevitin launches his attack, bringing down a spaceplane. Patrick watches the attack unfold and orders a counterattack, using unmanned EB-1C Vampire bombers loaded with hypersonic SkySTREAK missiles. The President orders McLanahan to turn the bombers around, but Patrick ignores the orders.

Enraged, the President strips McLanahan of his command and orders his immediate arrest. But Russia is on the move, and Patrick decides he's the only one who can stop them. He orders his space and air forces to assemble and prepare to attack...

....and to defend themselves against any attempt by American forces to stop them. He has become an outlaw, leading an armed insurrection against the United States of America: a "Shadow Command."