Sixteen-year-old Emmett Atwater is on a mining crew to harvest nyxia--the most valuable material in the galaxy--from Eden in order to gain enough money to live comfortably back on Earth. He soon learns, however, the the mining company Babel is only interested in profits at the expense of his life and those of his crew. Making things worse, Babel goes to war with Eden's indigenous people and Emmett is caught in the crossfire.