The Milky Way galaxy is between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years across and contains over a 100 billion planets. That means lots of places for criminals to hide and way too much ground for law enforcement to cover. To compensate for this, the governments of the galaxy employ Stardusters--bounty hunters that work alongside the law to help meet demand. Izumi Vasquez is a Starduster that operates outside of government oversight. After working solo for so long, a job gone awry nets her a new robotic partner, a cute-but-deadly alien pet, and a spot in the up-and-coming Orion's Arm Freelance Agency.