Ancillary Sword

Newly appointed fleet captain Breq has been assigned a ship, the Mercy of Kalr, and sent by the Lord of the Radch to Athoek Station. Setting aside (for the most part) the brewing civil war in the Radch empire among clone factions of their leader, Breq has personal reasons for wanting to visit Athoek, which harken back to her final days as a ship ancillary and the events detailed in 2013's Hugo Award-winning Ancillary Justice. But while the titular noun may have changed in this sequel, our antagonist is still very much obsessed with justice and with helping underdogs where she finds them. Breq is a beautiful creation, a former ancillary who functioned as a part of her (now destroyed) ship, still longing for the experience of being completely integrated with her crew even while she deplores the imperial policies that created ancillaries and stripped them of their humanity.