ISBN-13: 9781505336146 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 340 str.
"In a city at war with itself, Federal Commander Blake Sanders teams up with the stunning and deadly Marian to infiltrate enemy territory; their mission, to eliminate a powerful terrorist cell and rescue brother-in-arms Ensign Richard Jenkins."
Almost a century since the Final General Election, the great divide between the BlueZone - the Federation of Austoria - and the RedZone - the Progressive Republic of South East Asia - is incendiary.
Eighteen-year-old Blake Sanders, born to the socialist RedZone, is snatched by Austorian Federal Defence (AFD) Troopers and thrown into a high-tech Infantry Mobility Vehicle, exchanged for a rich kid from the BlueZone.
Blake easily adapts to military life, including frequent tours to the war zone of Milosia, where he quickly ascends to the status of war hero.
While the BlueZone's Wentworth electorate prospers, on the other side of the monolithic ZoneWall, RedZone constituents suffer massive youth unemployment, slum-bound poverty and ever-increasing violent crime - a hotbed for insurgency and radicalization.
The BlueZone military holds a series of incursions to wipe out the militants, broadcast live with commentary.
Elevated to Lieutenant in the Public Order and Riot Squad, Blake Sanders leads a convoy of AFD attack vehicles through hordes of rioting activists to neutralise a Progressive Republican Army (PRA) rocket battery.
Tactics on both sides are brutal. But the rockets and Molotovs launched from the RedZone's Sydprop electorate are no match for the sophisticated military force of the Federation.
After recovering from their injuries, Blake and long-time brother-in-arms Richie Jenkins are teamed up to keep order in the entertainment districts of the BlueZone, meting out punishment for breaches of strict moral standards and guarding against RedZone insurgents ... until they are led into a trap. With Blake irretrievably ensnared in twisted metal, Richie is taken hostage in his stead.
In a massive PR and tactical exercise, the Federation is now hellbent on rescuing Ensign Jenkins and eliminating a powerful terrorist cell of the PRA, headed up by Watson University Chancellor Anthony Lewis-Clark (aka Chance). Federal Intelligence Agents Jeff and John (Jay-Jay) are in charge of a hit-and-rescue mission, pairing Blake (Agent Verdi) with the stunning and deadly Marian (Agent Strauss) to infiltrate the RedZone, disguised as PRA extremists.
They successfully assassinate most of the pack until, repulsed by the torture tactics they are ordered to carry out, Blake and Marian disappear into the RedZone, melding with the underground cultural milieu of grunge and joyful survival.
Now they're hunted by both sides ...