Hit with devastating earthquakes, seismic shocks and tremors, major American and European cities are reeling from what first seems to be an extraordinary series of natural disasters. Cities have been reduced to rubble; hundreds of thousands have died. But one person, seismologist Krystal Payne, believes otherwise. Her research and analysis, coupled with extraordinary intelligence from national sources, reveals that the quakes are man-made, created by manned underground vehicles operated by a shadowy criminal organization called Red Sword, closely allied with China.
What follows is a duel with deadly consequences, as America stands up a new force of underground warriors to combat this menace and protect American lives. Drawing from U.S. Army armored units, the new service called Terra Guard uses people like decorated tank commander Jake Swift to try to engage and defeat this new threat. But Red Sword is tough, resourceful and resilient and the early encounters cause as much damage to the good guys as to the adversary.
Faced with defeat and realizing that America still has no effective defense against these threats and dealing with an ultimatum that may have to be accepted, Jake Swift and Krystal Payne use every trick they can think of to develop new tactics to confront the adversary.
In this new and unforgiving world of underground warfare, the geotroopers have to make up tactics as they go along. Success isn't guaranteed and the consequences of failure are catastrophic. Only ingenious thinking and the craziest ideas seem to work against a determined foe.
Can Terra Guard defend America and her allies? Can the genie of subterranean conflict be put back in the bottle? The answer depends on a hard-bitten Army tank commander and a seismologist out to prove herself in a man's world.