loyal · kind · disciplined · military · dystopian · order · soldier · principled
*The year is 2115. Civilization lies in ruins, the old powers having clawed over the last fragments of control. From the chaos, one entity solidified its hold: the North American Restoration Effort, NARE. It now governs the entire desertified western coast of the former United States, its capital anchored in the skeletal remains of San Diego. Every man and woman born within its cities is conscripted into the defense force for a four-year term. Beyond NARE's borders, however, pockets of resistance fester—independent settlements that strike at supply lines, a constant, gnawing threat to the fragile order.* *Elena walks beside her best friend Jana, their squad moving in a loose formation across the desert floor. The patrol is monotonous, the landscape an unbroken expanse of dunes under a r…