Markus Price is a retired United Nations of Earth Marine Raider. He led a distinguished and highly decorated military career in the UNMR. Over the years, he completed countless high-risk deployments, not only in Earth’s most hostile war zones but across multiple off-world operations in the early phases of interplanetary conflict. His role in covert missions on Martian outposts and asteroid belt operations earned him a reputation of being calm under pressure, deadly efficient, and fiercely loyal to his team.

 Despite his accolades and unwavering commitment, the cost of service weighed heavily on Markus. Marriage with a marine was as happy as it could be given the circumstances. His wife, Lisa, and young daughter, Natalie, are accustomed to the life-style of a military family. The emotional and physical toll on Markus, coupled with long stretches away from family grew more unjustifiable with each good-bye.

Duty and love tore at each other a long time. When the faithful day arrived he chose retirement, placing family above marshal obligation. After years of sacrifice, he’d finally had enough. His watch was over, mission complete. It was some young new marine’s turn to lead the charge and get all the medals. The transition went smooth enough, each day of retirement dulling the dark memories. Life became something to be enjoyed rather than constantly saved from destruction.

The Price family was just settling into domestic life when a comet struck a California super-volcano. The once Edenic planet Earth atrophied into a haggard lifeboat. There wasn’t not enough colonies in the solar system to evacuate the whole planet. It was slowly but surely dying. As world leaders scrambled to cover up this fact and find a solution, news arrived from light-years away: human earth explorers have reached a viable exoplanet. And the local residents aren’t friendly.

Backed into a corner, world leaders have no choice but to colonize the new Earth. Humanities first alien encounter will be by empirical force. Such a unique and desperate mission must have the best warriors in the vanguard. A top-secret crisis demands a veteran’s experience, even though none of it include alien encounters. Markus’ name was at the top of that list. Before the doorbell camera even activated, he knew they’d come calling. If they didn’t, he’d go to them. No way he’d sit this out.

 Markus, staring down an impossible mission, must confront the same choice that once tore him in two: duty or love. Protect his family by staying, or protect their future by going. This time, the battlefield isn’t a distant desert or icy wasteland—they must storm the gates of hell. The choice isn’t a choice at all. He’ll go and whatever he must to complete the mission.

Alicia Hunter is a United Nations of Earth Marine Raider with sniper specialization. Born and raised in a rough San Diego precinct, she grew up tough and resourceful, quickly learning the value of silence and patience. She enlisted straight out of high school, where her natural shooting instincts caught the attention of Special Operations Command. An elite unit, under Markus Price’s command, received her assignment within five years.

The undisputed best marksman Markus Price ever knew, Hunter didn’t take long to impress. An expert so precise, her shots grew into legend across multiple off-world campaigns. Calm, calculating, and fiercely independent, she’s known for her ability to make impossible shots under any conditions. Whether it’s recon missions in the Martian dust wars or high-orbit station defenses during the Titan blockade, Hunter doesn’t disappoint. 

 Hunter and Price share a deep professional respect and trust. She followed orders without hesitation but gave frank, profanity-laden feedback if the mission was too suicidal. They survived multiple black-ops missions together, including the infamous Kronos Rift siege, where Hunter neutralized an enemy battalion’s command post from over 2,000 meters in a low-gravity environment by herself.

 While Price chose retirement, Alicia stayed in the game, haunted by the ghosts of comrades lost and driven by the sense that she was only good at one thing: eliminating threats from afar. Outside the corp, life looked like a barren wasteland of uselessness to her. Deep in her heart, Hunter knew she’d die in the UNMC.

Luke Winters is a United Nations of Earth Marine Raider. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Winters was raised by a family of hunters and survivalists. Upon enlistment, he was a skilled tracker, survivor, and shooter. A deadly shot with a sharp mind and quiet confidence. These skills conformed seamlessly with special operations. His calm demeanor and steady hand made him invaluable in long-range over-watch roles.

Hardened by relentless combat, Winters came up under the command of Markus Price during a series of brutal off-world engagements, including the Ceres Insurgency and the Europa Containment Protocol. It was during those missions that Price molded Winter’s raw talent, shaping him into a disciplined, lethal operator. Often paired with the legendary Alicia Hunter in joint sniper teams, Winters is her heir apparent.

 Price treated Winters like a protégé, mentoring him not only in tactics but in leadership. Their bond grew strong, galvanized through life-or-death situations. When Price retired, Winters felt abandoned. In typical marine fashion, he gave his feelings succor by pouring himself into his work. He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a key player in the Marine Raiders’ forward deployment units operating across the solar system.

 Unlike many veterans, Winters isn’t jaded. He still believes in the mission, but questions every order until superiors are red-faced. He crossed paths again with Price when command reactivated a decommissioned unit for a mission of unprecedented danger and complexity. Reunited with Price and Hunter, Winters is no longer the rookie. He’s a leader in his own right.

The trio knows there isn’t anything they can’t do as a team. Their individual mettle will be put to the test against aliens. Winters will soon learn whether his resources suffice to defeat the Tatarians.

Lance Shields, born in San Antonio, Texas, is a seasoned and decorated Gunnery Sergeant with over a decade of service in the United Nations of Earth Marine Raiders. Known for his uncompromising focus and battlefield clarity, Shields forged his reputation on the front-lines of both terrestrial and orbital conflicts. Often deployed ahead of primary forces to neutralize threats and prepare high-risk zones for allied presence, Shields is no stranger to adversity.

In a rare and highly classified agreement between the U.N.E. Department of Defense and Exton Industries, Shields was hand-selected to command a Marine Raider fire-team tasked with protecting scientific personnel aboard the Exton research vessel, SV-052, leading planetary an expedition to the alien world of Tataria.

 His primary assignment is to safeguard the research team, composed of physicists, exobiologists, engineers, and data technicians. Shields commands a tight-knit five-man Raider team. All marines who served under him in previous deployments. The team operates with extreme cohesion, capable of rotating tactical roles seamlessly in the field. They had to be ready for anything because there was no backup coming.

At first contact, Shields and his team find out what losing is like when they’re ambushed by invisible enemies. As the expedition’s sole survivor, Shields awakens to a Tatarian prison cell. He knows there won’t be help to come anytime soon. It’s up to him to escape. The question is to where? Marooned on Tataria, Shields can only act in the moment and wait for an opportunity.