After the mysterious collapse of the United States, corporate paramilitaries fight over crates of pornography and other valuable resources in war-torn territory, where physical media has become as rare as electricity. Across the ruins of America, powerful corporations have built walled “freedom cities” that keep out the starving refugees of the Badlands and offer citizenship only in exchange for service. One of the largest is New Austin, a fortified city owned by NovaGroup Incorporated, or NGI, where every law, every job, and every soldier exists to serve the shareholders.

Specter is an ordinary supermarket security guard in New Austin whose job is to stop theft and protect corporate property. When supply convoys begin disappearing in Nebraska, NGI transforms its retail security force into the LPU, the Loss Prevention Unit, and sends Specter to the frontlines. Officially, the LPU is there to recover stolen food, medicine, fuel, and luxury goods from raiders and rival factions in the Badlands, but in reality they are protecting profits, chasing down anything that might threaten the value of NGI stock.

After his squad is ambushed and massacred by Viper, a ruthless operative working for the OMC, Specter becomes obsessed with revenge. The Omni-Merc Corporation, or OMC, is a rival paramilitary force made up of convicts, mercenaries, and the mentally ill, unleashed across conflict zones to do the jobs no legitimate army would touch. As the war between NGI and the OMC escalates across the Nebraska Badlands, Specter’s mission shifts from protecting corporate property to hunting down Viper, even if it means losing the last pieces of his humanity.