Joseph Lanes is lying on the ground, in the mud, battered and bruised from another encounter with the bullying McKenzie brothers. A fairly normal occurrence for fifteen-year-old Joseph. Being skinny and ginger makes him a frequent target and Joseph has given up trying to fight back.

Little does Joseph know that his life is about to change forever. As he painfully starts to get up he notices, in the undergrowth, a small disc with a flashing light that he cannot resist the overwhelming urge to press. He is immediately transformed into a soldier, complete with a sophisticated full body protective suit, and powers he had never imagined. But he does not appear to be on Earth. He is not alone. There are four other teenagers, two boys and two girls, who seem to have been transported in a similar manner to himself.

They soon discover they are not who they think they are and they have a terrible mission to fulfil.