Death Duty
by John Freeman and Alan Burrows
Death Duty © 2002 John Freeman

Death Duty by John Freeman and Alan Burrows VIEW SOME SAMPLE PAGES

In a war-torn future, crime and disloyalty to the Teran Empire are punished with conscription into Peackeeper squads: soldiers consigned to do or die in order to prove their commitment to the common good. If they survive the period of their sentence – anything from 68 days to six years – they are free to once again become a citizen. Very few do: the average life expectancy for a Peacekeeper member is four months, hence the street slang for the job: Death Duty.

Any ‘Dutyman’ who survives over a year is entitled to bonus and financial rewards for their work – and even the opportunity of early amnesty.

By 2125, dissidents in the Terran Empire are tracked down by Peackeeper squads and terminated for their rebellion with extreme prejudice. A Peacekeeper termination mission could take place anywhere – an alien worlds, a Martian cities or aboard a rebel spaceship or station.

Described by some as ruthless assassins working with the worst of intentions, these are just some of the men and women paid to kill to keep the Empire safe. For most of them, exactly who they kill doesn't matter – until one of their number, Travis Wilson, begins to question the missions they're assigned and goes AWOL – a wanted man.

The DEATH DUTY story will essentially be a chase across the WAR WORLDS empire, with hi-tech battles across whole cities, subterfuge, double dealing and betrayal on a grand scale. The story will enable exploration of many of the worlds in the WAR WORLDS universe, culminating on a showdown on Mars with one of the rich men running a dying empire.

In Renegade, the role of one Death Duty squad is put under the microscope, and we soon get the general idea that here are some quite ruthless mercenaries working with the worst of intentions – men and women paid to kill to keep the Empire safe.

RENEGADE opens with a typical Death Duty hit on a wanted political terrorist on one of the Border Worlds of the Earth Empire. The status and technology level of the world is quickly established and it's made clear that whoever this team of hardened killers are after, s/he has no chance of escaping once they find him. Their weaponry is state of the art – and in some societies on the fringes of the galactic empire, appears to be almost magical.

The Death Duty concept permits both an ongoing storyline and spin-offs featuring popular characters on Death Duty missions.

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