Dan Cruzak is a junior-level mechanic converted into a lowly scout for a railroad construction project. The map of the United Nations Noble Infrastructure Railroad surprises Dan's team when they learn it takes their tracks through an abandoned temple. But there are people in the temple.

The monks living on the mountain top aren't happy. Despite professing to be pacifists, they want to fight rather than see the railroad built through their holy site. Something about the setup seems weird to Dan, from beginning to end, but the middle part is the strangest of all. When the battle starts, Dan finds out the monks have mood-altering chemicals in their supply of weapons. He and his fellow scouts are at the mercy of a barrage of mood bombs.

Then the United Nations blames the railroad scouts for the fighting ...