One year after British and coalition armed forces successfully quelled the insurgent uprising in Takistan, the NATO Green Sea deployment is in the process of a strategic drawdown of combat troops in the region. Private military contractors shoulder the burden of the increased workload, with competition rising between the multinational organisations for lucrative security contracts. Private Military Company, ION, Inc. (formerly Black Element), successfully bid for a contract - codenamed Black Gauntlet - to provide security for a UN investigation team as they seek to piece together information regarding Takistan's abandoned nuclear weapons programme.