Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are enjoying a sunny vacation down under when they get disturbing news: their friend and colleague, Clifford Delmonty, is in serious trouble. While working as a contractor at an Australian F 35 facility, the former Taskforce member, callsign Dunkin, saw something he shouldn't have, and now he's on the run from Chinese agents. Pike and Jennifer soon discover that Dunkin's attackers are a dangerous part of a much larger scheme that could launch a full-on war between China and Taiwan. In their quest for dominance, China is determined to reclaim Taiwan, an ally the United States has sworn to protect. Pike learns that the Chinese have a devious plan to bait the small island nation into all-out war by destabilizing the government while manipulating an artificial intelligence defense system. As the threat of conflict reaches a boiling point, Pike alone realizes that what is being seen is not what is happening.