The Challenges

An American orbital weapons platform crashes in an uninhabited area of the Pacific. An unnamed Asian country arrives to claim the wreckage, but US naval forces quickly block their escape from the area.

With tensions brewing, the two countries agree to settle their dispute in a surrogate war fought by a single representative from each side. General Lewis Meyers voices opposition, arguing that US forces can crush any adversaries in a conventional fight.

American agents locate Jacob Gallery, previously jailed for hunting Viet Cong trophies, and bring him back from Latin America to lead the mission. Meyers knows Gallery's disregard for rules could be an asset in this high-stakes encounter. Gallery insists on a $1 million advance before accepting.

Gallery undergoes a rigorous selection process, receives a weapons kit including paired Madsen submachine guns, and is warned that fungi pose a deadly threat to wounds. The training emphasizes improvisation and aggression over protocol. The mission is framed as a kinetic, one-man stand.

A small tropical island is designated as the battleground, and its inhabitants are relocated to Guam to minimize civilian risk. Gallery is prepared and dispatched to the island during a synchronized push with his adversary.

Gallery is launched from a surfaced submarine at the same time his adversary is sent to the island. He selects a hidden cave as his base and begins to establish a defensive position. Early contact with his opponent Yuro marks the start of the personal duel.

Gallery begins polluting water sources to force Yuro into the last remaining supply. When Yuro finally approaches the pond for water, Gallery ambushes him. Yuro escapes but is wounded, signaling a hard-fought, unsanctioned struggle.

Gallery discovers Yuro's treetop base and booby traps it with a grenade. In the course of their struggle, Yuro severes Gallery's leg with razor blades hidden in tree trunks. The feud escalates into a brutal cat-and-mouse game.

On the submarine, Meyers reveals the plan to secretly insert Bryant because Gallery has not achieved a quick victory after four days. The shift introduces another element of betrayal and risk to the surrogate conflict.

Gallery lays traps in an abandoned village while Yuro closes in, catching Gallery off guard at one point. Gallery barely escapes and makes for the beach, with Yuro in pursuit. The personal duel becomes a chase across the island.

On the beach, Bryant holds Yuro at gunpoint, urging Gallery to kill his rival to prove himself. Gallery's sense of honor is overridden by disgust, and he shoots Bryant instead, allowing Yuro to flee.

Back in his cave, Gallery discovers a dead countryman signaling betrayal by both governments. Yuro urges Gallery to forsake the treacherous regimes, offering to save him from his infection.

Gallery refuses Yuro's plea to defect, kills Yuro, and retrieves a transmitter to declare victory. He discards the transmitter and succumbs to the fungal infection that has plagued him.