The year is 1996 and a team of agents arrives at a hospital to gather several orphan babies,
putting a special tag on each of them before being sent to a special program where they will become
the perfect soldiers. They are specifically chosen and go through an extremely difficult
training program during which they are taught that weakness isn't an option and that they must
be perfect at all times, always obeying orders and showing no emotion. They make the kids watch
animals fight and kill each other, so they become numb to violence. They are also under supervision
at all times and they can't leave their rooms. When the kids turn eight, the training of their
minds and advanced skills begins. They have to be in classrooms every day and work on all kinds
of puzzles and strategy problems. When they turn twelve, the training becomes brutal. The kids have
to run many miles each day and keep their bodies in perfect condition. One day they are running
in a field and one boy falls behind because of exhaustion. A truck comes for the boy and kills
him without mercy because the program has no place for weakness. The other boys aren't allowed to
react either, they just have to keep running. Once the kids grow into teenagers, they are
trained with guns and taught to kill every target in sight, not allowing them to ever show mercy
during missions. By the time they turn seventeen, these boys are fully formed weapons and ready for
combat, which is signaled with a special tag tattoo on their faces. The best soldier in this
class is Todd. By year 2036, he hasn't failed a single mission, although he has gained many scars.
He travels all over the world and even to the Moon leading the special team through brutal battles
during which they kill without remorse or mercy. Todd goes as far as to kill an innocent woman
just to reach his target. He only cares about the mission, not his fellow soldiers, and has
never experienced normal human interaction. The commander behind this special unit is Church, who
is very proud of his team’s success. However soon things get complicated when Colonel Mekum comes to
their base with a whole new unit, explaining that they are genetically engineered soldiers, almost
superhuman. According to him, this means that they are better than Church’s men and that Church
should disband his program. Church disagrees, pointing out nothing can beat his soldiers’
years of experience. Then Mekum proposes to make both units compete against to prove which is the
best one. Mekum calls for Caine to represent his team. When the tests being, Caine quickly
proves his superiority: he's more precise with the guns and he can lift more weight without getting
tired. During a running race, Todd goes ahead because Mekum gives him twenty extra minutes. But
when Caine starts running too, he still manages to surpass Todd even if he started much later. Church
still refuses to accept this and says new soldiers lack fighting spirit, so he adds another test.
Todd and Caine begin climbing some steel chains, and once again, Caine proves to be faster even if
he starts later. Next Church wants to prove that battle experience matters, so he asks for a fight
on the chains. Mekum is smug and says that for it to be fair, three people should go against Caine.
Two more soldiers quickly join Todd on the chains, but this doesn't make a difference. Caine's just
too strong and after exchanging a few hits, he quickly kills both soldiers, throwing their
bodies to the ground. Todd manages to stay a bit longer and jumps on Caine, injuring his face to
the point Caine loses an eye. Cain still can fight though and throws Todd on the piles of bodies on
the ground. Mekum won, but he is still furious and yells at Caine because such an injury means
he isn't perfect anymore. Thinking Todd is really dead, Church accepts the new unit, and while the
older veterans aren't killed, they won't be on active duty anymore. Mekum orders to throw the
bodies out as garbage, and a giant ship carries all the waste to a planet called Arcadia, which is
a planet covered in trash. During the trip, Todd wakes up, feeling scared for the first time in his
life as he realizes where he is. Suddenly the ship hatch opens to let go of all the trash, and Todd
tries his best to hold on yet he still falls down on the planet. Luckily he manages to survive the
fall and starts exploring the area. At first he only sees waste, but eventually he notices people
in rags moving around. Todd decides to follow them, but at that moment, a giant sandstorm starts
to hit the area and Todd has to hold down until it passes. Eventually Todd gets out of the storm
and walks into a graveyard, noticing many people have died on this planet. After some more walking,
he finally arrives at what seems to be a colony that these people have built from garbage and ship
parts. He sneaks around the stairs, but before he can do anything, a gust of wind throws Todd off
and he passes out after noticing a bunch of kids staring. Afterward, all the people in the colony
argue over what to do with Todd. It has been many years since anyone new came to this planet,
so they don't know if they should trust Todd. In the end, the leader decides they'll help Todd but
Mace must keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Todd is being taken care of by Mace’s wife Sandra,
who shares medicine with him. The couple has a young kid named Nathan, who is curious about
Todd but they don't let him be near him. When Todd is finally healthy enough to leave the bed,
he finds the family having a happy time together, and he doesn't know how to feel. Mace shows him he
made a crutch for him, and Todd decides to behave for now. In the evening, the family brings Todd to
the communal mess hall, and everyone feels wary of Todd because he eats a lot and doesn't speak,
not to mention his soldier tattoos. When someone asks him what his deal is, Todd explains he was
replaced by a better soldier, and people begin feeling more sympathetic toward him. From then on,
Todd spends his time with Sandra, learning to do basic everyday chores. Sandra uses this time
to teach him about the colony: this little town wasn't always here, the people were on their own
ship traveling until the ship broke down and they crash-landed here. It happened three years ago and
help never came, but Sandra doesn't mind because nobody bothers them here and they live in peace.
Meanwhile Mekum reveals he has been watching the Arcadia system and wants to set up monitoring
stations there. He also wants to send out his new soldiers to patrol. If there are any refugees or
miners, they will be officially classifiable as hostiles, which Church doesn't approve of.
Back in Arcadia, Sandra is taking care of the gardening and shocks Todd by teaching him how
to plant a sprout. Suddenly a snake comes closer and Sandra immediately kills it, explaining they
can be dangerous. One bit Nathan once and he was sick for a long time. He is better now,
but he can't talk because of it. Sometime later, Todd goes out with the men to salvage things from
the trash. Because of the weather, they all keep chains connected to their belts not to get lost.
Unfortunately a really strong sandstorm hits the area then, and a man gets trapped in the
wind. The guys start pulling at the chain before their friend is blown away into an old machine,
but they aren't strong enough to defeat the wind. At that moment, Todd joins in and begins pulling
at the chain, his strength alone enough to save the man from the storm. During the struggle,
someone drops a weapon and Todd picks it up, but the men immediately ask for it back while thanking
him for his help. A ship flies above them and Todd gets curious, but it'is explained that the dumper
ships just drop garbage and leave without making contact. Days pass and Todd gets used to life in
the colony, working with the men salvaging the trash and with Sandra on the chores. One evening,
Todd’s so distracted by watching Sandra that he accidentally cuts his finger and he doesn’t even
notice the pain until Sandra takes care of the wound. She wonders what soldier life is like, and
Todd explains he’s always under discipline, which makes her hug him for comfort. When Christmas time
comes, the colony throws a huge party. Todd’s doing well until some crackers go off and Todd
mistakes them for gunshots. This triggers his PTSD and he begins having flashbacks of all the
horrible training he went through. Fearing what he may do, Todd goes to hide on the roof and watches
the party from afar. The next day, Todd tries to keep down his violent training by punching a
bag. However this continues to bring back lots of brutal memories filled with death and destruction,
including the time he had to kill a child. At that moment, a man comes closer to give Todd a gift,
but Todd is still caught in his memories and can only see an enemy, so he pushes the man down by
the throat. He almost kills him by throwing him inside a machine, but luckily he snaps out of
it just in time and realizes lots of people are watching. Now everyone's getting wary of
him again, especially when he keeps punching the bag until his hands bleed. This brings up another
memory of him being in the classroom and beating up a fellow kid as his teacher reminded him he
mustn’t have mercy. Sometime later, Todd wakes up to find Nathan nearby, showing him that he solved
a puzzle. At that moment a snake shows up and Todd tries to teach Nathan how to kill it, but Nathan
is too afraid and freezes. Todd immediately jumps in and catches the snake but he doesn’t kill it,
instead he asks Nathan to try again. Suddenly Sandra and Mace arrive and kill the snake while
they scold Todd for putting Nathan in danger. By this point the colony has had enough - they tell
Todd he'll never fit in and that he’s becoming too dangerous, so they kick him out. Todd gathers his
things and walks away, shocking himself when he cries for the first time ever. Soon after that,
Sandra and Mace are sleeping peacefully when suddenly a snake gets on the bed. When it’s
about to bite Mace, Nathan shows up and bravely kills the snake like Todd taught him. Mace
realizes that Todd had been right and rushes out of the house to look for Todd, finding him hiding
in the trash. He apologizes for what happened and invites him to come back. At that moment,
a ship full of Mekum’s soldiers arrives on the planet, which Todd quickly identifies as
a military ship and makes Mace run away with him. Soon lots of vehicles and soldiers come
out of the ship, including Caine, and the colony raises an alarm to get in a defensive position.
The soldiers then start attacking, shooting anyone in sight. Explosions begin occurring all over the
place and Mace is hit by one, so Todd has to drag him away. When they reach a hiding spot,
Todd tries to wrap up Mace’s wounds, but it’s too late and Mace dies asking for his family.
Meanwhile Church gets the news about the colony, but Mekum orders his soldiers to kill them even
if they’re civilians. Just in case, Church decides to get his old soldiers ready. The leader of the
colony comes out to try to communicate with the soldiers, but she just gets shot in the spot. The
colonists immediately open fire to defend their home, but their few weapons aren’t enough against
such an army and soon the soldiers are causing death and destruction in town. They also come in
with flamethrowers so they can slowly burn people to death in the most sadistic way. At that moment,
Todd breaks through the roof and kills one of the flame soldiers. Then he gathers weapons from the
fallen bodies and goes looking for the other flame soldier, who is currently chasing after Sandra
and the kids. Luckily Todd gets there just in time and kills the guy with a rocket launcher. When yet
another soldier begins shooting through the wall, Todd makes everyone duck before opening the door
and shooting one more rocket to kill this man too. Afterward, Todd grabs the soldier’s communicator
and sends a growl to see what happens. Mekum wonders what to do next, and Church advises him
to retreat his men, to which Mekum agrees. Once the soldiers are gone, the colonists use their
time to heal the wounded, and Sandra's devastated when Todd confirms Mace is dead. Todd grabs as
many weapons as he can find and paints his face, ready for revenge. Todd sneaks around to approach
the landing area in secret and shoots one of the vehicles to cause confusion. The soldiers come out
to look for him, and Todd secretly attacks from the dark. One guy gets pushed off the roof and
another one gets a snake thrown at him. Then Todd hides in the water to stab a soldier and surprises
another two with bullets. When more soldiers come in as backup, Todd begins shooting them all
without caring about them shooting back. It turns out he’s set up a puppet and he’s controlling the
weapon with strings from afar. He’s also set up some explosives that he activates to kill
many men at the same time. At that moment, a sandstorm arrives, so Todd ties himself to
some old machinery while the wind takes away the last standing men. The last soldiers left are in
vehicles, so Todd jumps from above to land on the roof and begins shooting any men he can see. Then
he throws some explosives through the door to kill the drivers. However Caine is still in his truck
and attacking the colony again, causing even more damage. To get closer without suspicion,
Todd steals a truck and comes after Caine by crashing against his vehicle. Caine jumps out
of his car and immediately takes some medicine from his bag for his wounds. Todd goes looking
for Sandra and the kids to rescue them, but Caine shows up for round two. A new encounter between
the men ensues, with them exchanging lots of blows and using any part of the colony for extra damage,
like a falling sign and the window of a crashed helicopter. It seems Caine has the upper hand and
when Todd glances at a weapon on the ground, Caine goes for it first. This was a trick,
and Todd uses the distraction to finally seriously hurt Caine with a helicopter blade.
Then he punches him to the ground and grabs his neck to finally kill him. Moments later,
Church’s old army finds Todd and the survivors and doesn’t attack because they still respect
their old general. Meanwhile Mekum realizes he’s lost all his men and orders Church to take off
without the older guys. When Church protests, Mekum immediately kills him. At that moment,
the older unit enters the ship and captures Mekum to take him to Todd, who is so scary that makes
Mekum wet his pants as he begs. Afterward, Mekum and his counselors are thrown out of the ship and
left on Arcadia, where a bomb goes off and kills them all. The ship takes off safely and it’s
revealed that the surviving colonists came aboard too and now they’re traveling to a better place to
live at. Nathan asks Todd to pick him up and Todd finally experiences what real affection is like.